What NEW discs/music are you adding to your collection?

premont · Post by **premont** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 5:06 pm

Lance wrote: Many of us here are veteran collectors starting out with LPs (me when I was 17). I amassed about 70,000 of them over the years, and now have that many CDs.

absinthe · Post by **absinthe** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 5:34 pm

I'll probably buy the Naxos / Karabchewsky Villa-Lobos Symphony 12.

I like his interpretations. As appealing as the Carl St Clair but in subtly different ways. The recordings don't quite have the clarity of the Stuttgart studios but at the price they seem worthwhile.

My only problem with this offering is that it includes the long version of the ballet Uirapuru, the one with the opening section repeated in entirety (which to me turns the work into ennui). It may have been necessary for a ballet if it were ever performed but as a concert piece it evokes that "Oh no, not that bit again" feeling.

Stokowsky had the good sense to cut that repeat and his is the version I listen to when the mood catches me!

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:19 pm

This is my first exposure to the young and striking violinist Baiba Skride, and it's a winner. Vassily Petrenko masters Szymanowski's idiom as well as he did those of Shostakovich and Rachmaninov: he brings out the detailed beauty of this music without overpowering the ear, and leaves one breathless. I have several recordings of these violin concerti, and none of them match the clarity, beauty and power of this one. Five enthusiastic stars, especially for the bonus of the early Myths for violin and piano, Op. 30.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:08 pm

Finally got around to hearing this highly anticipated CD (Nos. 5/6 have just been issued). Amazingly, this disc is available on Amazon currently for about $10! IMO, this is the first significant recording of Nielsen's complete symphonies since the 1960's, and Alan Gilbert certainly lives up to the hype. My introduction to IV was Barbirolli's electric reading with the Halle, and Ormandy's I on reel-to-reel tape (since replaced by CD). Frankly, Gilbert's IV lacks the fire of Barbirolli, but the recording by Dacapo brings out fine-grained details that Barbirolli misses, subtleties that more than make this a worthy addition to the collection. Both versions, as well as Bernstein should be on your shelves. Gilbert is a probing, sensitive conductor whose sense of drama and tempo suit Nielsen well. Highly recommeded: five stars!

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:19 am

Jean Martinon complete Chicago recordings on Sony 10-cd set.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:31 am

jserraglio wrote:Jean Martinon complete Chicago recordings on Sony 10-cd set.

Sure, but aren't they from the '60's also? Where can I find that set now?

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 4:27 pm

maestrob wrote:
jserraglio wrote:Jean Martinon complete Chicago recordings on Sony 10-cd set.
Sure, but aren't they from the '60's also? Where can I find that set now?

Released this month. $27.07 shipped from various MP sellers.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jean-Martinon-C ... n+Martinon

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:16 pm

jserraglio wrote:
maestrob wrote:
jserraglio wrote:Jean Martinon complete Chicago recordings on Sony 10-cd set.
Sure, but aren't they from the '60's also? Where can I find that set now?
Released this month. $27.07 shipped from various MP sellers.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jean-Martinon-C ... n+Martinon

Many thanks! I've been wanting those forever......

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 7:18 am

maestrob wrote:
jserraglio wrote:
maestrob wrote:
jserraglio wrote:Jean Martinon complete Chicago recordings on Sony 10-cd set.
Sure, but aren't they from the '60's also? Where can I find that set now?
Released this month. $27.07 shipped from various MP sellers.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jean-Martinon-C ... n+Martinon
Many thanks! I've been wanting those forever......

Me too even though I have all on LP and the CSO From the Archives set. The CSO is the most exciting orchestra I ever heard. I was lucky enough to hear Martinon conduct them a couple of times.

This set was released 4 days ago in the USA but at this point the UK amazon 3rd party price is significantly lower.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 1:33 pm

I ended up getting them from mdt.co.uk for about 17 pounds with another order for 4 new releases. Thanks again for tipping me off. I noted also that DGG has released Martinon's recordings for that label: I'll pick those up next month. Again, thanks for the tip!

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 4:07 pm

maestrob wrote:I ended up getting them from mdt.co.uk for about 17 pounds with another order for 4 new releases. Thanks again for tipping me off. I noted also that DGG has released Martinon's recordings for that label: I'll pick those up next month. Again, thanks for the tip!

I think there is also another recent issue (Jean Martinon: The Philips Legacy) but i only wanted the RCA Sony with the CSO.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 11:22 am

Enescu V is new material to my ears, as is the tone-poem Isis. Both are beautifully atmospheric, as led by Peter Ruzicka, a conductor I had not encountered until this release. The recording is atmospheric, which suits the character of the music, and the tenor soloist, Marius Vlad, sounds fine while his slavic sound suits the repertoire without any of the usual pinched quality often found in Eastern European tenors. Highly recommended!

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Sun Apr 05, 2015 11:39 am

La caravane du Caire by Gretry, here shown in a deluxe edition with full libretto, is an original and highly entertaining find as here presented. The soloists are all excellent, and the pacing is exemplary, particularly in the highly original ballet music which occurs in the middle of the opera. Delightful! Many thanks are due to Pepe, who pointed me in this direction. Highly recommended, even if you don't speak French: Five enthusiastic stars!

(2 CDs plus a highly informative booklet)

Ted Quanrud · Post by **Ted Quanrud** » Wed Apr 15, 2015 5:28 pm

A fascinating release. Lowenthal plays the 4th concerto very simply and directly, Thanks to CD technology (and a proper player), you can program in about 8 different cadenzas for the 1st and 4rd movements by the likes of Clara Schumann, Anton Rubinstein, Hans von Bulow, Johannes Brahms, Erno Dohnanyi and others. The question remains why? Not the CD, but why any of these people thought they could better Beethoven's own cadenzas. For me, the original cadenza to the 1st moment is one of the most sublime things he ever wrote. Nevertheless, I'm very much enjoying this. It is less than $10 from Amazon resellers.

I have long enjoyed Vieuxtemps' violin concertos; these may be even better.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 12:34 pm

This is not a new recording (It was issued in 2011.), but Duanduan Hao is a new pianist to me, and his excellent playing on this release has prompted Naxos to record him in Volume 16 of their complete Scarlatti Sonatas project as well. The playing is highly musical, sparkling at just the right temperature, which left me deeply impressed with this young man's artistry and authority in this repertoire. Can't wait for Volume 16, which I've just ordered!

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:42 am

Diana Damrau's new Lucia is a strange bird. One would think that with a cast like this and partnered by the winning Joseph Calleja and Ludivic Tezier, both first-rank singers, this performance would be a winner. Unfortunately, it's just not quite gelling for me. Jesus Lopez-Cobos is to blame, for his odd tempi that infuse sections of the score that make me highly uncomfortable. It's as if the conductor never studied the traditions that make the music comfortable for the singers, or he's deliberately flouting them, which is worse. Tezier's "Cruda funesta smanie...." is so fast that this excellent baritone cannot articulate his grace notes properly, while sections of the Regnava leave Diana Damrau sounding thin and gasping for air because of slowness. Damrau's Mad Scene is filled with odd ideas which she handles well enough, but leave me uncomfortable and unsettled. Did Lopez-Cobos not listen to any of the great Lucias (Callas, Scotto, Moffo, Netrebko et al)? Also, Damrau has an annoying habit of machine-gunning her rolled R's, a German habit that makes her Italian unidiomatic.

I expected better from this cast: I'm sad to say I'm disappointed. Not recommended.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 11:14 am

This version of the Mozart Requiem, recorded in Versailles of all places, marks the debut recording of the Insula Orchestra led by its founder Laurence Equilbey, with a stellar cast of soloists including Sandra Piau and Werner Gura. The atmosphere is suitably religious, Maestra Equilbey obviously having chosen Versailles for its acoustic flavor which fits the music admirably. Her pacing is excellent, and the choir has a clear transparancy that allows the music to float at its proper level. While a bit cool in interpretation, this is a fine disc worthy of repeated listening. Four stars.

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 3:10 pm

Dallapiccola il Prigioniero Dorati Decca Eloquence

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Sun Apr 26, 2015 7:33 am

Vaughan Williams Collectors Edition EMI

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:50 am

Hamelin's first Debussy disc is a winner, hands down. Sensitive, gentle playing where necessary, and strong, rich tone when called for. Hamelin is a proven first-rank player; this disc firmly adds to his reputation. Five enthusiastic stars.

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 4:39 pm

Well, this is old news (which I never reported), but for my birthday laste June I bought myself DGG's complete Brahms box.

alan c. davis · Post by **alan c. davis** » Sat May 02, 2015 8:59 pm

The Glen Gould Complete Bach Collection arrived several days ago. Received the Jascha Heifetz Complete Album Collection two weeks ago. Mightily impressed with both. The presentation of the Gould is exemplary. Also (accidently) pulled the trigger on the big Toscanini box which is on its way from Amazon.fr. Very tempted by the 70cd Karajan complete Opera recordings (Dg and Decca) which is due out in June. Might pre order that one.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Thu May 07, 2015 10:49 am

This is a real gem. Gardner starts off the program with an obscure piece by Walton based on a tune by Britten, and it's a winner. Next comes the ineffable cello concerto, stunningly played by Paul Watkins, a new artist for me. Finally, Walton's under-appreciated Second Symphony appears. Gardner makes an excellent case for this complex and innovative work: textures are transparent, rhythms precise, and energy abundant. Surely this disc makes fine listening, and is a remarkable case study in how Walton's music should be presented. Five stars!

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:44 am

This is a fascinating CD of various late XXth century short pieces, with the Baltimore Symphony led by the inimitable David Zinman. Ranging from Bernstein's familiar "Mambo!" from West Side Story and John Adams's "The Chairman Dances" to less familiar but still excellent short works by Kernis, Moran, Harbison, Torke and Argento, this excellent disc brings to our attention much worthy and listenable music. A reissue (the original was put out by Argo in 1995), this is my first exposure to this compilation, and it deserves the publicity. Five enthusiastic stars!

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Mon May 11, 2015 4:27 pm

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, with music by Paul Bowles. Caedmon

James Levine Plays Scott Joplin RCA-BMG

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Wed May 13, 2015 10:12 am

Walton: Troilus & Cressida
Hickox / Chandos
$2.30 on amz mp

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Tue May 19, 2015 1:16 pm

Prokofiev's Op 58 Cello Concerto, a good piece that can stand on its own two feet, actually served as the sketches or precursor to the same composer's Sinfonia Concertante written more than a decade later for Rostropovich. The latter is by far the superior work, but the earlier Concerto (received disastrously at its premiere in 1938) holds its own in this electrifying performance by Steven Isserlis, ably prepared and conducted by Paavo Jarvi. The Shostakovich Cello Concerto #1 which fills out the disc is ably served by the participants as well. Five stars!

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Thu May 28, 2015 10:06 am

Listening to this CD, Bryan Hymel is the real deal. Such a fabulous voice! At moments he reminds me of a young Jon Vickers, other moments bring Ben Heppner to mind. All of this CD is great, with conductor Emmanuel Villaume managing the details and pacing splendidly. You've got to hear this to believe it: I can only imagine how thrilling this voice is live! Five enthusiastic stars!

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:17 pm

Vladimir Jurowski is turning out to be an exciting addition to the classical music scene, as his newest live recording of Mahler II amply attests. Jurowski's grasp of tempo and structure only fails him here in the second movement, which has a tendency to drift into slowness, which slackens the tension and moves me to only give this recording four stars. However, Jurowski's firm grasp of the far more complex first and last movements hit the mark squarely in the center, which brings the audience to an uproarious (standing?) ovation at the finale, well deserved. Jurowski is now a fine Mahler conductor, and I'm sure he will mature into a great one. The sound of the hall after its recent renovation is stunningly beautiful and well captured in this excellent recording. Bravi tutti!

piston · Post by **piston** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 7:01 pm

I caught up on the Naxos Villa-Lobos symphony series:

And added to my order these Revueltas and Ginastera ballet music CDs:

Looking at the chronology of all of these works, there really is not much of a gap between American and Latin American composers finding their own distinct voice in the 20th century. With the exception of Ives and his not very polished works, all of them were "awakening" at about the same time.

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:03 pm

Orlande de Lassus Matthew Passion Hillier HM France

Ted Quanrud · Post by **Ted Quanrud** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:59 pm

This arrived at the station this week. Piano four-hands arrangements of Smetana's Moldau; Liszt's Les Preludes and the Allegro from Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony by their respective composers, together with transcriptions of Ravel's La Valse and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue by other composers. Good fun.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:18 pm

Chailly's Brahms Serenades are warm yet disciplined, shimmering with sunny joy in all the right places. The Leipzig players captures Chailly's mood with bright fervor, while warmly infusing each phrase with a singing tone worthy of the finest orchestras. This is a worthy successor to Kertesz's influential effort from 1968: both versions are essential to every collection. Five enthusiastic stars.

Ted Quanrud · Post by **Ted Quanrud** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 10:54 pm

This from an NPR review:

Twenty years ago, pianist András Schiff did not hide his disdain for the fortepiano — the smaller, quieter precursor to the modern grand piano. In the liner notes of five separate Schubert albums Schiff released in the early 1990s, he wrote: "Schubert's piano music has luckily not been discovered yet by specialists playing copies of Graf fortepianos."

And with that Schiff landed a double blow. Players of fortepianos were merely "specialists" — and they were clearly misguided in performing Schubert's music on the very type of instrument the composer knew firsthand.

What a difference a couple of decades makes.

Schiff is now about to release a double Schubert album (June 2) and guess what type of keyboard he's graduated to? It's a fortepiano from the very time and place Schubert was composing his piano music, a refurbished instrument built by Franz Brodmann in Vienna around 1820. (Schiff actually owns the fortepiano, which he's loaned to the Beethoven House in Bonn, Germany.)

This time, Schiff's liner notes are titled "Confessions of a Convert." With a contrite heart, he writes, "Today it's evident that my initial views were wrong and prejudiced." He goes on to praise the "transparency and natural equilibrium" of the fortepiano, noting that the softest passages are beautifully realized with the instrument's "secret weapon," the moderator, a device that pushes a thin layer of cloth between the strings and the hammers.

"My initial views were wrong and prejudiced:" András Schiff

You can hear what he's talking about in the Impromptu in A-flat, Op. 142, No. 2. The instrument all but whispers Schubert's beguiling melody, a wistful tune set in a gentle dance rhythm. The central section, by turns rippling and stormy, teems with texture and color, from the buzzing bottom end to muted pastels in the upper register.

When it comes to Schubert, Schiff hasn't totally abandoned the modern piano. (Hear his recent Carnegie Hall concert.) But for this project, one of today's most thoughtful classical artists has had a profound change of heart.

Here's what the 2-CD set includes:

Ungarische Melodie in h-Moll D 817
Sonate in G-Dur D 894
Moments musicaux D 780
Allegretto in c-Moll D 915
Vier Impromptus D 935
Sonate in B-Dur D 960

scififan · Post by **scififan** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 8:24 am

I've long had a love affair with Lucis di Lammermoor which I first saw live with Roberta Peters. I managed th hear (on a dicey AM connection) the radio broadcast of Joan Sutherland's Met debut in that part. She was applauded for 30 minutes after the "Mad Scene"!

Anyhow I have downloaded three versions from iTunes. The first is the live 1955 performance conducted by Karajan with Maria Callas as Lucia. Callas is in fine dramatic form and Karajan adds tremendous excitement. In the Mad Scene Callas does duck the first high e flat but has no problem with the second. Her voice was fresher and more flexible in the 1953 studio recording and the 1959 version showed a greater depth of dramatic interpretation but the voice was certainly going at that stage. Thus, perhaps the 1955 version splits the difference between the two studio recordings. The sextet was so well done that the audience demanded a repeat--which it got! It uses the score that was usual at that time and which was heavily cut.

The second download is another live performance--this time the Covent Garden broadcast of Joan Sutherland in 1959. Tulio Serafin conducts and again the recording is in good mono. Sutherland is breathtakingly spectacular and the tendency to swallow consonants is not a problem here. What we have is the birth of a new star and, perhaps, the greatest Lucia yet recorded. Again the text is the shorter version of the opera.

My third download leaps ahead to 1970 and the combination of Beverly Sills, Carlo Bergonzi and the London Sympony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Schippers. This Lucia is complete on 3 CDs (as is Sutherland's 1971 recording) and it alone has the mad scene using the instrument intended by Donizetti--the glass harmonica. Sills particularly is brilliant in the part and I feel there is a sense of authenticity in this set which makes it very desirable.

I think all three of these versions should be part of the collection of anyone who loves this opera.

John F · Post by **John F** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 9:19 am

Callas had an E flat, as the famous Mexico City "Aida" of 1951.

It's at 4:49. I don't know if there is an E flat in the Lucia mad scene, I mean in the score, and whether Karajan influenced her, or she didn't have it on the night. Doesn't matter to me.

Ted Quanrud · Post by **Ted Quanrud** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 2:00 pm

Decca has reissued Christopher Hogwood's Haydn symphonies box. Amazon is asking $140 for it, but you can get it from a US-based Amazon-Canada reseller for a little more than half that (go figure). The repackaging does not include James Webster's superb liner notes, but they are available as a PDF elsewhere on the Internet.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 12:01 pm

Joyce DiDonato is an acknowledged great singer, now at the top of her game, as this, her latest album, amply demonstrates. Each aria shows her voice to distinct advantage, perfect from top to bottom, now happily free of the slightly too fast vibrato that has dogged her earlier performances. This is simply magnificent singing in invariably interesting repertoire, ably prepared and conducted by Riccardo Minasi, a new first-rate talent TMK. This album could be one of the greatest of the current century. Enthusiastically recommended. Five stars!

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 1:13 pm

Tanglewood Music Center's free mp3 downloads:

SCHULLER Symphony for Brass and Percussion Schuller/TMCO (8/13/1975)
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4 Bernstein/TMCO (7/19/1976)
FOSS Concerto for Piano Left Hand TMCO/Ozawa & Fleisher (7/23/1994)
BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 TMCO/Masur (8/16/2009)
SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No. 9 TMC Fellows (7/5/2015)

http://www.bso.org/MediaCenter#search/tmc75

This week we look to several important leaders in the history of the TMC, and also have a chance to hear a freshly-minted performance by current TMC Fellows.

Gunther Schuller - who passed away on June 21, 2015 - was a towering presence at the TMC for over twenty years. Possessed of diverse talents, Schuller was principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera at age twenty, played with Miles Davis on the Birth of the Cool sessions, wrote for ensembles as varied as the Modern Jazz Quintet and the BSO, and was mentor to a generation of young composers. He came to Tanglewood in 1963 at the behest of Erich Leinsdorf, first as a member of the composition faculty, then as overseer of the newly-established Festival of Contemporary Music, and finally as TMC Artistic Director from 1970-1984. In this recording from 1975, Schuller conducts his own Symphony for Brass and Percussion, in which TMC students display their customary ease with contemporary repertoire, even with the super-human articulations that Schuller demands in the last movement. This summer the TMC gives the world premiere of newly-commissioned piece for twelve trumpets by Schuller - one of his last compositions - on July 23.

In the first week of these archival streams, we featured Leonard Bernstein as a TMC conducting student in 1940. This week we jump to near the midway point on Bernstein's fifty year association with Tanglewood. He had been absent, actually, for most of the 1960s, but he returned in dramatic style in 1970 as part of a "troika" of leadership at the TMC that included Seiji Ozawa and Schuller (he made a splash with a striking white suit and a provocative speech at Opening Exercises that year). Here he is in 1976, leading Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, drawing a ponderous opening fate motive from the brass (and then remarkable warmth from the strings), choreographing the "ballet" of the interior movements; and fighting hard to balance opposing forces in the crashing finale. The enthusiastic Shed audience for the occasion jumps the gun a few times with their eager applause. (This orchestra features current BSO members Jennie Shames and Sato Knudsen.)

Schuller was succeeded as Artistic Director at the TMC by Leon Fleisher, who held that post until 1997 and for whom the Carriage House, which contains the TMC administration, is named. This 1994 world-premiere of a BSO commission brings Fleisher together with two other pivotal TMC figures: Ozawa, whose significance goes without saying, and Lukas Foss, who was Bernstein's classmate in 1940 (as both a conducting and composition student), quickly made the leap to TMC faculty, and whose works have been a fixture at Tanglewood ever since. This then-new Concerto for the Left Hand joined a significant body of works in this genre, which arose when renowned concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right hand in World War I, and which Fleisher took up after an injury to his own right hand. At the end, the score calls for the orchestra members to exclaim the work's dedication: "Here's to LF, from LF."

Anyone in attendance at this 2009 season-ending concert of Brahms under Kurt Masur (who led the TMCO seven times) may remember well the way the string section undulated together, like one organism, more in the fashion of a European orchestra - something that seems almost audible in the recording. In the second movement, if listening carefully, one can hear Mr. Masur adding his own voice to the performance, exhorting the orchestra to the lyricism that characterizes this reading. Coincidentally, this piece capped off the TMCO's summer thrice in the space of ten years (also in 2003 and 2011), and the ebullient fourth movement makes as good a finale to any TMC season as one might imagine, its final moments a joyful sprint to the end of an exhausting and exhilarating summer of music making.

Lastly, with the 2015 TMC season now full swing, we have the chance to showcase some of the excellent work being done by this year's fresh crop of Fellows. This performance of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 9 (by TMC Fellows Heather Thomas, Ivana Jasova, Erica Schwartz, and Jacob Nierenz) closed the Sunday morning chamber music concert on July 5. Naturally, they had the energy left over to play in an equally-rousing TMCO concert that night.

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:34 am

3 LPs. Never on CD, afaik.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 9:11 am

piston wrote:

This one is particularly tasty, I think.

Cheers,
~k.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 9:12 am

Ted Quanrud wrote:Decca has reissued Christopher Hogwood's Haydn symphonies box. Amazon is asking $140 for it, but you can get it from a US-based Amazon-Canada reseller for a little more than half that (go figure). The repackaging does not include James Webster's superb liner notes, but they are available as a PDF elsewhere on the Internet.

I do enjoy this box a great deal.

Do you have a link to the PDF of the liner notes? TIA.

Cheers,
~k.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 9:16 am

Thread Duty:

This week, the Icon boxes of Richter and Jn Ogdon landed. Last night I listened to one of the Ogdon discs of Liszt, fantastic. From the Richter box, one of the first discs I listened to was some Handel Suites, strange to say, perhaps the first time I have listened to recordings of those pieces (I've certainly heard the occasional Suite in recital).

Cheers,
~k.

oisfetz · Post by **oisfetz** » Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:10 pm

18 short pieces recorded by Vasa Prihoda on 78 RPM discs in the 20s and 30s, his prime time. (from Youtube audios).

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:08 pm

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:22 am

Ingrid Fliter, in this her latest recording, sounds like she was born to play Chopin. Not just the Preludes, but certain Mazurkas and Nocturnes are included here in this very full disc, recorded in excellent sound, and played with infinite care and sensitivity. No more needs to be said, except that I loved her recent release of the two piano concerti as well. Five enthusiastic stars!

stevewright · Post by **stevewright** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 6:49 am

Waiting for some money (and my birthday this week) for any or all of these box sets (please advise me on the Mahler!).
All very affordable for what they are - and, I gather, well thought of:
Bruckner/Jochum DG (I just have HvK's set so far, and a few singles. Keen to hear Jochum's way!)
Mahler/Bernstein Sony
Mahler/Bertini
Mahler/Kubelik DG (I'm pretty much new to Mahler, been enjoying 1 and 5)
Shostakovich/Barshai (I know a bit of Shostakovich but not, very well, his symphonies)

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 2:21 pm

stevewright wrote:Waiting for some money (and my birthday this week) for any or all of these box sets (please advise me on the Mahler!).
All very affordable for what they are - and, I gather, well thought of:

Mahler/Bernstein Sony

is a very good cycle.

Mahler/Bertini

Bertini's is a very underrated cycle and well worth having.

Mahler/Kubelik DG (I'm pretty much new to Mahler, been enjoying 1 and 5)

Kubelik's is a magnificent cycle and is well worth having. Recommended. I wouldn't be without it.

Shostakovich/Barshai (I know a bit of Shostakovich but not, very well, his symphonies)

is a good cycle

jserraglio · Post by **jserraglio** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 2:41 pm

karlhenning wrote:Do you have a link to the PDF of the liner notes? TIA.Cheers,~k.

Hogwood - Haydn Syms - James Webster 2000 Liner Notes [pdf]
http://christermalmberg.se/files/pdf/mu ... e_1-10.pdf

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:16 pm

jserraglio wrote:
karlhenning wrote:Do you have a link to the PDF of the liner notes? TIA.Cheers,~k.
Hogwood - Haydn Syms - James Webster 2000 Liner Notes [pdf]
http://christermalmberg.se/files/pdf/mu ... e_1-10.pdf

Thank you!

Thread Duty:

The Boulez Edition of Berlioz . . . the driver was, wanting a recording (of which I could be confident) of Lélio, but (no surprise) the whole of the three CDs is excellent.

Cheers,
~k.

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