Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #26)

No, I don't think that he was a monster, my opinion from what I 've read and from watching the movie Taking Sides is exactly what his secretary said that he had no spine.
I am sorry if I appeared to have judge him too harshly, I don't know wjat I would have done if I were at his place, like you said, it 's complicated.

 

I tend to judge Karajan too harshly and Furtwängler too mildly. Karajan loses additional points for being incredibly, inhumanly slick, but one can rightfully accuse Furtwängler of suffering from the opposite quality. There's a lot of slop in Furtwängler's recordings, a lot of messy playing that wouldn't be tolerated in modern [post Karajan] orchestras.

 

Agreed. A favorite disc of mine.

 

Balanchine did well by that.

 

Folks, has anybody finally acquired this Richter box set and, if so, is it worth it? Any comparisons with his other commercial/archival recordings of the same works?

 

And so do I. One of my favorites. Even though this piece is supposed to fall into Stravinsky's neoclassical period, I love how he recalls the feral harmonic and rhythmic sound of his enfant terrible days with Diaghilev. I reckon George Balanchine was champing at the bit to stage this one.

 

This better be the last time I ever see these two things in the same sentence.

 

Joke found the target! But seriously, if you did buy it, what are your impressions, George? Specifically, your thoughts about the Tchaikovsky (I don't like the version with Karajan, some weird anti-chemistry there, but I definitely can't blame Richter for that), Prokofiev, Dvorak, Beethoven and Britten. (And what about the sound?)

 

Haven't bought it, have yet to be impressed by Brilliant Classics sound, including their release of Richter solo works.

Do you have the DG, EMI and Praga Richter sets?

 

No, only some vinyl (Tchakovsky with Karajan on Melodiya, bought around 1985 - it probably was my first Richter recording and I did enjoy some irresistable moments of the composer's genius but couldn't get a coherent feel until I listened to the mono Cliburn on Melodiya, the Rudy on EMI and the Scherbakov on Naxos - these three are my favourites now) and separate CD's.

The Praga set is horribly expensive (although I came across some cheap public domain transfers of the same recordings - say, the Beethoven under Bakala).

The other two sets were (and still are, at least the EMI) on my wish list, although I already have some recordings, and there seem to be better sounding versions available.

And there's also the Hungary set, which is more or less within my price range, but I still haven't pulled the trigger based on your review (no-noise fest).

At least, both Brilliant sets are cheap and contain some unique material which probably isn't available elsewhere.

 

I'd say go with the EMI instead. It's still pretty cheap, no? And the repertoire and performances are excellent. It's my favorite Richter box.

 

You're missing out on a great set. Here is a link to BMC Records page with descriptions of the contents of each disc. I have no quarrel with the mastering choices. Ultimately, Budapest Music Centre released a quality product of some very desirable and legendary musicmaking.

 

Voland vs. Mephisto, 1:1

OK, my dearest Tempters, now I'll try to gather up parts of my mortal brain and decide to whom to sell my soul...

The contents of the Hungary set look a bit more attractive since I don't have anything from it, and the choice of repertoire promises less overlapping with my collection. OTOH, there's also a lovely series of separate double sets on Decca, could you please comment on how do they compete with the Hungarian discs performance-wise?

 

Much of the Philips (now Decca) material is from later in his career. You shouldn't miss out on live & unvarnished Richter from 1950's through the 70's. Of course, you should explore the other stuff, too, but live Tennstedt, live Richter, live Furtwängler...some musicians are simply better evidenced with airchecks and off-the-cuff recordings than proper in-the-studio jobs.

 

BTW, are those Decca double sets ("Richter The Master") "new" and unique recordings or were they issued earlier (as separate Philips CDs and/or the Complete Philips Recordings set)? I'm asking (and probably re-asking too) since there are also the currently in-print Originals discs, which are surely just re-editions of the older Philips material. The Richter discography is a truly scary monster...

 

All (or perhaps most?) earlier in the Philips Authorised set. The Schubert is the only "must buy" item IMO.

More info in this thread: http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,3196.0.html

 

Agreed, I have some really unique Beethoven on Richter and Furtwängler live CD's.

 

Thanks for the link, see ya next year, George!

 

By then, you'll have enough dough to buy all of the sets.

 

With the exception of some strange deletions of certain works on one or two titles, The Master sets are straight clones of the 1994 Philips box. Not even writer/producer Ateş Orga can keep track, I'm sure. He had an extensive discography -- including audience recordings, some of which have surfaced on Doremi CD's he has produced -- posted online somewhere at some point, but I cannot find the link.

 

Did you mean Tanin? http://www.doremi.com/sr.html

 

You probably know this place. Some excellent public domain recordings, but I wish they used a better resolution.

 

One of my favorite Cyrillic sites haha. I really don't do much downloading, but I do 'check things out' from time to time. I see nothing, I hear nothing!! http://tiny.cc/bgvwc

 

Yes, that's the guy. Orga writes a lot of (very good, imo) liner notes for Brilliant Classics.

 

At least, some "songs" are identifiable by those ubiquitous BWV-and-something and D-and-something.

Of course, many sources are questionable (there are some Prague recordings, among others) but formally they are all public domain (BTW, the start page, besides the news, also contains some mp3's that DO NOT duplicate those on the Recordings page).

The whole site has somewhat amateurish or fan boy feel to it (and it IS a fan site, after all), but some content is pretty interesting, for instance - the only recording with Richter conducting (and Rostropovich playing - his cello, not piano, so relax ). Just type Прокофьев. Симфония-концерт для виолончели с оркестром (Prokofiev. Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra) in the page search bar of your browser.

Or there's a book "About Richter in his own words" by Valentina Chemberdzhi, which I'm reading right now. (There are also 3 other books - don't ask me about the copyrights.)