Past Purchases (CLOSED)

[ezodisy]

I can certainly say that I can't sing songs that I don't like very well, so I can totally understand Richter (or anyone else) not wanting to play something that they don't like. Better to hear an artist perform stuff that they are excited about.

yeah but you know that with Richter it was also a matter of not playing what he thought he couldn't add to, or improve on, or show in a different light. I suspect there were many works he liked which he didn't play for that reason. In any case this is something to admire greatly, not criticise, obviously.

[ChamberNut]

Completely impulse purchases last night  :

Boccherini - 6 String Quintets, Op. 20, Vol. V

La Magnifica Comunita
Brilliant

Haydn - Op. 20, 1-3 String Quartets "Sun Quartets"

Kodaly SQ
Naxos

Vaughn Williams - Phantasy Quintet, String Quartets 1 & 2

Maggini Quartet w/ Garfield Jackson, viola II
Naxos

[Harry]

Completely impulse purchases last night  :

Boccherini - 6 String Quintets, Op. 20, Vol. V

La Magnifica Comunita
Brilliant

Haydn - Op. 20, 1-3 String Quartets "Sun Quartets"

Kodaly SQ
Naxos

Vaughn Williams - Phantasy Quintet, String Quartets 1 & 2

Maggini Quartet w/ Garfield Jackson, viola II
Naxos

And non of them you will regret Ray!

[ChamberNut]

And non of them you will regret Ray!

Well, I'm already royally impressed by the Vaughn Williams.  The Phantasy Quintet is beautiful!!

And it was just a matter of time before I got the Haydn Op. 20 into my hands.

[BorisG]

yeah but you know that with Richter it was also a matter of not playing what he thought he couldn't add to, or improve on, or show in a different light. I suspect there were many works he liked which he didn't play for that reason. In any case this is something to admire greatly, not criticise, obviously.

Agree for the most part, since I wrote, "We are fortunate to have them, and anything else."

The folk that see disservice in cherry-picking, I understand also. It is more than consumerism.

If one records most or a good portion of a composer's work (not a body of work, but a specific work, like the aforementioned Chopin or Shostakovich) then why not finish it? Finish it, or stay away from it.

I don't think these people begrudge one or two etudes or preludes being used in a recital or encore. But when a pianist chooses to use many but not all in one sitting or setting, it is easy to get the wrong impression of an artist altering a composer's work by omission.

No doubt, this is what crossed Shostakovich's mind when he posed the question to Richter. Artist integrity for both performer and composer is the issue.

[Henk]

[MN Dave]

[MN Dave]

Also...

1. Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Keyboard - Moroney; Holloway; Sheppard

2. Bach: Flute Sonatas - McGillivary; Cole; Davis

[M forever]

(the above Ravel bought on M forever's recommendation)

That's always a good idea.    You chose wisely. Now what you need to get next, since you like to listen to and review recordings of Tchaikovsky symphonies without ever having heard Mravinsky's epochal recordings on DG, is this:



This "Originals" release sounds slightly better than the original CD release. What few people know is that when DG taped this in London and Vienna, they also recorded the Leningrad Philharmonic in a suite from Khatchaturian's "Gayaneh" and Tchaikovsky's "Francesca da Rimini", both conducted by Rozhdestvensky. Rather than splitting the 5th symphony across 2 discs, they could have released a nice 3 disc set with these as fillers.

Bad analogy: I for one would find it very interesting to hear what North Koreans think about country music. 

Good comeback. I give you 7.2 points for that.

[Daverz]

Why not just use the Modify button instead of making all these consecutive posts?

Here's an all Naxos purchase from Caiman (AKA Tower.com).

Yay, Claire came through.  All 5 discs in one box.  I think I'll start using the tower.com site more often.

[Heather Harrison]

Louise Farrenc - Symphony No. 2; Overtures.  NDR Orchestra/Goritzki.  I first heard Louise Farrenc's music in a recent concert of chamber music, and I was impressed.  So I started acquiring CDs.  A while back I bought cpo's release of Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3, and I just got this one.  CDs of her chamber music will likely be in my next order.  Her orchestral music is quite powerful, and the music sounds somewhat conservative for its time (although still often quite original); she was a contemporary of Schumann but sounds more like Beethoven.  I found Symphony No. 2 to be perhaps the most unusual of the three, and I'll want to listen to it a few times to try to figure it out.  It is quite complex and forceful, and includes some intricate counterpoint.  The overtures are also quite interesting and complex, and even a bit bombastic.  This music blows away the stereotype that was often applied to women at the time - that they could only compose light salon music.  I would recommend this to anyone who wants to move beyond the well-known composers and check out other symphonies of the mid-19th Century.  I would also recommend the other CD (Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3); both are dark and powerful minor-key works.  This makes me want to check out other CDs in cpo's series of little-known symphonies.  I'll have to look back through this thread and see what Harry has been buying - I seem to remember that he listed a number of them not too long ago.



Helene Grimaud - Reflection.  Includes Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto (with Esa-Pekka Salonen), three lieder by Clara Schumann (with Anne Sofie von Otter), Brahms' Cello Sonata No. 1 (with Truls Mork), and Brahms - Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79.  This is quite a varied program, focusing on three composers who were very closely associated with each other.  I liked Schumann's Piano Concerto, but I'll have to listen closely to the other performances in my collection to see how this compares.  For some reason, I haven't paid close attention to that concerto in the past (although I have listened to it on occasion for years).  This recording rekindled my interest.  The lieder by Clara Schumann are quite lovely.  Grimaud's piano sometimes seems a bit dominant, but overall they come off well.  There is better balance in the Brahms Cello Sonata; I thought it was played well and was not overdone.  The Rhapsodies are a nice way to close out the disc; I don't know those pieces well, but Grimaud seemed to give a spirited performance of them.



Helene Grimaud:  Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 (with Staatskapelle Dresden/Jurowski); Piano Sonata No. 28, Op. 101.  This is another good CD of piano music.  For all the attention I have paid to Beethoven's symphonies and string quartets, I have been somewhat neglectful of his piano music, so I don't have a lot to compare this CD with.  The "Emperor" concerto came off well; it is quite a lively and powerful performance, and the recording is clear and bright.  The Sonata (which I don't know well) was also a compelling and interesting piece of music, and the performance flows well.



Schoenberg & Sibelius - Violin Concertos.  Hilary Hahn; conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.  The difficult Schoenberg concerto is what attracted me to this CD; it is not often encountered, so I thought I should take advantage (especially since the 40% off coupon at Borders brought the price to a very reasonable level).  The music is quite beautiful, and Hahn (as I expected) plays well, bringing out the emotional quality of the music.  The Sibelius is, of course, better known.  I have heard her play it in concert, so it is nice to have it on CD.  I'll have to compare this with the old Heifetz recording and see which one I like better, but my first impression of this one is favorable.

I just went to Barnes & Noble and took advantage of their buy 2 get 1 free sale on classical CDs, so I'll have more to add to this thread shortly.

Heather

[hautbois]

Prokofieff: Skythische Suite
Strawinsky: Konzert für Klavier und Holzbläser
Feu d'artifice Op. 4
Debussy: Fragments Symphoniques aus "Le Martyre de St. Sébastien"

Valery Gergiev, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Toradze, piano.

[eyeresist]

I've avoided this thread till now, from fear of embarrassing myself, but here goes. In this last week I ordered:

Balakirev symphonies and piano concertos/Sinaisky
Brahms symphonies DVD/Norrington
Dvorak symphonies 6 and 7/Talich
Fibich symphonies 1-3/Sejna
Prokofiev violin concertos/Vengerov
Shostakovich complete symphonies/Kondrashin
Shost cello concertos/Rodin
Shost violin concertos/Vengerov
Sibelius symphonies 4-7/Karajan DG
Smetana Ma Vlast/Talich (1954)


When the hell will I find time to listen to all this stuff?!

Stop me before I kill spend again!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

This makes me want to check out other CDs in cpo's series of little-known symphonies.  I'll have to look back through this thread and see what Harry has been buying - I seem to remember that he listed a number of them not too long ago.

My advice: take out a loan and rent some storage space.

[Harry]

My advice: take out a loan and rent some storage space.

I am still laughing Johan......

[The new erato]

Incoming stuff:

DG Originals: Saint-Saens: Symphony No.3 "Organ"; Bacchanale from "Samson et Dalila"; Prélude from "Le Déluge"; Danse macabre
DG Originals: Stravinsky: Three Dances from Petruschka'/ Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.7 / Webern: Piano Variations
Cpo: Sallinen - Symphonies Nos 1 & 7
RCA MUNCH, CHARLES Saint-Saens, Ibert, D'indy, Franck, (double)
Naxos Historical: CHOPIN Piano Sonata No. 2, Ballade No. 4 etc , Horowitz
Brilliant: Berwald symphonies, Danish NRSO/Thomas Dausgaard (double)
Brilliant: Dowland Lute music, Lindbergh (4CD set)
Warner: Ligeti The Ligeti Project 1-5, (5CD)
Sony: Ligeti vol 2
Sony: Ligeti vol 4
DG: Sibelius/Schønberg, Hahn
EMI: DUTILLEUX Le Loup - fragments symphoniques, Tout le monde lointain, L'arbre des songes, Metaboles, The Shadows of Time (double)
Everest: TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca Da Rimini, Hamlet. Stadium Orchestra of New York / Leopold Stokowski.
Virgin: TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3, Concert Fantasy, Mikhail Pletnev, The Philharmonia / Vladimir Fedoseyev (double)

[Renfield]

Just received a package myself: Gielen's Brahms cycle, Norrington's later Beethoven cycle, and a few historical treats.

[Kwoon]

Bought 3 yesterday at Borders, with a "40% off" coupon plus a "$5 off" coupon:

Tchaikovsky: violin concerto; Shostakovich: violin concerto #1 (Midori/Abbado, Sony)

Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Bjorling/Cellini, EMI)

Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy, Ziguenerweisen, etc.; Falla, Granados, Halffter, Albeniz (Perlman, EMI)

I've bought only 6 CDs so far this year!

[Harry]

Will be released in June, and since someone recommended this recording, I don't know who, sorry, I pre ordered it.

[BorisG]

I've bought only 6 CDs so far this year!

You used to purchase that many in an hour.