The Classical Music Guide Forums

How beautifully put! I am still rolling on the floor. When John Boehner was Speaker of the House, I made the incredibly stupid mistake of asking an Academic Bowl question and pronouncing it Boner. My left-leaning spouse has pronounced it BONER for many years now, with an added dollop of contempt. Bu...

I eagerly await my copy for $150/USD, which includes postage. Not Amazon, who apparently gets the lion's share of the sets for distribution. It may be a wait but if it gets here soon, I'll be very happy. I also have on order the Alicia de Larrocha set, which I think I got a good deal on, too. In com...

I have grown to love the Diabelli Variations by Beethoven. It is amazing to me what Beethoven could do with the original theme. There are, of course, dozens of recordings on CD. These are amongs the ones I have, so pick your pianist! R. Serkin (commercial recording Sony); Daniel Varsano (Sony); Wilh...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61ZF7W8n7SL._SY90_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71DyHlbomBL._SL1200_.jpg Hyperion 68176, 80:03, DDD [very generous offering time-wise!] What a unique release! All transcriptions, many transcribed by Hough or composed by himself...

I once heard Previn conduct Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I did not find it particularly impressive, but it was the BSO! No question, Previn is an highly talented musician with broad interests in a huge range of music. Given all the releases of mega-box...

No question, there are many very great artists today in front of the public. I wholeheartedly agree with you that it is "society's" fault. As I often say, EVERYTHING is always in a state of change from birth to death. Often I am pleasantly surprised and enjoy what I hear, too.

I have heard many people interpret the steens or steins differently or incorrectly from what we know. Rubinstein pronounced his name as STINE, Bernstein as STINE, Milstein as STINE, yet we have DinnerSTEEN. Other than hearing it from the person directly, even people that are not famous, how do we KN...

That's obviously Leslie Nielsen pictured playing the violin. I am curious from whence that clip comes from ... can you give me any details or post more on it? Like everything Nielsen did, it's truly humorous! Can't help wondering if she's a relative of Nathan. The bio gives no clue, one way or the o...

"Alfred Brendel, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, is also a great writer. You can often detect a good-natured smirk behind his words, but right there with it is a genuinely humane seriousness. His writing, always engaging, strikes a balance between solemn reflection and undeniable w...

Well, he recorded Albinoni, a bunch of Haydn symphonies, some Mozart on the piano and in collaboration with Frederica von Stade. I do not believe there was much else.

John F wrote: ↑
Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:26 pm
Did Previn record any music from before the mid-19th century, and is it any good? All I've heard is late 19th to 20th century.

Maybe you're right about the rest of the world, and I wish you were. But it seems to me that if the audience for classical music outside the US remains what it used to be, the major record companies would not be making so few new studio recordings with major conductors, singers, and orchestras, and...

I've been traversing the art of Eduard Franck [1817-1893] and his son, Richard Franck [1858-1938]. The largest portion of their compositions appears on the German Audite label, and a few things, of course, available on other labels. It is rather amazing the output of these "other" Francks (no relati...

I have just finished reading Daniel Gillis' Furtwangler in America, published in 1970 by Manyland Books, Inc., Woodhaven, New York. This is a fairly thorough study by Gillis based on articles from the past and studies of many documents. The hatred Furtwangler endured by America — and by a large Jewi...

My catalogue shows about 110 CD recordings of Previn on all the major labels and many on other labels. While I don't have the entire RCA or Columbia recordings, I have many, especially with regard to collaborations with other artists. He also recorded hugely for DGG, EMI, Decca, and Philips. He was ...

Brian, added one more I forgot to mention on Melodiya.

This looks like a wonderful discovery. Something I will have to have, eventually.

Joe, you are a PRINCE! This is the best price yet that I have seen, thanks to you. So, guess what? I should be receiving the set soon, hopefully. I am also thinking about dispensing all individual CDs for mega-boxed sets selling them on Amazon or eBay. And, of course, all those CDs are in immaculate...

Apparently a lot of people are very much put out with Spectrum, who took over the operations of Time-Warner Communications. It was a couple of years ago I dumped Spectrum for DIRECTV. Now the latter has raised their prices so much, Spectrum would like to have me back and is offering service of 10 ha...

Having spent four days at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, I was pleasantly surprised to run into Mitsuko Uchida. But on a trip to the men's room, who do I run into but Leon Fleisher! We had a chance to have a few words. He is playing on occasion he said. I believe he was in Marlboro to condu...

I tried to order the Szell set through Target and since I have one of their credit cards (that doesn't get used very often), I could have saved an additional 5%. Unfortunately, they are not shipping it right now. Actually, even the retail price is not that extraordinary for such a plush edition!

Yes, know the feeling. It was precisely on one of those tours with Americans where I was embarrassed and I haven't been on one since! We have many Australians visiting our fair town, mostly because of business - IBM, Link, etc., and I have met many, talked in depth and was pleasantly surprised by th...

I'm truly proud being an American, based on my English/Russian/Slavic genealogy, but in my international travels, I have seen Americans behave shamefully expecting much from people in their native lands. Most Americans, however, I think know how to show appreciation and behave properly. As for Marc-...

Lance wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:40 pm
We know Michael Davidman and his family very well. He has performed for Classical Pianists of the Future on several occasions, performed for our NPR station WSKG for their "Expressions" program. He is hugely talented and has a great future ahead of him. Thank you for posting this, Donald.

There are a few other recordings with Anatol Ugorski if you acquire an interest in how and what he plays: 1) Avi (Germany) 8555193 [2 CDs] - Scriabin: Complete piano sonatas (10) 2) Danacord 649 (Year 2004) Schloss for Husum Festival [various pianists] 3) EBS 6125 JS Bach: Concerto for Two Pianos in...

I am firmly convinced that Furtwangler was an anti-Nazi. I believe his primary interest was in German art/music, and he did much to keep it going in the right direction but prevailing circumstances would not often allow that to happen.

I cannot say very much good about Korean pianos either. Most tuner-technicians would agree.

RebLem wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:57 am
If they want to take profits, couldn't they at least find a S Korean to buy it?

We know Michael Davidman and his family very well. He has performed for Classical Pianists of the Future on several occasions, performed for our NPR station WSKG for their "Exprssions" program. He is hugely talented and has a great future ahead of him. Thank you for posting this, Donald.

Have the Keene recordings - love 'em! - And the Hobson. Both superb.

Steinway already has a presence in China with their "Essex" brand of uprights and smaller grand pianos. Their Boston or mid-price line is manufactured by Kawai in Japan (or perhaps other countries). The 45" Steinway upright (with their name on it) sells for approximately $28,000 while the Essex 45" ...

Any updated news on this subject?

I, too, am a great fan of Anatol Ugorski. (He also has a talented daughter-pianist). I have collected any recordings of his I could find and only missed a few. Fortunately the 13-CD boxed set has come out, which I have also acquired. Ugorski is a profound thinker and plays exactly as he feels, somet...

Well, as much as I was looking forward to it, as well as Steve Nanni, he has a singing engagement and I have concert piano work that weekend. I've driven about 4,000 miles the past six weeks, just returning from Marlboro VT and two fabulous concerts there. New York would have been the easiest trip t...

Too bad this is only available as a DVD. Why wouldn't Decca issue this as a CD also? It would sell, assuredly!

A late apology is better than none, but of course, it is now too late for Gatti to resume a career with much significance.

jserraglio wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 31, 2018 6:30 am
Thanks! Target now has the set listed for preorder at $158.69, exclusive of shipping.

Joe, can you point me to a Target site that offers this. We do have a Target in town but I have never known them to stock classical CDs.

Hmm. Maybe all this positive response has changed my mind a bit!

One of my most favourite music critics of all time was Virgil Thomson. He was fair, and one could always learn something from him. I enjoyed Schoenberg, too. In magazines, I always felt pianist/critic Harris Goldsmith to be among the best reviewers of, especially, piano music. But newspapers across ...

For me, Anton's Rubinstein's greatest compositions heard thus far is his Piano Concerto No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 70. It has received some glorious performances now available on CD. Raymond Lewenthal's was one of the finest ones, recorded by Columbia on LP and issued on a less-effective transfer on an E...

Good to know this. I have now drawn the line on Beethoven sonatas and symphonies except in very rare cases insofar as the sonatas are concerned depending on the artist. All the works of Beethoven have enjoyed some exceptional recordings over the years and I am now content with my own accumulations t...

Brian, thank you for this reminder. I forgot that I did, indeed, have it on CD: "Wagner at the Met" [all live, Sony Classical 42717, 25 CDs]. Sometimes the memory fails, but I was happy to find it when I did a "Lohengrin" search in my catalogue. It will soon get a replay.

Well, it's good to be back. Have some incredible CDs awaiting my hearing, always nice in itself. And don't cut yourself short ... you may be making these trips to Rochester many more times yet!

Schubert's A Major, Op. Posth., is a fabulous work. A recording I liked very much was by Rudolf Serkin. This, and the B-flat, Op. Posth, are both wonderful works for the piano. And, of course, Artur Schnabel fits in with Schubert's music supremely well, especially given the fact his recordings were ...

About 3,000+ miles of travel by car to Florida, Georgia, a fabulous chamber music festival [Highlands Cashiers] in Cashiers, North Carolina, back to Georgia. Next stop the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. Am I getting too old for all this extensive travel? Sometimes I think so though I know age i...

The Vierne along with Reynado Hahn's piano quintet appeared on Hyperion [67258] with Stephen Coombs, piano, and the Chilingirian Quartet, which I enjoyed because of my interest in Vierne's organ music.

Hmm, I used to play the accordion early-on in my life, long ago. I have seen some "stars" of the instrument do some fascinating things with transcriptions and virtuosity. If I told you I played Beethoven's Fifth Symphony on the accordion (all movements), what would say? Hey, if Gould, Badura-Skoda, ...

The price on this set is becoming more enticing. Under $2/disc for such a deluxe box as this is quite a value considering the cost of original LPs and CDs already issued on the retail market. I am really pondering this one! And the Alicia de Larrocha on Decca even though I have most everything she r...

I'm surprised about the Carter quotation. Nobody has been able to come up with anything really sensational about him. The Trump remark, however, doesn't surprise me in the least.

He hasn't been forgotten by me! The brothers Rubinstein were both fabulous musicians, pianists, composers. I have collected their works voraciously. I'm not sure about the antisemitism aspect. They were highly lauded and appreciated during their lifetimes. I can't recall if they converted to Christi...

Driving back from the south, I heard fabulous 1943 Met performance of Wagner's "Lohengrin" with Varnay, Melchior, and Thorborg, Leinsdorf conducting. All fabulous singers and it was a stunningly good recording given the age. Melchior was unbelievable. I wonder if that has ever been issued on CD?

Just curious. I wonder how many of our members acquired the big Arrau Edition from Decca?

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