Has anyone had the chance to listen to Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in the classic reading by Klemperer and Fritz Wunderlich and Christa Ludwig,in a wonderfull remastering by EMI. Absolutely astounding and even for 1964 it has cleaned up beautifully. I don't think I have ever heard better.
Also high on my list just now is,
Francesco Piemontesi - Liszt Annees de Pelerinage Swiss
Quite a young Swiss pianist with a beautifull singing tone almost reminds me of a young Murray Perrahia. Last year I had the pleasure of listening to him play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 4 in my local town hall and it was really enjoyable.
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A new young Scandinavian conductor has really caught my eye called John Storgards, I have seen him live in Mahler's 2nd and 6th symphonies with BBC orchestras . he is very exciting and the dynamics are explosive so he is my favourite of the modern lads at the moment. Of the past conductors I have always loved Klemperer and Bernstein.EMI have just remastered Klemperer's reading of Das Lied von der Erde and they have made a superb job of it.
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@jcazadorJust @jcazador Just got your 2 addresses and a couple I don't have thank you very much. |
I have just purchased a 24/96 file of the pianist Igor Levit called Alive.The quality of the recording is stunning and I have to say it is the best piano recording I have heard. It is probably not for everyone but it is definitely worth it if you want to stun your friends. It comprises reworkings of music originaly from Bach and other composers and best of all is the chaconne from Bach's Violin Partita in D Minor not in the familiar guise by Busoni but the version for left hand by Johannes Brahms. The pianist turns this piece into something magical by way of a superhuman technique and a wonderously sumptuous tone . Definitely one to try. I have been following Levit's career since he was a new generation artist with the BBC.Other discs by him are Bach Goldbergs and Partitas and Beethovens Diabelli Variations, definite treasures and I remember a memorable night at The Wigmore Hall where he played the last three sonatas byBeethoven in two concerts on the one night such was the clamour for the tickets. Brought back wonderful concerts by Claudio Arrau in the same repertoir and I can't say better than that. Also I have been listening of late to a beautifully warm toned Harpsicord recital,
François Couperin : L'art de toucher le clavecin by,
Olivier Fortin
and this is one that I cam heartily recomend. The good thing about this recording is that the microphones are not right inside the instrument and allows a little bit of room for the right amount of ambience. Give them a try if you are seriously into Piano or Harpsicord. |
@jcazadorI am so sorry I meant to type life and my fingers were elsewhere so please accept my apologies . It is an awesome disc of piano playing and how to record a piano. I was more used to him playing Bach and Beethoven and just wasn't prepares for that wondrous new disk of his. I still cannot believe that chaconne by Bach is only for left hand alone. I have a feeling this will be my disc of the year. You should hear it through a pair of Stax phones !!! |
I too have seen some wonderful concerts over here in the UK. just a small selection are, Brendel in Glasgow, 1. - The last Three Schubert Piano Sonatas, 2 - Brahms First Piano Concerto 3 - Mozart - Piano Concertos. Ashkenazy in Glasgow - The Five Beethoven Piano Concertos and Choral Fantasy in one week. Absolutely amazing all from memory. Boris Beresovsky in Edinburgh - playing Mussorgsky Pictures and Liszt - Transcendental Etudes. I have never heard such volume from a piano. Pletnev in Edinburgh playing Bach Book 1 of the Forty Eight Preludes and Fugues. Perahia in Glasgow playing Bach Goldberg Variations. Kissin in Edinburgh playing Bach Busoni Chaconne and Chopin Etudes. and at the end of the concert he played 11 encores. Kissin in Glasgow playing Liszt B minor sonata and loads of Chopin. In Wigmore Hall in London Angela Hewit playing Bach Igor Levit playing Beethoven last three Piano Sonatas. In Royal Festival Hall my all time idol Claudio Arrau playing Beethoven last three piano sonatas. I was on cloud 9 all the way back up to Scotland I have been to many many more but these are the most memorable that spring to mind. All these people absolute masters of the keyboard and you havn't lived unless you have seen and heard a pianist of the highest rank playing a Steinway just yards from you. Also recordings are a poor second to listening to one of the greats live.
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RV. I hope you are still enjoying Steven Osbourne as I saw him up in Edinburgh and he played the whole Opus 39 by Rachmaninov and it was a super concert. He is also superb at Debussy so grab those if you can as I am sure you will enjoy them , his pedalling is superb. |
Schubert and brayeagle In my youth I was a piper and played for a good few years with Ayr Pipe Band Society but I also played classical guitar and had to make a decision between them. The guitar won because as I also liked listening to music on good equipment and was afraid to dull my ears prematurely. The pipes are an outdoor instrument and at that age a guitar got you more girls than pipes did so no contest. Anyway it is great to see how many overseas people can claim a bit of our heritage. Jim.
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Aye he is and a cracking good pianist as well. |
I'm afraid the Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia Schubert disc just eclipse this new one but not by so very much. They seen to have a lightness of touch and fleetness that just pips the new one for me. I don't feel the recording process does any good for Osborne as I have some recordings I made from Radio 3 of Osborne at The Wigmore Hall and he really is a different pianist with an audience in front of him. He just seems to come alive then. I found Arrau to be the same as I have got every record he made with Philips and with a few exceptions I find most of them to be a bit earthbound. Mind you when he was re recording the Beethoven Sonatas in the eighties in digital I started to hear that glorious tone of his that I heard live. I could never come to terms with the analogue recordings of his there really was something missing and there could also be a certain steeliness in the first Phillips set of the Beethoven Sonatas. And say all you like about Arrau but in front of an audience I have never ever heard a more ravishing piano tone. |
@schubert I would love to hear Kissin and Perahia get together even now. At one of the Proms this year Barenboim had Argerich on with him and at the end the two of them did a bit of Schubert and it brought the house down. I see there is a recording of the two of them doing a live recording together, I must seek that one out. |
RV how are you finding IDAGIO compared to others , do you get Quobuz yet I get it over here in Scotland and I.m loving it as I find it to be the best for classical music here as the rest and for them quite rightly so concentrait onRock and Pop. Each to their own.!! |
Has anyone heard the new disc from Arkady Volodos of the late Brahms works. Beautiful playing and recording.
My favourite Trifonov discs are Liszt Transcendental Etudes and Paganinni Etudes. Stunning playing and very mature playing also from one so young.He has also just released Rachmaninov Piano Concertos no's 2 and 4.Superb playing and piano tone .
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I'm so sorry you guy's didn't like the playing on Levit's new disc as I really did like it. You know that it was a tribute to his best friend who had died and maybe that explains some of the hesitant playing. I'm also sure you know that the Brahm's arranged Chaconne was for the left hand alone and that may be producing the stilted effect. I must admit I greatly prefer the Busoni arrangement of the same work this time for two hands as the piano can now portray more of the work without that hellish jumping about everywhere. I have seen that piece played twice live, Pletnev and Kissin and both electrifying performances .
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RV i have seen Pletnev live quite a few times the latest being in The Queen's Hall in Edinburgh a couple of years ago. An all Rachmaninov program and it was wonderfull. I think that pianists who graduate from the piano to the podium learn such an awful lot musically, just think of Pletnev, Ashkenazy and Barenboim to name but three and you have the cream of the crop. I'm afraid that some pianists go off because they can't juggle the two careers but the three I've mentioned have really broadened out as musicians especially Barenboim who just gets better year on year. I agree on the comment RV made about Volodos his technical displays are beyond belief and it is so nice to see he really can play non virtuoso fare as only Horowitz in his day could ( Just think of Kinderzenen, just magical). Let's just hope the Trifonovs, Kolestnikovs, Levits and Sudbins are allowed to mature at their own pace and we shall have some glorious players of the future.
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I have the Sony boxed set of the Horowitz celebration CDs and at least once a week something from it is listened to. That Scarlatti disc of his is legendary and no wonder the playing is superhuman and if you look at him playing there is hardly a flicker from his face. I don't know about you people but I hate all this swaying and gesticulating on the piano stool. I went years ago to the Edinburgh Festival to see Mitsuko Uchida oops sorry ( Dame ) now. I could not look at her the faces and gesturing from her really put me off and I wasn't pleased because it was an all Schubert recital and at the time I had a few of her records but watching her I don't even know how she played that day because I was so off. Go back to earlier times and you had Horowitz , Richter, Arrau , Gilels and others who sat at the piano and the only thing you could see moving was their arms and hands and hardly a grimace from them and those men were superlative at technique as well .
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@twoleftears
No as far as I'm concerned your Radu Lupu recording is very safe I would rather that they both sat side by side because Radu Lupu when on form is trully magical in introspective works like the late Brahms piano music. I was at an Edinburgh Festival performance of his many years ago and he was off on that day but from the recordings of his I have heard he's had a good few good days as well. If you are really into Brahms late works I used to have a disc of Willhelm Kempf doing Op 117 and Op 119 and they were trully atmospheric and I did love them but lost it when I stopped using Vinyl, don't know what happened to most of my vinyl in the eighties ( I have a sneaking suspicion my wife weedled them down by trashing a small amount each week from the garage but she never did admit it ).
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John Field was a very interesting composer the precurser to the Chopin Nocturne and wrote some very nice piano concertos also but you already know that but what you don't know is way way back in the seventies my friend and I used to play Field Nocturnes on two classical guitars, but that's all history now. I used to like Fields works and I shall have to revisit him some time.Speaking of Stephen Hough , heard him a few years ago in Glasgow playing Rachmaninov's Paganinni Rhapsody and he really was very good but I haven't heard anything from him lately either.
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I think of the recordings available that O'Conor does it best for me as I find O'rourke drags the nocturnes out too much. O'connor also imbibesmore life to them and I also find the Terlarc recording to be more imediate and detailed.
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Hi RV I looked at IDAGIO on your recomendation but is it right that it is only CD quality ? If that really is the case I think I shall just stick to Qobuz as I can get up to 24/192 on it. You say it is really meager for classical lovers but what can't you get as I can get all the music I need on it as I nowadays I am only interested in high quality recordings. If you are interested in historical recordings then yes I can see where the others may score.
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RV if you do that you will i promise hear far more, just imagine as you know the frisson from a harpsicord or hearing overtones from the orchestra that are cut off by the brick wall filters in CD players. I have listened to master tapes made by the BBC at 24 / 192 and they are trully awesome and when the resulting concert when broadcast although really good but a pale reminder of it's sire.
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Yes that's a good idea , I'll try that at the weekend and let you know how I get on.
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RV.I had time to do a comparison over the weekend of IDAGIO and QOBUZ streaming and I came to the conclusion that at conventional CD rates that it was swings and roundabouts , not one winning over the other. However when it came to higher rez files the Qobuz 24 / 96 files trounced the cd quality files with the higher rez having so much more air about them , also the treble was much improved on the higher rez.
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I agree wholeheartedly on the Liszt B Minor Sonata and think it was maybe the best Sonata from the 19th century and also that Liszt was probably the greatest example of piano playing during his lifetime and even now. He was responsible for the achievements from Debussy , Ravel , Rachmaninov and all others after he passed. He also has wonderful music written into his Annees de Pelerinage 1,2 and 3.Listen to his Benediction de deux dans la Solitude it is absolutely divine especially played by Claudio Arrau who studied with Martin Krause a student of Liszt who passed on a great tradition of Liszt playing. Also aside from Arrau Krause taught Edwin Fisher who was a great pianist in the first part of the twentieth century. People who denigrate Liszt usually cannot play what he wrote but forget that Liszt was able to play all the music that he ever wrote. Ravel with Gaspard de La Nuit and Balakirev with Islamey are two that I know of straight off. Has anyone ever listened to the Beethoven Symphonies that liszt transcribed for piano, it was an absoloutely Herculean task and again Liszt was able to play every note which took the breath away from all who listened to him.Cyprien Katsaris is a pianist who I have playing the 9 symphonies and the piano playing is astonishing and I have looked on Amazon and the 9 symphonies can be had for , from £17.04 but I can't say how much they can be had for in dollars but I am sure it would be quite cheap also. The pianist that I would say inherited the Liszt way of supreme playing and wonderfull compositions which again he could play with great virtuosity was Rachmaninov. He took over from Liszt in that his compositions demand a pianist of supreme technical abillity.I am really glad this century is producing pianists that are able to take on the mantle of liszt and I think the stand out perfomer at the moment that I would say is way above the herd is Arkady Volodos who can do things on the instrument that everyone can only dream of. Listen to Volodos playing his arrangement of Mozart's Turkish March and you would think he had three hands. I was once at a concert of his and he played it as an encore it was just unbelievable he threw it off like a Chopin prelude it really brought the house down . let me tell you I am glad that I travelled from my little town is south west Scotland all the way to London and back for that one concert. I couldn't get it out of my mind for days and that must be what Liszt's audiences must have felt also.
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You are so right RV I completely forgot about Horowitz what a Blunder that was I do apologiseThat reminds me of a story I read in the Claudio Arrau biography where his mother and him went to a recital by Horowitz and it was in 1925 in Berlin .His mother had nothing good to say about any pianist old or young that they heard but that night his mother sat there in disbelief at what she was hearing . When it was over she looked at her son and said "you had better go home and practice because he plays better than you" . What a downer for Arrau!!!!!
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Hi Len,I do agree with you about the Rubinstein Schubert and I would like to make a suggestion regarding D960, Arrau made a wonderful version of it perhaps even more Germanic than Rubinstein. He also played it with the long section in the first movement that all other pianists cut and when you hear it I am quite sure you will want other pianists to want to keep it also . What Brendel had to say about Schubert was a lot of his work had what he termed heavenly lengths ( pity he didn't stick to his guns and keep the D960 to the original manuscript himself ) . I do remember going to see Brendel in Glasgow in the 70's and beyond and he played the last three sonatas of Schubert and although he didn't shock and thrill as the big vitrtuosos would do his musical taste and commitment were above reproach, he was very well respected and popular in Scotland and when he played up here the houses were always full.
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LenI agree wholeheartedly re, Arpegionne Sonata and with your thoughts regarding Schubert as a whole. When Arrau was interviewed once he was asked who was the most difficult composer to play and he instantly said Schubert and the interviewer said that Schubert had written only one piece that was remotely virtuosic The Wanderer Fantasy. Arrau then countered that his music was too easy to turn into schmaltz and also too easy to counter the schmaltz and play very coldly.I agree with that remark in that many years ago I purchased a CD of Polinni doing late Schubert piano sonatas and played it just a couple of times as I found it wonderfully played but cold as ice. That's the problem with Schubert there ar too many people that play him cold. I also agree with your comments about Brendel, also look out for his book Musical thoughts and afterthoughts, a very good read. jcazadorI must look out for the Radu Lupu recordings that you recomended, I love Lupu's Brahms but have never heard his Scubert, in fact I think I'll fire up Qobuz tonight and have a listen. Yes I read that story about Rachmaninov also , he certainly was a towering force of nature and we shall never see his like again. to all,We have been talking about Rachmaninov and his compositions but who today has lifted up his mantle , my thoughts ? none. I get really depressed when I think of our new composers because the more I hear from them the less I like. The piano music they write is awfull and they can't or won't write a tune into there works , try asking one of them to write a fugue. No when Rachmaninov died piano composition died also , I'll even go further and say that when Shostakovitch died western classical music died also.Agree or disagree as you like but those are my thoughts.
Rachmaninov: Études-tableaux STEVEN OSBORNE piano That is a new record the Hyperion label have just released and I was at a concert given by Osborne last year and he played more or less all the music on this CD and it was most enjoyable. Have a great weekend guy's. Jim.
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JC
Thanks for those listings I'll certainly look into them. Isn't it strange though that Radu Lupu never became universally popular in the way Perahia and Brendel did. I think as a person he was quite insular and never pushed himself.
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JCThanks for your thoughts I was starting to think I was alone in my musings about the state of music but I'm glad to see I am not. In my country when we go to a concert we are always "treated" to some new composition by some "clown" just out of compositional school. Without resorting to expletives I can only summarise by saying listen to the amount of applause that is garnered after the piece finishes and how oh yes ! the half empty concert hall fills up miraculously after that piece.I think I shall rest my case.
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@jcazador
JC I have been listening to Radu Lupu’s boxset and must say it is most enjoyable. At this very moment I am listening to Schumann’s Kinderzenen and it is stunning to listen to , the extrovert movements are gloriously virtuosic. Although it won’t supplant my version by Claudio Arrau it is most definitely able to stand side by side to it. It is very nice to hear the digital transfers that have been expertly cleaned up , there is not a trace of tape hiss anywhere. I don’t know about the rest of you but I always thought Decca didn’t serve him too well as the record pressings I had of him were noisy and had an opaque cloud over them but these digital transfers now do him justice. Also a lot of the recordings were produced in the Kingsway Hall in London one of the best halls in the world for recording but how Decca could fog that glorious acoustc I fail to understand. I shall return to these performances with regularity.I have been reading your comments about Moritz Rosentahl and did you know that he was never recorded until he was in his 70s but the playing never sounded tired. Although Liszt said that his best pupils were Tausig and d’Albert he always refered to Rosentahl when one of his students was flagging and then Rosentahl would take control of the keyboard to spectacular affect. I feel that Rosentahl was the precursor to Godowsky as when he was young difficulties in execution just didn’t exist. Unfortunately Tausig died when he was very young so we don’t even have acoustic performances to guage from but from statements from other pupils who heard him they said his tecnique was even better in some areas than Liszts. d’Albert lost his concert tecnique because he only wanted to write operas and the handful of piano rolls he left are very poor.Once again thanks for the tip about Lupu.
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That is what I hate about Qobuz the pauses, in work like Also Sprach Zarathustra there are so many micro pauses that it gets to the point no matter how good the performance that I abandon it. The same happens in Ein Heldenlieben and many others , now we don't have these micro pauses when we are at a concert so I don't want it at home.
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hi guys I don't know if any of you know of this program but I have found it and it is free. I have been using O and O software for a few years and have just found a really good piece of software they have with the catchy title Windows 10 shut up. What it does is it switches off things that run in the background of Windows 10 and makes a big contribution to cleaning up your apps that play your music. You can use it in a couple of ways you either use it with all options ticked to get full benefit or in stages to see which one works for you and the good thing is it is completely reversible at the click of a mouse. Do try it as I said before you have nothing to lose as it is completely free. |
For any of you guys who like me listen to your music via a PC I have a superb little app for you. It is absolutely free and works a treat. It comes from a software company called O and O software and is called Windows 10 Shut Up . It silences all the background chatter on Windows 10 while you are listening to your music and with all the rubbish silenced your music sounds cleaner and more dynamic. Because your processor is not under so much stress it can concentrate so to speak on the programs that you are using at the time. Do at least give it a try because as stated previously it is free and off your pc in a couple of mouse clicks |
@gdnrbob
I also tried Fideliser but got fed up with it and Instead bought some soft ware through Sam Laufer. It was form Mark Porzilli the guy who dreamt up the Memory player and your machine is probably using it also. That soft ware was the one that really made my PC sing, I remember that during the installation Mark himself did it and he had partitioned a part of my hard drive into a 4 gig. space to put your music files that you were going to play. I was astonished the first time I played a file and I even remember the file "Mahler's second Symphony" off a DSD file cut from an SACD disc with The LSO cond, by Valery Gergiev . It absolutely blew me away The opening was earth shattering and the last movement opening was cataclysmic . The amount of headroom that recording had just had to be heard to be believed. That was a great day I had listening to files one after another and where the software scores is the increase in clarity right through the frequency range. The area most apparent was the treble it has a beautiful purity to it and it was worth the money just for that alone.
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