Classical Artists Blind Comparison Thread #5 (Chopin's Berceuse)

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Nice job. 10 very worth while interpretations. Each one had it's merits. As was the case last time my preferences changed after multiple listens. In the end the top three were clear for me and so were the bottom three. I could still move the middle four around again tomorrow but I had to find a stopping point. Funny thing, the one I ended up liking best, #10 was middle of the pack first time around. My comments were really well played but kinda boring. Funny thing that with each listen boring turned into really refined and nuanced. This was the one that pretty much had nothing I did not love about it, except the humming!! I thought in might be Gould who was famous for that nonsense but this really didn't sound like anything Gould would do. #9 was my favorite out of the gate and stayed near the top. There were just a few little phrasing issues for me.

At any rate.

#1. 10
#2. 9
#3. 3
#4. 6
#5. 5
#6. 1
#7. 8
#8. 7
#9. 4
#10. 2
__________________

 

wow so I picked one of my favorite pianists. I didn't even know he had recorded this one. I dunno though. This was a tough one. I might not have picked him last week or next week. Honestly they were all at least very good.

 

I only had 9. Don't know what happened to 10. Oopsie. Pretty sure my numbers were right though, because 5 was Hofmann.

 

I don't want to water things down.

 

Very interesting list, no major surprises or upsets for me (and nothing embarrassing like the Alicia de Larrocha) but fascinating nonetheless. I'd have never have guessed #4 (my no.4) was from 1938, it sounds really good for that era. I haven't heard of #1, #3, #8 and #9 though, and #5 and #10 only vaguely.

Also interesting that, whatever my earlier reservations towards him, Cortot for the second time in this series has come up fairly high in my blind choices (was #3 out of 8 for the Chopin chromatic etude); guess your advocacy is subconsciously starting to win me over...

 

Darre was a dark horse in this race and she clearly got the most top votes. I was lucky enough to grab about 4 of her Chopin CDs last year, but I have yet to hear them all. I am now very curious to hear them.

Do you own any of his Chopin?

 

You have no reason to be embarrassed by your low ranking of Alicia De Larrocha's Fur Elise. Even our favorite artists will make some choices that don't work for us at all.

 

I don't own any of Cortot's music yet; in fact I'm ashamed to admit (especially as he's supposed to be among my favourite composers) that apart from a recording of the first piano sonata (a very dull student piece obviously written to order, one of very few Chopin clunkers) that I got as a freebie with a music magazine, I don't have any Chopin on CD at all! I've always loved playing his music, or listening to performances on the radio or in concerts and played some of my Dad's numerous Chopin CDs, but there's still a gaping hole in my collection which I haven't got round to filling. What would you be your favourite/most essential Chopin CD (I love the mazurkas, ballades and especially his later music best)? And your favourite Cortot CD, with or without Chopin?

 

A tough choice. Since I also love the Ballades (and reviewed a few dozen sets awhile ago), I will suggest Moravec's. Great sound and performance.



You said only one, but the Mazurka sets that I like are (in these specific masterings) the two early Rubinstein (traditional but so enjoyable, the earliest (first pictured) being the more interesting of the two), the Luisada ((recently reissued (see image below) avoid the RCA redo) slower and lots of rubato) and Wasowski (OOP, but the sound and performance is to die for.)

or

Another impossible task. I'd say this CD:



Here you get his best (1933) recording of the Preludes, his 1933 Impromptus, his 1933 Barcarolle and his 1949 Prelude in c sharp minor and his 1949 Berceuse (different than the one that I posted.) Avoid the more filtered remaster. For more of his Chopin, see the 5 Naxos Historical titles. The EMI box is great too, but I'd get that last.

His Schumann is maybe even better than his Chopin, IMO. If you ever see any of his three Schumann Biddulph CDs (OOP), grab them. I didn't even like Carnaval until I heard him play it.

 

Interesting and rewarding lineup, George, and one that obviously took no little amount of thought to assemble. Thanks--I enjoyed it!

One of the virtues of this series is that it puts to the test one's stated (knowing) preferences for performers. So far, I'm glad to say, I really do seem to like who I like--in the present case, I gave top honors to Moiseiwitsch, one of my absolute favorites, and giving a near 2d to von Koczalski just reopens the old wound that I once bought a few but not all of the von Koczalski 78s that were at an estate sale because I was curious but had never heard of him. Turns out that (a) I *really* liked what I bought, (b) his records uniformly go for very fancy prices, and (c) those are the sole examples of his records that I've ever seen in the flesh, as opposed to on an auction list or in a mail order catalogue. Sigh. Anyhow, it was a pleasure to find that a blind encounter reconfirmed my earlier impression. At the other end of the spectrum, I was interested to find Hofmann at the bottom of my list; I'll acknowledge all claims to his greatness, but somehow, I blush to say, what I've heard of his records has never made my heart go pitty-pat as have those of, say, Moiseiwitsch.

 

Oh dear- a sea of names and almost all foriegn (to me) again . I have clearly led a sheltered life.

Number 9 was a favourite for me, so I shall have to find some recordings by Darre. Why was she the dark horse George? She was not as well known as the others in her time?

As a result of this, I also discovered Brailowsky while scoping Utoob for alternative Bercs, whom I had never heard of either.

However, highly educational although this has been, overall I will be sticking with my original preference, Guiomar Novaes.

All in all, an excellent round George .

 

The good news is the Marston label has been issuing his complete recordings on CD. Volume 1, a 2CD set is already out:



http://www.marstonrecords.com/koczalski/koczalski_tracks.htm

For the most part, I absolutely share your view. Over the last few years, Moiseiwitsch has quickly become one of my favorite pianists. However, I find some of Hofmann's stuff, especially the Casimir Recital, absolutely essential. Marston usually only produces 1000 of their CD releases, but in this case, the demand was so high, private funds were offered to the label to print more. It's truly a special release.



http://www.marstonrecords.com/hofmannv6/hofmannv6_tracks.htm

 

Well, any avowed admirer of the "Paderewska of the Pampas" [sic] can't be *too* sheltered! Brailowsky was more popular than professionally admired in his day (see the Abram Chasins book for more), but I've always enjoyed his recordings. He and Charles Munch did a particularly nice account of the Saint-Saens 4th Cto. for Victor.

By the by, I'll bet that you know more *recent* pianists than I, a habitual dweller in the past, do. Just at a thought, care to try your hand at assembling the next round?

 

I'm quite partial to the past as well, if not as quite as past as the last round. Thanks for the invite drh, but a high percentage of my music is on vinyl and I have no digitalizing capability . I'm pretty sure that unless it's Beethoven I couldn't muster enough versions of the same piano piece either. If people have no moral objection to me using 'torrented' pieces (with all that may, or may not, imply), I can probably organize one sometime in the future.

 

Is your stereo close enough to your computer to run a cheap patch cable from the aux outs to the line in of your sound card? If so, I can walk you through setting up a rudimentary dubbing capacity. (Not necessarily to put together stuff for this thread; just thought you might enjoy being able to do it!)

 

Doesn't look like anyone is jumping in so I guess I will do the next one. Although, if no one minds, I'd like to do two in a row since they are ready to go and work well IMO with the previous five

 

Thanks. Main rig is 2 floors away, but second system is nearby - 10 feet, so doable. At the moment Scott may need your computer skills more than me tho..if he still has an intact computer....

For future consideration - I guess I need a 2xrca to minijack; anything else? No special soundcard in my comptur just run of the mill.

 

me I've been trying to figure out if I have six of anything!

I guess there's always YouTube....

 

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=281037

FINALLY!!!!!!

I am going to go visit Microsoft and gice the first fifty geeks I see wedgies, wet willies and then a swift push into the bushes.

Brahms Intermezzo #2 Op 118

 

Yes, you'll need a patch cable that has 2 RCA plugs at one end and the appropriate plug for the line in of your computer's sound card at the other. Probably, as you say, a 1/8" miniphone jack. The built in card, whatever it may be, probably won't give as good results as something more exalted, but it should be good enough to start.

Anyhow, what you'll need from there is a sound recording/editing program of some sort. I still use an antique: Cool Edit 96. I got it as a freebie all those years ago and then paid the modest license fee to unlock all its features. If still available somewhere, it has the virtue of being extremely easy to get up and running. I'll do a bit of looking and see what's out there for the next step and carry on when it's not so late.

 

It just hit me: are you a Mac user? If so, I'll not be much help, as I'm familiar only with the Wacky World of Windows.

OK, making the perhaps heroic assumption that you are a Windows user, here's a link where, rather amazingly, you can still download a copy of Cool Edit 96. There are certainly newer packages out there that you may wish to explore, but I've found Cool Edit to do everything I want except handle higher-than-CD-resolution files. If you're copying LPs for a portable player or to make CDs for the car, particularly feeding through a PC's stock sound card, that is a total non-issue. As explained at the site, the download file permits you to choose only two options from a menu of features at any given time, but for basic LP dubbing and editing you don't need any more, although way back when I went ahead and licensed my copy just to make it "full functioned" and because I wanted to support the maker. Now, of course, the maker has been swallowed, but that's a different story....

http://www.threechords.com/hammerhead/cool_edit_96.shtml

 

nope - PC user, so we're good. Thanks for the link.