Rarely, you will get a recording that has a composer, a soloist , a conductor
and a orchestra all of whom are both Great and at the very peak of their artistry .
One of these is Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, played by Kyung Wha Chung with Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra .
London 410 011-2
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That's why I buy BIS Cd's and now buy only old Vanguard LP's from the 50-60"s , the sound is always good because these companies never made
a bad sounding one .
Vanguard was run by audiophiles and has most natural sound I ever heard .
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I am sorely tempted to throw away all my CD’s anyway and just keep about
500 LP’s . With old age and small condo + one of better classical FM stations that’s all I really need , if that .
I believe one of the most important things I have learned over 8 decades is that you can really own nothing , but things can sure own you .
Re; Chung , so glad you enjoyed it . I heard the Montreal live 3-4 times in the 80’s and how glorious they were !
IMO , Chung is one of those "force of nature " musicians , not just born to be one, but with the music itself seemingly somehow infused in every atom of her being .
Her nothing less than heroic fight back from all her health problems has actually helped me as an example with the "mini strokes" I have had .
Heard her several times live recently on FM , perhaps not the technique of old but an even better true musician !
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From Bluesound I don't know, but Classical Minnesota is very good as is Wisconsin Public Radio out of Madison .
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For the last month I’ve been listening to,almost exclusively, what I consider one of the least heard masterworks of the man I consider the greatest of all modern composers , Bela Bartok . .His "Mikrokosmos", which is a series of 153 progressive solo piano pieces written as a didactic work for the edification of his son much in the same manner as Bach did with his" Klavierbuchlien ", and IMO written at the same level .
.I have all 153 on CD and half on LP all played either by Bartok himself or
his student , friend and greatest interpreter, Gyorgy Sandor .I also have the entire 6 volumes of the scores which I study before I listen to a piece and try to follow as they play . I get perhaps 10% of what a trained
musician does but I find , even at my level, getting even just a glance at what a great composer is trying to do increases my joy over the music greatly and gives me personal gratification at doing my best , weak as it is .
The incisive rhythms and percussive tones while pushing the melody to its limits at the same time using systematic changes of register bring together the music of both Eastern and Western Europe in his unique way .Bartok is less concerned with supple fingering than introducing the mind and ear to the free rhythms , bold dissonances and complex harmonies he championed .
Much of the music is just plain beautiful and can just be listened to as that .Piece (97)" Notturno" has a tender melody that would make Schubert jealous and is in a perfect synthesis of diatonic and chromatic , to me right up there with any piano music I have ever heard .
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newbee, I have my moniker because when I started to buy on here it seemed like I was the ONLY person on here that loved classical and
I doubted anyone would have a clue . Bit embarrassed now that I had the gall to use the name of one of the greatest composers who ever lived .
My favorite solo piano pieces are by Schubert, Brahms and Schumann .The latter two said that they were influenced by the former and you hear that in their music.There are so many great recordings of all three but to be honest, Radu Lupu is my go-to on all three ! With Imogen Cooper a close second on Schubert and Schumann and Nicholas Angelich and Ivan Moravek on Brahms .
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There is no doubt the artist that brought you to a composer will always
have a special place in your heart .
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Indeed , I heard her live here in Twin Cities recently in the very fine acoustics of the 350 seat hall at Macalester College.Hayden , Chopin and Schumann program .
The lady was a powerhouse on the great Steinway at Macalester , lengthy standing ovation , she is the real deal .
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Thanks, was on a pilgrimage to Leipzig .
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I’ve been ranting for decades that Hindemith is the most neglected of all the masters of the last century !The greatest recording of his Violin Concerto IMO is Oistrakh /LSO/ Horenstein .
But to be honest I never cared for either Bernstein or Stern .Bernstein as a matter of taste, Stern I saw with the Cleveland and was
very much let down .
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rvp, I 've been using you method for last week , it really has improved mylistening fun !
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Litton is a favorite of mine , seen him several times in Mpls .
I’m not questioning the greatness of Bernstein , I just didn’t like his , in fact hated his, histrionically .
As a musician you can comment on this . I could not see how anyone could follow his MANY superfluous gestures and grimaces without studying tape on him 3 hours a day or rehearsing ten times the average .
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I have been a great fan of Schumann since the 60’s when I first discovered Classical Music and also think his Konzertstuck is one of his finest .
I was VERY lucky to hear Hermann Baumann play it with the Leipzig Gewandhauss under Masur . One of the greatest artists I have ever heard live ! As good as it gets .I also heard Corigliano’s Oboe Cnt . played by the Minnesota live on FM ,
and like everything he does , it is very good .
I have wondered several times what happened to learsfool, esp. re this thread . I have no doubt that along with frogman and rvp he is the the best Musician on here .
My very favorite of all wind pieces is Carl Nielsen’s "Wind Quintet Op 43" . There is a wonderful recording on Nimbus with the Vienna Quintet which also has a fine Hindemith " Klein Kammermusik" .Nielsen’s " Clarinet Concerto" Op.57 is also very compelling, a fine recording with Frost and the Lahti Symphony is on BIS 1463 in very good sound as well .Nielsen, like Hindemith , is grossly underplayed ,at least in US .
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learsfool, I assume they were from the Gewandhaus , Baumann did a solo piece but can’t remember what it was . Was a long time ago and my brain is 85 .
I can just say that the two wind players than made the greatest impression
on me live are Baumann and Heinz Holliger, who was so good it was hard to believe he was human .
Of course every wind quintet has Op43 as a staple , but they are few enough that I have never heard it live.
My favorite band is the Gewandhaus , has been since Masur. God willing. I’m making my last trip to my beloved Germany in Oct. to hear them play the the Mahler 1 and some Tchaikovsky.. Andris Nelsons has them playing very well as did Chailly before him . 53 Euros for center right ticket to Heaven ! Lufthansa is a bit more .
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And your last paragraph is wisdom itself , learsfool .
I operated like that for many decades , have heard Schubert Octet many times , no doubt my own fault for not hearing Op43 .
I live in Twin Cities , did live in Berlin for over 20 .The two metros have almost exactly the same population and area .
Believe it or not, there is, excluding opera, more quality classical music
here than in Berlin. Perhaps more choir music here than anywhere in the world .
And there are several halls with acoustics better than anywhere in Berlin .But , in my dotage I’m lucky to make 3 concerts a month , down from 3 a week for decades .
I don’t say all this as a homer either , St.Paul is a place I live , Berlin is a place I love, and, were it possible, where I would live .
P.S. I’m with Brahms .
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To me Brahms, as a person , is the most interesting of all the great composers , I have read most of what has been written about him in English and some in German.He felt music was going the wrong way and when I read his reasons why , I agreed .
I believe we all look at things from our situation in life, a musician like yourself sees one thing , an historian like myself sees something else.Small poor example, first time I read of teen-age Brahms playing in cafes on Album notes
I knew at once that their were no cafes in Hamburg dock side area, at that time the biggest harbor in the world .What there was were a plethora of low-down brothels as nasty as there were on the planet .No wonder Clara Schumann , misogamy etc.I’m anti-Wagner because the most famous man In Germany wrote more hyper anti-Semitic pieces that he did music. Historians I studied under were the best in Germany, they drew a straight-line from him to Hitler .He is the only composer I abhor .
I imagine than when a skilled musician sees some thing in Music they judge ,the music as music alone .A historian might be prone to look at its effect in general as that is his skill . Of course , the musician knows more in his realm ,
what you correctly see as a fabulous twist in , say Mahler, I might hear as a dog chasing his tail
P.S . I don't know the bloggers name as I never heard of him .
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I can not imagine any artist whose art is worth six million lives period !I think artists that can pass it by today are as morally deficient as the vast majority of same who kowtowed to Hitler .More so really in that their lives are not in danger .
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One of the greatest pianists I have heard in person who is all but forgotten, Is the American John Browning, born in Denver in 1933 .
Truth be told , I had all but forgotten him myself till I found a mint recording
by him yesterday at Goodwill .Ravel: Concerto in D for the Left Hand and Prokofiev : Concerto No 3 in C .Seraphim/ S- 60224 / Erich Leinsdorf / Philharmonia Orch .
FWIW , only others I have heard live that impressed me as much were Claudio Arau , Radu Lupu ., Mitsuko Uchida and Brendel .
And strickly for Haydn, Angela Hewitt ,who cemented my feeling that the Haydn piano works are played far less than they should be .
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Jim204, According to my Glaswegian grandmother Glasgow is not in the UK , barely in Scotland !I’m over 80 and she was over 90 when she passed , a Gorbals lass with
a 2nd grade education who was the wisest person I have ever known.
Scotland Forever !
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Jim ,If I get weary with age I just put my Black Watch band LP’s on and the pipes
rile up my Scottish blood . Also because my great grandfather, a piper ,took the
high-road with them in 1915 .
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If I was running the world I'd turn the clock back a bit and have Kissin playSchubert's Fantasia in F mi.D.940 with Perahia and then Lupu just to see
if there is anything beyond perfection .
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FWIW, the most loved piano LP I have left is the Great Ivan Moravec playing the Mozart 25th Concerto with what has always has been a top Mozartian Orchestra , the Czech Philharmonic.In many places the piano and the orchestra sound like one
and that instrument , to my ears, is a great soprano at her peak .
My copy is a Vanguard-Supraphone SU-11 , I just bought the last LP on Amazon , not for me but for gifting to someone who loves LP’s .
Amazon has many streams of this to include the original Supraphone .There was one CD of it on A-zon but at 2200 $$ , I dinnae check that out . Of course on Amazon there could be another LP tomorrow .
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Thanks rv.
I saw her in Montreal, when the Montreal was the equal of any
Orchestra, playing the Brahms . She was beyond a great artist , she was Music itself .
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A great rendition of the Schumann Cello Concerto, which I love, is the
du Pre/ Barenboim on various Angel/EMI LP’s . CD’s don’t do it justice IMO.
My fav is AngelS-36642 because it’s paired with the Saint-Saens Cello Op.33 . One of du Pre’s most charming efforts which is saying a lot .
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My favorite is whatever Schubert or Schumann is closest at hand .That said , here is 3 of the best seldom mentioned .
From a great not noted for his Schubert, Rubinstein with Wander Fantasia
in C and the great sonata D.960 with a few Impromptus thrown in .RCA 63054-2
Kempff on DG 459 412-2 another of the great D. 960 with the most
Germanic rendition possible of the Impromptus and Moments musicaux D.780
IMO one of Brendal’s best was Schumann on Phillips 434 732-2
in very good sound which he did not always get .Fantasiestucke Op.12 . Kinderszenen Op.15 and a near perfect Kreisleriana Op 16 .
I take that back, it is perfect ! |
Jim, When you went to hear Brendel play Scubert, you got Schubert, with many you got/get them . The "heavenly lengths" bit came from Schumann in reference to the Great C major Symphony .
Few musicians were/are as learned as Brendel .I’ll look for the Arau.I had it once .
I saw a clip with Rubinstein saying the adagio to Schubert’s Quintet in C,d.956 , is the most beautiful music ever written .Lot of folks like Schubert because he wrote so many melodic " little pieces" . True enough, but according to Brahms anyway, everyone was a masterpiece .At 2 am this morning our local BBC 3 played both sides of a new Hyperion CD with Steven Isserlis on Cello,Denes Varjon on pf .One side was the Chopin Cello Sonata Op.65, the other Schubert's Arpeggione SonataD.821 .
I doubt anyone could walk away from this great recording with any opinion other than both pieces are masterworks .
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If any of you streamers want to hear perfection try Ivan Moravec, Mozart Fantasy in C minor for Piano on Supraphon .
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While the rest of the world listens to Michael Jackson singing Rudolph the Red Nose , we classical fans have a huge choice of music that actually
does celebrate the Birth of Christ .
My personal favorite is a great that doesn't seem to get much attention these days , Michael Praetorius . Pick up anything that says Praetorius and Christmas and you can't go wrong .Couple of my go-to are, Christmas Music: Hyperion CDA 66200Westminster Cathedral Ch. , Parley of Instruments , Hill .
Renaissance Christmas Music , BIS CD 1035 , Viva Voce .Of course with Hyperion and BIS the sound will be good .
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Every time I hear a young composer expound upon composition , and I hear or read a lot of them, I come away with the same conclusion .
People who grow up in a rock culture simply rarely make good instrumental composers of classical music .
I was in a famous French philosopher’s class once upon a time .She said , "There will never be another Mozart. No one growing up in a modern society can ever have the concentration of mind available to him in the 1700’s ." Stuck in my mind for last 50 years .
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One reason I bought a pre-amp with a phase switch .
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T1arhfVE1oThis is not Classical music per se but it is considered one of the greatest American military march’s and is played world wide as music for musics sake . I often heard it in Japan and Germany . The reason I am linking it is this rendition is done by a big band of German teens . I didn’t think this level was possible by any teens ! P.S. Bernstein and NY Phil . recorded it as well . |
I heard Ms. Cooper play Brahms and Haydn live last year in the superb acoustics of Macalester College music hall in St.Paul .A VERY powerful player and a very fine artist !
I have noticed people seem to appreciate Brahms later in life as he is not as bombastic and is more refined
than most of the other great composers .
But once the veil is lifted his greatness just grows and grows on you .
rvp, a dose of Schumann AND Holliger could raise the dead !
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Kurt Mazur , often gave little speeches before down-beat with the Gewandhaus . My favorite was Schubert-Schumann -Brahms were
the greatest move forward in Germanic Music .
I would not say Holliger is the greatest Musician alive but would say nobody's any better , (bow towards Korea ) .
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Amen to that !The Gardiner's set is the go-to set of the Cantatas , I have some of it but my complete set is Rilling because it was available in vinyl .
Every morning for the last twenty years I start the day with a cup of coffee
and a Bach Cantata . I honestly believe this is a major factor in me livingto be as old as I am .
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Thanks learsfool, I did not know that about Casals !
I'm in great company .
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Oh, each and every Bach lover should read Gardiner's 2014,600 page, tome on Bach , "Music in The Castle of Heaven " . Beyond doubt the most masterful book on the Master written in English . A fabulous read !
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Right, I have read every book I could find on Brahms , not just because his music is so great , but because his mind and manor are fascinating to me as I grow old .
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Which happens to be true . And happens to not meet any known definition of xenophobia .My friend was speaking of the entire World . What do you have against Germans ?
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newbee, if 960 is transcending i must have it !!
Would you please give me the full details I need to Amazon it .
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Guys who never wrote a bad note;
Mozart , Schubert, Brahms .
Bach is a given .As are Schumann’s chamber pieces .
Among modern composers Leos Janacek excels in everything .His string quartets are to die for !
If you like long , sweeping symphonies that are just plain beautiful , Sibelius is your man .
Mahler is someone you either like or you don't . No shame either way .
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What EVERY Classical lover should have is IMO the greatest recording
ever made .
Puccini’s" La Boheme " with the greatest singer of the last century,Jussi Bjoerling, with his two favorite partners, also greats, Victoria De Los Angeles and Robert Merrill .
Sir Thomas Beecham never made a bad recording and this is his very best , a true masterpiece . Every one involved was at the acme of
their art .
As Robert Greenfield ,the great Gramophone critic said "rarely if ever directed a more glowing opera performance on record .......the norm against which all other performances have to be judged ."
The sound was remastered from mono from the 1956 recording from the original two track tape and is very natural and spacious .
My two copies are Seraphim SIB-6099 which means it was an EMI recording , a good thing .
I know it is on CD and also know I would pay a lot more for vinyl .
Even if you hate opera perfection has a beauty all its own .
P.S . There are CD recordings both on Naxos and Great Performances of the Century on Amazon . I'd buy Naxos , same thing , less money . Read the reviews folks !
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Really ?
Mozart and Brahms are better .
And at their best cases can be made for Haydn , Schubert and Bruckner .
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The horse that thinks Beethoven is better than Mozart and that
Schuberts Great 9th a "if you must have" and Haydn out of hand , must prefer mud over oats and 400 lb jockeys .
And likely has heard little live music in his stall.
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It's common for those who grew up in a rock culture to like music that does something for them and not for the music itself .A German principal in a great German orchestra said to me , " their hearts are blind to beauty " .
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Nothing I said is unreasonable and what you said is. You define what you dislike in any manner you see fit. Infantile .
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Yes , I’ve noticed general knowledge is not your strong point , newbee.
What I do/ did best is teach History at a German University .
I gave my 12 year old daughter a complete set of the Beethoven String Qts. I did so because she heard me play them so much she wanted her own set .
Seriously , you two would do well to at least audit Logic 101 at a college near you .
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No problem at all rvpiano !The only reason I went on and on was I respect you as a musician . At one time I was part of the " family " of the second best band in Berlin
and knew well most of them . As a History Prof . I saw that their total
immersion in their craft left them with little knowledge of the society around them . Some were aware of that as Germany makes a
BIG effort to tell history like it is in a much more truthful way than we do .I talked to a lot of them about the world around as it related to them .
Some thanked me .
As I saw it musicians are like the best doctors and others in the most demanding professions . They live in a bubble, which is great for the music, but not always for them .
P.S . My buy of the Beaux Arts box was one of my better buys .That Pressler is a one-off .
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Unless you are just using Classical as a time period about 90% of all
those enamored of this would give this title to Bach .If you are Mozart gets more votes . Not to say a good case can’t be made and is for Beethoven .
IMO Brahms tops LvB in most things other than his String Quartets .
More refined and elegant , listen to both violin concertos back to back.Listen to Clarinet Quintet Op 115 etc .
Of course at the end of the day, you like what you like .
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