[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel I have many Mozart sets including a 2CD Harnoncourt/Teledec Ultima Mozart 38-41 symphonies done with COE, live recordings from 1992-94. You can probably find one used, but not my first choice for these.

I have a friend who swears by this set. He thinks that they are probably the best version ever recorded.

Quote:

Marriner is old hand at Mozart and has many options including full symphony set, safe very good middle of the road performances, I have quite a few Marriner Cds but would not be my reference.

Marriner is available now on the budget label.

Quote:

The Szell/Sony CD with 35,40,41 is great single CD I also own, very highly recommended and a steal at budget price......old school larger modern orchestra style. Let me recommend two things for Mozart late symphonies: 1)For small orchestra period performance style get Menuhin/Virgin, either single budget CD or excellent budget 5CD set, his hand picked orchestra Sinfonia Varsovia is superb in this genre, excellent modern Virgin sound.. 2)For the old school larger orchestra with modern instruments, but still with great energy and drive get Bernstein/VPO/DG either single CD or 3CD Trio set: If you search there is Mozart thread that discusses all this in more detail.

Thanks for the recommends! I picked up the Szell today and also another recording by Gunter Wand. I like his other work, and it was on sale at $9.99, so, it went into the basket.

I'll have to use the trusty old search button, but I don't doubt that the thread is at least as long as the Mahler thread.

 

[Tyson]

Bunny, for late Mozart, no one is better than Jeffrey Tate and the ECO. He has a small orchestra, which really keeps the winds and strings in perfect balance, but he doesn't play Mozart super fast (unlike some period performers). In fact, some tempi are a little slow. BUT there is a hushed intensity to the quiet passages, you have a sense of a building to a high drama. And the dramatic events are then perfectly executed. IMO, Tate catches the mystery, the beauty, the drama, and the nobility of these works like no one else (and I have heard a LOT of recordings of the late Syms). And to top it all off, he never over-inflates the music, it always has a natural elegance, a bouyancy, and a natural balance that marks them as classical works, not Romantic works. I love it. A lot of people have a knee-jerk reaction that this is not a great set (because Tate is generally not a "great" conductor the way Bernstein or Bohm or Szell would be considered a "great" conductor). But IMO he just NAILS Mozart. I think if more people sat down and really LISTENED to the set with an open mind, they too would hear the wonder and the beauty of it.

 

[Enverxis]

Ive got Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Musikalische Meisterwerke

 

[adhoc]

FINALLY!!

Artur Rubinstein - The Chopin Collection
An 11 CD set comprising almost all the Chopin recorded by Arthur Rubinstein (IMO, the -master- at Chopin: no one - not Perahia, nor Horowitz, nor Ashkenazy, nor even Arrau does Chopin as well as Rubinstein).

Out of print since 1992! That's 13 years!!

Some background info - I have been searching for this particular set ever since I began listening to classical music all the way back in 1999. Six years of continuous searching around eBay, obscure websites and sourcing through assorted dealers left me with nothing. There were a few times I came close to owning a copy, but always someone would outbid me on eBay with 3 or so seconds remaining, or the bid price would reach stratospheric levels (ie. >$160), or online stores would never reply to my emails or brusquely inform me that the item was 'back ordered', or brick-and-mortar retailers would disappoint and offer me instead the 'new' version of this set by RCA; a grossly overpriced affair that could only be bought in separate form which would end up costing me well over $400 in the end.

But finally, my perserverence paid off - I managed to locate a NEW copy from the Netherlands. Imagine that - a mint set sitting on some shelf for 13 years!

And all for just... $88!

 

[Bunnyears]

Congratulations, Adhoc! It's a great set. Btw, one of the volumes, Ballades and Scherzos has been remastered for SACD and is available on the Living Stereo label. There is some very slight improvement in sound, but not much. You might be interested in picking it up just for comparison.

Tyson,

I'll check out that recording, too!!

Thanks to everyone for all of the great suggestions. It certainly makes the job of finding new recordings a great deal easier and more pleasant.

 

[Tyson]

Great set, adhoc! I've had it for a while and I agree with you, no one does chopin like Rubinstein.

 

[saint.panda]

That's a great set and I love mine very much with the only caveat that the etudes are not included. The ballades, however, are simply outstanding!

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson Bunny, for late Mozart, no one is better than Jeffrey Tate and the ECO. He has a small orchestra, which really keeps the winds and strings in perfect balance, but he doesn't play Mozart super fast (unlike some period performers). In fact, some tempi are a little slow. BUT there is a hushed intensity to the quiet passages, you have a sense of a building to a high drama. And the dramatic events are then perfectly executed. IMO, Tate catches the mystery, the beauty, the drama, and the nobility of these works like no one else (and I have heard a LOT of recordings of the late Syms). And to top it all off, he never over-inflates the music, it always has a natural elegance, a bouyancy, and a natural balance that marks them as classical works, not Romantic works. I love it. A lot of people have a knee-jerk reaction that this is not a great set (because Tate is generally not a "great" conductor the way Bernstein or Bohm or Szell would be considered a "great" conductor). But IMO he just NAILS Mozart. I think if more people sat down and really LISTENED to the set with an open mind, they too would hear the wonder and the beauty of it.

I have some love for the Tate/ECO/EMI late Mozart symphonies also, similar in style to Marriner/ASMF/EMI series but I believe Tate is the finer of the two with better sprung rythms as Tyson also noticed, Marriner sometimes sounding a bit routine or generic by comparison. BTW there are two complete Marriner ASMF sets, Phillips in 1970's and EMI Angel 1980's........I have several of the EMI series.

So there are literally dozens of very good Mozart 40 to choose from........only logical thing to do is buy them all.

 

[saint.panda]

Tyson, what do you think about the Tate/EMI set with sinfonies 1-51? Amazon link

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel I have some love for the Tate/ECO/EMI late Mozart symphonies also, similar in style to Marriner/ASMF/EMI series but I believe Tate is the finer of the two with better sprung rythms as Tyson also noticed, Marriner sometimes sounding a bit routine or generic by comparison. BTW there are two complete Marriner ASMF sets, Phillips in 1970's and EMI Angel 1980's........I have several of the EMI series. So there are literally dozens of very good Mozart 40 to choose from........only logical thing to do is buy them all.

DA, if there is an economical way to do things and an extravagant way, you always egg me towards the most extravagant! I am such a sucker, and you seem to know it.

Meanwhile, I am listening to Gunter Wand's late symphony offering and I have to say that sounds very good. I don't know what it is about the g minor, but it seems to express anxiety so well. I am, however, always surprised when I read of how completely radical it was considered and how even the key signature of g minor was considered so very threatening and hostile even by Beethoven.

Btw, I was looking at that Tate set of "51" symphonies, and I wonder what the difference is between that set and the other set of Mozart symphonies on the same label by Tate that is "unavailable? "

 

[DarkAngel]

The newest 2003 Tate set comes in pink/fuchsia box (

) and is spread over 12 CDs..........notice the older 1999 set is only 9 CDs. I am sure they are the same performances.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel The newest 2003 Tate set comes in pink/fuchsia box ( ) and is spread over 12 CDs..........notice the older 1999 set is only 9 CDs. I am sure they are the same performances.

New and improved price as well.

 

[Doc Sarvis]

Latest:

Holst - Planets - Mehta '71 - Speakers Corner vinyl - Excellent!
Ansermet - Royal Ballet - Classic Records vinyl
Beethoven PC # 2 - Immerseel - Tafelmusik (period instruments).

 

[Tyson]

I have the 9 box set, so I'm missing out on 10 of the early syms. But honestly I never listen to much before #29 anyway.

DA,
Your comparison with Marriner is apt, as I feel both Tate and Marriner keep these works on a classical scale, and both bring elegance of expression that is enchanting. I do feel that Tate reveals darker currents under the beautiful surface, while Marriner is all surface beauty and charm, with much less depth of emotion, and a poorer recording (Tate's recording quality is excellent).

 

[pDave]

Just starting classical here...

Elgar Cello Concerto & Enigma Variations - Jacqueline Du Pré/Daniel Barenboim

I've been search for this for some time since reading a comment on amazon. Dropped by Towers today and turns out there's a re-release for $10! The Pomp & Circumstance March brings back old memories of my school volin class at grade 7/8.