The Classical Music Guide Forums

Peter Schenkman

Guess I'll be the oddwad here. I like Starker in these. His Mercury set first convinced me of the music's greatness...have those on LP and I listen to them often, and with real pleasure. His EMI set doesn't have quite the raw gutsiness of the Mercury, but I like it as well. I do keep one LP of the ...

Peter Schenkman

Fournier, Tortelier and Shafran would be my first picks but that changes from time to time. As the first to record the suites Casals still holds up remarkably well.

Peter Schenkman

Peter Schenkman

Richter also played the Saint-Saens G minor (I've seen rehearsals of it on Richter the Enigma) but did he ever record it? Richter seems to have redeveloped an interest in the music of Saint-Saens late in life; his Melodiya recording of the 5th Concerto after all dates from 1952. Skip forward forty ...

Peter Schenkman

I have enjoyed the Richter recording on LP of the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto # 5 with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kirl Kondrashin. The recording also includes the Impromptus A Flat-E Flat. How would you assess this recording? Like just about everything Richter performed or recorded ...

Peter Schenkman

But the following are NOT on those LPs, so the CDs may represent the first release of these specific performances (if they weren't on those private release CDs mentioned earlier)! Maybe Peter can verify for us. Schubert: Impromptu in Ab, Op. 90/4 Scriabin: Sonata No. 5, Op. 53 Schumann: Fantasy, Op...

Peter Schenkman

The Richter recitals are on the DOREMI label DHR-7864-9 (six discs) sounding better then they ever did on the original LP’s released on the Columbia label or the subsequent Richter Society CD’s which issued them for it’s members from copies, I would assume, of the Columbia LP’s. The DOREMI issues sh...

Peter Schenkman

For the past forty-five or so years the five Richter recitals given in Carnegie Hall in October 1960 have been perhaps the most sought after discs of the second half of the last century. Originally released in the LP format by Columbia AKA/ CBS, the LP’s proved to be short lived, soon vanishing from...

Peter Schenkman

Further to my earlier posting. No mention of prominent Liszt players should ignore the recorded out put of his pupils. Off the top of my head I can name the following in my collection. 1. Arthur Friedham 2. Bernhard Stavenhagen 3. Eugen D’Albert 4. Arthur De Greef 5. Frederic Lamond 6. Emil Sauer Pe...

Peter Schenkman

Recommended: Vladimir Ovchinnikov on EMI - performing the Transcendental Etudes. I like the suggestion of Vladimir Ovchinnikov, an artist almost totally unknown today but well worth getting to know. His Rachmaninoff Etudes and Prokofiev Sonatas (all on EMI) are equally fine. Kempff didn’t record a ...

Peter Schenkman

Ormandy is possibly my favorite when it comes to Sibelius and Prokofiev and is also very good at a number of other composers (surprisingly good in Brahms), but I don't turn to him for the Beethoven symphonies. Tchaikovsky. Ormandy's the guy I turn to for the 6th Symphony--an idiomatic, restrained c...

Peter Schenkman

There are so many really good sets of the Beethoven Symphonies available that it’s something of an embarrassment of riches. Mention has been made of Toscanini, Furtwangler, Walter, Klemperer, Karajan and Mengelberg, recommendations that I concur with. Naxos has brought out five discs of Felix Weinga...

Peter Schenkman

For the "Etudes Transcendentales" the first of the two sets that Berman recorded, as a cycle has probably never been equaled. It’s a pity that Richter only recorded eight of them. His performances of the Piano Concertos are at the very top of the heap as are his various recordings of the Sonata. Czi...

Peter Schenkman

To my ears Rilling on the Hanssler label is an easy first choice for a complete set of the Bach Cantatas. Good singers, superb instrumentalists as well as a balanced approach to earlier performing practices combined with newer thinking. At one time the entire cycle could be purchased at Berkshire in...

Peter Schenkman

Ralph wrote:For something REALLY different, listen to Beecham's "Messiah."

I’ll second that sentiment. Warts and all Beecham’s is a fascinating take on a piece that is literally played to death.

Peter Schenkman

Peter Schenkman

Lance, In your listing of Canadian singers Maureen Forrester, one of the very, very best slipped off the radar.

Peter Schenkman

Peter Schenkman

One of the best complete Haydn SQ was the Schneider's SQ for the Haydn Society in the 50s. Speaking of OP20 they are conservative works, where the cello is just playing the base line - again no expert, just working from memory. Gregg ClassicalDomain.com Maybe you should listen to the Opus 20 set ag...

Peter Schenkman

One of the best complete Haydn SQ was the Schneider's SQ for the Haydn Society in the 50s. It would be nice if some enterprising reissue firm would take on the Schneider Quartets Haydn cycle done for the label Haydn Society. The sound on LP’s was good and I’m sure it would transfer quite nicely. Th...

Peter Schenkman

Corlyss wrote: "Composers tend not to be the best interpreters of their own music." Except that Rachmaninoff was one of the greatest pianists who ever lived, so I think he's an exception! Rachmaninoff his next to impssiblel to top in his cycle on the Naxos label in superb transfers, but for Concert...

Peter Schenkman

I have one of Mr. Leguia's discs which consists of music for cello and piano written by Latin American, Mexican and Caribbean composers. There is no question that this is a very fine instrument and as much of this music is lyrical, it plays to the cello's strength. The cello maintained an open, unp...

Peter Schenkman

I know that you are our true expert, but I still don't understand this mystique. To my mind, it is impossible for an antique violin not to be duplicated functionally by modern means unless it is dependent on an extinct species. Clarinets, which are dependent on an endangered species, should be more...

Peter Schenkman

I haven’t heard the Archipel, Mitropoulos releases but I can point out one label to avoid at all costs in any and all of their releases and they’ve got a lot out there. “Dimitri Mitropoulos, Maestro Spiritoso” a ten disc set on the TIM label. As sold at the Berkshire Record Outlet it could be purcha...

Peter Schenkman

I totally agree with all of the accolades given Rubinstein, one of my favorite pianists and not just in Chopin. Arrau I tend to like earlier on but then he turned it all-around with his late recording (at the age of seventy plus) of the Liszt Etudes d’execution transcendante giving a whole new dimen...

Peter Schenkman

Szigeti and Arrau from the Library of Congress in 1944 is hard to top.

Peter Schenkman

Peter Schenkman

Spin Doctors Rule. Their new album: “Nice Talking To Me” has just been released. As a jam band in the vein of Blues Traveler and Phish, Spin Doctors built a grassroots following by playing anywhere and everywhere. After a live EP caught their early potential, they released their uncharacteristically...

Peter Schenkman

Not to belittle the difficulties of Popper's "Spinning Song", or for that matter Elfentanz, both considered finger busters. The Spinning Song does it with a lot of notes in one bow, Elfentanz being a study in spicatto (every bow stroke receives a separate impetus). Neither piece is easy but you get ...

Peter Schenkman

Anyone seriously interested in the ordering of the middle movements of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is referred to Volume III, “Vienna: Triumph and Disillusion" (1904-1907) of Henry-Louis de la Grange’s monumental biography of Gustav Mahler. On pages 814-816 there is a subheading on “The order of the mid...

Peter Schenkman

Peter Schenkman has noted that we cannot always rely on the information provided by Dante in their issues. Peter, if you know the actual recording dates of the Gilels/Tchaikovsky you mentioned in your post, could you please advise me of them? The correct dating (and conductor for Concerto No. 1) fo...

Peter Schenkman

Mi favorites: Starker (on Mercury) Fournier Gandron Shafran Was Starker's Mercury set the most recent one? Starker recorded the Bach Suites twice past his Mercury recording of 1963/65. For the short-lived label, Sefel Records out of Calgary, Alberta in the early 1980’s and finally for RCA/BMG in 19...

Peter Schenkman

There is no right way or wrong way of playing the Bach ‘Cello Suites offering as they do to the performer a kaleidoscopic range of interpretive possibilities. Since the manuscript in Bach's own hand has not been preserved many of the earlier editions have been based mainly on the copy made by his se...

Peter Schenkman

I'm surprised no one has reissued Kempff's earliest recordings. By the acoustical process (pre-1926) he recorded no less than eight Beethoven sonatas [8, 12, 14, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28] as well as the First Concerto (with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, but apparently no conductor credited.) I'm curi...

Peter Schenkman

The fifth movement “Louange a l’Eternite de Jesus, a cello solo with minimal piano accompaniment and a metronome marking of 44 to the 16th note!!! takes more control then anything in the “Rococo” Variations. Yes! Even if Messiaen had written nothing else, that movement would seal his greatness! Agr...

Peter Schenkman

I’ve played The Quartet for the End of Time many times, the piece is a masterwork and not so easy to put together. The fifth movement “Louange a l’Eternite de Jesus, a cello solo with minimal piano accompaniment and a metronome marking of 44 to the 16th note!!! takes more control then anything in th...

Peter Schenkman

Didn't she do a couple of those Naxos Liszt Complete Piano series? Valerie did three recordings for the Naxos Liszt series but more recently has recorded for the Appian label the complete piano solo music of Ravel on two CD’s. I was part of a trio with Valerie (Marta Hidy violinist) for six or so y...

Peter Schenkman

BEETHOVEN Wilhelm Kempff, pianist Piano Concerto #4 in G, Op. 58 Orchestra of the German Opera House, Berlin Paul van Kempen, conductor [recorded 1941] Piano Concerto #5 in E-flat, Op. 73 ("Emperor") Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Peter Raabe, conductor [recorded 1935] Hänssler 94.045, 69:53, ADD __...

Peter Schenkman

Notice of New Release [Due in USA November 2005] Anton Rubinstein: Piano Concerto #4 in d, Op. 70 Xaver Scharwenka: Piano Concerto #1 in b-flat, Op. 32 Marc-André Hamelin, pianist BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Michael Stern, conductor Hyperion CDA 67508, 59:41, DDD Recorded February 18-19, 2005 _...

Peter Schenkman

I You know, I am not going to try to bring this thread into a train wreck by belaboring my jaundiced opinion of Sibelius (I do have exceptions, such as the violin concerto), but I did hear Jussi Jallas conduct the conservatory orchestra at Yale in a program of Sibelius classics and it included the ...

Peter Schenkman

Walter Legge had an interesting idea for a string quartet to record the Beethoven cycle shortly after the end of World War II and before the Hungarian Quartet’s pioneering effort. David Oistrakh, Henryk Szeryng, Bruno Giuranna and Pierre Fournier. It’s something of a pity that the plan died on the d...

Peter Schenkman

The Etudes d'exécution transcendante of Liszt are a handful for any pianist, in any of the three existing versions, and in my view (not a popular one) are works of genius and should be treated as tone poems in the very best sense of the word. The initial version of what would eventually become the T...

Peter Schenkman

There are quite a few good recordings of the complete Brahms Symphonies available (or were available). In no particular order I would list: Toscanini: I. NBC Symphony – 60325-2-RG, Recorded 1948-1953) Toscanini: II. Philharmonia Orchestra - Testament SBT 3167, Recorded 1951 Furtwangler: I. Vienna an...

Peter Schenkman

Lance wrote:…” Does anyone know if there is a COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY on Grumiaux?” I don’t know if there is a stand-alone discography covering just Grumiaux, if not one has to fall back to the second edition of Jim Creighton’s Discopaedia of the Violin, circa 1992, or Disco two as Jim referred to it d...

Peter Schenkman

I would imagine the Japanese set is the same as the one released in Holland. The most unique of Grumiaux’s many recordings is to be found on Philips PHCD-9657. On that disc he performs Mozart’s Sonata in E-Flat Major, K. 481 and the Brahms Sonata in A Major, Opus 100. Grumiaux of course plays violin...

Peter Schenkman

Arthur Grumiaux was certainly one of the great violinists (not a bad pianist either). I have his mega edition out of Japan and there is nary a dud to be found. Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Bach are at, or close to the top of any recordings of these works to be found. Surprisingly his Vieuxtemps Con...

Peter Schenkman

Aside from the fact that the piece is quite overwhelming on just about every level it’s quite striking for a piece titled “in B minor”, just how much of it is really in D Major!

Peter Schenkman

Peter Schenkman

She hasn't performed in New York, the woman is well into her Seventies and has maintained a low profile until recently. Joyce Hatto based on the half dozen or so recordings that I’ve heard, including the Twelve Transcendental Etudes of Liszt and the two Brahms Concertos is quite something. A friend ...

Peter Schenkman

The Stern/Ormandy recordings of the two Prokofiev Concertos are very good (Stern was playing extremely well at the time), Milstein in the D Major Concerto from 1960 or the G minor from 1967 is another safe bet, although sound or no sound my earlier recommendations are of more interest to my ears. Pe...

Peter Schenkman

If I had to select just one piece from the many, many great ones written during that period it would be the Bach Mass in B Minor (if performed on real instruments), the first Karajan recording is more then impressive. Honorable mentions (quite an understatement) would go to Beethoven’s Eroica Sympho...

Peter Schenkman

Szigeti with Sir Thomas Beecham in the D Major Concerto, the 1935 sound is dated the performances is anything but and Heifetz in the G minor. He recorded it twice both times with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Koussevitzky led the recording of 1937 and Munch the 1959 recording (Koussevitzky’s conduc...

Peter Schenkman

The two cited Bruno Walter recordings of Das Lied von der Erde, Vienna, 1952 and New York, 1960 are just two of many Walter performances of Mahler’s masterpiece available on CD. I’m sure that there are more out there, but looking through my shelves quickly I come up with the following. All of intere...

Peter Schenkman

The Russian pianist Samuel Feinberg (1890-1962) has an excellent recording of the Schumann Humoreske but it is not easily come by. Originally recorded for Melodiya in the early 1950’s it has appeared twice on CD. Both Arlecchino and Triton have released it, of the two the Triton is the better soundi...

Peter Schenkman

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the Kubelik 10 disc set on Deutsche Grammophon (429 042 2). It’s well played, well recorded and Kubelik knows these symphonies inside out. It also is very good value, last time I looked it was going for $5.00-6.00 a disc (Canadian). His live cycle on the Audit...

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Richter, October 1960 Carnegie Hall Recitals

Re: First Pick: Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos

Spin Doctors

Re: Kempff Live Beethoven Concertos 4/5 on Hanssler

Re: From Hyperion: new HAMELIN disc!