BioBrian Posted February 3 Posted February 3 (edited) 37 minutes ago, padde23 said: that ethereal section coming out of the first movement cadenza is sublime. I saw him perform this, bowing around his rotund belly, in Edinburgh, 1973! I don't recall which cadenza he played - which is it on this recording? (I played the Kreisler cadenza, which I think is an amazing stroke of genius, matching his Beethoven one. It can be heard on Menuhin's recording, and I wonder why more people don't use it). Edited February 3 by BioBrian 3
padde23 Posted February 3 Posted February 3 (edited) 4 minutes ago, BioBrian said: I saw him perform this, bowing around his rotund belly, in Edinburgh, 1973! I don't recall which cadenza he played - which is it on this recording? Oh wow that must have been quite an experience! Just the standard cadenza - Joachim? Not sure I've heard anyone playing a different cadenza for the Brahms. edit: there is a Kreisler cadenza but not often done I don't think Edited February 3 by padde23 2
padde23 Posted February 3 Posted February 3 6 minutes ago, BioBrian said: I saw him perform this, bowing around his rotund belly, in Edinburgh, 1973! I don't recall which cadenza he played - which is it on this recording? (I played the Kreisler cadenza, which I think is an amazing stroke of genius, matching his Beethoven one. It can be heard on Menuhin's recording, and I wonder why more people don't use it). I'll have a listen to the Menuhin 1
BioBrian Posted February 3 Posted February 3 1 minute ago, padde23 said: I'll have a listen to the Menuhin Hear from you in a few days, then! (Needs to be 'one in a bar', not the stodgy old fair we used to (and sometimes still do) put up with. My first hearing of the Beethoven with '2 in a bar' instead of the usual 4 was such a revelation. It was Campoli - really looking forward to hearing him and his 'Dragon' Strad when/if I ever get a TT again!). 2
Dilettanteque Posted February 3 Posted February 3 Takács Quartet, Marc-Andre Hamelin - Shostakovich: Piano Quintet; String Quartet No. 2 3
lemarquis Posted February 3 Posted February 3 Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5, Sonata No. 22 - Claudio Arrau, Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera (2023) They really breathe life into these remasters. 7
Dilettanteque Posted February 3 Posted February 3 Kronos Quartet - Gorecki: String Quartet Nos. 1 & 2 3
arpasquill Posted February 5 Posted February 5 I am conducting a few movements of this beautiful work at my school later in the year - could be the first time any of the choirs have sung in Estonian so it will be lots of fun! A great CD, beautifully recorded by Hyperion engineers (as expected) and full of 'should-be-performed-more' repertoire. 9
Dilettanteque Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Raphaël Pichon, Pygmalion - Mozart: Requiem (et al) 4 2
Nick44 Posted February 5 Posted February 5 9 hours ago, arpasquill said: I am conducting a few movements of this beautiful work at my school later in the year - could be the first time any of the choirs have sung in Estonian so it will be lots of fun! A great CD, beautifully recorded by Hyperion engineers (as expected) and full of 'should-be-performed-more' repertoire. Very interesting, I have never heard of the composer, thanks I will listen to this today! 1
RapidFire Posted February 8 Posted February 8 Ludwig van Beethoven - Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker -- 9 Symphonien 1989 Deutsche Grammophon CD #5 3
attunement Posted February 9 Posted February 9 GIOVANNI FRANCESCO ANERIO (1569 - 1630) • MISSA PRO DEFUNCTIS • directed by George Malcolm ℗ 1962 3
Dilettanteque Posted February 9 Posted February 9 Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and others - The Second Viennese School First couple of CDs 3
Dilettanteque Posted February 12 Posted February 12 The Sixteen, Harry Christophers - Taverner: Missa Sancti Wilhelmi devotio 6
Keith_W Posted February 12 Author Posted February 12 This set of Wagner's Ring ( Zubin Mehta / Valencia) popped up on SNA's Classifieds today and I thought I should bring some attention to it. There has never been an "ultimate" version of The Ring. This work is too monumental for any single mortal to do justice to the whole thing, and we are only talking about the music. There is also the production, and IMO the production is where most Ring cycles fail badly. The performance I attended in Melbourne in 2013 (Pietari Inkinen) had great music, great singing (apart from a few notable weaknesses), but let down by laughably bad staging. I felt cheated when I saw them dress Siegfried in a boy's T-shirt they bought from Target, the Rainbow Bridge was a scene from Priscilla, and the Valkyries dressed up as garbos. They threw in every Australian cliche in the book and it came off as incredibly cheesy. Other productions try to re-interpret Wagner to suit "modern audiences" and the results are predictably disastrous. I don't want to see a Donner dressed in a baseball cap and waving a baseball bat instead of a hammer. I don't want to see a naked Fafner with his blood soaked pecker waving around as he sternly warns Siegfried of the curse of the Ring. I don't want an ultra-modern stripped down production with lasers and fog machines. And the Valkyries should inspire fear and awe, and not mirth - which is what happens if you dress them up in baggy green rainsuits. **** that ****! OK rant over. This performance in the Classifieds features the best production I have ever seen. They have modernised it, but the costumes and production suitably reflect the kind of world Wagner would have envisioned. There is a giant projection behind the stage with CGI animations and backdrops. The "Ride of the Valkyries" is accompanied by a giant swinging ball of naked corpses. The Rheinmaidens get lowered from the ceiling in giant fish tanks. You would love it. Unfortunately, the music isn't as great as the production. Mehta and his somewhat anemic orchestra is unable to bring the impact of Solti or even Christian Thielemann. Barenboim and Knappertsbusch did not have a great orchestra capable of delivering a punch but he made up for it with lyrical beauty. I'll say it is better than Asher Fisch's curiously muddy and flat performance and it does the job. This DVD set is worth sitting in your collection for the production alone. Maybe turn off the sound and play Solti instead. 3
Nick44 Posted February 12 Posted February 12 Yes I agree modern productions where they are dressed as garbos etc are ludicrous. I've seen two of the Melbourne Rings and probably while not ideal thankfully they weren't that bad... I have a highlights disc of this, from memory it was kind of ultra-modern but I actually didn't mind it. I remember the sound was way better than the MET Luisi blu-rays, but yes still not as good as Solti even after 60+ years! 1
Dilettanteque Posted February 12 Posted February 12 Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica, Riga Chamber Choir et al - Gubaidulina: The Canticle of the Sun 4
mrbuzzardstubble Posted February 14 Posted February 14 Charles Ives - Sonatas For Violin And Piano. 3
Keith_W Posted February 14 Author Posted February 14 Tidal blessed me this morning by playing this after the album I requested finished: Maria Joao Pires, Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21. I normally don't like Tidal auto-playing something and I will go and switch it. But I was quite taken by her dainty and delicate touch. Listen to those trills! I have never heard her play before and I love her. I will listen more, so far I like her more than either Marta Argerich and Mitsuko Uchida which are my normal go-to pianists for Mozart. I also like Nelson Freire but he has a different style. That's a big call. 3 1
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