The Classical Music Guide Forums

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71hpNWmxyuL._SX522_.jpg The EMI box of Samson Francois playing Chopin has been a mainstay in my listening since it was gifted to me by a former CMG member some years back, and I have been eager to hear more of his playing. The release pictured above ...

maestrob

Arthur Grumiaux remains my favourite in the Beethoven sonatas. Wonderful purity of tone and musical shape, great partnership with Clara Haskil. David Oistrak with Oborin is similar. Agree also about Kremer/Argerich. I also have Perlman/Ashkenazy and Grumiaux/Arrau, though I can't remember if the la...

maestrob

As for recordings of Beethoven's and Mozart's great symphonies, you've got actually two worlds to explore. There are now fabulous box sets of both composer's output, both on original instruments, which is how they were first heard, and with modern orchestras with their richer, fuller sound world. Yo...

maestrob

Welcome jdw89! It's a pleasure to have you aboard. Please don't be shy about asking questions here, as we love providing answers. :) I'm not sure where you're from: are you in the USA? Of course you can find free music on youtube, but the commercials can be annoying. There are programs that stop ads...

maestrob

lennygoran wrote: ↑
Sat Sep 26, 2020 7:44 am
Got the email from Francesca and enjoyed the article and the photos. Len

https://mailchi.mp/glimmerglass.org/tra ... f0ab156316

Wonderful reading, Len, thanks!

maestrob

Is this the end of the Met as we know it? I sincerely hope not! The MET, with its $300 million budget, is the last opera company left here in the Big Apple. That said, they are supported my the wealthiest of the world's richest people, and I sincerely doubt that they will let the MET down, although...

maestrob

Wow, Lance! All of that looks so enticing! Yes, collecting IS addictive, no doubt. Frankly, I think we are so privileged to live in these musical times, when so much is available, more than at any time in history. There are so many great artists performing (at least before covid) and recording now t...

maestrob

I, too, have this disc and have listened to it intently. I'm a devoted Hamelin follower as well. I thought his playing was magnificent in the Liszt/Thalberg selections. My only disappointment was the sound of his piano, which, acoustically, was not up to Hyperion's usual high standards. The Hamelin...

maestrob

Just bringing up this thread to let slofstra know that I have finally completed listening to Haitink's 1970's Brahms Symphony cycle, and frankly, I can find nothing to criticize. He does indeed surrender to the music, and the Concertgebouw plays with commitment and beauty. Nothing egotistical or fla...

maestrob

Schumann’s Variations on a Theme by Beethoven, WoO.31 ( the funeral march fro A wonderful find, Rach3, thank-you! The music was very interesting, although it ended in a surprisingly quiet way, and the pianist is worth investigating. I found two albums of Brahms available for listening on amazon, an...

maestrob

Schumann’s Variations on a Theme by Beethoven, WoO.31 ( the funeral march from the 7th Symphony),Andreas Boyde,pianist,Divine Arts cd... Also fww, a great work I discovered just recently. Here is that recording I acquired. 15 minutes, worth a hear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO38ipxlWTw A wond...

maestrob

Well, well! Looks interesting for sure, but since Radio Belgium requires either a Facebook (ugh!) account or a Google email, I am unable to log in because I have neither! Don't they realize that senior technophobes are more likely to want to hear this than any other generation? Good grief! :lol: No ...

maestrob

I don't have the technical know-how to post the entire article, but here are some excerpts just announced in the NY Times: The Metropolitan Opera announced Wednesday that the still-untamed pandemic has forced it to cancel its entire 2020-21 season, prolonging one of the gravest crises in its 137-yea...

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51aV%2B%2BP55GL.jpg Listened to this on my iPhone while walking on a nearby nature trail. Brilliant playing by one of my favorite violinists. Very interesting, Hank, thank-you! :) I've not heard of her before, and upon investigating amazon, found fou...

maestrob

Wow, Hank, that's quite a statement! Believe it or not, my wife and I have both, shall we say, experienced inappropriate conduct while in our formative years as musicians from authority figures. We both ran away from those people, and were lucky enough to find replacements, but that's not an easy th...

maestrob

Indeed! Thanks, Joe!

maestrob

Fritz Reiner left us with so many miraculous recordings for RCA that are in my collection already that I passed on that RCA box, but this one is a must-have for me, as I have nothing in my collection from his years with the Pittsburg Orchestra, a fine ensemble that has produced great recordings with...

maestrob

Forgive me if I digress, but this is MY city, and we are being unfairly maligned as a cynical campaign ploy! Agreed.Far too many Americans are in denial about the virus."Virus fatigue" is as dangerous as the virus, one of the reasons the virus is going so " well." Far,far too many re-openings, $$ t...

maestrob

Forgive me if I digress, but this is MY city, and we are being unfairly maligned as a cynical campaign ploy! Agreed.Far too many Americans are in denial about the virus."Virus fatigue" is as dangerous as the virus, one of the reasons the virus is going so " well." Far,far too many re-openings, $$ t...

maestrob

75%????? Yikes! That's decidedly not safe. Here in Manhattan, restaurants have just begun (as of 9/20) to open up for indoor dining at 25% because of the cooler weather, after being allowed only sidewalk dining since late summer. We're testing at 1%, but some schools are experimenting with partial o...

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81yA3W9aQYL._SX522_.jpg Ildebrando Pizzetti's Symphony in A, interestingly, was commissioned by the Japanese government (along with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, which was rejected) in 1940, just a year before the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, to com...

maestrob

Holy cow! I could live very comfortably off an amount like that!!!! After such behavior, that's an outrageous settlement, for sure! AND, I'm surprised that, in this day and age, the MET didn't include a morals clause in their latest contract with Levine. Why not will probably always remain a mystery...

maestrob

Am enjoying time listening to music from mounds of CDs; I have also read about 15 books, mostly musical bios/autobios and actors. I have become very lazy in many ways. So much going on in the world that it boggles the mind. How lucky are those of us who not watching our homes burn up, or are water-...

maestrob

Reminder: Extraordinary all, especially Op.111.111 not my fav of the last 3, 110 is, but Levits 111 was inspired, “better” than his cd, perhaps the “best” 111 I’ve heard. Sorry I had to miss the events, but I still have trouble signing in to that website. For the "best" Op. 111, I recommend Richter...

maestrob

WQXR’s “In Conversation” about “ A Character of Quiet”, her new recording done this past June of Glass and Schubert. https://www.wqxr.org/#!/ 15 minutes. I do not have the cd which has been released by Orange Mountain Music. Simone Dinnerstein is a fascinating artist who connects equally well to th...

maestrob

Just ordered that book on your recommendation, Henry. Thanks for the suggestion!

Oh, and she spells her name Madeleine Thien, just for the record.

maestrob

I continue to muse about purchasing the Met HD subscription. Will this performance be available in their archive? Hello, Henry! To answer your question, not to my knowledge. These concerts are offered individually and are available for about two weeks after the initial broadcast. Each $20 ticket gi...

maestrob

RBG accomplished many great things for women, sure, but also for men's rights, as in the case she argued before the Supreme Court in 1975 against Social Security policy not to award benefits to widowers. She was a great thinker who believed that all people should have equal protection under our Cons...

maestrob

This remarkable recital by Jean-Guihen Queyras and Alexandre Tharaud, recorded and released just months before Covid-19 shut down most musical activities, containenthusiastic stars! Not on your cd, but I just downloaded a 320kbps Harmonia Mundi mp3 of Queyras,Tharaud playing the wonderful Poulenc C...

maestrob

https://www.wqxr.org/story/bachs-goldberg-variations-loopholes/ Thanks, Rach3. I enjoyed that. I had forgotten about the time difference between Glen Gould's two versions. These days, I'm finding much enjoyment in Beatrice Rana's recent recording. She bubbles over with youth and vigor, yet plays wi...

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/713Hvi9GtbL._SX522_.jpg Conductor/composer Paul Kletzki's wide-ranging musical career has been the stuff of legend among musicians and record collectors. Not much has been available outside the British Isles for us to cherish, but now that gap has be...

maestrob

david johnson wrote: ↑
Sat Sep 19, 2020 2:34 am
May God bless her with quick healing.

Amen!

She was scheduled to sing in a MET online broadcast in early October. It would be really sad if she misses that. Leave it to Putin to screw things up! I hope he doesn't insist that she should take his new vaccine!

maestrob

Ever since the publication of The Rest is Noise, I have admired the writing of Alex Ross.

Must get this!

Thanks, Len!

maestrob

Danny wrote: ↑
Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:59 pm
Does anyone have a recording of this work?

Not yet!

maestrob

Rach3 wrote: ↑
Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:54 am
Interesting, same orchestra, conductor, on the Bartoli dvd as on the Kopatchinskaja cd.

Well, that's a plus for Kopatchinskaja for sure!

maestrob

Has anyone else here watched this online broadcast? It's available until September 25 (next Friday) for $20 at metopera.org, and features Il pomo d'oro as well as an excellent pianist. This event moved me deeply. She is such a great artist IMHO, and at the height of her powers right now. There is a ...

maestrob

Magnificent! McGill certainly deserves this. He's an excellent musician, and a model citizen and activist as well. Brian I had never heard of him but that clip of him with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and Gabriela Montero at Obama's inauguration was great! Regards, Len I remember watching that, and it ...

maestrob

Magnificent! McGill certainly deserves this. He's an excellent musician, and a model citizen and activist as well.

maestrob

A little Vivaldi goes a long way with me, so I heard just the first 2 concertos. How true that is. I feel Vivaldi wrote the same work 600 times; they are all interchangeable. I don't mind if I never hear the Four Seasons again. I like the violinist, though. Yes, well, as far as Vivaldi's instrument...

maestrob

Agreed, Barney! Now the CCP is using cancel culture tactics to destroy people's lives because of alleged slights. Wow!

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71xKE7%2B%2BECL._SX522_.jpg This two-disc set of live Rachmaninoff led by Paavo Jarvi with the Orchestre de Paris provides an intriguing contrast with Neeme Jarvi's superb recordings of the major pieces included here, the Third Symphony and the Symph...

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71%2Bi0pdn6FL._SX522_.jpg This remarkable recital by Jean-Guihen Queyras and Alexandre Tharaud, recorded and released just months before Covid-19 shut down most musical activities, contains much remarkable music-making, featuringvirtuoso pieces that ...

maestrob

Good morning, Len! Really fine comments in this article. People have given this a lot of thought. I was particularly informed by the comments from the four Black musicians in the MET orchestra. Leonard Slatkin's admission that he has not hired even one Black musician during his career was especially...

maestrob

Pianist Claire Huangchi live in Sweden in Jan., 2020. An exhilarating recital by a pianist I follow, and who continues to mature.My fav Schubert piano sonata , rare chance ( in my experience) to hear the solo piano versions of the Brahms live.I’ll defer to the Scarlatti experts here ; torrential Ra...

maestrob

Interesting read, Len, thanks! He sounds a bit far out for my taste, however. Thinking of the Ring in terms of Black Lives Matter? I don't get it!

maestrob

Thanks Rach3 for those two recitals, which I will get to soon! Been listening today to excerpts from the Rubinstein Box, many of which can be found now on amazon for free listening. Beethoven, Brahms Trios & Sonatas, as well as some Schubert, all excellent. Also, I've been exploring the music of Cha...

maestrob

I didn't know that Gould/Bernstein story. It almost beggars belief, a conductor coming on stage before a concert and disavowing the soloist and the performance. But at least Bernstein did let Gould determine the tempi. Rubinstein/Reiner story is fascinating too. I am sure it happens more often than...

maestrob

I didn't know that Gould/Bernstein story. It almost beggars belief, a conductor coming on stage before a concert and disavowing the soloist and the performance. But at least Bernstein did let Gould determine the tempi. Rubinstein/Reiner story is fascinating too. I am sure it happens more often than...

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71Q%2B%2B64dSaL._SX522_.jpg In this, her latest CD, Nicola Benedetti's youthful and passionate playing in Elgar's Violin Concerto rivals that of Yehudi Menuhin's classic recording made with the composer when he was only 16 years old. Benedetti and Ju...

maestrob

Happy Labor Day weekend to both you and Sue! :D Brian thanks-same to you and Teresa-are you finding NYC getting any easier for you with regard to Corona? Regards, Len Good morning, Len! Actualy, we're living the same way we were six months ago, still wearing masks when we go out, still having every...

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