Recordings That You Are Considering

[Todd]

I have Vanessa Benelli Mosell's Liszt recording on Brilliant Classics. My MusicWeb review began, "This is the hardest kind of CD to review, because I have no strong feelings about it one way or the other." One of my colleagues was much more favorable about both of her previous (non-Decca) recordings. She seems to lean towards virtuoso show-offy stuff.

If she has the chops for it, and she wants to build a career, that may be a good way to do it.  Hopefully she's not just another Olga Scheps, physically beautiful but bereft of notable talent.

I stumbled upon this cornucopia of limited releases while looking for new releases by Pietro di Maria.  His Bach and the Lifits Schubert are the ones I deem most intriguing, but as I wrote before, they all pique my interest.  Even now one must hunt in specific countries for some titles, a few of them astoundingly good or even great.  Italy is not in the same league as Japan or France in that regard, at least yet.

God help us un-photogenic (and as yet unknown) musicians!

There's always photoshop.  Now, I'm not saying any of the above shots were manipulated in any way . . .

[Karl Henning]

Karl Henning: the artist even Photoshop could not save.

[betterthanfine]

IOW a bunch of pretty people playing classical music.

We must have a very different definition of the word 'pretty'... Most of these folks are fairly average looking, I'd say. Just photographed and edited well.

[Brian]

[Jo498]

This is only the suites (about an hour). I had this disc (with a Klimt cover) and it was enjoyable but I do not care enough about the music to keep several recordings of them besides the whole ballet, so I did not keep it and cannot be more specific

[André]

Karl Böhm: The Late Recordings: with the WP, SD and LSO. To be released in June 2015. Here is the list of recordings, copied from a french classical music site:


CD 1: Beethoven: Symphony no. 9 – Norman, Domingo, WP
CD 2: Beethoven: Overtures Egmont, Coriolanus, Prometheus – WP
+ Fidelio, Leonore III – Staatskapelle Dresden
CD 3 – 4: Beethoven: Missa Solemnis – WP
CD 5: Bruckner: Symphony no. 7 – WP
CD 6: Bruckner: Symphony no. 8 – WP
CD 7: Haydn: Symphonies nos. 88, 89, 90 – WP
CD 8: Haydn: Symphonies nos. 91, 92, Sinfonia concertante – WP
CD 9: Mozart: Symphonies nos. 29, 35, Masonic Funeral Music – WP
CD 10: Mozart: Symphonies nos. 38, 39 – WP
CD 11: Mozart: Symphonies nos. 40, 41 – WP
CD 12: Mozart: "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" KV 525 and Sinfonia Concertante 297b – WP
CD 13: Mozart: Requiem – WP
CD 14: Schumann: Symphony no. 4 + Schubert: Symphony no. 5 – WP
CD 15: Schubert Symphony no. 8 + Dvořák: Symphony no. 9 – WP
CD 16: Schubert Symphony no. 9/Staatskapelle Dresden (live)
CD 17: Johann Strauss: Walzer – WP
CD 18: Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (1975) – WP
CD 19: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 – LSO
CD 20: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 – LSO
CD 21: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 – LSO
CD 22: Wagner: Orchestral Music I – WP
CD 23: Wagner: Orchestral Music II – WP


.................

Not all of it is quite 'late' (the Beethovens date from 1969-1971), and not all of Böhm's DGG legacy from the period is included (for example his Vienna Don Giovanni with Merrill, his Brahms symphonies with the WP or his Beethoven and Mozart piano concertos).

[ritter]

Karl Böhm: The Late Recordings: with the WP, SD and LSO. To be released in June 2015.

+1 (even if I have about 1/3 of its contents in my collection already)...

[kishnevi]

IOW a bunch of pretty people playing classical music.



Well, except for that last guy - how'd he get past the bouncer?

And why did he have one nonmatching shoelace dangling like that?

[Todd]

More UMG Italy stuff.  Looks like Mr Bahrami has been recording a whole lotta Bach.  Don made a comment on this recording in 2007, the watchword being speed, but has anyone else heard anything by this guy?

[prémont]

More UMG Italy stuff.  Looks like Mr Bahrami has been recording a whole lotta Bach.  Don made a comment on this recording in 2007, the watchword being speed, but has anyone else heard anything by this guy?

Do not know his Goldbergs, but I own his Art of Fugue, the style of which I would call middle of the road.

[Brian]

More UMG Italy stuff.  Looks like Mr Bahrami has been recording a whole lotta Bach.  Don made a comment on this recording in 2007, the watchword being speed, but has anyone else heard anything by this guy?

Not to be confused with the acclaimed film director http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramin_Bahrani

[kishnevi]

Does anyone have an opinion about Gergiev's cycle of Shostakovich symphonies with the Mariinsky?  I mean these SACDs, rather than the DVD box:

    ...etc.

It's not like I really need another set - I already have complete cycles from Kondrashin, Barshai, Rozhdestvensky, Kitajenko, Jansons, Petrenko - plus a great many singles (e.g. about 15 4ths.)

I'm also aware - having seen Gergiev in concert in London over the past few years - how hit-and-miss his performances can be.  His Mahler cycle with the LSO being, at best, somewhat mixed.

OTOH my Concert Of The Year 2014 was Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky in Shchedrin.  When I consider how nearly I walked out - along with a goodly part of the audience - when it was announced that Gergiev would be turning up at least an hour late, if at all, but we were welcome to wait around just in case.  Worth waiting for?  Not half.

So I would hate to think I might be missing out on anything special here.  But am reluctant to splash out significant cash just to find out.  So does anyone have any recommendations?  Maybe at least one disk worth trying?

Bought the first two but never found myself excited about them.

The one Gergiev DSCH recording I heartily suggest is the Fourth, back when his orchestra was still the Kirov and the label was Philips not Decca.

[Mirror Image]

Does anyone have an opinion about Gergiev's cycle of Shostakovich symphonies with the Mariinsky?  I mean these SACDs, rather than the DVD box:

    ...etc.

It's not like I really need another set - I already have complete cycles from Kondrashin, Barshai, Rozhdestvensky, Kitajenko, Jansons, Petrenko - plus a great many singles (e.g. about 15 4ths.)

I'm also aware - having seen Gergiev in concert in London over the past few years - how hit-and-miss his performances can be.  His Mahler cycle with the LSO being, at best, somewhat mixed.

OTOH my Concert Of The Year 2014 was Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky in Shchedrin.  When I consider how nearly I walked out - along with a goodly part of the audience - when it was announced that Gergiev would be turning up at least an hour late, if at all, but we were welcome to wait around just in case.  Worth waiting for?  Not half.

So I would hate to think I might be missing out on anything special here.  But am reluctant to splash out significant cash just to find out.  So does anyone have any recommendations?  Maybe at least one disk worth trying?

I prefer Gergiev's earlier recordings of Shostakovich on Philips by a wide margin. These performances on the Mariinsky label are terribly underpowered. If you own the earlier set of Gergiev's, this series doesn't offer much of an enhancement to that already well-established set. Just my two cents of course.

[jlaurson]

Does anyone have an opinion about Gergiev's cycle of Shostakovich symphonies with the Mariinsky?  I mean these SACDs, rather than the DVD box:

    ...etc.

It's not like I really need another set - I already have complete cycles from Kondrashin, Barshai, Rozhdestvensky, Kitajenko, Jansons, Petrenko - plus a great many singles (e.g. about 15 4ths.)

I'm also aware - having seen Gergiev in concert in London over the past few years - how hit-and-miss his performances can be.  His Mahler cycle with the LSO being, at best, somewhat mixed.

OTOH my Concert Of The Year 2014 was Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky in Shchedrin.  When I consider how nearly I walked out - along with a goodly part of the audience - when it was announced that Gergiev would be turning up at least an hour late, if at all, but we were welcome to wait around just in case.  Worth waiting for?  Not half.

So I would hate to think I might be missing out on anything special here.  But am reluctant to splash out significant cash just to find out.  So does anyone have any recommendations?  Maybe at least one disk worth trying?

I would say: No. There are good ones among the bunch... and the level is high enough... but not special enough to warrant splurging if you already have other cycles you like. I've liked it without being involved and I think I have all of the ones that are out... even if I might have a few as-of-yet unlistened-to. Am looking forward to listening the 9th, though, because Gergiev does humor in DSCH very well and I've heard that with him live and was very excited.

[Mandryka]

Has anyone heard Sweelinck's keyboard music  on Glossa? The set with the same performers more or less as NM. I assume that they think it's an improvement on the NM, or they wouldn't have made it. But it's very expensive, I think the current form is a sort of limited edition. I'm reluctant to take a punt unless I hear a good review.

[Mirror Image]

Excellent responses, gentlemen - thank you for that, it's very helpful.

Truth is there are too many other contenders for the cash with higher priority, so I will be giving these a miss.

But I did manage to grab an "as new" Philips box of 4-9 for 20 quid at Amazon marketplace earlier today.  Thank you also for the tip about those.

Excellent choice. Hope you enjoy that Gergiev set --- it's certainly some of his finest work IMHO.

[elotito]

Will be a while yet if I choose to get these but:


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[jlaurson]

Will be a while yet if I choose to get these but:

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St.John Passion Butt Review: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/12/dip-your-ears-no-165-butt-passion-redux.html
Tough one. If you are looking JUST for the music, probably Suzuki. If you are looking for something beyond that, Butt is most (and more) intriguing. (My choice, if not limited to those two, would be Herreweghe, I suppose.)


The St.Matthew Passion of Butt's (the first recording of the 1742 performing version) made it onto my "2008 - Almost List": http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-recordings-of-2008-almost-list.html
It might be noted that some of the singing is below what I, spoiled as we are with superb recordings, should expect... but not by much. It's a very good M-Passion. The Kuijken II is one recording I have not actually heard yet... lamentably. (That ignorance taken into consideration, my choice would be Herreweghe II, Jacobs, or Harnoncourt III.)


The Mass in B-Minor of Butt's is by far his weakest... here the singing really let him down. The B-Minor by van Veldhoven, meanwhile, is in my estimation one of the greatest Bach-recordings ever made. The choice is very, very, very easy: Veldhoven for the win. Part of my "Best of 2007" for WETA 90.9 -- albeit in a segment not yet restored on ionarts. It's attached as a .pdf, if that works. Here's a comparative review between Suzukis' B-minor and van Veldhoven's: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2007/12/bachs-mass-in-b-minor.html

p.s. This may contain a kernel of interest re: St.John & St.Matthew Passion, too: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2015/04/03/bach-beyond-music-for-the-easter-weekend/

[elotito]

St.John Passion Butt Review: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/12/dip-your-ears-no-165-butt-passion-redux.html
Tough one. If you are looking JUST for the music, probably Suzuki. If you are looking for something beyond that, Butt is most (and more) intriguing. (My choice, if not limited to those two, would be Herreweghe, I suppose.)


The St.Matthew Passion of Butt's (the first recording of the 1742 performing version) made it onto my "2008 - Almost List": http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-recordings-of-2008-almost-list.html
It might be noted that some of the singing is below what I, spoiled as we are with superb recordings, should expect... but not by much. It's a very good M-Passion. The Kuijken II is one recording I have not actually heard yet... lamentably. (That ignorance taken into consideration, my choice would be Herreweghe II, Jacobs, or Harnoncourt III.)


The Mass in B-Minor of Butt's is by far his weakest... here the singing really let him down. The B-Minor by van Veldhoven, meanwhile, is in my estimation one of the greatest Bach-recordings ever made. The choice is very, very, very easy: Veldhoven for the win. Part of my "Best of 2007" for WETA 90.9 -- albeit in a segment not yet restored on ionarts. It's attached as a .pdf, if that works. Here's a comparative review between Suzukis' B-minor and van Veldhoven's: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2007/12/bachs-mass-in-b-minor.html

p.s. This may contain a kernel of interest re: St.John & St.Matthew Passion, too: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2015/04/03/bach-beyond-music-for-the-easter-weekend/

Thanks for all the useful information, very much appreciated!
That's very high praise for Veldhoven, I have heard other great things about it so probably will go for that one. I think Suzuki might be the winner for St John, I have heard it and enjoyed it immensely. I always tend to lean toward Suzuki with Bach, both in vocal works and keyboard.

The St Matthew is somewhat more difficult, I've heard the Herreweghe II and I felt that the singers sounded a bit too operatic, if that makes any sense. I'm not keen on big wobbly voices and that was one thing that put me off Herreweghe II. I don't think I've heard the other two you recommend so I will try to check them out. Jacobs is an interesting mention, I love the Christmas Oratorio by him so he could be interesting in this one.

Thanks again.

[kishnevi]

Does anyone have an opinion about Gergiev's cycle of Shostakovich symphonies with the Mariinsky?  I mean these SACDs, rather than the DVD box:

    ...etc.

It's not like I really need another set - I already have complete cycles from Kondrashin, Barshai, Rozhdestvensky, Kitajenko, Jansons, Petrenko - plus a great many singles (e.g. about 15 4ths.)

I'm also aware - having seen Gergiev in concert in London over the past few years - how hit-and-miss his performances can be.  His Mahler cycle with the LSO being, at best, somewhat mixed.

OTOH my Concert Of The Year 2014 was Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky in Shchedrin.  When I consider how nearly I walked out - along with a goodly part of the audience - when it was announced that Gergiev would be turning up at least an hour late, if at all, but we were welcome to wait around just in case.  Worth waiting for?  Not half.

So I would hate to think I might be missing out on anything special here.  But am reluctant to splash out significant cash just to find out.  So does anyone have any recommendations?  Maybe at least one disk worth trying?

Addendum.  I ordered the newest installment Symphony 9 and the First Violin Concerto and will report on it.  But I got it for the VC. I am a sucker for that concerto.  Kavakos is the soloist