[Tyson]

I have a few CD's I picked up that don't fit really in to an existing thread, so I thought I'd start a thread where we could log our recent purchases of classical music. I recently got:

Vivaldi - Concerto's (5 CD's) conducted by Pinnock on the Archiv Label

Ysaye - Violin Sonatas - Shumsky

Ysaye - Violin Sonatas - Mordkovitch

Beethoven - Piano Trios (5 CD's) - Kempff, Fournier, Szerying

Beethoven - Cello Sonatas (2 CD's) - Kempff & Fournier (in the relatively recent remastering, better sound than my older CD copy)

Schumann - Piano Sonata #1 and Fantasie - Lief Oves Andsnes

Vivaldi - Vespri per l'Assunzione di Maria (2 CD's) - Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano

Chopin - 4 Ballades, Barcarolle, & Fantasie - Krystian Zimerman

Frank, Ravel, Saint-Saens - Violin Sonatas - Sara Chang & Lars Vogt

Vivaldi - Oboe Concertos - Hollinger & I Musici

Beethoven - Symphonies 1-9 (5 CD's) - Harnoncourt & ECO

Vivaldi - Sacred Music Volume 5 - Kings Consort

Vivaldi - Gloria, Cembalo Cto, Magnificat, Double Oboe Cto - Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano

Bach - Cello Sonatas (2 CD's) - Starker (1997 recording)

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson I have a few CD's I picked up that don't fit really in to an existing thread, so I thought I'd start a thread where we could log our recent purchases of classical music. I recently got: Vivaldi - Vespri per l'Assunzione di Maria (2 CD's) - Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano Vivaldi - Gloria, Cembalo Cto, Magnificat, Double Oboe Cto - Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano

I have these, ever since Calaf mentioned that Vivaldi Vespers in another thread I have been on an Opus 111 label buying spree, haven't listened to Vespers yet but soon.

The reason we are seeing an explosion of Vivaldi vocal recordings recently is that Italian government purchased 450+ manuscript volumes of Vivaldi works from private collecters and now has they housed in special area of National library in Turin for public viewing/research. Rumors of vast numbers of vocal compostions were proven to be fact as scholars have discovered 90+ operas composed by Vivaldi in these manuscripts plus many misc vocal works!

There is almost unending supply of new unheard material for labels like Opus 111 to draw from here. There is show on Ovation cable channel about Cecila Bartoli's Vivaldi recordings where she pays visit to Turin to study manuscripts and discusses them in general. Very difficult for modern singers to perform the vocal acrobatics required in many pieces since they were written for famous castratti singers of the day.

 

[gordolindsay]

I have just started to get into classical, and right now only own a couple. If you're like me and listen to mostly rock and jazz, starting to listen to classical can be either boring or very moving, you just have to find the right pieces. I'd like to think I'm a funny type of guy so I found this composer named Peter Shickele. His records are with the name of P.D.Q. Bach, I have his 1712 Overture and other Musical Assults. He is a very good composer and the music is also very good, he just inserts a little humur in the music with introductions for songs and his own personal takes on Bach's pieces.

Anyway, he'd be great to check out if you have never seriously listened to classical and want to start, or, if you like classical and have a sense of humur, or, like classical and don't have a sense of humur but seriously need one!

Ok, back to the topic (sorry!) I've recently purchased:
Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (Multichannel Hybrid SACD) (Telarc)
J.S. Bach - Sonatas for Violin & Harpsichord (Sony)

The 1812 Overture is absolutely AMAZING both musically and sound quality wise.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson Ysaye - Violin Sonatas - Shumsky

On the way! I ordered it, but it hasn't arrived yet.

Quote:

Beethoven - Piano Trios (5 CD's) - Kempff, Fournier, Szerying

This is one that I am interested in. Which trios are they? I also am interested in the Florestan Trio's recordings of these, which are supposed to be reference quality

Quote:

Beethoven - Cello Sonatas (2 CD's) - Kempff & Fournier (in the relatively recent remastering, better sound than my older CD copy)

If this is the DG "doubles" series, then it's the same one I have. I just love this cd and can't say enough about it.

Quote:

Schumann - Piano Sonata #1 and Fantasie - Lief Oves Andsnes

I'm going to hear him play the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 2 with MTT and SFSO tonight at Carnegie Hall. I have his Grieg Lyric Pieces and the Boulez Bartok P Con. 2, so I know that he is very talented.

Quote:

Chopin - 4 Ballades, Barcarolle, & Fantasie - Krystian Zimerman

Another recording that I have

I vacillate as to whether I prefer his Ballades or Arrau's. I also have Rubinstein's and they are nothing to sneer at.

Quote:

Frank, Ravel, Saint-Saens - Violin Sonatas - Sara Chang & Lars Vogt

I've been looking for a good Franck recording, what do you think of this one?
Quote:

Beethoven - Symphonies 1-9 (5 CD's) - Harnoncourt & ECO

I ordered this one when in full Beethoven fever, but have not yet decided how I feel about them.

Quote:

Bach - Cello Sonatas (2 CD's) - Starker (1997 recording)

This is definitely on my list. I love the sefel recording that I have, but I'm not satisfied by the Mercury, as there seems to be something wrong with the way it sounds to me. I really can't put my finger on it, but I'm glad I didn't get the SACD of that one.

As for the Vivaldi, that's a composer that I am just returning to after years of neglect! I will take all of these recordings under consideration when you post something about them.

 

[Tyson]

Bunnyears,
The Piano Trios are the complete set, it is from the recent "Beethoven Edition" that DG recently had on the market. Same for the Cello Sonatas.

I'll post impressions as I listen through them, but it may take me a while, particularly the Ysaye as it is still fairly new to me, and I have a lot of recordings I got recently of his music (the Shumsky and Mordkovitch mentioned below, plus Kaler, Zehetmair, and Vengerov).

One thing about the Mercury recordings, is the "Living Presence" line tended to use a microphone that had a fairly large spike in frequency response at 10 khz, which is what gives them their distinctive sound. It also makes them sound somewhat unnatural, IMO.

 

[Bunnyears]

Thankyou, Tyson!

I had wondered what was going on with the Mercury recordings. Everything just sounds so wrong when I listen. At first I thought that maybe they had pitched it off slightly, but that doesn't seem to be the problem (or maybe it is the problem -- I don't have perfect pitch but I've a good ear).

Btw, I've been listening to an old recording of Chopin that is very good, I hope it's still in print as I am sure it would interest you: Vladimir Feltsman, Chopin: Preludes, Op. 28 on CBS Records Masterworks, Cat. MK 39966; recorded 1984 (so if it's still in print it would be on Sony). Sometimes I think Feltsman is channeling Chopin he is that good. What also helps is that they miked the piano very well, it really sounds like a piano! This is a problem with many recordings, even on the Zimermann Chopin to a small extent. The pianos land up sounding like some overly bright super-instrument, not real wood and string instruments. Then, not only are they probably one of the hardest instruments to record properly, especially out of the studio, but I also have it on good authority that they are also one of the hardest instruments for an audiosystem to reproduce.

 

[Tyson]

I'll keep an eye out for the Feltsman. You are correct that the Piano is the most difficult instrument to record and to reproduce properly.

 

[petery83]

I purchased the following RCA Living Stereo SACD hybrids recently, on an impulse buy:

Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe
Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition/Night on Bald Mountain
Ravel - Bolero
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue
Reiner - Scheherazade
Dvorak - New World Symphony
Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra

 

[calaf]

I just got yet another Concerto Italiano CD (Dark Angel, thanks

for making me discover the
Naive "tete a tete" mid-price collection)
Monteverdi - Musica Sacra, Le Passioni dell' Anima OP 20005

Ignoring my "Italian by Italians" prejudice for Baroque music, I am glad I got the beatiful
Corelli - 12 Concerti Grossi, Op 6 - Brandenburg Consort - Hyperion CDD22011

Looking for a Debussy String Quartet I ended up ordering the 2CD
Panorama - Claude Debussy - DG
besides the Melos playing the String Quartet, there is an impressive lineup of performers: Karajan, Abbado, Benedetti-Michelangeli and even our own(San Fran) MTT

Last but not least I am eagerly waiting for my third Traviata (after Callas and Gheorghiu)
Verdi - La Traviata - Fabbrocini, Alagna, Muti/La Scala - Sony
which I heard live many years ago. It made my cry then, we'll see how it goes this time

BTW how come we never have opera threads? I am sure I am not the only opera-addicted out there. I should start some...

 

[CSMR]

.

 

[CSMR]

Ordered yesterday:
Recordings by Ysaye, Joachim and Saraste.
Really looking forward to receiving this.

 

[Tyson]

Calaf,
Great call on the Debussy String Quartet, the Melos is "the" version to have, IMO.

 

[calaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson Calaf, Great call on the Debussy String Quartet, the Melos is "the" version to have, IMO.

thanks

I borrowed from the library the Emerson playing Debussy and Ravel String Quartets, and while I loved the music, I felt the performance was a bit too "professional". The Melos got top marks from the Penguin Guide (and now from Tyson too

)

 

[BRBJackson]

A load of outstanding vocal/choral works have been gracing my system of late:

Purcell, Evening Prayer - Anthems & Sacred Songs – Chanticleer

Voices Of Light - Music Of Messiaen, Debussy & Golijov – Dawn Upshaw

Vivaldi, Gloria; Magnificat; Dixit Dominus – Stephen Cleobury

Fauré, Requiem; Poulenc, Concerto In G Minor – Gerre Hancock

 

[mysticaldodo]

Theres so many recordings of the same thing sometimes I don't know how to choose.

Anyway I started dipping my feet into classical but instead of buying several cds, I bought BBC Music magazine as a starting guideline. Other then that a great bonus is they provide a sample cd titled exclusive BBC complete performances. The February issue features

- Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Variations on Original Theme Enigma
- Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958) Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
- Michael Tippett (1905-98) Ritual Dances from The Midsummer Marriage

This isn't comprehensive but I thought it would be an excellent way for a amateur to do some sampling. I also like that they pay much attention to more obscure (I think, at least to me not as popular as Bach ect ect) composers and so on.

The main article is on a cellist Jacqueline Du Pre, anyone heard of her?