What are you currently listening to (Classical)?
- Thread starter Bachtoven
- Start date
Another phenomenal SACD from this gifted artist. He plays with astounding intensity without resorting to unmusical pounding. BIS' usual first-class engineering copes well with his huge dynamics. And, per usual, he provides his own amusing and informative notes.
Track details:
Medtner:
Stimmungsbild Op. 1 (Prologue)
Fairy Tale Op. 51/3
Sonata reminiscenza in A minor, Op. 38 No. 1
Skazka (Fairy Tale), Op. 20 No 1 in B flat minor
Skazka (Fairy Tale), Op. 26 No. 1
Canzona matinata in G major, Op. 39 No. 4
Sonata tragica in C minor, Op. 39 No. 5
Rachmaninov:
Prelude Op. 23 No. 4 in D major
Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 5 in G major
Prelude Op. 32 No. 6 in F minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 13 in D flat major
Track details:
Medtner:
Stimmungsbild Op. 1 (Prologue)
Fairy Tale Op. 51/3
Sonata reminiscenza in A minor, Op. 38 No. 1
Skazka (Fairy Tale), Op. 20 No 1 in B flat minor
Skazka (Fairy Tale), Op. 26 No. 1
Canzona matinata in G major, Op. 39 No. 4
Sonata tragica in C minor, Op. 39 No. 5
Rachmaninov:
Prelude Op. 23 No. 4 in D major
Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 5 in G major
Prelude Op. 32 No. 6 in F minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 13 in D flat major
Still an old favorite, as it brings back the memories of when I was in New York visiting Sid Marks (classical LP columnist for the Absolute Sound). He had this playing on his modified RS1-Bs and it was wonderful then, as it is to this day.
Lee
Bachtoven, you are truly prolific...fantastic. I have been watching but not participating much. Have been busy. Will certainly chime in hopefully in a few wks and look forward to comparing notes on classical and getting the benefit of your encyclopedic knowledge!
I listened to the Schubert (D.899 and 946)--wow! Rather slowish tempos, especially D.899 No.1, but he certainly doesn't underplay the drama! The Schubert was taken from a different concert than the Beethoven, and it must have been cold/flu season! Not as bad as in Richter's live "Pictures" in Sofia, but still more coughing than I would prefer.
I haven't heard Barbarolli's 5th (i know, heretical!), and I've only heard Fischer's 1st and 2nd: the 1st was pretty good, but I thought the 2nd lacked the drama of Sinopoli or Solti.
I think that is a fair characterization relative to Solti...i find Fischer very 'cerebral' which i quite like, and the recording quality is also excellent, so really allows me to 'chew' on the music when listening to it as both someone who appreciates the music and the system.
Thanks for that...have not heard Sinopoli and may give it a try. BTW, believe it or not, i have never ventured to Mahler until hearing Barbirolli's 5th remastered by Esoteric...stupidly expensive but addictively good!
To offer a slightly differing opinion, Sinopoli and Philharmonia are OK. Not the most consistent cycle, nor the best recorded or played. If you're interested in really checking out Sinopoli, look to his Mahler recordings with Dreden on Profil. Sinopoli would not be a good place to start your Mahler journey. Personally, I'd start with Gary Bertini's cycle. Perhaps the most even cycle of all of.
You can't go wrong with the Barbirolli 5th, even if it's a bit too romantic for me and the tempi are but too long in the tooth. A few other great fifths for you to chew on: Rudolf Barshai, Riccardo Chailly with Leipzig, Mehta with New York, Markus Stenz with Melbourne. For me, these recording get to the heart of the matter.
Fischer is great in 1,2 and 4. He has a recording of the 7th arriving later this year, and there is a 3rd available in the Berlin digital archives that's, sadly, very routine.
A friend recently brought up this disc in an email, so I thought I'd give it a listen since it's been a while. I had forgotten what wonderful and staggeringly difficult pieces they are, as well as how fantastically Scherbakov plays them. Apparently, this disc is out of print, as it sells for $39 to $995 on Amazon! (My friend lost his copy and I researched availability for him.) While I wouldn't pay nearly $1000 for it, 71 minutes of virtuoso music, wonderfully played and recorded for $40 isn't too terrible.
Thanks for that and agree about Fischer whose Mahler i like quite a bit...good to know about his 7th coming out...will look out for it!
A friend recently brought up this disc in an email, so I thought I'd give it a listen since it's been a while. I had forgotten what wonderful and staggeringly difficult pieces they are, as well as how fantastically Scherbakov plays them. Apparently, this disc is out of print, as it sells for $39 to $995 on Amazon! (My friend lost his copy and I researched availability for him.) While I wouldn't pay nearly $1000 for it, 71 minutes of virtuoso music, wonderfully played and recorded for $40 isn't too terrible.
heard the Louis Kentner Lyapunov...got the Scherbakov since the Kentner cost 90, and the comparisons certainly seemed to suggest both are fantastic, and the music is great. Thanks!!!
Here is even better news: you can download it for just $9.50. Yes $9.50! http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Marco+Polo/8223491
That's not such great news to those of use who don't like downloads!
(Most are just dubs of a CD, don't have program booklets, and in my system are far less convenient to play back than a CD/SACD.)
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