Recordings That You Are Considering

[Mirror Image]

I have almost all that HM series, except the jazz one (I agree with MI on that) and the Melodies, and I may get that before long.

Most of them would qualify as excellent but not essential, and several qualify for the PI label.

I would suggest getting the works that most interest you, and decide from there if you want the rest.

Thank you and to Jens as well. That's a good idea, Jeffrey.

[Madiel]

They certainly look nice. I mean, I know covers aren't the best reason to make purchases but it certainly doesn't hurt when a series has an attractive motif. I'm vaguely considering a few.

[Mirror Image]

They certainly look nice. I mean, I know covers aren't the best reason to make purchases but it certainly doesn't hurt when a series has an attractive motif. I'm vaguely considering a few.

Indeed, which ones have you had your eyes on? To be honest, I don't need any more Debussy recordings, especially since buying those Warner and DG sets (not to mention what I owned before buying those), but this series did pique my interest whenever I read that Harmonia Mundi were going to release a series dedicated to the composer.

[Madiel]

Probably the 3 Sonatas/Late Works one is the most interesting.

Given that I don't really collect performances like most people here, and given that I'm more than happy with Bavouzet's set, I don't really need the piano works.  Similarly, I have all the Melodies thanks to that Hyperion collection, and for most orchestral music I have the Haitink performances that are consistently praised.

But they do look pretty...

[JBS]

Probably the 3 Sonatas/Late Works one is the most interesting.

Given that I don't really collect performances like most people here, and given that I'm more than happy with Bavouzet's set, I don't really need the piano works.  Similarly, I have all the Melodies thanks to that Hyperion collection, and for most orchestral music I have the Haitink performances that are consistently praised.

But they do look pretty...

For you I would suggest the Melnikov (period Erard) and the Muraro, which has the first ever recording of a Messiaen piece  written in homage to Debussy.

[Mirror Image]

Probably the 3 Sonatas/Late Works one is the most interesting.

Given that I don't really collect performances like most people here, and given that I'm more than happy with Bavouzet's set, I don't really need the piano works.  Similarly, I have all the Melodies thanks to that Hyperion collection, and for most orchestral music I have the Haitink performances that are consistently praised.

But they do look pretty...

Yep, I'm in a similar boat as you and the late works recording is the one I'm most interested in as the program itself is rather alluring.

[Madiel]

I've decided to spend a bit of the afternoon sampling them all on iTunes just to see what I think. And because fundamentally I am a total sucker for good sets of things. Note: this is not the same sensation of getting one thing that is a "complete set" (though I do quite like those for their contents), with a set of things it's about form.

Anyway, the Jerusalem Quartet is doing quite a nice job at the moment.

EDIT: 3 albums in and they've all been at the very least interesting. Melnikov's album with the Erard piano has got quite a lot of praise I see, and he certainly succeeds on avoiding the sense of "here's an old piano I knocked up, please bear with it". It does perhaps have a slightly muffled quality to some of the tone, in comparison to really modern pianos, but he's making it work. And the transciption of La Mer sounds pretty impressive.

SECOND EDIT: I'm not hating the "jazz" album, which to me sounds much more like Debussy and less like jazz, and with arrangements/takes that seem to legitimately work. Yes, I seem to be working hard to make myself want this set...

THIRD EDIT: Okay the album from Les Siècle and François-Xavier Roth is jumping out of my computer speakers.

[staxomega]

Indeed, which ones have you had your eyes on? To be honest, I don't need any more Debussy recordings, especially since buying those Warner and DG sets (not to mention what I owned before buying those), but this series did pique my interest whenever I read that Harmonia Mundi were going to release a series dedicated to the composer.

Any favorite performances from either the Warner or DG box? I picked up the Warner mostly to fill some gaps in my collection. I'll need to sample more of the DG.

[Mandryka]

It's a revelation in the sense that John Khouri has made an amazing number of recordings of piano music for someone who can't play the piano....

I was very impressed by what he does with the first scherzo. it makes me really want to hear the nocturnes but I'm just not willing to pay the outrageous elevated price he's askig on cdbaby for mp3. I really don't want the Field.

Added -- just downloaded op 62/1 -- I like what I'm hearing. Colourful, contrapuntal, introspective, deep.  The end is extraordinary -- a trill like at the end of op 111, a sound you couldn't make on a modern piano, and a much more interesting one too. This guy knows what he's doing.  DOWNLOAD IT.

[NikF]

Shostakovich - String Quartets - I'm wondering if there's any reason to buy the earlier Borodin set (1-13) when I already have the later one.
The only other complete set I own is by the Emerson Quartet, along with a couple of disks by the Eder Quartet.

[Mirror Image]

Shostakovich - String Quartets - I'm wondering if there's any reason to buy the earlier Borodin set (1-13) when I already have the later one.
The only other complete set I own is by the Emerson Quartet, along with a couple of disks by the Eder Quartet.

So you own the Borodin one on Melodiya?

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Shostakovich - String Quartets - I'm wondering if there's any reason to buy the earlier Borodin set (1-13) when I already have the later one.
The only other complete set I own is by the Emerson Quartet, along with a couple of disks by the Eder Quartet.

There are two later ones, the one MI mentioned which was also issued by EMI at one point, and a very recent one on Decca.

I like the Fitzwilliam on Decca. It does well at conveying the humor and sarcasm in the works.

[NikF]

So you own the Borodin one on Melodiya?

Yeah, this one -

[NikF]

There are two later ones, the one MI mentioned which was also issued by EMI at one point, and a very recent one on Decca.

I like the Fitzwilliam on Decca. It does well at conveying the humor and sarcasm in the works.

That's one approach I thinking of, having another set that is different enough.

[Daverz]

Shostakovich - String Quartets - I'm wondering if there's any reason to buy the earlier Borodin set (1-13) when I already have the later one.
The only other complete set I own is by the Emerson Quartet, along with a couple of disks by the Eder Quartet.

The older Borodin group had different 1st and 2nd violins:

"After 20 years with the same lineup, difficult times followed in the 1970s: Dubinsky defected to the West, and second violinist Yaroslav Alexandrov retired due to ill health. Having recruited replacements, Berlinsky insisted that the ensemble spend two years out of public attention until the Borodin sound had been fully recreated."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borodin_Quartet

I'd say that the original Borodin's playing is different enough, vivid enough, and well enough recorded to not be just historical curiosities, but essential for Shostakovich fans.

[NikF]

The older Borodin group had different 1st and 2nd violins:

"After 20 years with the same lineup, difficult times followed in the 1970s: Dubinsky defected to the West, and second violinist Yaroslav Alexandrov retired due to ill health. Having recruited replacements, Berlinsky insisted that the ensemble spend two years out of public attention until the Borodin sound had been fully recreated."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borodin_Quartet

I'd say that the original Borodin's playing is different enough, vivid enough, and well enough recorded to not be just historical curiosities, but essential for Shostakovich fans.

Sounds interesting.  And I haven't heard any of that line up at all.

[Mirror Image]

Yeah, this one -

That particular Borodin is my go-to set and I own several: the earlier Borodin (reissued on Chandos), the Emersons (DG), the Pacificas (Cedille), and the Brodskys (Teldec). I never felt the need to buy any other cycles.

[Mirror Image]

Probably the 3 Sonatas/Late Works one is the most interesting.

Given that I don't really collect performances like most people here, and given that I'm more than happy with Bavouzet's set, I don't really need the piano works.  Similarly, I have all the Melodies thanks to that Hyperion collection, and for most orchestral music I have the Haitink performances that are consistently praised.

But they do look pretty...

Yeah...well, I ended up buying them all except for the jazz one.

[North Star]

Shostakovich - String Quartets - I'm wondering if there's any reason to buy the earlier Borodin set (1-13) when I already have the later one.
The only other complete set I own is by the Emerson Quartet, along with a couple of disks by the Eder Quartet.

To offer some help in a typical GMG fashion, if I was to get more cycles to supplement the Emersons & Borodins, I would look into these three, especially the Danel, whose Weinberg set is magnificent.
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[asin]B004OWN868[/asin]
[asin]B00M3ECNDI[/asin]

[NikF]

That particular Borodin is my go-to set and I own several: the earlier Borodin (reissued on Chandos), the Emersons (DG), the Pacificas (Cedille), and the Brodskys (Teldec). I never felt the need to buy any other cycles.

I'm happy enough with it to the point of it being one of probably the two or three favourite recordings I own. It's just a case of considering performances that take a different approach and perhaps complement in another way.