The Classical Music Guide Forums

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I'm so glad that you mention Dutoit. And today I heard the 1980 Dutoit recording of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe. I don't believe that any better version could exist. I never heard Dutoit in Daphnis et Chloé. But I heard Munch with Boston and Cluytens with NFO and I doubt that Dutoit - not a great cond...

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Charpentier, "Leçons du Vendredi Saint", by Judith Nelson, Rene Jacobs, William Christie.

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Just a little observation, to remind the quality of the bass Marcello Cortis. Today he is almost forgotten. But he was a remarkable Leporello, as we can hear in Don Giovanni's version conducted by Rosbaud (also with Stich-Rendal, Arié, Danco, Gedda).

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I am not a Mozart scholar. And I have not the partition of the Divertimento you mentioned. It is true that Mozart always indicates the repetition of the Trio. I am consulting several partitions, like the Quartet K 421, and this indication exists. But I don't understand what you mean by the 2nd part ...

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I mentioned the opera yesterday to a friend who knows the opera well from the Van Dam version, but would prefer to hear it in Roumanian. Do you have any details about the Brediceanu recording? Has it been ressued in CD format? Is the LP vinyl version possible to find? I had the roumanian record in ...

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Among his APPROVED works are: Ariane Et Barbe-Bleu (an opera that's even more devastating & insidious than Bartok's take on the Bluebeard story); a Symphony In C (a flawed masterpiece); a Piano Sonata in E-Flat Minor; an overture, Polyeucte (nice post-Wagnerian music); and a song for soprano & orch...

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Oedipe is one of my favourite operas. I always loved the extraordinary power of suggesting the "atmosphere" of the greek tragedy. The remarkable chorus, the colours of the orchestra, the subtleness of the harmony, the powerful vocal and dramatical characterization, make this opera the best ever comp...

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I remember some old records of french harpsichord music that "included" birds singing. That was, obviously, on purpose, in order to create a bucolical atmosphere.

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I cannot believe that the author of a piece as dynamic and memorable as CARMINA BURANA wrote nothing else of equal value. What other works of Orff deserve the public's attention? In my opinion, NONE. But if you like so much Orff's music, try the "Catulli Carmina" - a sort of Carmina Burana, more pa...

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My personal choice concerning Mozart piano sonatas: Pianoforte: Andreas Staier: Sonatas K 330, 331 and 332 Piano: Dinu Lipatti, Sonata K 310 Murray Perahia: Sonatas K 310, 331, 533 Vladimir Horowitz: Sonatas K 281, 330, 333, and the Adagio K 540 and the Rondo K 485 Wilhelm Backhaus: Sonatas K 331, 4...

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Marcelle Meyer was a remarkable pianist, but she is a little forgotten today. I remember her great recordings of Rameau and Ravel (Le Tombeau de Couperin!).

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What on earth has happened to Hindemith's reputation? He is a very important composer. In my opinion he is with Richard Strauss one of the two greatest german composers of the XX century. Among other great works, I would mention the opera Cardillac, the ballet Nobilissima Visione, the Symphony "Mat...

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I have the Ashkenazy recording of the 32 Beethoven sonatas. As I was listening to Sonata 15 (allegro, 1rst movt) I began to hear bird chirps at around 7:00. They start to chirp at around 6:59 / 7:00 minutes into the work and get louder at around 7:06 / 7:07 when the playing is soft. The birds chirp...

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This might be controversial, but in my opinion you don't need all of Haydn's string quartets in your collection unless you are a very dedicated Haydn fan. If you buy the opus 20 and opus 76 quartets and one or two of the sets between you will have a very good and diverse collection of string quarte...

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I am also a great admirer of the art of Guido Cantelli. If he had lived he would have been the greatest italian conductor after Toscanini, showing the real dimension of the Mutis, Abbados and other "stars". I like above all his recordings of Debussy (the best versions of the Prélude and La Mer), Sch...

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Look at [and listen carefully to] Wagner's Parsifal . It is the "sourcebook" for the musical style and idiom(s) of Pelleas. I know very well Parsifal. In fact, it is my favorite opera. And it is true that Debussy loved the orchestra in Parsifal. But, Debussy idiom - not to speak of style - has noth...

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Do you happen to know which mastering of the Desormiere is the most listenable? Or are they all pretty much the same? Sound matters to me in this work.

I have the EMI version and the sound is very acceptable.

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Well I like them.

I also like them. The Slavonic Dances, like Brahms Hungarian Dances, were the light music at the time. If we compare their quality to the light music of the present I think we can measure very well what was then meant by Civilization.

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Karajan's recording was the most helpful for starters, though my favorite is Ansermet's. The greatest performance is supposed to be Desormiere's from 1942, which I havent heard yet. The Desormière version is in fact the best I have heard. Karajan has the magic of his orchestra, but his Debussy soun...

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Haydn string Quartets are one of the most essential and perfect expression of the classic spirituality. My favorite recordings are: - the 6 Quartets opus 20 by the Mosaiques Quartet - the 6 Quartets opus 33 by the Lindsay Quartet - the 3 Quartets opus 54 and the 3 opus 55 also by the Lindsays. - the...

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Never heard the first and the 4th.

I have Janis with Dorati in the 2nd and the 3rd and Horowitz with Coates in the 3rd.
They are very good and, to me, more than enough.

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Well, I caved in today and finally picked up a Ring cycle -- Solti's. Any surprises to look out for in the Ring cycle? I have three complete versions of the Ring. The one you mentioned, the one conducted by Karl Böhm in Bayreuth and the Furtwängler version in the Scala in 1950. The Solti version is...

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Never forget the first act of Die Walküre, with Melchior and the VPO, under Bruno Walter. A record for the eternity.

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There are controversial artists for different reasons.

Example: Harnoncourt is considered a great conductor. The same with Abbado.

In my opinion both would deserve to be the conductor of the Alaska Symphony Orchestra or the Tumbuctu Symphonic Orchestra.

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Richter conducting Bach's Cantata BWV 147. The work is famous because of the Choral "Jesus bleibet meine Freude", but the first Choir and the soprano aria are perhaps even superior. Richter in this recording of 1961 was different from that massive and "karajanesque" conductor 15 years later: here we...

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An organ concert in a church - the same as a chamber music session - are perhaps the best musical moments I had during my life. I saw most the great orchestras and conductors, pianists, but there is something magic in staying in a church - and by philosophical choice I am an atheist - listening - am...

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Sunday, two big delusions: Schubert's Winterreise by Fassbaender and Reimann: almost an operatic version, expressionist. Fischer-Dieskau and Moore (1972) and Hotter/Moore remain intouched. Dvorak's 9th Symphony, by Kubelik with the BPO. It is part of the set of the 9 symphonies. Kubelik gave the bes...

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Jbuck 919 You talk as an organist. I never played organ (my instrument is the piano). So, I must respect and accept your views on barroque composers. What I wrote was the perspective of someone who loves Buxtehude, Bruhns, Frescobaldi and, in a lower level Pachelbel, Couperin or Sweelinck, only by l...

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Only one of the truly great composers wrote a significant amount of organ music (and much of it masterworks), and that is Bach. I don't wish to question the absolute value of Bach. But ... the only one? And Buxtehude Preludes and Fugues? And François Couperin two mass? And Grigny? And Frescobaldi, ...

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The above are all fine works, some of which are truly great. I realize some are designated "symphonic overtures", which is correct. I just wanted to mention that not all of them are true "tone-poems", according to Liszt's original definition. To me, a tone-poem should conform to at least two of the...

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How about the Threnody for the victims of Hiroxima (Penderecki) ?

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Chosing my favorite tome poems (including some symphonic overtures): Manfred, overture (Schumann) Egmont, overture (Beethoven) Don Quixotte (Strauss) Verklärte Nacht (Schönberg) (sextet) Heroide Funebre (Liszt) The isle of the dead (Rachmaninov) Tapiola (Sibelius) The Hebrids (Mendelssohn) Don Juan ...

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The best version of Weber four piano sonatas is the one of Dino Ciani. The 3rd is a great moment of romantic piano.

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Regarding the Symphonies, my personal preferences are: Symphony nº 1: Toscanini with the NBC Orchestra, followed by Rudolf Kempe with the BPO and Karajan with the VPO (an old mono version). Symphony nº 2: Walter with the Columbia Orchestra seems to me near the ideal; but I also like Giulini with the...

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There are so many underrated masterpieces that it is only possible possible to mention a few, according to our personal orientation. I would like to call the attention to these four masterpieces: - Enesco's opera "Oedipe", one of the greatest operas of the XX century. - Enesco's Chamber Symphony, a ...

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Grumiaux with his beautiful sound, and Haskil, always natural, show a perfect identification with this music, with a total unity of conception. They are not spectacular, not even very dramatic, but their more intimate expression is very touching and, perhaps, closer to the nature of this Sonatas. Fr...

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Re: One-Hit Wonder? I Don't Think So

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