The one recording you think everyone should bin

[George]

My enemies are human and they need to be loved, just like everybody else does. 

[Haffner]

Hearing Gould speak ill of Mozart made me cringe! 

As to these sonatas, the tempi are eggregiously slow. He seems desperate to remove the Mozart from these sonatas. A miserable set.

Steve said it. AVOID. I only keep mine because I'm becoming and insufferable "collector".

[Guido]

This CD contains some of the worst playing I have ever heard on a commercially produced CD. I am a big time Naxos fan and this is the only 'miss' I have ever experienced from them. I find it surprising that such a shoddy effort was produced on a potentially popular collecetion. But there we are!

[Mark]

This CD contains some of the worst playing I have ever heard on a commercially produced CD. I am a big time Naxos fan and this is the only 'miss' I have ever experienced from them. I find it surprising that such a shoddy effort was produced on a potentially popular collecetion. But there we are!

Well, that told me. I rather like that disc.

[Guido]

But its so out of tune! Can't beat the 'original' release of Fratres with the 12 cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. Ever. The playing also has a certain cool dissinterest to it in general, or atleast that is my memory of it. Perhaps I should listen again?

[Mark]

But its so out of tune! Can't beat the 'original' release of Fratres with the 12 cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. Ever. The playing also has a certain cool dissinterest to it in general, or atleast that is my memory of it. Perhaps I should listen again?

Re-listen to track 3 of that Naxos release. I find it incredible sensual, and often feel it belongs to a scene from an erotically charged thriller or a literary novel adaptation.

[PerfectWagnerite]

This CD contains some of the worst playing I have ever heard on a commercially produced CD. I am a big time Naxos fan and this is the only 'miss' I have ever experienced from them. I find it surprising that such a shoddy effort was produced on a potentially popular collecetion. But there we are!

I have the Berliner Mass and the Passio on Naxos and I must say it is some of the most somnabulistic music out there. How anyone can stand it is beyond me. Each CD has about 3 minutes worth of material stretched into an hour.

[not edward]

Any of Urania's "let's take the worst commercially available transfer, boost the bass till it sounds like white noise, then add masses of reverb" pirate issues.

[BorisG]

Is it the music or the performances that you find so lacking?  Or perhaps a combination of the two?  This certainly isn't my favorite recording, but it's way too good for my enemies.

I was anxious to hear. While store browsing and seeing it as used, it brought back more than several positive comments and reviews for it, and no negative. These are not amongst Mozart's oft-recorded works, but that is partly why I was attracted to it. That, and the artists of course.

My strong disagreement is with the poor recorded sound. Some good performance is destroyed by uncaring engineering. Doopsgezinde-Kerk, Haarlem, Netherlands, a church used for many HIP recordings, sounds hollow here. Hollow in Holland! Too, the instruments seem about 30 to 40 feet apart. The fortepiano's terribly recessed.

[George]

Any of Urania's "let's take the worst commercially available transfer, boost the bass till it sounds like white noise, then add masses of reverb" pirate issues.

[George]

Steve said it. AVOID. I only keep mine because I'm becoming and insufferable "collector".

Welcome to the club. 

[The Mad Hatter]

Steve said it. AVOID. I only keep mine because I'm becoming and insufferable "collector".

...

...

...

I really want to hear them now...

[Wendell_E]

What is it about Thielemann's work that seems so sharply to divide critical opinion? Some say he's the new Karajan (or at least, made in 'His' image), while others find his direction torturous to the point of shapelessness.

Some might say that calling him "the new Karajan" isn't exactly a compliment, either.   

I hate my enemies so much, their isn't any crappy recording I wouldn't wish upon them.

[Mark]

This steaming pile of manure:



... although I did send my copy to a member of this forum (sorry about that ).

Seriously, this is awful. The clues that it's going to be are all there in the first movement. Why, oh, why such slow tempi? Such drawn out phrasing? Such a turgid cadenza ... which goes on for so long that you actually forget what the hell you're listening to by the time the main theme returns. I won't go further - it'll only raise my blood pressure. Instead, I'll sum it up in a word: AVOID!

[George]

This steaming pile of manure:

Let no one say that this man does not do words. 

[Mark]

Let no one say that this man does not do words. 

Very charitable of you, George. Particularly as you were the 'victim' of this gift.

[George]

Very charitable of you, George. Particularly as you were the 'victim' of this gift.

Yeah, with friends like you...

[Guido]

I remember reading an interview with Vengerov where he stated that he was not used to Rostropovich's slow speeds in the Beethoven but trusted Rostropovich enough musically to comply. Apparently it didn't pay off.

[Mark]

Oh yeah. That's right, Vengerov. Blame Slava now he's not here to defend himself. Why you little ...

[Gurn Blanston]

Oh yeah. That's right, Vengerov. Blame Slava now he's not here to defend himself. Why you little ...

Could well be true though, Mark, I saw Vengerov play the VC with the NYPO / Maazel a couple years ago and he zipped right through it with no problems at all. It's just that when you put something like that on a recording, you are immortalizing your failures, why would you do that?