Any Interest in a Thread on Classical Pianists & Recordings? - Page 7

That's quite the collection, what a tribute. I have Trancendental Etudes and Other Works for Piano on the turntable at the moment, by Lazar Berman.

I have purchased every The Romantic Piano Concerto Release Hyperion Records (of London) has released. Of considerable notes are these concertos:

Litolff's Piano Concerto No.3 in E-Flat Major "National Hollandais"

Marx's "Romantic" Piano Concerto in E Major

Holbrooke's Piano Concerto No.1 'The Song of Gwyn ap Nudd'

Medtner's Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor

Arensky's Piano Concerto in F Minor

D'Albert's Piano Concerto No.2 in E Major

Moscheles's Piano Concerto No.4 in E Major

Some of these names might sound familiar to those who study music history, but ALL of these works should be played more. They are just as good, if not better, than than those written by the major composers (Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky).

I am slowly understading that history, not the audience, get's to choose the best composer.

Missing from this set are the concerto's of Sigismond Thalberg, of which I await a high quality release. 

As far as solo piano recordings are concerned, look no further than Marc-Andre Hamelin's release of Godowsky's arrangements of Chopin's etudes (both sets). This set of etudes is simply the most impressive piano music ever written. 

Virtuosity=Gyorgy Cziffra wow his transcriptions and his chopin etudes performance.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Creibold 

I have purchased every The Romantic Piano Concerto Release Hyperion Records (of London) has released. Of considerable notes are these concertos:

There's a great Brilliant Classics box set called Glden Age of the Romatic Piano Concerto that you would like.

Debussy, Ravel, and Chopin fan. Their work is around a century old and it still sounds new to me. As of now, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Abbey Simon are my go-to for those works. 

I listen mainly to classical music. I have a number of albums such as Beethoven Sonatas (HJ Lim) and Chopin Etudes which are iTunes selections. They sound OK but I have been focusing far more on Flac downloads from HD Tracks and especially Linn Records (which has great classical selections, and has the advantage of being able to download directly onto my iPad, without having to download onto a computer first).

Quote:

Originally Posted by teb1013 

I listen mainly to classical music. I have a number of albums such as Beethoven Sonatas (HJ Lim) and Chopin Etudes which are iTunes selections. They sound OK but I have been focusing far more on Flac downloads from HD Tracks and especially Linn Records (which has great classical selections, and has the advantage of being able to download directly onto my iPad, without having to download onto a computer first).

I am sorry to say but do you not find the HJ Lim Beethoven Sonatas shockingly poor? It's erratic, badly recorded, rushed through and played unmusically throughout.

Friedrich Gulda's Beethoven sonatas are very good, or when you're lookin for a modern sound version, although Gulda is recorded very well, try Stewart Goodyear
 

I am absolutely in love with Alexis Weissenberg's take on Debussy. So much personality, I find it weird that he was shunned for it by Sony but lauded later in life as a master. If you love Debussy you should definitely check it out - it's absolutely like nothing you've ever heard before, totally unique. I think Debussy would have been proud of him. There's also a young Pianist I'm becoming a big fan of named Francesco Tristano - He performed a wonderfully spirited version of Bach's Partita no.1 - Allemande in B flat for the Blogotheque (filmed by Vincent Moon). It always makes my day a little brighter when I watch it. They have an excellent youtube channel (they film a lot of festivals and intimate performances from great artists). However their website is in French, but really, really fun if you've got a free day want want to discover something amazing. and also, a great new composer from Iceland named Ólafur Arnalds who was featured on Press, Pause, Play. I feel it would be a dis-service not to mention a new modern composer. He has a new album coming out this year and I'm really looking forward to it. 

Weissenburg is so under rated. Never understood

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoever 

I'd give my life for Liszt

"Harmonies poétiques et religieuses: la pensée des morts", is the beautifullest thing i've heard in my entire life! This is what brought me into HI-FI.....First time i heard it on an high end stereo i cried in the store! (The guy told me that happens all the time.... )

Why not his liszt b minor sonata. What a stunning piece of work monstrous to play however...

What is it about Weissenberg that you don't like? I'm not trying to argue I'm just interested in your personal opinion (not a lot of people around me like to talk about classical). Which pianist do you prefer when it comes to Debussy? 

- OH WOW, I made a mistake there. You're right I never understood why either. I love him when he plays anything, but there is something especially gripping when he plays Debussy. How can you argue against the talent of a man who got released from a concentration camp simply based on how well he could play Schubert on an accordion and entertain officers? He certainly had a special way of viewing the word, and I think impressionist pieces really play to his unique voice as an artist very well.   

Personally I like Bavouzet's Debussy..and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli of course.. I have to be in a certain mood though for impressionistic music..it's not really my thing most of the times..

Martha Argerich's Lizst B-minor sonata got me into classical music years ago..and I have a chronical soft spot for Schubert and Gould's Bach

These days i'm into Prokofiev..Lugansky's 6th is really good & Haydn (check out Buchbinder!)

I haven't done too much listening to the Lim recording. I got an iTunes gift card and this was one of the downloads along with the Francois Chopin Etudes. The Etudes are very old recordings which lack the fidelity I look for, I gave the Lims a short listen but they didn't hold my interest. I have spent most of my time with FLacs. Incidentally, as well as Linn Records above, an excellent site for high fidelity downloads of classical music is eclassical.com.