Schubert Piano Recordings

[rubio]

Good question. I'm not sure about that. Mine is from a Philips lp from the mid-fifties. A copy of which was shared on the net some time ago. Both the lp and the fileshare coupled it with a fasten-your-seatbelts Böhm Jupiter, also with the Concertgebouw. Timings for the Unfinished are 14:32 and 12:25 (I didn't find those of the Tahra issue). As I type I'm attempting to upload (never done that before  ) and if it works I'll post the link here.

BTW, an early seventies Jochum Boston Symphony disc issued by DGG featured that very same coupling, I guess this pairing has some appeal, even if it lacks any kind of musical logic.

It seems like it is the same from the Tahra site:

http://www.tahra.com/catalogue.php?search_field=pavtpa.id_productsattribute=2&search_data=115&page=2

It says these are studio recordings (1951-1952) reissued by permission of Philips Classics.

[Lilas Pastia]

I tried twice to upload the files but they seem to vanish into thin air 

[rubio]

For piano Sonatas:

D960: Richter, Afanassiev, Sofronitsky, Sokolov
D959: Lupu, Sokolov
D894: Richter, Afanassiev, Lupu, Sokolov
D850: Richter, Gilels

Are the Sokolov performances from bootlegs? Or are the D960 and the D984 from the Naive box set? And can you find the Gilels and Richter D850 on CD?

[Peregrine]

Are the Sokolov performances from bootlegs? Or are the D960 and the D984 from the Naive box set? And can you find the Gilels and Richter D850 on CD?

Gilels:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Liszt-Piano-Works-Franz/dp/B000003FG9/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1201638407&sr=11-1

Bit pricey...

The Richter D.850 is from the Prague set (14/6/56).

The Sokolov items you mention I own them from the Naive set, but there might be bootlegs around.

[rubio]

Gilels:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Liszt-Piano-Works-Franz/dp/B000003FG9/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1201638407&sr=11-1

Bit pricey...

The Richter D.850 is from the Prague set (14/6/56).

The Sokolov items you mention I own them from the Naive set, but there might be bootlegs around.

Thank you for the info. The Gilels is a bit too pricey for me, though .

[Lilas Pastia]

I tried twice to upload the files but they seem to vanish into thin air 

Apparently the file is too large. How do I cut it in pieces?

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Gilels:

Bit pricey...

This is a very fine D.850! Hard to understand why it's OOP.

The Richter D.850 is from the Prague set (14/6/56).

This same (live) Prague performance can also be found on Music & Arts.

Also from 1956 is a *studio* D.850 released by Melodiya.

Sadly, all of these are OOP and rare/pricey.

One oddity: the Urania (pirate) label has released what is purportedly a D.850 (same as the Melodiya) but in fact is nothing of the kind. It's labeled D.850, all right, but it's actually D.845!!

I'm happy to have it for the D.845...but if someone's looking for D.850: AVOID THE URANIA!!



<---- Actually D.845.

[Holden]

Thank you for the info. The Gilels is a bit too pricey for me, though .

I own this and bought it for $AUS28 a few years ago. I didn't realise it was that valuable - maybe I'd better listen to it again.

[rubio]

Does anybody here know if the Hyperion Kovacevich D'960 only was released on LP?

[samtrb]

There's other bits out there - some Schubert on the DG In Memoriam and some on the Richter in Recital '58 CD on Philips with the famous Mussorgsky 'Pictures'.

The impromptus (2nd and 4th) in that Recital are a must, especially the 2nd. you will get the Pictures as a bonus and not the impromptus ! I bought once the first release on CD but asked on this forum if the newly digital remastered offers a sound improvement, and the replies were yes as i recall, so it's still on my wish list 

[samtrb]

I like this thread
I am a big fan of schubert but my tastes are getting different from the "standards". I have not heard lupu's sonatas yet but i am not a fond lover of his impromtus neither his the Fantaisie duet with Perahia. I prefer Richter and even Eschenbach/Frantz...
Now that i mentioned Richter (i won't make the same mistake that i did before when i said that his sonatas performed live on the Brilliant set are too slow! ) i feel that the Regis discs are not Richter at his best, i heard once 2 sonatas from the late 1950s or early 1960s and they were much better...
I am surprised that the set by Alain Planes was not mentioned here, i am really curious about it. I only have one disc by him, the sonata D894 sonate-fantaisie and the moments musicaux, superb performance.

Now comes my favorite symphony No 9. I still have not found a definitive version. After Szell, Bohm, Wand (kolner), Harnoncourt, Jochum and Solti (Wiener) confusion is more than ever established. What i miss is the energy in the opening few minutes, Furtwangler is the one i prefer for that but the sound is... from the 1940s. What i retained from this thread are Bernstein/CGO, Krips/wiener, hope to find them at the library   

[Holden]

I like this thread


Now comes my favorite symphony No 9. I still have not found a definitive version. After Szell, Bohm, Wand (kolner), Harnoncourt, Jochum and Solti (Wiener) confusion is more than ever established. What i miss is the energy in the opening few minutes, Furtwangler is the one i prefer for that but the sound is... from the 1940s. What i retained from this thread are Bernstein/CGO, Krips/wiener, hope to find them at the library   

So I have two suggestions for you.

Leibowitz/RPO

Abbado/COE

Plenty of energy in both

[Lilas Pastia]

Resurrecting an old topic.

A friend  sent me the links to Vaclav Neumann's Czech Philharmonic recordings of symphonies 3 and 8. These are from the mid sixties and were released on Supraphon. In short: both are stunners. Not so much as wowee pieces of conducting/playing, but as absolutely prefect examples of adequation betweeen a musical idiom and a perfectly attuned band of musicians (conductor included), recorded in sumptuously luminous, brilliant and reverberant sound.

Seldom has the 'slight' third symphony sound so vernal, fresh, exuberant and powerful. Everything in it bespeaks of affection and naturalness of utterance. Even the very fast  second movement 'allegretto' springs along naturally (no Taser-like prodding from the conductor, à-la-Kleiber). Througout, I marvelled at the succulent, impertinent and cajoling playing of the winds (clarinet and flute especially). In the Unfinished, the sTRRRRRINgs rule the lot with some mighty assistance frrm the timpani and brass (those trumpets!). Although I still prefer the WP's achingly tender and beautiful sunset-drenched wind dominated version (Karl Böhm, DGG), this gives the work a wonderful 'manly' stature. Less domineering than the awesome Toscanini-NBC version, but no less imposing for that.

[M forever]

I have downloaded that Neumann 3rd too, and it does indeed make a rather good first impression, but definitely not a "stunning" one. And it wears pretty fast. It is well played, but there are also lapses of ensemble and some not-so-precise phrasing and some uncertain moments. The way the dotted figures in the first movement are played does not always naturally lead to the next bar. The last movement is too slow, or rather, since absolute tempi do not necessarily equate with musical tempi, but it is a little too earthbound and heavy-handed and lacking a little in offbeat impulses where necessary. The scherzo lacks a little bit (im)pulse, the trio is heavily undercharacterized compared to C.Kleiber's version.
I know it is always nice to discover "secret tips" and it feels good to find something which appears to contradict "mainstream standards", but this is still very far away overall from what C.Kleiber achieved.
Sorry I have to say this, you are using the word "idiom" and its derivative "idiomatic" a little too much, as your failure to understand Kleiber's choice of tempo and pacing in the second movement demonstrates. I don't think you really quite understand what is really "idiomatic" when it comes to this music, but that's not a big problem. Maybe this understanding will deepen with time. It is more the phrasing and slight shifting of rhythmic points of emphasis than anything else anyway.
And the "impertinent cajoling" of the winds isn't nearly as much so as in a number of other versions. I am not too happy with the recorded sound quality either. It does not do the string sound of the CP full justice, flattens it a little bit and underrepresents the solid core their sound has.
Overall, a very nice and solid version, but not really much more.

[Lilas Pastia]

Well, we have different impressions, and it's all right. I don't understand why you say that this version (or is it my comment on it?) contradicts "mainstream standards", though. Can you elaborate?

My failure to understand C. Kleiber's choice of tempi in this particular work is a long standing one and it might never be remedied. We all have our blind spots  . I still enjoy this Neumann immensely. I don't really mind not being aware of the technical shortcomings you mention.

[M forever]

That's a disappointingly uninsightful response, considering that a few months ago, both in PMs and "in public", we conversed about this particular topic and you stated that I had opened up some views for you into aspects of musical "idiom" and "idiomatic" performance and were eager to explore this territory further.

The "mainstream" comment meant that I have yet to read a review of a recording of this symphony which doesn't mention the Kleiber recording which really gets this piece "right" on so many levels that it is one of the few examples of a performance of anything that I would not hesitate to call "definitive", and a lot of other informed listeners think so, too. So it seems to be an integral part of any review of this piece to mention that recording, ususally as a negative comparison, apparently to demonstrate their "independent" views. We have a lot of posts in tis forum which are based on the assumption that citicizing whatever is perceived by many as outstanding automatically (no mattter if the criticism is actually based on deeper understanding) secures the review some kind of "expert status". That may be just my impression, of course.

[Lilas Pastia]

You put " mainstream standards" in the plural, so I assumed you had another one to mention than Kleiber's, and was curious to know which.

[Valentino]

What excitement!  What intensity! 

FL

Is this still in print?

I have their D887. Cost me a lot at Arkiv, but worth all the dollars. The disk coupling is LvB op. 95. If we have a fire I'll rescue this CD first.

[james66]

Been thinking of getting a complete set of Schubert's sonatas. Already have some Richter, Volodos and Staier. Came across Alain Planes' complete Harmonia Mundi set. Does anyone have any opinion as to the quality of his playing? In general, I prefer HIP performances, but with Schubert, both Volodos and (especially) Richter are superb. Thanks.

[Herman]

Why don't you check out Kempff, Lupu and Brendel first?