The Classical Music Guide Forums

maestrob

Well, well, it's indeed a small world, Lance. Robin Johannsen is a "graduate" of my competition: her first public appearance after graduation was in Carnegie Hall with me, singing Mozart's "Der holle Rache..." and Verdi's "Caro nome...". I remember her quite well: she was very easy to work with and ...

maestrob

Gieseking did indeed record the Beethoven Fifth Concerto in experimental stereo in 1945 in Berlin with Arthur(?) Rother conducting (If you listen carefully, you can hear the Russian artillery in the quieter moments of the first movement.). The sound is quite good (60-10,000cps), and the performance ...

maestrob

For the complete recital, with Marilyn Horne's contributions and other gems omitted from the single CD, this is the CD set to own, now sadly OOP.......

maestrob

What a beautiful and horrifying life story! Thanks, Len, for alerting us to this deeply moving book. I have long admired her music-making, and this book belongs on my shelf, along with these CDs:

maestrob

Thanks for the review, Rach3. I may acquire this also, but later, as I've used up my CD allowance for October already!

maestrob

What a list! Thanks Len!

......and they say classical music is dying

.

maestrob

I have his Mendelssohn Concerti, and they are quite extraordinary. I'm not sure that I need another set of Beethoven, but I'm sure his readings will be very good and will listen.

maestrob

Belle: Rameau/Bruggen in Suites from his four famous operas: recommended recording... https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71ex-zD0WFL._SX522_.jpg The Treatise on Harmony by Rameau is one of the most important books on Western music, and has been translated and made available by Dover Bo...

maestrob

For example, I would listen in an entirely different way to the Corigliano than I would Haydn. Having listened to some of the former composer's Clarinet concerto, I can hear strong jazz influences! Well, many influences actually. I find it certainly has more vitality (for me) than the Mozart Clarin...

maestrob

Interesting repertoire for Steven Bishop. I've booked seats for us tomorrow.

maestrob

We saw her quite a few times over the years including last season's Aida-enjoyed her alot. Len Dolora Zajcick has made few recordings, but has appeared in several MET telecasts, most notably in my mind as Azucena with an interpolated high C with conductor Armaliato roughly 10 years ago. I admire he...

maestrob

Thanks for the Weber, John. Here's my preferred version:

maestrob

he is in high demand everywhere Not here. Currentzis talks big, but I've sampled quite a few of the many clips on YouTube and heard nothing wonderful so far. Agreed. He can be highly erratic (Tchaikovsky VI) and/or undisciplined (Rite of Spring). His is an aggressive, uneven style that's not for me...

maestrob

For me, musical tastes haven't changed that much since about the age of 14 or thereabouts. I continue to be hugely interested in, particularly, the Romantic period, but Baroque and Classical are not far behind. Besides, they are constantly discovering music and composers from these periods. For exa...

maestrob

Yes, an interesting review. I haven't heard Kirill Petrenko's conducting, so perhaps I shouldn't comment, but as described I would prefer his approach to Nelsons, whose Boston Symphony Shostakovich leaves me dissatisfied in the main.Nelsons also chose his wife to sing Wagner's Liebestod in a recent ...

maestrob

I enjoy Joseph Jongen's solo piano works, but had not heard any of his larger scale works. His Symphonie Concertante, Op.81, for Organ and Orchestra a beauty, symphonic tone poem. I did a back to back hearing , here Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig under Louis Langree,Michael Schoenheit,orga...

maestrob

Have this and recommend it highly!

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81wz8HAbN6L._SX522_.jpg This is one of the finest discs of Mendelssohn's music I have heard, featuring South African pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout with the Freiburger Barockorchester under Pablo Heras-Casado. As befitting the youthful nature of the m...

maestrob

Brendel's first Beethoven sonata cycle, recorded for the cut-price Vox Box label in the early '60s when he was in his thirties, is praised by some but not particularly by me. The playing is accurate and intelligent but has nothing like the character of Brendel's later recorded and concert cycles, a...

maestrob

Lovely, Len. Thanks for all the pictures. Wayne is where I grew up: it's barely 10 minutes away from Villanova (2 short stops on the train). So glad you got to visit the area!

maestrob

John, thanks for the Chausson, a new piece for me. Lovely! You inspired me to buy this excellent CD, which updates my up to now favorite recording of the Bb Symphony by Munch, which dates to the 1960's:

maestrob

Igor Levit is quite a mature artist IMHO, and the success of his 3 disc set including a very fine Diabelli Variations and Bach's Goldberg Variations bodes well for the release of his Beethoven Sonatas. FWIW, Brendel recorded the Beethoven Sonatas 3 times, and the middle one recorded for Philips labe...

maestrob

I got a look at the contents on jpc, which may not be complete (it doesn't seem that the listing that they have is enough to fill 96 CDs and 1 DVD). For one thing, it does not include the Richard Strauss Mehta recordings already re-released in a Sony box set, which I already have, and which is some...

maestrob

Belle is that the villanova in Pa-we're down here in that area for garden viewing-both yesterday at private gardens and again today for a public garden-great weather! We've been staying in wilmington delaware and king of prussia, Pa. Villanova has a nice garden too if I recall. Len https://www.goog...

maestrob

Besides Mefistofele, Boito wrote Nerone, which was performed here in Carnegie Hall and released commercially by Hungaratron on CD in 1996, if memory serves me correctly. Boito couldn't hold a candle to Verdi as a composer, but his libretti for Otello and Falstaff are very fine, IMHO. Here's the Nero...

maestrob

Also, maestrob, for what it's worth - Carlos Kleiber was largely 'self taught' too!! Thanks, Belle! For the record, I graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Modern Languages and a double major (Education/French, with Russian as my minor) before moving to Manhattan in 1973. This means ...

maestrob

I liked Luisi's conducting while he was at the MET, and the Dallas Symphony is indeed a fine orchestra. I particularly resonate with Luisi's dictum: "Never go beyond beautiful." That makes sense to me.

maestrob

Good riddance. MHO: It's about time this happened.

maestrob

With that kind of musical pedigree I'm sure you're justifiably proud, together with your wife. What an honour to have even enrolled at Juilliard, let alone to have graduated - and then some. I'm more than impressed. Some people talk the talk but others, like yourself, walk the walk!! Those are big ...

maestrob

To get back to the original topic: I used to fall in love with whatever music I was working on (when I was performing), whether it was studying the role of Scarpia in Tosca at Juilliard in class with Vincent La Selva, performing the Bach B Minor Mass in Carnegie Hall with David Randolph, or reading...

maestrob

To get back to the original topic: I used to fall in love with whatever music I was working on (when I was performing), whether it was studying the role of Scarpia in Tosca at Juilliard in class with Vincent La Selva, performing the Bach B Minor Mass in Carnegie Hall with David Randolph, or reading ...

maestrob

You said it for me, John. Mehta's early years produced some very fine recordings in Los Angeles, and his Tosca with Leontyne Price remains a touchstone of sensitivity to the singers' needs. There is also an excellent Mahler II with Vienna that I like. His conducting today is very odd in spots: I don...

maestrob

It should be noted that titles of articles in the Post are written by the editor in order to attract eyeballs, rather than by the author of the piece. It is indeed a bland presentation, juiced up by the editor, no more. :mrgreen: Even so, the title of this article is an accurate precis of its conte...

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81OVAFWgDAL._SX522_.jpg Andriss Nelsons has firmly established himself as the conductor of the moment, especially in regard to Shostakovich. This new release of Symphonies VI & VII has received accolades from critics, and is rated currently with 5 st...

maestrob

It should be noted that titles of articles in the Post are written by the editor in order to attract eyeballs, rather than by the author of the piece. It is indeed a bland presentation, juiced up by the editor, no more.

maestrob

Excellent concert: the second half with cellist Gabetta in particular. Bertrand Chamayou is a pianist I now follow, with excellent results. He's got technique to burn (notably in the Ravel), and his collaborative style in both the Debussy and Britten sonatas brought those pieces to life for me. Been...

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Philip..... What a terrific line-up of artists you know/have presented! I'm delighted to meet you and to have you aboard. I'm sure you will post many fine examples of music here, along with intelligent observations. When & if you manage to travel to NY again, I'm sure we would be happy to host a din...

maestrob

This link comes courtesy of Australia's LIMELIGHT. https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/features/the-13-strangest-composer-deaths-in-classical-music/ Fascinating, Lance, if rather morbid. I didn't know about the bicycle accident: what a terrible way to go (also Lully with his foot injury lingering ...

maestrob

It looks like the participants see the point of all this. I don't.

maestrob

Thanks for the welcome. Just please all avoid the Brexit word! Hello, Philip. :) We don't discuss politics here in the chatterbox. For the record, politics is reserved for the Pub, which most of us avoid, so you are welcome to do the same. Please tell us about yourself, as much as you'd like to rev...

maestrob

I wonder if conductors have as much control as they once did. In the famous account of Beethoven's triple concerto with Karajan and the BPO I've heard that Richter and, I think, Oistrakh, hated it and wanted it not be issued, but Karajan overruled. This is from memory - no doubt others can be more ...

maestrob

Just finished listening to Harding's Schumann II. What an eexcellent performance! Thanks for posting! Harding definitely has good instincts with regard to romantic music, IMHO. I have the CD below with Harding leading the Vienna Philharmonic with Renaud Capucon in the Brahms Violin Concerto (also th...

maestrob

There is some new material and recitals that are not in the other extraordinary box, all recorded at Carnegie Hall. The book, in size, is about 11" by 11" so it should fit on a shelf that will accommodate that height and depth. It should also be said that, if Horowitz was still amongst us, he proba...

maestrob

The finest Schumann 2 I have heard is Daniel Harding with LSO. Sadly not on YouTube but try this - especially movements 2 and 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1zwc59c7b4 Hello, Philip, and welcome. :) I just tried to access the link you posted with Google Chrome, but the video didn't play. I'll t...

maestrob

Horowitz in his later years became a miniaturist, preferring to concentrate on shorter pieces with depth and colors that no other pianist could muster then or now. One of the best examples of this, IMHO, is his emotional return to Russia (Moscow) in 1987 just before the demise of the communist syste...

maestrob

Bernstein's Beethoven IX at the Berlin Wall was definitely old-style, slow and heavy. Tastes have changed since then, and Petrenko probably reflects this in his interpretation. I like his work ethic: he'll have to learn a great deal of repertoire, and I admire that. As for commercial recordings, I h...

maestrob

Well, I surely cannot get enough of Horowitz either, that's for sure! In fact, I have the Carnegie Hall set of his complete recordings made in that glorious hall, and wonder if this Sony set is merely duplication, or is there some new material that was not included in the original box? I surely woul...

maestrob

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71jzRlL6iyL._SX522_.jpg This is a great disc. Esa-Pekka Salonen (not my favorite conductor in the past) has matured into a sensitive and supportive accompanist. Lise Davidsen is the real deal, a great voice. As of now, she's not Brunhilde, but could ...

maestrob

Both pieces were tough on my ears, yet in the end Igor Levit delivered the goods. The sophisticated Salzburg audience also responded well, with more than a few bravos. It's really hard to make musical sense out of such dense music.

Thanks for posting.

maestrob

All of the above is fascinating to me, as I've often wondered why I'm not as drawn to I & IV the way I am to II & III. Evidently, Rachmaninoff himself had problems with the works as well.

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