The Classical Music Guide Forums

maestrob

Here's what they look like: http://atlanta.craigslist.org/ele/843066564.html

maestrob

The secret to great sound in any system is in the speakers, folks. Everything else needs to act like a straight wire from the source (CD, DVD, etc.). Keep it simple, says I. I've got a magnificent pair of Bozak Century 301A's dating from 1968, and, with drivers replaced once during their lifetime (1...

maestrob

Yes. When Toscanini conducted at Bayreuth for the first time, he corrected the mistakes in the orchestral parts that had been there since Wagner's time by knowing harmony and by comparing them to the conductors' scores. Copyists often make the mistake of substituting a # sign for a natural, fr'insta...

maestrob

I often wonder how much studying & training some of them undergo before actually stepping on the podium. That's a very interesting and important question! Actually, it's all about who you are as a person, and whether your talent can lead an orchestra. It's a very personal choice: are you more comfo...

maestrob

There are countless conductors who started out learning an instrument but then discovered they had more to say about the music. That doesn't make them bad conductors. Gerry Schwartz started out as a trumpet player, yet he's one of our finest. The problem with conducting is that you do your learning ...

maestrob

Heck148 wrote:I can't pick just one -

Walter/NYPO/Miller/Haefliger; 4/60; CBS/Sony

Reiner/CSO/Forrester/Lewis; 11/59; RCA

I'm with you on this.

But let's not forget Bernstein's 1972 Vienna DVD with Christa Ludwig & Rene Kollo. Outstanding.

maestrob

Great pianists heard live: Wow! Nobody has mentioned Uchida! Amazing! My others include Peter Serkin, Horowitz, Guiomar Novaes (my first recital at the tender age of 11: I was in the front row, and was totally blown away!), Volodos, Perahia, De Larrocha, Richter, Lupu, Rudolf Serkin (Beethoven IV), ...

maestrob

Holden Fourth Does this suggest that OK might know a bit more about conducting Mahler than we do? OK knew much more about conducting than we do, and not only Mahler. He was an extraordinary conductor. I am not arguing that he didn't know how to conduct Mahler. In my opinion, the problem is that the...

maestrob

Listening to Christianne Stotun sing Mahler's Ruckert Lieder & other songs, along with the Brahms Alto Rhapsody. Stotin records well, but the Brahms is too much for her, as are a few passages in the Ruckert Lieder. She has a tendency to go wild of the pitch when she presses her top notes, but she ca...

maestrob

Does employer based medical insurance cover your bills when you retire? Just curious. ***** Some plans do but most don't. I believe I would have some coverage if I ever retired (which I won't) but more recent faculty hires do not have retirement coverage. Retirees get either Medicaid if they're you...

maestrob

keninottawa: Good morning :!: You can't go wrong with the Bernstein/Hindemith: a very fine reading of a personal favorite symphony. As to the Brahms, may I strongly urge you in the direction of Hamelin's double set of the quartets: simply stunning and it can be had used from Amazon for a reasonable ...

maestrob

I've heard lots of recordings by Klemperer, and he never IMHO gets it right in Mahler, yet he seems to have a clear understanding of Beethoven and Bruckner. His Das Lied is simply sloppy (although the singing is excellent): Klemperer seems to have no idea how to shape the tempi Mahler wanted (compar...

maestrob

Favorite moments in music for me have to do with beauty of sound coupled with emotional tension: Adagio movements all: Mahler IV (Szell/Cleveland) Bruckner VIII (Szell Cleveland) Suk: String Serenade Beethoven Quartet Op. 135 (Bernstein/Vienna) Arr. for string orchestra Barber Violin Concerto (Berns...

maestrob

If you think about translating these ideas to a national stage, you begin to realize what the NSO has been missing and how this appointment gives Eschenbach the chance to remake his battered reputation. Battered thanks to Dobrin's interminable bashing. At least Dobrin has kept his position, unlike ...

maestrob

There is a fabulous recording of Bruckner VI available by Steinberg/Boston that's very fulfilling: for me it's better than the Klemperer: more majestic, if that's possible. I like Solti & Klemperer also. As for Bruckner V, the best reading out there is Thielemann's recent recording: this is the one ...

maestrob

Piston:

Very interesting correspondence, thank-you. The harpsichord concerto is indeed a fine piece.

maestrob

Good morning! Hangos, either of Karajan's performances would be preferable. Karajan makes you 'feel' this music most memorably. :D Agree that Karajan is the preferred conductor for this symphony. I also like the Bruno Walter/Columbia VERY much: grew up with that one. Wand's Berlin IX lacks authority...

maestrob

This recording of Mendelssohn is actually my all-time favorite of anything by this composer: Cristina Ortiz/Moshe Atzmon w/Stuttgart. Lively, full of sparkling energy and sweetness, this pair understands exactly what Mendelssohn is all about: http://www.amazon.com/Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Works-Orchest...

maestrob

Hi, Lance! :) I guess I wasn't clear. What I meant was that I've already got Les Introuvables, and for those who don't want the whole collection, it makes a nice sampler of "The Best Of." As far as my own collecting goes, I live in a Manhattan apartment, where space is at a premium, so although I've...

maestrob

Cziffra is a unique and very special pianist, and very much his own man in Les Introuvables. Thanks Corlyss_D for posting about this set: it's on my list now at Amazon! :) If, OTOH, one wants to sample the best of this pianist's art, try this on for size: http://www.amazon.com/Les-introuvables-de-Cz...

maestrob

Ralph: Thanks for posting the details on the Amazon Tax. I thought that was illegal when it started, and now I'm sure of it. :evil: As for online stores, well, although my primary listening is CDs from Amazon, I find that it's convenient to preview a CD by checking out the download site www.emusic.c...

maestrob

Runnicles led a very fine Peter Grimes at the MET last season. In the classes I took at Juilliard, lefties in the class were taught right-handed, with the understanding that left-handed conducting is confusing to the orchestra. It seemed to me that the MET band had no trouble reading Runnicles, and ...

maestrob

Ralph: For me, Eschenbach's recordings with Philadelphia have been mostly inconsistent and unsatisfying, with the one glorious exception of the Barber/Poulenc/Saint-Saens organ repertoire. I find I agree with Midgette quite a lot, and I admired her strightforward style when she was with the NYT. The...

maestrob

Ralph/Lance: Frankly, I have no doubt as to the survival of the CD format, for all the reasons you stated: convenience, noise-free, potential sound quality, etc. The CEO of a major independent label recently confided to BBC Magazine that, in spite of having his entire stock online available for down...

maestrob

Good morning! :) Listening to happy music today: a disc of Schubert overtures, led by the vastly under-appreciated Paul Angerer. Schubert wrote about 16 overtures to various plays, and this is volume I of two discs devoted to a survey of this music, including the famous Rosamunde. Highly recommended...

maestrob

Re: Shostakovich IV: The Kondrashin recording issued as part of the recent complete Melodiya CD set of Shostakovich symphonies was actually made in 1966, three years AFTER Ormandy's world premiere recording in 1963. Kondrashin captures incredible excitement in his reading, but Ormandy's Philadelphi...

maestrob

Cliftwood wrote:I think MTT is a first rate Mahler interpreter, but I've been listening and watching the Abbado DVD series with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and he ranks numero uno on his Mahler Symphonies.

Abbado gets it right!

Yep!

Have you heard the new III yet?

maestrob

Re: Shostakovich IV: The Kondrashin recording issued as part of the recent complete Melodiya CD set of Shostakovich symphonies was actually made in 1966, three years AFTER Ormandy's world premiere recording in 1963. Kondrashin captures incredible excitement in his reading, but Ormandy's Philadelphi...

maestrob

THEHORN: Actually, I agree with you that Solti was a giant. So there! :D I have great nostalgia for great performances of the past (you'll get to know my taste as time goes by), but that doesn't preclude my enjoyment of much contemporary music or performances by today's conductors. Not at all. For ...

maestrob

Well, aside from the hoo-ha.... :lol: I have that performance in question, and agree that there's definitely something wrong with the technical side of the recording, which makes the sound shallow and one-dimensional, with very little punch, or dynamic range. That said, the interpretation varies fro...

maestrob

My own opinion of Muti is that he many times lacks an understanding of what an effective tempo is, and that, surprisingly, in Germanic repertoire (Bruckner, Beethoven, Schumann), he's dull and slow. His Pagliacci and Don Carlo showed deep misunderstanding of the mechanics of how to conduct these pie...

maestrob

Corlyss_D:

Why not try a dose of Ozawa's Prokofiev symphonies? It clears the ears after all the Henze

.

maestrob

Ralph:

Thanks for the mention. It's now on my list at Amazon

.

maestrob

The 1st six symphonies recorded by the composer are also available from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Hans-Werner-Henze ... 266&sr=1-5

maestrob

Am a great fan of Henze's Undine, which thankfully is still available on CD, as well as the two violin concerti, available on Naxos.

http://www.classicalmusicguide.com/down ... php?id=911

maestrob

Have a collection of about 500 or so and rarely play any of them these days. The sound quality on the ones that work is still excellent (Dolby C), and is easily equivalent to a CD.

maestrob

Congratulations Ralph, from a newbie. What a record!

maestrob

Good morning, all! There was a recent thread here on Alexis Weissenberg, which inspired me to resurrect his Rachmaninoff Preludes. Simply outstanding. Les introuvables is on my list at Amazon: should be some real winners there. Next up will be Seiji Ozawa leading Berlin in Prokofiev II & VII. Sc0ttm...

maestrob

Here's some of the best Schubert ever, with heartfelt singing and playing full of depth & feeling. I just can't seem to get enough of this disc......

maestrob

Agree that the Reiner recording is the most effective. I'm also fond of the Toscanini 1938 BBC live recording (issued recently on Testament) with Milanov/Thorburg/Rosvaenge/Moscona.

maestrob

Cyril Ignatius: I have only heard some modest portion of Maazel's conducting. I have Maazels recordings of Ravel and Wagner overtures. And I have live VHS recordings of his New Years Concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic (Strauss waltzes) and New York Philharmonic with Angela Gheorghui doing Italia...

maestrob

THEHORN: You'll get no argument from me on that score!~g~ I freely admit that my preference is simply that: my preference. I just think that emotion in music, as in poetry, is best expressed within a disciplined framework. What I'm after is a buildup of emotional charge, and that, for me, happens b...

maestrob

THEHORN/CHALKPERSON: Yes, well, I've been railing against overdone rubato and fussiness in any conductor since the cows came home :) . My own taste leans towards Toscanini and against Furtwangler, since that's how I chose to be trained at Juilliard. IOW, I like Szell, who kept good discipline, & I ...

maestrob

Hello, everyone. As a refugee from the NYT forums, some of you may know that I've been railing against Lorin Maazel's conducting for some years now, maintaining the position that he often has no clue about how to maintain an effective tempo, especially in romantic material. The only recording of hi...

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