Coming to this discussion late...
Pianists that I love that I don't think have been mentioned, Martha Argerich and Mitsiko Uchida, nothing like a woman's touch.
I wish I could have heard Clara Schumann play her husband's piano concerto.
Actually, there is a recording of Argerich/Rostropovich playing the A minor that is one of my favorites. I bought the album and need to have it converted to digital as it hasn't been converted- I don't know why....
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Though I am envious of artists being able to produce music, I really couldn't envision being one.
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It's too bad that children aren't given a chance to listen to live music when they are young. I think it would foster a greater appreciation of what music is and how it got there.
How I came to love Classical is beyond me. Like rvpiano, it 'spoke' to me, despite my parents thinking I was nuts.
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The six Hayden Quartets are amazing. Mozart really had him down.
Technically, Hayden was a master. Mozart, no slouch either, had the gift of melody(-think Eine Kleine Nachtmusik).
I always wonder why Haydn couldn't write piano concertos as good as Mozart? His horn concerto is unbelievable.
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I have an old DG recording of the Tchaikovsky 1st symphony with the BSO which I think is one of the finest Tilson Thomas recordings. I recall he did some weird quadrophonic recording of Gershwin.
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I find I enjoy listening to students, and non professional musicians.
Even though it may not be up to Horowitz standard, it is still interesting.
I also hear what the composer was trying to convey, and make me appreciate the music all the more.
It also gives me greater appreciation for the talent that Horowitz (or any professional musician) offers.
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I am more a piano guy. Piano concertos just seem to be my favorite combo.
As far as opera goes, I am limited to Mozart, Verdi, Puccini,and Bizet.
Wagner makes my teeth hurt- and he was such a horrible human being.
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@schubert ,
And, he was a total deadbeat... |
@geoffkait,
Okay, let's not get sidetracked...
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@jcazador,
Nice post. I hope it is true.
To All,
I subscribe to Spotify and despite its' lack of high fidelity streaming, it has one of the most complete and easily accessible catalogs (unlike Tidal).
I only mention this as I have discovered a huge cache of recordings of the early/mid romantic period from Naxos (mostly). I only thought Hummel was famous for his Trumpet Concerto, but now find he composed a lot of great music-including piano concertos.
The nice thing about Spotify catalog is that it has 'Related Artists'.
Click on that and you get similar composers-Ries, Witt, Flotow, Wilms, etc.
I never heard of these composers before, and I feel I have discovered another facet of classical music.
Sorry if I am saying something you all know, but listening to composers who were famous in their time, yet now almost forgotten, is very exciting.
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I see Audite has Jacquline Du Pre playing the Cello Concerto.
Geza Anda, too.
I never heard of this label before.
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I remember the David Oistrakh recording. It was on a small label classical company that I can't remember. They rereleased a number of Melodia (sp?) recordings.
In any case, it gave me goosebumps.
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Piotr Anderszewski
I just found him through Spotify.
Wow.
Has anyone else listened to him?
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Yup, the Davis, Imai version was the first one I ever listened to. I really loved it.
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Recorded music will never be equal to 'live' performance. Unless they can make a microphone that duplicates our individual ears, it seem we will have to accept that it comes pretty darn close.
'Suspending disbelief' is an interesting premise and one that I think has merit.
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@geoffkait ,
Yes, I do recall those efforts, but I was trying to imply that there is no microphone that will reproduce what each set of ears will. My hearing and your hearing may be completely different, just as our eyes will respectively see an image differently colored(colorblindness notwithstanding). That being said, there is no way a recording will fulfill each individuals expectations of a live performance.
@schubert ,
Yes, I agree with your post. And, I often find myself thinking how composers lived and how the times they lived in influenced their work.
One of my favorites is the 2nd movement of the Beethoven Ninth symphony.
It still seem so avant garde, but to think it was written in the 19th century...
I would have loved to be in the audience when it premiered.
And, Beethoven was completely deaf at that point...
(But, I bet he could still 'hear' it)!
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Can anyone recommend some good classical music FM music stations that I can access with my Bluesound app?
Here in NY, we have what is left of WQXR, but it is a sad memory of what we once had
-That is, remembering WNYC, WNCN, and others I have forgotten. And hosts who knew music-They have gone the way of dinosaurs..
I feel sorry for the current generations, they have missed a lot musically.
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@schubert .
Thanks for the post. Can you give me the call letters? Bluesound app doesn't seem to find them by name.
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@schubert , Great points raised. Though I think just about every composers life is interesting. They are artists after all. (and, as a gardener, I am hypnotized by the diaries of plant explorers in the 17th, 18th centuries-Even Captain Bligh had breadfruit named for him-Blighia). Besides anti Semitism, Wagner was just an out and out deadbeat. I never found a place for him in my listening.
No wonder Clara Schumann , misogamy etc. What were you trying to convey? I am a bit confused? Bob |
Horowitz really had it, but each major pianist had their own individual forte, be it technical virtuosity or interpretation.
Kind of like how Art Tatum, James P. Johnson and Fats Waller could play stride, but each had an individual approach.
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@twoleftears ,
When I saw PC, I thought Power Cord. It took a minute to register...
In my opinion, the nicest recording of the Schumann A minor (PC), is Martha Agerich and Rostropovich. It isn't available on CD, so I bought an LP and will have it digitized.
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I just discovered a pianist named Roland Batik on Spotify.
Wow, he is pretty talented, both Classical and Jazz.
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@jcazador, I don't see the Schumann Piano Concerto in those links. And, the recording I reference to was with the National Symphony Orchestra. It looks like RV was correct: https://www.amazon.com/Schumann-Piano-Concerto-Op-54-Op-129/dp/B0018OC7VMI might get a copy and compare it with my digitized version. Even if it has differing resolution, the performance is one that I consider something Schumann himself would approve of- and, perhaps, Clara. Bob |
My favorite Mahler 6th is Horenstein conducting. It is a live performance and the audience never makes a sound. I think it is Stockholm.
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@jim204,
Though I have never been a big Liszt fan, I have to agree with your assessment of the Liszt transcription of the Beethoven symphonies.
They are quite amazing.
I only knew of the 4 hand transcriptions- which I discovered in an Italian movie that I have now forgotten-It was the Scherzo from the 9th symphony. Perhaps another member can tell me what movie it came from.
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I just found your response to my post. So that is Currentzis.
I never heard of him until now.
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@jcazador, I found your link and wanted to play it through my Bluesound, but only the Chopin Concerto #1 came up.
I have to say it is unbelievable. How they got rid of all the noise, yet keep the sonic atmosphere is a testament to human ingenuity. Though when I listen to music recorded in pre WWII Germany, I am stunned by the sound quality they captured even then.
@twoleftears ,
Steven Hough is one talented guy.
Richard (RVpiano) came to listen to my system and I played the Hummel Concerto #2- something he played in his earlier years- and we both enjoyed his performance- Mr. Hough's, that is.
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Come now, all of us here on Audiogon are always playing with their systems. It's that 'what if I do this/that' that is always in the back of their mind.
For me, I have to say I have very little to change-I love my system that much-Which is saying something.😄
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@twoleftears
Rubenstein's #4 concerto has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it 40 years ago... It was on an old VoxBox collection with Micheal Ponti.
Actually, I rediscovered it on Spotify. They had 3 volumes from Early Romantic to Late Romantic.
Not the greatest piece of writing, but it has all the Romantic hallmarks.
And, yes, Brahms deserves to be in the Big 3 with Bach and Beethoven.
Funny, maybe not, but his First Symphony never clicked with me. The other 3 rank as some of the greatest Western music ever composed.
Not to mention the Piano Concertos...
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I just found another composer I never knew existed:
Woldemar Bargiel.
It seems he was step brother to Clara Schumann. Wikipedia posts that they became close and Clara tried hard to get his music recognized.
A little nepotism never hurts...
Nevertheless, he seems to have very good structure and is very listenable. A bit of Mendelssohn, a bit of Schumann- nice.
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@rvpiano,
I got into Mahler through the 1st symphony, then the 6th (which you know) then the 7th, Lied von die Erde last. I never warmed to the 4th.
I know Bernstein was supposed to be a great interpreter of Mahler, but I never cared for his renditions. I guess I was stuck on Bruno Walter- those CBS Masterwork recordings were discounted heavily in the old Barnes and Noble in Manhattan. $1.99, if I recall.
Just me, I suppose...
@twoleftears ,
I suggest listening to Pascal Roge's Saint Saens recordings. One of my favorite.
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@jmpsmash,
Thanks for recommending Wranitsky. I never heard of him before your post.
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The first piano concerto is truly a classic and allows the soloist to show his/her stuff.
The second and third never seem to capture that. Both have slow movements that border on maudlin.
The second has a nice final movement, technically super difficult, but doesn't allow the soloist to make it his/her own, like the first.
My 2 cents...
-Listening to DeBeriot Violin concertos as I write.
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I use a program called Fidelizer. It doesn't cost much, but I have to say it does improve sound quality on my PC streamed music.-And, the designer offers frequent upgrades at no charge. It does something much like the O and O software Jim204 just pointed out-getting Windows to run the audio at higher importance.
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@jim204,
I may have mentioned it, but I use something called Fidelizer, which seems to do much the same as O&O.
I might just give it a try and compare the two software platforms.
I am also in the middle of trying a new streamer- Laufer Teknik’s Mini-baby brother to The Memory Player, which uses some proprietary software to provide higher resolution of digital signals.
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