The Classical Music Guide Forums

Ken

In terms of format was Brahms much more of a classicist than Schumann, who favoured a more whimsical narrative style (think of the Concerti, which are 'cadenza-' and 'pauseless', his Fantasiestücke, cycles, and vocal/dramatic works). In the most superficial of measures, Brahms followed a stricter so...

Ken

Well, I hope that after 25 answers you've got some fuel for your fire, Matt, though I can't help but throw in my own benzine: I'd immediately recommend the Sawallisch Brahms set; he's one of my favourite interpreters of the composer, and though I haven't heard his LPO set, I have his WSO set and sti...

Ken

Also, the Naxos (17-volume!) series of Brahms Four-Hands piano music with Silke-Thora Matthies and Christian Köhn features not only music originally written for that medium (e.g., Hungarian Dances, Variations on a Theme by Schumann), but the composer's transcriptions of almost all of his orchestral ...

Ken

Bartók's own solo piano transcription of his Concerto for Orchestra is fascinating; all the more fascinating in the hands of Gyorgy Sandor.

Ken

Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C, D.944
Wolfgang Sawallisch/Staatskapelle Dresden
Philips

A wonderful performance!

Ken

If Anda/Fricsay's account of Brahms's Second is as good as their recording of the Bartók Second Concerto, I'll have to look in to it sometime... As for now, my favourite also remains the same as maestrob's---Richter's outstanding performance with Leinsdorf. In fact, I had a listen to this just a cou...

Ken

Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2
Geza Anda
Ferenc Fricsay/Radio Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
DGG

Ken

Seems as though none of the videos are available to German surfers because of copyright restrictions!

Ken

http://1.1.1.5/bmi/ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ns2jZiuvL._SL500_AA240_.jpg Schumann: Symphonic Études, Op. 13; Kinderszenen, Op. 15; Kreisleriana, Op. 16 Wilhelm Kempff DGG Kempff's recording of the Op. 13 is so precise, so clear and momentous; surely one of the greatest performances ever reco...

Ken

Mahler One, Two, and Three, the Busoni Piano Concerto, Bartók's Suite to The Miraculous Mandarin and the First Piano Concerto, Bruckner's Ninth, Brahms's Akademische Festouvertüre, Prokofiev's Fifth... The list goes on. Apparently I really enjoy bombastic music!

Ken

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416SSW4SZQL._SL500_AA240_.jpg Mahler: Symphony No. 2, 'Auferstehung' Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Hilde Rossel-Majdan Otto Klemperer/Philharmonia Orchestra EMI Great Recordings of the Century I was supposed to see Jansons conduct this at the Concertgebouw last night,...

Ken

I don't think that 'classical' and 'popular' music are very often comparable, since they are art forms with often very different goals and purposes; it's impossible to determine whether or not rock music, for instance, lies at the opposite extreme of an axis from, say, romantic piano music. We're ta...

Ken

Of course I'd like to wish Herrn Webern a happy birthday; I'll do so by listening to his Passacaglia, Op. 1.

Ken

Last night here in Düsseldorf I saw Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov perform Beethoven's Op. 12 Sonatas plus the Op. 47 'Kreuzer' Sonata, which was, to say the least, a wonderful experience. In fact, I was so impressed with the performance that, upon returning home, I defied my self-imposed rec...

Ken

Hm, my reaction to Argerich's music doesn't ever sway to either 'love' or 'hate'; much of the time I really like her music (especially the chamber recitals) and occasionally I think that the end-product is a touch over-baked for my taste. But on the whole she gets a big thumbs up from me; she still ...

Ken

One of the interesting 'technical' things that I've noticed listening to a few contemporary composers is the treatment of melody across much longer timeframes than in previous times; that is, a melodic line might unravel itself slowly across the length of an entire work, and the listener does not no...

Ken

Jared wrote: but I would also have to highlight:

Walton: Viola Concerto (Kennedy/ Previn)

Highlight and double underscore! Great recording.

Ken

Technique and physical ability aside, we can't forget about the other rigours of a musical life that age can have an impact on. I'm speaking of performance, rehearsal, recording, and touring volume and intensity, and the external stress of trying to balance a 'life outside music' (e.g., family life)...

Ken

Ah, this one's easy! The Walton and Bartók Viola Concertos.

Wait, do concerti for 'orchestra' count?

Ken

Another listen to this disappointing Archipel recording:

Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas Nos. 6, 7, and 9
Sviatoslav Richter
Archipel Records

Ken

Well, Jack, I'm glad to see you mentioned Herr Schumann. I was reluctant to do so because I know I've a personal leaning towards the composer, and I wasn't sure if my heightened knowledge of his works would exaggerate the way I perceive their difficulty. But you're spot-on---at least in terms of the...

Ken

Haven't had a chance to hear this one yet, but it sure does look interesting. I got my copy for $6/USD through the BMG Music Club which goes by a new name, which escapes me [has something to do with YOURMUSIC]. Normally their single CDs run $6.99/each and there's no postal fees assessed. It's a gre...

Ken

I must admit that, considering all the lists that I've seen posted on this forum, this one isn't too too outrageous. It seems to make a good judgment of the 'contents' of the top 100 (a few exceptions, of course), though things near the top seem to me to be all in the wrong places. I'm always surpri...

Ken

http://www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/covers/full/105/1050620.jpg Robert Schumann Violin Sonatas #1 in a, Op. 105 #2 in d, Op. 121 #3 in a, WoO 2 Carolin Widmann, violin Dénes Várjon, piano ECM Records ECM 2047, DDD (Recorded 2007, Lugano, Switzerland) Tragically, Lance, I am still waiting to hear thi...

Ken

Great to have you back, Jack! Hope you don't hit the road no more, no more, no more, no more.

Ken

Last night I had my first listening to the following recording: Schumann: Violin Concerto in D minor, WoO 34 Frank Peter Zimmermann Hans Vonk/Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester EMI (long out-of-print) In the early '90s, Hans Vonk undertook a large-scale Schumann project with the Kölner Rundfunk-Sinf...

Ken

Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97 "Rheinische" Sir Georg Solti/Wiener Philharmoniker Decca This version of my favourite work is currently playing on WDR3... And I am not amused. Then turn off the Radio... :lol: Nah, I had some kind of macabre fascination with the whole ordeal, and I ...

Ken

Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97 "Rheinische"
Sir Georg Solti/Wiener Philharmoniker
Decca

This version of my favourite work is currently playing on WDR3... And I am not amused.

Ken

^ Here's an Andsnes fan, though listening to the Pletnev recording, I can hear why you're fond of it. And I'm impressed that YouTube has the rare Gould recording! Ah, the internet...

Ken

I'll agree with all the votes for Mozart, though after about thirty seconds of calculation in my head, the one example of this that popped to mind was Schubert. It seems as though his music often rides a fine balance that separates two (or more) completely different moods; lean too far in one direct...

Ken

A lot of listening this weekend. For dinner I'm having:

Beethoven: Variations (33) for Piano on a Waltz by Diabelli in C major, Op. 120
Claudio Arrau
Philips

Coupled with a couple of glasses of 2009 Frühroter Veltliner from Niederösterreich. The whole experience is ganz spritzig.

Ken

Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
Viktoria Mullova
André Preview/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Philips

...Is a great recording!

Ken

I have heard excerpts of that recording and I wondered what all of the fuss was about, it didn't move me at all. Perhaps I should give it another try. Sean, I think you've got a more discriminating ear when it comes to Mahler. I've not much in the ways of Mahler Fours (I think five or six records n...

Ken

http://1.1.1.2/bmi/www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/covers/full/106/1068871.jpg Mahler: Symphony No. 4 Miah Persson (sop.) Ivan Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra Channel Classics After my first listen to this disc, I'm inclined to agree with David Hurwitz's gushing ClassicsToday.com appraisal: it migh...

Ken

http://1.1.1.1/bmi/www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/covers/full/44/442946.JPG Schumann, Widmann: Cello Concertos Jan Vogler Christoph Poppen/Münchener Kammerorchester Berlin Classics http://1.1.1.2/bmi/www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/covers/full/60/603747.jpg Schumann: Cello Concerto Janos Starker Stanislaw...

Ken

Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C D.944
Sir Neville Marriner/Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Arkiv

A great reading, complete repeats and all...

Ken

Jörg Widmann gets a lot of attention in Germany, and with good reason---his compositions are very creative and playful, and (at least in my opinion) don't strike the listener as incorrigibly abstract. He's also very young (35, I believe?), meaning the best of his works are likely yet to come.

Ken

^ I prefer Blomstedt in those three works.

This morning: some 'Ancerl Gold':

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
Karl Ancerl/Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Supraphon

Ken

^ Hm... I also forgot to ask--were you listening to Gould's disc of music by Canadian composers? Or do you have this recording? I'm quite impressed by it.

Ken

How very Canadian, Henry--sitting in your study, listening to Glenn Gould and Angela Hewitt while reading a biography of Champlain... Were you perchance drinking a large Double-Double at the time?

Ken

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5
Herbert von Karajan/Berliner Philharmoniker
DGG

A classic.

Ken

^ Well, I haven't heard any performances of the Intermezzi that have been schmalzy enough to make me do the 'pointing-in-opened-mouth-to-indicate-figurative-gagging' action, though the recordings of certain pianists who are known to tend in such a direction have brought me close. Kempff and Gould re...

Ken

Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 19 Julia Fischer Yakov Kreizberg/Russian National Orchestra PentaTone Gearing up for this afternoon's concert in Dortmund, in which the aforementioned artist will play the aforementioned work with Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersberg Philharmonic. The first h...

Ken

Some might have reservations about exactly that crisp. détaché style. Count me as one of those who find Gould's playing to be mechanically perfect but almost always lacking in soul and passion. When people say this I recommend them Gould's recordings of the Hindemith Sonatas; if you haven't yet hea...

Ken

^ The vocal accompaniments in the Third Book of Bartók's Mikrokosmos were the composer's own original intention.

Ken

Plus Walton's gripping musical score to accompany the Battle in the Sky sequence from the film The Battle of Britain, not to mention his 'Spitfire' Prelude and Fugue from 1942.

Ken

Reich's Different Trains

Stockhausen's Helicopter Streichquartett

Ken

I've noticed that the 'preconceptions' about classical music aren't as strong here as they are in North America, probably because many Germans are taught about music history as youngsters and because instrumental training is much more common here. But in speaking with people in my age group, I still...

Ken

Borodin is the greatest 'spare-time' composer in the history of music, and certainly the greatest composer amongst aldehyde chemists.

(P.S.: Happy belated 176th, Alexander!)

Ken

^ Going to second the vote for Grygory Sandor's Bartók recordings; his deeply-conceived performances of the Concertos are the most recommendable starting point, but if you can find a copy, try to listen to his recording of the solo piano transcription of the Concerto for Orchestra , which is somethi...

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