The Classical Music Guide Forums

Ken

The Robert Schumann Gesellschaft here in Düsseldorf is working in cooperation with the Tonhalle Orchester, the biannual Schumannfest, and the local Robert Schumann Musikhochschule to stage the composer's full repertory over the course of the year. I know this isn't a recorded release, but I think it...

Ken

Canadian Music in the 20th Century
(Morawitz, Anhalt, Hétu)
Glenn Gould
Sony

Ken

Wow, very difficult to say...

Sviatoslav Richter
Martha Argerich
Wilhelm Kempff
Marc-André Hamelin
Claudio Arrau

Ken

Genau, Ken...das ist gerade das Problem: wen sollte man wählen, wen nicht?! Auch Masur dirigiert eine fantastische Aufnahme von Schumanns "Genoveva"! Tschüß, Jack Jack, ich kenne zwar die Masur Aufführung nicht, aber höre sehr gerne dem Rest seines Schumann-Repertoires zu. Hast Du aber die Harnonco...

Ken

Not quite fair for all composers, because once I've listed the four symphonies of both Schumann and Brahms I'm only left with two extra picks, na? OK, I'll try to keep my composer list as diverse as possible: 1. Schumann: Symphony No. 3, 'Rheinische' 2. Brahms: Symphony No. 1 3. Schumann: Symphony N...

Ken

Schwer festzulegen...

Dohnányi
Masur
Previn
Sawallisch
Marriner

Ken

Tough.

1. Schumann
2. Brahms
3. Hindemith
4. Bartok
5. Walton

Listen of course also to Borodin very happily.

Ken

Not much time to write an insightful, detailed response, but I will short mention that if you can find a copy of the Frank Peter Zimmermann/Vonk/Kölner RSO performance of the Violin Concerto, do not pass it up! . This is since a few years out of print, but is easily the most flowing, artistically in...

Ken

Jack Kelso wrote:While perhaps not from the standpoint of virtuosity, the Schumann Concerto (third movement especially) submits great interpretive challenges to the soloist.

Yes! And have you looked into that Zimmermann performance yet?

Ken

Sublime? First thing that comes to my mind is Brahms's First Symphony, which bleeds sublimity.

Ken

Possibly also Alkan's Concerto for Solo Piano, if that counts.

Ken

^ Adding to that, though, I should mention that the Schumann Symphonies in the hands of a skilled chamber orchestra can be spectacular experiences. There are a lot of subtleties in Schumann's orchestration that indeed tend to be drowned out by modern forces, though modern orchestras can certainly fl...

Ken

Now that's interesting, Ken. "Same vintage" meaning contemporaneous?! Does that mean Brahms should be played like Raff or Bruckner? Schumann like Mendelssohn? Sibelius like Mahler? Sorry, I'd like to have a beer with him over that opinion! Tschüß, Jack Basically meaning the same angle of attack in ...

Ken

The Prokofiev and Shostakovich Concerti have always appeared and heard to me to be very difficult works, though I'm no expert.

Ken

Jared wrote:Ken... as an aside, what do you think of the Harnoncourt set??

Jared, I've actually not heard the Harnoncourt recordings, though I'm a sympathizer of his and I find his other Schumann releases to be fantastic.

Ken

Not sure what Ken means when he says Zinman has "a philosophy" on Schumann's symphonies. Zinman himself has said in an interview that he just prefers quicker tempi now. I don't feel any special philosophy in his Schumann. Taking this from a Gramophone interview around the time of his first release ...

Ken

I would like to invest in another set of Schumann Symphonies, OUT OF THE FOLLOWING SEVEN ONLY! I have a personal frontrunner in my mind, but could possibly be persuaded to the contrary by reasoned argument, so I'll be most interested to read your thoughts... :D * Staatskapelle Dresden/ Wolfgang Saw...

Ken

Michelangeli, Brendel, and Pollini share a birthday today? What a pianistic talent-laden day!

Ken

Glass: Another Look at Harmony, Part. 4
Michael Riesman
Wester Wind Vocal Ensemble
Orange Mountain Music

The points brought up in the recent Minimal Music thread notwithstanding, this is pretty amazing stuff to hear.

Ken

Hate to admit it, but based on what I've heard of many of the examples given in this thread, I'd have to stick with Simon Rattle and the CBSO's cycle from the early 90s for EMI. Overall wonderful music-making.

Ken

The Schumann surprised me at #5. How about you? :shock: Jack Kelso's responsible for that, with a little help from his friend Ken... :wink: No, this definitely surprised me, too. I didn't know that the composer's Op. 28 Drei Romanzen were at all as popular as this survey reveals. At any rate is the...

Ken

Poor Brahms! The most scholarly of composers up until his own time and he borrows Bach that is not by Bach and Haydn that is not by Haydn (at least the Handel is by Handel). And the Schumann that once borrowed was indeed Schumann, although Schumann believed it was communicated to him through the sp...

Ken

Wallingford wrote:FORGET about a new Brahms concerto......I'm itching to hear that alleged "Ragtime Symphony"!

You're out of luck, musicologists are most certain that Brahms burned the manuscript in the same garbage bin as the sketches for his comic opera, The Sting.

Ken

Chalkperson wrote:
Ken wrote:Bartók: The String Quartets
Emerson String Quartet
DGG

1988, with stunning rhythmic accuracy.
Stunning accuracy yet no real Soul...

They aren't Hungarian; we can't expect them to overdramatize the Hungarian aspects of the music.

Ken

Which one is Nr. 1 and which one is Nr. 2?

Ken

Yep!

... That is to say, I'm sure somebody out there got Susan Boyle for Christmas!

Ken

Bartók: The String Quartets
Emerson String Quartet
DGG

1988, with stunning rhythmic accuracy.

Ken

I'll count when I get my CDs organized again, though my sum (in a collection, mind you, of only around 300) is fairly moderate (I'd guess in the range of 20-30). I'm convinved, though, that Naxos doesn't deserve the cheapo-reputation that it sometimes earns.

Ken

I'm intrigued! Think it's not a bad idea at all.

Ken

Hard for me to pin down single favourites for both of these beloved works, but here are the recordings that I like:

Symphony No. 2: Walter, Dohnányi, Sawallisch, Karajan (70s)
Symphony No. 3: Dohnányi, Alsop, Sawallisch, Masur

Ken

Frohe Weihnachten aus Düsseldorf!

Ken

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61iH3RlDqxL._SL500_AA280_.jpg Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5, Op. 100 Mariss Jansons/Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Chandos I stumbled across this little-known recording at eMusic and am quite impressed by it: a booming acoustic, energetic cadences and bright, pow...

Ken

^ Actually haven't heard the Sawallisch recording of the Mendelssohn Symphonies; I'll keep it in mind, since I'm also so fond of his Schumann and Brahms.

...Come to think of it, Kurt Masur might indeed be the closest thing we have to a 'Mendelssohn Conductor'.

Ken

Jack, where did you pick up this set? I've been thinking of getting a box of the Prokofievs but I don't want to lay down the kind of € for the Jaarvi set on Chandos. There's this store in Mannheim, "2001"----they carry hard-to-find CD's, books and DVD's. I've found some excellent things there (e.g....

Ken

I've also the Masur set and very much enjoy it, though my own tastes lead me to Dohnányi for the Mendelssohn Symphonies.

Ken

A contemplation as Mendelssohnjahr 2009 draws to a close: there are many conductors out there who 'cut their teeth', as it were, on one or two composers' works, and whose identities tend to become attached to these composers. There are Mozart conductors (Pinnock, Böhm), Beethoven conductors (Furtwän...

Ken

Love his Brahms and Schumann!

Ken

^ True, though I wonder how much 'selling power' in terms of pure record sales a David Oistrakh or a Fischer-Dieskau has in comparison to a Janine Jansen or a Kate Royal these days. I think Karajan could still command pretty big sales, especially because of the recent anniversary year, though most K...

Ken

Erm, it's Schumannjahr 2010... Those other macks just rid on his coattails.

Ken

Interesting article in yesterday's Süddeutsche Zeitung that claimed that sales (and perhaps also releases, I don't recall) of Bach recordings as well as occurrence of Bach performances peak at Christmas time and slump in the summer. Ho ho ho!

Ken

I won't be purchasing this, but it's good to see that the Beeb is getting Schumannjahr 2010 off to a correct start!

Ken

Generally has to do with the age of the release/status of the instrumental soloist or orchestra, I believe. Anne-Sophie Mutter, for instance, still has a big contract with the label and the label presumably still sells a lot of her earlier releases, and thus sees the benefit in keeping them at full ...

Ken

Ditto the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra. ( NB Ken: this is 20th century music). Bartók's magnificent work was the first thing that popped to mind when I tried to think of joyous 20th Century music this morning; the same goes for his Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and his Second Piano Con...

Ken

Gade: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 5
Ronald Brautigam (Piano)
Christopher Hogwood/Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Chandos

Superb!

Ken

I like the Marriner/ASMF recording on Arkiv, which very much represents a balance between HIP principles and modern orchestral standards. It also features recordings of the 7th, the 'finished' 8th, and the further-constructed 10th Symphonies.

Ken

There's so much out there, and I tend to uplifting music as opposed to downers. Schumann's Rheinische Symphony, composed at one of the most optimistic times of the master's life, is my favourite orchestral work, likely for sentimental reasons, but also because of its overwhelmingly cheerful demeanou...

Ken

Made a post about this clip on my blog a while back; Dohnányi's recording of the selfsame piece isn't half bad, either.

Ken

Jack, where did you pick up this set? I've been thinking of getting a box of the Prokofievs but I don't want to lay down the kind of € for the Jaarvi set on Chandos.

Ken

slofstra wrote:Instrumentally, I don't think there is anything more melancholy and tinged with sadness than movement III of Schumann's Piano Quartet, op. 47.

Interesting; I find the movement to be very plush and quasi-sentimental!

Ken

Hm, surprisingly no mention of Mahler in here, though I know there are fans of Kindertotenlieder and the Ninth and (Tenth) Symphonies around these parts.

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