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ContrapunctusIX

Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
Jochum/RCO (live, 1964) - Philips

An extraordinary version, superior to the others that Jochum recorded (Bayern Rundfunks Orchestra and Dresden). In my opinion the best version of the 5th, with a sublime phrasing and a deep spirituality.

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My choice: Berglund with the Helsinki and Bournemouth Orchestras. Perfect balance, powerful. It includes several works less known and other masterpieces, such as Luonotar in the best version available. There are, regarding each Symphony, versions that I prefer, but by different conductors: 1 - Kletz...

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Some soloists seem very appealing: Vanzo, Berbié and Soyer, three of the best French singers of the sixties. Berbié and Soyer recorded Benvenutto Cellini with Colin Davis and Gedda.

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I heard several versions of L'Enfance du Christ" but I don't remember the one of Martinon, a conductor that I admire.

Until now, my favorite version remains the one conducted by Cluytens, with Gedda and Victoria de los Angeles.

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OCKEGHEM: Missa "Cuiusvis Toni" / Ensemble Musica Nova This Missa has an extraordinary beauty. Ockeghem conceived it in four versions, in the modes of D, E, F and G, but without changing the notation. The interpreters present all the four versions in this CD. It is one of the most beautiful recordin...

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I remember listening to an LP with some Haydn Quartets by the Schneider Quartet. This Quartet included Isidore Cohen, member of the Beaux Arts Trio and Herman Busch, brother of Adolf and Fritz Busch. Herman Busch recorded some legendary recordings, with Adolf Busch and Rudolf Serkin, above all the m...

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Visiting a museum in Copenhagen, and impressed by some pieces, Brahms said: this wonderful works should be in Berlin, not here.

And the nazis promoted the idea that Shakespeare was, in fact, German.

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I didn't heard the version of Anda/Fricsay. Until now, my favorite version is Gilels/Jochum, never massive, with a deep understanding between the pianist and the conductor. I also love the versions Richter-Haaser/Karajan and Backhaus/Böhm. Richter/Leinsdorf, Gilels/Reiner and Arrau/Haitink are perha...

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To me, in Bolero and La Valse there are two supreme versions: Monteux with the LSO and Pedro Freitas Branco with an Orchestra of Paris. Monteux, Boulez and Previn are my favorites regarding Ma Mère L'Oye. Munch, with the Boston Orchestra, gave a very beautiful version of the complete ballet Daphnis ...

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I love most of Webern's music. The string quartet music (opus 5, 9,28), the orchestral music, the choral music (Two Cantatas, Das Augenlicht) and the piano variations opus 27.
I just don't like most of his Lieder.

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I love some of Argerich's recordings. Above all her version of Liszt Sonata, Prokofiev 3rd Concerto (with Abbado) and Schumann's Fantasiestücke opus 12. Her version of Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit (in special Ondine and Scarbo) is also remarkable. I am not a great admirer of her recordings of Chopin o...

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MICHAEL LEVINAS: Les Nègres / Grand Théatre Genève, Kontarsky An opera composed by Levinas in 2004 and based on a strange play of Jean Genet. The music is agreable, with several scenes not far from Rossini or Offenbach. But there is a great cohesion in Levinas style. Time will say if this opera will...

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With Schnabel, Gulda is the most convincing interpreter of Beethoven Sonatas I know. Perfect articulation, a subtle emotion in the slow movements, an impressive dynamic, an unique sense of rhythm. The Arieta of the opus 111 is perhaps his greatest achievement in Beethoven. If we listen each Sonata, ...

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I love Luonotar, one of the most poetic and original among Sibelius tone poems.

And Valijakka and Berglund are remarkable.

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SHOSTAKOVITCH: Piano Trio opus 67 / Gilels, Kogan, Rostropovitch (1959)

One of the last recordings that this musicians made together. The impressive Largo, 3rd movement, is a great moment that shows the extraordinary level of quality of these great artists.

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ENESCU: 3rd Sonata violin/piano / Ida Haendel, Vladimir Ashkenazy

This is a sort of ideal version of this masterpiece. Ida Haendel played this work for Enescu and he was very pleased with her performance.

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To me, the best of Ansermet are his recordings of Falla, with Berganza and Maria de Gabarain. He recorded also somes good works of Frank Martin (in special, "Le mystère del la Nativité").

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I didn't listen yet the version of Repin and the others. I respect very much Repin: he has a very beautiful sound and an elegant style that reminds me of Grumiaux. His version of Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole is remarkable and would be better with a conductor with more presence and enthusiasm than Naga...

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Listened last night 2 Mozart piano Trios and Tchaikovsky Trio opus 50 performed by Gilels, Kogan and Rostropovitch. They were very young at the time, but this interpretations are extraordinary, very natural and lyrical. The way Kogan phrases the sublime first motif of the first movement in Tchaikovs...

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I heard Bartok's piano works for the first time, many years ago, played by Sandor. Then, some of them played by Bishop and other pianists. But I must admit that Kocsis is the best and not only because of the quality of the recording. He has a remarkable sense of the dynamic and the structure, but he...

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The Hiller Variations are, in my opinion, Reger's masterpiece. A splendid orchestration, never heavy, with an imagination even in the rhythm that is not very usual in the composer. My favorite version is the one recorded by Konwitzny with the Gewanthaus Orchestra. It is old but the recording is very...

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To me, Richter was the best interpreter of the 6th, 7th and 9th Sonatas. In the 8th I hesitate between Richter's dynamic and the very impressive eloquence of Gilels. If we remember his splendid versions of the First and 5th Concertos (with Ancerl and Rowicki) we can say that Richter was the greatest...

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dulcinea "]I am sorry to say this about a work of Rossini, but this piece is BORING Is there a version of this work with a proper orchestra taking the place of the piano and the harmonium, both of which clearly cannot sustain the weight of a vocal piece that lasts 79:33? It is not one of the most i...

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Lance This thought occurred to me, as stated in the topic line above. We may know of music that touches us in a spiritual manner though that music may not have any particular divine source or inspiration though it may have been divinely inspired without our knowledge. Such things are entirely possi...

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Regarding Madrigals, I suggest that, other than Gesualdo and Monteverdi, composers such as Arcadelt. Marenzio and Lotti should be much better known. I will give some examples of extraordinary beautiful works: Arcadelt: "Il bianco e dolce cigno", "O felic'occhi miei" Lotti: "Moralita di una perla", "...

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JOHN TAVERNER: Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas / Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips A beautiful work, very developped. As usual in English composers of this period, Taverner didn't compose the Kyrie. The "In Nomine" from the Benedictus was used for variations by several composers in the 16th and 17th centur...

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I love Tartini's Concertos. In fact, I prefer them to those of Vivaldi.

To me, the old CD recorded by Piero Toso and Claudio Scimone with the Concertos D 2, 67, 115, 125 and, the best of all, the D 96, remains the best anthology of this works.

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Imperfect Pitch Val: In that case you must love ]Karl Böhm's classic 1968 recording of Figaro, which features both Prey (Figaro) and Fischer-Dieskau (Count). I have that version and it is one of my favorites, after the glorious version of Erich Kleiber. But in other operas of Mozart he was a good D...

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One of the most important singers of the century. Regarding the Lied, his recordings of Beethoven with Gerald Moore are unique, in special the one published by ORFEO. He was also a very good interpreter of Schubert (in special Winterreise) and Schumann (the several CD with Eschenbach). But the great...

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BARTOK: The Six Quartets / Belcea Quartet Very beautiful version, intense, deeply expressive.The best version I know of the First Quartet. But everything is remarkable - the Adagio in the 5th Quartet for instance. I still prefer the balance and the perfection of the Tokyo Quartet, but this CD of the...

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I saw it some years ago, and, to be honest, I didn't like. I think it is almost impossible to give some theatrical life to this work. Perhaps the cinema could help. But the music is extraordinary. Until now, my choice of interpreters go to the versions of Freitas Branco, Argenta, Rattle - because of...

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Nikita Magaloff recorded only 9 Songs without words, in his CD recorded in the Festival of Montreux-Vevey 1998. But it includes an extraordinary version of the sublime Variations serieuses and the curious Sonata opus 106 (?).

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My favorite works are the Nocturnes. There is a splendid version by Erik Heidsiek.

Regarding the anthologies, I prefer those of Vlado Perlemuter with five Nocturnes and the sublime Theme et Variations, and Esteban Sanchez with some Nocturnes, Impromptus and two Barcaroles.

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BRUCKNER: 7th Symphony / Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Eugen Jochum

MAHLER: First Symphony / BRO, Kubelik

WEBERN: Work for string Quartet / LaSalle Quartet

LISZT: Sonata in B minor / Emil Gilels

MONTEVERDI: Orfeo / Eric Tappy, Corboz

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I have a good anthology, with Barbara Bonney, Bernarda Fink, and the Musica Antiqua Köln directed by Goebel.

It includes two beautiful Salve Regina and 2 Symphonies, less original. The best of this CD is, to me, the great Fuga in G minor.

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Yes, Schnabel is very good. But not the best, concerning the opus 111. Friedrich Gulda recorded, in my opinion, one of the greatest piano interpretations I know. Listen how he plays the theme of the Arietta, and the sensational rhythmic characterization of the variations. Solomon is also extraordina...

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The Symphony in B minor is also my favorite. I heard it, many years ago directed by Karl Ristenpart. Among CPE Bach best works I would include the Quartets with flute, the Symphonies Wq 182 and 183, the Cello Concertos and the keyboard Sonatas Wq 48 and 49 (great examples of the aesthetic of the Stu...

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When I listen, I never do anything else. I use to spent one or two hours each evening, listening to new recordings or to the old ones.

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The Chamber Symphony is a masterpiece. It may sound excessive, but I think it is at the same level of Bartok's Music for strings, percussion and celesta. Among the works I know, the 3rd Sonata violin/piano, Vox Maris, the 2nd Symphony and, obviously the extraordinary opera Oedipe, seem to me the bes...

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I prefer the version Suk/Ancerl. The emotion of Suk with the dynamic and cohesion of Ancerl.

Among the other versions I heard, some in concert, I never found one that gave me such pleasure as Suk/Ancerl. The version of Milstein and Dorati was perhaps the one that approached the most.

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I love this Symphonies, in special the 3rd, the most tragic but also the most beautiful: the 2nd movement, De Profundis, is among the most impressive music I know. The 5th is also remarkable, with the furious last movement, where the Choral theme ends submerged by the irrational violence. Honegger w...

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Mussorgsky wrote the librettos from Boris Godunov (adapted from Pushkin) and Khovanchina. He did the same regarding the Sorotchinsy Fair (adapted from Gogol). Tippett also wrote the libretto of King Priam and The Midsummer Marriage (in this last case, I must admit I never understood the plot). I nev...

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The set doesn't include the two most remarkable interpretations of Argenta: Los Retablos de Maestro Pedro (Fala) and Llanto per Ignazio Sanchez Mejias (Ohana).

Argenta also left a very beautiful version of Berlioz Symphonhie Fantastique.

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This is one of my favorite operas. But it needs an extraordinary interpreter for Cardillac - Fischer Dieskau was that interpreter - and a conductor that nows how to keep the balance of the work, without imposing himself too much. Keilberth was remarkable. The last scenes are among the most inspired ...

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I remember listening to Schubert's 8th Symphony played by Cantelli with the Philharmonia, some 40 years ago. It seemed to me, at the time, some sort of ideal in the interpretation of the work. 4 or 5 years ago I listened to it again, in a CD, and I was deeply disappointed. It is a very good version,...

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MAX REGER: Hiller Variations / Gewandhaus Orchestra, Konwitschny (1961)

Reger's orchestral masterpiece in the best interpretation I know, full of life, enthusiasm and a splendid orchestra. Much better than the boring CD of Colin Davis.

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SCRIABIN: Sonatas 4, 5, 8 & 9; Piano Poems / Andrei Korobeinikov (2008) Amazing. This is one the most beautiful recordings of Scriabin's piano music I have heard. This young Russian pianist has the ideal sense of color for this music, can be lyrical in the right moments (example: the Andante of the ...

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I have the complete Quartets by the Kocian Quartet. The First is very beautiful, but all of them are very interesting. The 3rd, the 4th with the final Passacaglia, the perfect balance of the 5th (and its so touching 3rd movement). To me,these 6 Quartets (the nº 0 offers less interest) are among the ...

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Dufay above all. Then Byrd, Janequin, Lassus, Palestrina.

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Dufay - he doesn't seem to be mentioned, I wonder why - Gesualdo, Lassus, Monteverdi, Gibbons. Not forgetting Palestrina.

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