Ferbose
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2004
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Tchaikovsky, a giant of music romanticism.
What best represents his towering achievement?
Piano concerto #1, Violin concerto, Symphonies #4, 5, 6 or ballets such as Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, or his opera Eugene Onegin, or his orchetsral showpieces like 1812 or Romeo and Juliet....
I own all of the above except for the opera, but could the best of Tchaikovsky be this CD ?
To me it is (Tchaikovsky/Arensky Piano Trios, Naoxs 8.550467).
First let's talk about recording quality.
Piano--simply the best I have heard in any of my recordings, CD or SACD.
Violin--comparable to any CD or SACD I own, lots of airiness.
Cello--comparable to any CD or SACD I own, very vibrant and clear, bowing action is faithfully captured.
(my classical CD/SACD collection is about 350 with quite a few audiophile recordings)
Three instruments all captured in their finest form with a realistic sense of space--this is the holy grail of chamber music recording.
The cello is appropriately placed in front of the piano in the soundstage, and with close miking it is easy to hear the cello's vibrant sound even when the piano is loud. My biggest complaint about piano and cello in live concerts is that pianists play too loud and I can't hear the cello (almost always happens). The pianist plays very loud in this CD and I can still hear the cello--an improvement over live concerts, thanks to superb recording and mixing.
All in all, this is the best sounding CD I have owned to date.
Second, about the performance.
I actually have not heard another version of the trio, but American Record Guide said this: "it beats anything in the current catalog.... Naxos amazes me. Americans are just not used to the idea that the cheapest disc on the market might be the best. But it is."
Why listen to the critics when you can listen for yourself? This is simply the most passionate chamber music performance I have ever heard, on disc or in concert (glad that my university hosts one of the best chamber music concert series in the world).
But we don't see big names on the disc? Wait--the Ashkenazy--yes, Vovka is the son of Vladimir. It is only natural to expect an intimate understanding of Russian music from this gifted young pianist--no disappointment here.
While some prefer serenity and syncronism in chamber music, I am all for passion and spontaneity, which are what this disc is all about, but not without sensitivity.
Finally, let's talk about the music itself, which is what really counts.
Tchaikovsky wrote this piece to commemorate his most loyal advocate, the great pianist Nicolai Rubinstein. And he wrote in the trio genre under the encouragement of Madame von Meck. When Tchaikovsky is writing for his dearest proponent and patron, what can be in this peice but pure passion and fire? Yet this is an elegiac piece for Rubinstein, and rightfully filled with melancholy. Passion and melancholy, is there any composer more capable of expressing these two moods simultaneously than Tchaikovsky, or even living them simultaneously? But great music is always transcendental, and here Tchaikovsky often brings the elergy into the heights of pure bliss.
To me this is the most passionate music Tchaikovsky has ever written, and its candidness and instrumental simplicity amplify the feeling.
The third movement contains a climax which I consider the most spectacular and moving in all of piano music from Russsia, including the Tchaikovsky's #1, Rachmaninov's #2 and #3, as played by the likes of Richter, Horowitz, Van Cliburn and Earl Wild.
I don't claim to have heard all the music composed in the romantic style--who has? Until I hear music with more sheer emotional energy, both gentle and wild, this trio to me represents the pinnacle of music romanticism.
What more can I say about this recording?
The recording qaulity is the best I own, the performance is the most passionate I have heard in chamber music, and the music is nothing short of the apex of romanticism.
May be two more things:
The Arensky trio is not a filler but a memorable composition in its own right, superbly recorded in the same session.
Naxos CD alsways sells at the budget price--but you already know that.
What best represents his towering achievement?
Piano concerto #1, Violin concerto, Symphonies #4, 5, 6 or ballets such as Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, or his opera Eugene Onegin, or his orchetsral showpieces like 1812 or Romeo and Juliet....
I own all of the above except for the opera, but could the best of Tchaikovsky be this CD ?
To me it is (Tchaikovsky/Arensky Piano Trios, Naoxs 8.550467).
First let's talk about recording quality.
Piano--simply the best I have heard in any of my recordings, CD or SACD.
Violin--comparable to any CD or SACD I own, lots of airiness.
Cello--comparable to any CD or SACD I own, very vibrant and clear, bowing action is faithfully captured.
(my classical CD/SACD collection is about 350 with quite a few audiophile recordings)
Three instruments all captured in their finest form with a realistic sense of space--this is the holy grail of chamber music recording.
The cello is appropriately placed in front of the piano in the soundstage, and with close miking it is easy to hear the cello's vibrant sound even when the piano is loud. My biggest complaint about piano and cello in live concerts is that pianists play too loud and I can't hear the cello (almost always happens). The pianist plays very loud in this CD and I can still hear the cello--an improvement over live concerts, thanks to superb recording and mixing.
All in all, this is the best sounding CD I have owned to date.
Second, about the performance.
I actually have not heard another version of the trio, but American Record Guide said this: "it beats anything in the current catalog.... Naxos amazes me. Americans are just not used to the idea that the cheapest disc on the market might be the best. But it is."
Why listen to the critics when you can listen for yourself? This is simply the most passionate chamber music performance I have ever heard, on disc or in concert (glad that my university hosts one of the best chamber music concert series in the world).
But we don't see big names on the disc? Wait--the Ashkenazy--yes, Vovka is the son of Vladimir. It is only natural to expect an intimate understanding of Russian music from this gifted young pianist--no disappointment here.
While some prefer serenity and syncronism in chamber music, I am all for passion and spontaneity, which are what this disc is all about, but not without sensitivity.
Finally, let's talk about the music itself, which is what really counts.
Tchaikovsky wrote this piece to commemorate his most loyal advocate, the great pianist Nicolai Rubinstein. And he wrote in the trio genre under the encouragement of Madame von Meck. When Tchaikovsky is writing for his dearest proponent and patron, what can be in this peice but pure passion and fire? Yet this is an elegiac piece for Rubinstein, and rightfully filled with melancholy. Passion and melancholy, is there any composer more capable of expressing these two moods simultaneously than Tchaikovsky, or even living them simultaneously? But great music is always transcendental, and here Tchaikovsky often brings the elergy into the heights of pure bliss.
To me this is the most passionate music Tchaikovsky has ever written, and its candidness and instrumental simplicity amplify the feeling.
The third movement contains a climax which I consider the most spectacular and moving in all of piano music from Russsia, including the Tchaikovsky's #1, Rachmaninov's #2 and #3, as played by the likes of Richter, Horowitz, Van Cliburn and Earl Wild.
I don't claim to have heard all the music composed in the romantic style--who has? Until I hear music with more sheer emotional energy, both gentle and wild, this trio to me represents the pinnacle of music romanticism.
What more can I say about this recording?
The recording qaulity is the best I own, the performance is the most passionate I have heard in chamber music, and the music is nothing short of the apex of romanticism.
May be two more things:
The Arensky trio is not a filler but a memorable composition in its own right, superbly recorded in the same session.
Naxos CD alsways sells at the budget price--but you already know that.
