The Classical Music Guide Forums

No question in my mind, Leonard Bernstein will go down in history as one of America's (and the world's) finest conductors. His NYP recordings for me, are over all outstanding. He had the benefit of the finest recording methods available from the mono/stereo era into the digital age. And what he has ...

You should bring that to BINGHAMTON! I haven't heard anything around here performed live by Stanford. I recently performed Stanford's Serenade in F major, op. 95. This is a nonet for flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello and bass. It was written in 1905, and is in the usual four mo...

Wow - talk about a woman of accomplishments! I had to do a double-take on her photograph. At first I thought it was a picture of the young Joan Sutherland! You folks in Australia are really doing an outstanding job in classical music ventures! Wish I was there to enjoy some of it.

Wikipedia information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Villiers_Stanford https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81iZ9rwKGOL._SX355_.jpg Dutton 7350, 70:06, DDD All World Premiere Recordings • Concert Overture (1870) • Violin Concerto in D Major (1875) Sergey Levitin, violin • Piano C...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/416qAcjZxXL._SX355_.jpg UAR013 - 3 CDs While I had Szell's LP recording of Dvorak's Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 33 with Rudolf Firkusny, piano and Szell/Cleveland, I wanted to test out these United Archives CDs of Szell (I previously had the Kousse...

I, too, don't feel the need for another Rossini Semiramide ; Sutherland's and Horne's contributions still make the mid-1960s recording worthwhile. The Gramophone review kind of highlights the problems I have with the Decca set with the male singers. The recorded quality is excellent. There is also a...

Yes, thank you. Another collector friend mentioned it to me and added I think 10 historical issues to his list that I didn't have. Still, 70% off list seems abnormal. That's less than wholesale! I hope Guild doesn't go away ... they have provided some very good material, historical and otherwise. I ...

It was a quote within a quote. It WAS the psychiatrist's point of view. I should have made that clearer. I don't believe Kenny would take on the psychiatrist's role in making that kind of a statement. I should have used more 'xxx' type quotes within the quote. Sorry about that.

I must also say that the supporting cast in this recording does not hold a candle to Sutherland and Horne. I was hugely surprised at some of the male voices that were disappointing and out of the grandeur of this great opera. Other cast members included Joseph Rouleau, John Serge, Spiro Malas, Lesli...

Lance, now I'm curious. Could you please put the quote in some kind of context? Could you at least post the paragraph from which it came? You could snap a picture of the page from which it came and post it here so we can read what comes before and after. --------------------------------------------...

Having listened to some of this music yesterday, particularly the Five Fantasiestucke, Op. 2 [1872], which, for an early work is highly progressive from Franz Liszt's era. If you are seeking Romanticism in music at its height, this might not appeal to you. Other works include Urspruch's German Dance...

Well, it stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I also knew it would create some interesting dialogue here. I don't necessarily agree with the writer either. In fact I thought it a rather blatant statement for someone in her capacity to make a statement that would seemingly apply to "everyone," which it...

Listened to the entire opera tonight. BOTH, Sutherland and Horne are incredible. Both are at their peak when this recording was made. The remastering is superb.

https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/511paKJk8JL._AC_US218_.jpg Hanssler Classics 16015, 3 CDs -------------------------------------------------- About Anton Urspruch via Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Urspruch My first exposure to the solo piano music of Anton Urspruch wa...

Am happy today, the other biography, Florence Austral ("...one of the wonder voices of the world" ... Nellie Melba) arrived today from Australia, the one by James Moffat. I guess I've got both biographies now unless there is some other one out there.

Right, Sue, but please add home made cherry pie to the greatest development since stereo and FM radio! I heard the program about Eileen Joyce and I'll listen in tomorrow!! It's at 9am here. And I've sent this thread to the two presenters for our group on Florence Austral so they can read any ensuing...

Fortunately the Dvorak Cello Concerto was issued twice on CD with Szell conducting: a) Pierre Fournier Edition, DGG 479 6909, 25 CDs (Fournier's complete Decca & DGG recordings) b) DGG 478 4233 Dvorak/Szell on a single CD coupled with Kubelik conducting the Dvorak Symphony #8 with the Berlin Philhar...

jbuck, I don't know if I ever asked you if you knew or heard of Jonathan Biggers , originally from Atlanta, Ga., but was professor of organ and harpsichord here until he passed away, aged 56 in September 2016, unexpectedly. He was also the music department's chair at Binghamton University at one tim...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51zNA7RaxoL._AC_US327_QL65_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/412-mRQ4XFL.jpg Sony 79688, comes with DVD offering music clips and a short documentary "Birth of the International Touring organ." Listening today to Cameron Carpenter's...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1mp5GnjFLL._SY355_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81piJEWBF7L._SY355_.jpg ICA Classics, 5148, 4-CDs As long as I live, I will always collect Thomas Beecham, i.e., anything I do not previously have on disc. Material keeps appeari...

I was talking with my surrogate son, tenor Steven Nanni, whom some of you got to meet during our last get-together in NYC. Today he was in NYC at a reunion for New York City Opera folks. They lunched at the Atlantic Grill on West 64th Street - and said they had a wonderful lunch. I'm trying to see i...

Stirred some interest? My word, we have over 630 posts regarding a (fabulous) singer that many people never heard of but certainly should! So, Sue, it was YOU who got things started for Austral. I think she would be very pleased with her "memory resurrection," if I can call it that. (Who knows, mayb...

Today, the book When Austral Sang: The Biography of Florence Austral by Michael Elphinstone and Wayne Hancock — first published in Australia in 2005 — arrived today. All 655 pages! It will take some time to go through this from beginning to end, but just thumbing through it already looks very intere...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5188uBHKblL._AC_US327_FMwebp_QL65_.jpg I grew up with the Sutherland/Horne/Bonynge London LP recordings of Rossini's Semiramide , to me one of his greatest operas in the best of the bel canto traditions. The opera has not seen very many complete recor...

Yes, John F ... thank you. I think that's it. I poked my head in just now. They seem to be doing well and I wish them well. I do think I prefer our format more, but each to his own. The more people talking about classical music, the better it all is! If you mean Classical Music Mayhem, here it is: h...

With a lot of hits, has anyone beside me acquired this Magaloff set? I can only say that I'm happy to have it. I almost think this won't hang around all that long.

Brian, please try to get your friend to stop lurking and contributing. We would love to see him/her on our site. Indeed, CMG is still going strong after many years, started by Ward Botsford who became a good friend to me and whom I visited several times at his home. There was another classical music...

Joe, many thanks for translating all the Szell recordings in three nice groups! Much appreciated.

Ruzickova is a name well worth bringing up anytime. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by anything you hear in her Erato set. Supraphon has also reissued her Bach concertos. I've tried to get anything I can with this great artist who endured so much during her long life. Extremely belated resp...

There is a download (only way to get it) of 21 tracks on the "Maestoso" label. Either Amazon/USA or Amazon/England has it available. I downloaded it tonight. Not a bad selection of music, but ... caveat emptor! Side joins from the old 78s is not great, but the biggest bummer is that the engineer red...

When did O'Neal's Restaurant closed? I had no idea. They had one of the best gas-producing artichokes I've ever had! :lol: What happened, they just couldn't make it any longer? One late evening at what was then O'Niel's restaurant, Nilsson settled in with a table full of her MET colleagues after a p...

I've been reading the book, The Secret Magic of Music: Conversations with Musical Masters [forward by Evgeny Kissin] by Australian psychiatrist Ida Lichter who studied piano performance and theory prior to taking up a career in psychiatry. She works in the Sydney, Australia area helping artists over...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Iap3G9ZBL._AC_US327_FMwebp_QL65_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61-%2ByedJyqL._SX355_.jpg Decca 483 3288 If you have the wonderful Brendel mega-box, you have a treasure. However, Decca (formerly Philips) or ORF has been digging...

What a wealth of information art thee, John Francis! I'd love to read an English translation of that book; maybe it will happen now at Nilsson's 100th! I've got some 80 titles with Nilsson on them, all the major labels she recorded for plus live performances and recitals including Bluebell, BBC, etc...

So, in your mind, whose recording is considered the very best of The Creation? The ones I have on hand (it's ludicrous, I know!) •Sony - Vivarte Collection, Tafelmusik, Weil •Sony - NYP, Bernstein •Decca - AcademyAncient Music, Hogwood •Decca - Royal PO, Dorati •Decca - Vienna PO, Munchinger •DGG - ...

Frankly, I'm surprised she didn't make more recordings.

Impressive! Yes, Nilsson - one of the greats. All of it looks most interesting in what they are doing for her 100th. I'm sure she would be pleased. I'd love that have that 12-pound coffee table book ... not to mention the commemorative CD releases. $$$

I said it once before, but I hear GUILD may be folding up their tent. Maybe not, I hope not. Guild has provided exceptional recordings of historical material and great artists (Toscanini, Cherkassky, Sargent Stokowski, etc., et al) plus a nice variety of fine recordings featuring present-day artists...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61CQ-7OpyvL._AC_US327_FMwebp_QL65_.jpg Volume 1 shown above Capriccio series CDs, 10 in all The amount of music coming from the Doppler brothers (Franz, 1821-1883; Carl, 1826-1900) is enormous and significant. CLAUDI ARIMANY (b. 1955) is the heir appa...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513RbTvXs9L._AC_US327_FMwebp_QL65_.jpg DOREMI 7874-9, 6 CDs [Entitled Volume 1] WIKIPEDIA link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Odnoposoff Here's a violinist who was quite the rage at one time, made many recordings for a number of labels, includi...

I like it! I like it! I must check my schedule too. Keep posted. I might be able to get Ann Schnabel Mottier (Artur's granddaughter, daughter of Karl Ulrich Schnabel) and her husband Francois Mottier to join us this year, unless they are in Lake Como. That means that Don Isler should join us as well...

Sue (Belle), look what you started by mentioning Austral's name! We have over 350 hits on the subject. Good for you!

Fine pianist. One of the best Tchaikovsky Grand Sonatas, Op. 37 on records. I have all his RCA recordings on CD but nothing on Chandos - yet! I had the pleasure of preparing his piano for a concerto some years ago. A really nice chap.

Yes, a wonderful singer. No doubt you have the July 2017 released "Edition" for Janowitz [DGG, 479 7348, 14 CDs]. Most of her records were for DGG, a few for EMI, and a minimum for British Decca, RCA and Sony. While we are skipping around sopranos who performed in Germany, the successor to Streich f...

What confusion! With Warner Music Company taking over so many labels, including the great EMI, Virgin, Teldec, Erato, the Parlophone group (EMI, etc. various countries, Pathé, etc), Hispavox, and who knows what else, it's been a nightmare trying to keep reissues in the expanded series especially for...

OH ... Rita Streich! My heart just flipped. Love her to death! The one time I was just a little disappointed in Streich was a lieder recital that included Schubert songs ... perhaps just a tad out of her element, but the voice ... simply stunning. I haven't heard too much about Seefried that I did n...

Totally agree, conductors today can never treat orchestral members like they did in the Toscanini era given union protection. Among the celebrated conductors of the past, I never hear anything about Pierre Monteux promoting these tyrant/dictatorial/bully attitudes and he certainly was one of the gre...

One of the compositions that stood out was the Dvorak Piano Concerto with Szell, Rudolf Firkusny, pianist. I have that on a Columbia LP [ML-4967], and don't believe that has ever been transferred to CD until now. Anybody know for sure? Of course Firkusny has made many recordings of this concerto. I ...

I know the Mitropoulos (one of my favourite conductors anyway). In 2001, my late associate in producing recordings, Nick Nickson and I, released of semi-private CD of this very performance with the NYP. Dimitri Mitropoulos was an excellent pianist. He performed and recorded Prokofiev's Piano Concert...

Wow. What a piece of writing! It certainly does make one think. Szell was called a tyrant (and worse), as was Toscanini, among others. Furtwangler didn't seem to be referred to that way; but look what ALL of them attained with their orchestras. I always think it is a matter of approach, respect, and...

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