Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #1)

Of recordings that you can find, Toscanini and the NBC SO (many admire his recording with your hometown Philadelphia orchestra even more, but I'm partial to the later effort). Of recordings that you probably can't, Frederick Stock leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I have it on Columbia 78s, and I'm not aware of any CD reissue, although I suppose it could have shown up on the Harmony LP series somewhere along the line.

As to what I'm playing, life hasn't been conducive to extended listening sessions lately. Outside of automotive listening, the most recent thing that I played all the way through was:

Composer: Schubert
Works: Piano Sonata in G op. 78 and Three Klavierstucke, op. posth.
Performer: Henry Jolles
Label: Haydn Society
Format: LP (mono)
recorded in Paris, 1953

Very nice performances--the man had a good feel for the romantic idiom and played with a lovely rich tone. Jolles is pretty much forgotten today, but once upon a time he supposedly played a complete cycle of Schubert's piano music, then far from a concert staple, in his native Germany. (Somehow, given the vast expanse of that literature, I wonder whether "complete" means "major works.") Then came the "regime change," and, being of a disfavored ethnicity, he had to make tracks pronto. After seeking refuge in France, only to have the aforementioned regime in due course intrude again, he managed to flee a second time and ended his days in Brazil.

 

I have been listening to a lot of Scarlatti (keyboard sonatas), a composer one can listen to discreetly at work.

Scarlatti
Keyboard Sonatas (on piano)
Schiff, Horowitz
CD
Schiff (90s), Horowitz (50s-80s)

There was a discussion of Furtwängler's Beethoven 9th recently, and I have been listening to the three versions I have (1942, 1951, 1954, the later in Tahra's SACD version).

 

Sudbin

the young Yvgeny Sudbin has a superb CD of sonatas by Scarlatti, released a few years ago on Bis. i think you'll like it Robert. i have it and it's superb, both sound and performance. his later solo CDs for Bis are SACDs--Scriabin, Rachmaninov, and a Tchaikovsky and Medtner concerto program.

Yvgeny Sudbin
Sonatas by D. Scarlatti (on piano)
Bis CD [rel. 2005]

 

Rachmaninov.

How dare he copy Eric Carmen!

 

OK, thanks for the tip.

 

Wendy Carlos' "Switched-On Box Set"

Great Bach, great classical, great performances. I've had it out from the library for weeks now!

 

I think it's great, Bill. But I am biased, as I love everything I have heard by Argerich.

 

This is probably my favorite Rach 3, just a wonderful performance! I also love Rudy/Jansons on EMI (for performance/sound), Ashkenazy/Fistoulari (for its tenderness) and Argerich/Chailly (for its intensity.)

 

Composer: Franz Schubert
Works: Die Schone Mullerin, Winterreise, Schwanengesang
Performer(s)Andras Schiff (piano), Peter Schreier (tenor)
Medium and Label: 3 CDs (Trio series on Decca/Universal). Decca 475 268-2
Performance/original CD release: Schwanengesang 1990, Die Schone Mullerin 1991, Winterreise 1994.

I've been listening to these so obsessively, it made sense to use the cover as my avatar. I don't think the Trio CDs have been remastered, but I don't have the originals to compare them to. The original CDs are now OOP, but you can find them if you look.

http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-schö...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1225111862&sr=1-2

Composer: Berg, Schoenberg, Webern
Works:
Performer: von Karajan conducts the Berlin Philharmonic
Medium and Label: 3 CDs - Deutsche Grammophon 427 424-2
Performance/original CD release: 1973, 1974/early 1990s

http://www.amazon.com/Viennese-Scho...=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1225111656&sr=8-4

 

Ashkenazy's are the Sibelius symphonies I like best, after trying Bernstein, Rattle, and someone else so long ago, I can't remember his name.

No. 2 is my favorite of all the symphonies.

 

Composer: Dvořák
Work: Symphonies 6 and 7
Performer: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Ivan Anguélov
Medium and Label: CD/OehmsClassics - OC 376
Date of performance: 2001-2004

Still getting to know this newer box set. However, if the recordings of the earlier symphonies are any indication of what is to come, then my early morning listening should be a treat. Anguélov really seems to have a knack for pulling out the winds and bringing them forward in the performances of earlier symphonies, so I hope he does not leave this almost "signature" wrinkle out now.

Highly recommended for Symphonies 1-3 alone.

 

Hold his feet to the fire on this one and keep your expectations high. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised if the performance has any passion to its playing. Your thoughts appreciated when you do.

 

I have two favorite Mahler recordings from early in the "regime change": the Mengelberg M4 (November 1939, Concertgebouw, Philips), EMI's Walter M9 (Vienna Musikvereinsaal, 1938). The M4 was mastered with No Noise, but the sound quality isn't the point in these recordings, neither of which would be anyone's first, or only, choice in these works.

 

Twice, yet.

 

I've been having a lot of fun with this recently:

J. S. Bach - The Complete Sacred Cantatas (Harnoncourt - Leonhardt) Telarc (60 discs)

It will be a while before I listen to all of this!

 

I am currently listening to all 104+ symphonies, and the 24 Minuets of Haydn. It is the original DECCA vinyl volumes, recorded by Antal Dorati, with The Philharmonia Hungarica.
The sweet sound of vinyl.

 

Marvelous performances, simply marvelous. I have a handful of these and have debated on whether to go for the whole set. What are the notes like, or are they on cd?

 

Dvorak
Cello Concerto
Fournier
Conducted by Szell
DG CD
1959

I thought the first movement was too tame, but the second movement was wonderful. Can't wait to hear the finale at lunch.

 

Don't forget his Piano Trios, of which there are 45.

 

I love the Beaux Arts Trio's set on Philips.

 

Yes! I have The Beaux Arts Trio on cd. I'd like to find them on vinyl. Can't go wrong with Haydn.

 

There are always BAT LPs available on eBay. The usual disclaimers apply.

On CD, they have become my new favorite "group." I searched out as many of the original pressings as possible, and the 4-CD box set on the Philips "Original Masters" series has a lot of what's not available.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Recor...bs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1225121579&sr=8-2

I recommend this box set with one caveat: for some reason, they left out one variation in Tchaikovsky's op. 50 Piano Trio. I'd like to find an original CD pressing that doesn't cost $75.