The Classical Music Guide Forums

barney

Szell appears 121 times in my catalogue. That's too many for me to investigate individually. But several are as pianist.

barney

Jserraglio, thanks so much again for going to the trouble of digging out those reviews and posting them. It's clear I am going to have to lash out and buy this. Your work was not in vain! As an aside, what does "phoning in" mean, in the first review? I haven't encountered this expression, which see...

barney

I wonder if our collective attitudes are also governed in any way by age?
Does anyone UNDER 60 share my attitude, and that of Lance and Holden Fourth above? (I've no idea of Holden's age, btw.) If so, is it because you have a surfeit of CDs or is it because you use downloads more these days?

barney

I have more than 10,000 CDs and about 1200 LPs. That is far too many, according to my wife, and not nearly enough, in comparison with collectors like Lance. Because I do music reviews (which is how a good half or more of that collection came about) I get a large number of unsolicited CDs. I have to...

barney

Barney, always great to read your posts! They are so lifelike with day-to-day facts of living! I smiled when I read this one. Yes, I, too (as probably most of us) have some CDs with the cellophane wrap still on just waiting to be auditioned. I, too, receive many CDs for radio broadcast courtesy of ...

barney

Me too. I especially remember his partnerships with Ely Ameling. A fine and sensitive accompanist.

barney

Jserraglio, thanks so much again for going to the trouble of digging out those reviews and posting them. It's clear I am going to have to lash out and buy this. Your work was not in vain! As an aside, what does "phoning in" mean, in the first review? I haven't encountered this expression, which seem...

barney

Interesting article. As I may have written before, I saw Pavarotti live only twice. The first time I queued up from 5am at Covent Garden in 1981 to get a ticket to hear him in a Masked Ball (with Montserrat Caballe and Renato Bruson). The second time was at the end of his life, in Melbourne in 2005,...

barney

I have more than 10,000 CDs and about 1200 LPs. That is far too many, according to my wife, and not nearly enough, in comparison with collectors like Lance. Because I do music reviews (which is how a good half or more of that collection came about) I get a large number of unsolicited CDs. I have to ...

barney

That looks fantastic. Thanks for alerting us to it. I will have to ponder deeply, especially in view of Lance's thread about how much we can listen to (I already have 13 complete performances). Still, what a cast! and the conductor.
Have you heard it? How thin is the sound?

barney

My father, a conductor, admired Szell above all rivals. He would often point out to me on records some particularly neat piece of work, some brilliant resolution of a conducting problem, some tricky timing or internal voices brilliantly realised. Alas, I no longer recall any to cite them to you.

barney

Yes, certainly. The other claimed source, probably of less interest to non-Catholics, or not so devout Catholics, is the number of images claimed to have been passed miraculously to pieces of cloth with which Jesus wiped his face - not just the Veronica, which was an important relic for centuries. A...

barney

Welcome aboard. It's usually a seaworthy vessel!

barney

I'm doubtful about Apollo. I'd entertain evidence. This magnificent mosaic was discovered buried beneath a field in the village of Hinton St Mary, Dorset, in 1963. It may feature the earliest known representation of Christ. No, the fourth century mosaic is certainly not the oldest representation. W...

barney

I just had the sweetest email from Goran Filipec. I had asked for a signed copy of the CD, as it is the same price. He wrote: Dear Barney, Many thanks for your CD order which has been forwarded to me just now. Apparently we are out of signed copies of the Paganini CD, but I'll be in Paris mid next w...

barney

Very good, I hadn't heard that before: the next stage out of town...

barney

I should add, my previous post was sparked by comments on Apollo, which is one of the categories of depiction the book considers.

barney

For the couple of you who may be interested, I reviewed a new book at Easter: What Did Jesus Look Like? Professor Joan Taylor concluded the closest DNA to first century Jewish men from tombs, osteological data etc would be a modern Iraqi Jew. He probably had shortish hair and a cropped beard, honey ...

barney

Bach wrote at least one cantata--BWV 9--with a theologically Lutheran text One would expect the text of BWV 9 to refer to a foundational doctrine of the Reformation (divine grace trumps good works). Not quite so easy to stomach is Bach's associating himself in BWV 126 with Luther's bigoted notion t...

barney

every time I'm not actually listening, I think of this duet/opera as overblown, hyperbolic, self-indulgent rhetoric from a narcissist, even a solipsist.
But then when I listen.... Narcissist, absolutely; genius, even more certain.

barney

I never suffered her lash - too insignificant. But some of the examples I later saw were trolling of the highest order.

barney

Agreed, that is precisely the point, and shows Bach's sound Lutheran theological understanding. The idea that the Gospel of John is anti-Semitic is a relatively new opinion, and I think it is highly anachronistic. But there is no doubt that Gospel passages, especially from John, were later used to j...

barney

I second Brian on Brendel. Superb pianist, always interesting and often much more.

barney

Well, I agree with everyone, a dangerous precedent. :D I don't know why people want to doubt it (I exempt the scholars from having a deliberate agenda), and suspect jbuck is on the money. All that work to play down the annotations, of which the simplest version is the obvious one. My Bible has under...

barney

I went to his website and bought it Lance. $41 including delivery, so it had better be all you say!

I love Paganini transcriptions/arrangements, so you were very persuasive.

barney

Is she sarcastic there?

barney

Yes, this story from the Independent does belong in the music chatterbox. Going to a gig will help you live longer, according to new research. According to a new study by O2 - which owns some of the largest music venues in the UK - alongside Goldsmith University's Associate Lecturer Patrick Fagan, r...

barney

I offer as evidence the famous Zeffirelli La boheme at the Met.

barney

I've heard many concert performances, or even semi-staged operas, that have been deeply satisfying. Near the top of the list would be Kaufmann and deYoung's recent Parsifal in Sydney. But in the end the composers designed the operas as theatrical works, and I reckon that is their trust representatio...

barney

Lance wrote: ↑
Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:43 am
Rach3 - welcome to CMG!

Yes welcome, Rach 3.
I did mention the Pogorelich 6, I think it is tremendously exciting. It was my introduction to that sonata, which always gives an interpreter an advantage, but it's held up over time.

barney

But I didn't compare them with the New York Philharmonic... And I believe you may be talking about the Bavarian Radio orchestra, which Janssons conducts, rather than the Bavarian State Opera orchestra, which was being reviewed. Lenny seems more interested in what he sees than what he hears... Oh we...

barney

Tommasini claims bavarian orchestra and petrnko now own Rosenkavalier after a concert performance at Carnegie Hall. Tommasini is way over the top. I wasn't there; a friend was, and thought it a fine performance but not transcendent. You don't have to go back very far in time for much stronger casts...

barney

I'll have to listen. Interesting...

barney

I recently acquired Philip Glass's two books of etudes played by Sally Whitwell and was agreeably surprised, though I found them a bit uneven. I;m not usually a fan of minimalism which takes so long to say so little. (Going off-topic....) My wife studied with Iris Hiskey, who was Phillip Glass's le...

barney

Wish I'd been there! I did hear Pete Rose twice in the role, and it was as described. Fine singer though.

barney

We met three very warm and charming rich Jewish women from Brighton and Toorak when we were in New Zealand last year. I mentioned your name and they all said they read and enjoyed your articles in "The Age". :D Happy Easter!! Thank you for this warm piece of generosity, Belle. That is lovely to hea...

barney

You and I must have received some of the same recordings at the same time. I just wrote an article on the new Warner 11-CD set [mostly lieder/song], which I assume you have as well. It's very special! And yes, indeed, James Levine was a super-sensitive pianist when accompanying singers. It, no doub...

barney

My brother is a very fine jazz player, but I don't usually "get" his music, and this thread is part of the reason why. I don't know what to listen for, I don't understand the structure, I don't know where the music is going. Sometimes it just seems a vehicle for various instrumentalists to get a cha...

barney

I've also just been alerted to and installed a Sound blaster headphone amp, with incredible improvement in headphone sound, even on YouTube recordings. Check it out.

barney

I recently acquired Philip Glass's two books of etudes played by Sally Whitwell and was agreeably surprised, though I found them a bit uneven. I;m not usually a fan of minimalism which takes so long to say so little.

barney

Well, I look forward to that. Do you think mono hides a piano's characteristics? I suppose it depends on the recording - there are some really good mono piano recordings, such as Carl Seeman.

barney

I am working my way through the 12-CD Christa Ludwig Edition with enormous pleasure. What an incredible breadth she had, Pergolesi to Berg, Wagner and huge operatic roles, and wonderfully intimate lieder. The reason I am posting this here is that CD11 is a Winterreise she did with Levine. What a sup...

barney

PS, that's very interesting about the pianos, Lance. I will listen carefully for that. How would you describe the difference in sound from Baldwin to Steinway?

barney

I've just acquired this, but the cellophane is still on. Fact is, 80 CDs are a bit daunting, and I'm caught up in the Christa Ludwig edition (12 CDs). From my first classical music days, I've held Arrau in high esteem. I said elsewhere that I think his interpretive seriousness, restraint and nobilit...

barney

THEHORN wrote: ↑
Mon Mar 26, 2018 1:19 pm

Plus all the outstanding orchestras in Eloper and elsewhere e. And they do not sound alike ! None of them is a carbon copy of each other .
I'm not a classical music "declinist " .

I'd love to hear the outstanding orchestras in Eloper. Where can I find recordings?

barney

Sorry, Lance, I'm with Belle on this. The war sonatas are the best of his piano sonatas, I believe, and I listen to them more than the concertos, except the highly ubiquitous third. Astringent is exactly the right word, but there is always plenty happening, and lots to interest me musically (like Ba...

barney

What? You didn't know? Unbelievable!
Where did you go to school, you ignoramus?*

* I didn't know either, me ignoramus.

barney

I have 3 different versions of 6 by Richter, who is my go-to pianist as well in these, but I also highly recommend Igo Pogorelich. 7: Glenn Gould pno Martha Argerich pno Maurizio Pollini pno Sviatoslav Richter pno Vladimir Ashkenazy pno Vladimir Horowitz pno Maurizio Pollini pno 8: Sviatoslav Richte...

barney

Tournedos Rossini were in vogue in the 1980s, and I also had the dish a few times, but in Australia it came without the truffles, to my disappointment. Probably because that would push up the price of an already expensive dish. Later, for a birthday, I went to Rockpool (a famous restaurant in both S...

barney

Thanks Lenny, that's a lovely interview.
Love the quote that sopranos are either Tosca or the maid. (there are a few in between, such as Micaela.)

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