The Classical Thread

[Vaughan]

Just a heads-up about this box set. It packages up all the Gidon Kremer tango recordings for Nonesuch, reducing them to digipacs, but losing none of the great music.

My goodness this is excellent stuff. What I didn't know about the Tango! I had the first CD previously, but the others are new to me. The set also includes a previously unreleased live CD/

All the original booklets are here - so really there is no reason to pass it up. Enjoy!

[HutchFan]

NP:

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 15 / Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maksim Shostakovich

It amazes me that this has never been issued on CD. It's my favorite recording of the 15th by a wide margin. More than any other recording I've heard, this one makes sense of the 15th's strangeness. The music reminds me of someone who's near-death (or maybe even dead already!) looking back on their life, but everything is dream-like and distorted and shady.

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by HutchFan

NP:

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 15 / Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maksim Shostakovich

It amazes me that this has never been issued on CD. It's my favorite recording of the 15th by a wide margin. More than any other recording I've heard, this one makes sense of the 15th's strangeness. The music reminds me of someone who's near-death (or maybe even dead already!) looking back on their life, but everything is dream-like and distorted and shady.

Hutch, If it ever comes available in CD, let me know. I have Kiril Kondrashin & the Moscow Symphony on a Denon release that has Symphonies 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 15 (half of these are by Kondrashin, the other half by Evgeny Mravinsky). It's a bargain download on Amazon ($7 for 4 CDs worth). I also have a copy of the 15th by Bernard Haitink & the London Symphony Orchestra (Decca, 1993). The Haitink is better sound quality, but the Kondrashin is the better performance.



I thought of you today when I stumbled across an announcement of a release of the complete works of Shostakovich on Brilliant Records (BIS's budget label). It's 51 CDs and just came available today. The Symphonies are by Barshai. Other works are conducted by Gennadi Rozhdestvensky with the WDR Sinfonieorchester. ArkivMusic has it on sale for the $110. Here's the link:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...lbum_id=616625



BTW, my newest Shostakovich acquisition is a great performance of his first Violin Concerto: Maxim Vengerov (violin) / Mstislav Rostropovich (conductor). Simply magnificent (and their version of the Prokofiev Violin Concerto is maybe even better). This won Gramophone's Record of the Year back in 1994 (I think it was):



But best of all is the new performance of Shostakovich's string quartets by the Pacifica Quartet. Two volumes thus far (2 CDs each): The Soviet Experience, Vol. 1: String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and His Contemporaries: Shostakovich Quartets 5-8 and Miaskovsky, Quartet #13 (Cedille, 2011) and The Soviet Experience: Vol. 2: String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and His Contemporaries: Shostakovich Quartets 1-4 and Prokofiev Quartet #2 (Cedille, 2012). A great performance and an excellent recording:

[HutchFan]

Originally Posted by Alypius

I also have a copy of the 15th by Bernard Haitink & the London Symphony Orchestra (Decca, 1993). The Haitink is better sound quality, but the Kondrashin is the better performance.

I agree 100%. I think Kondrashin's performance is excellent.

To my ears, Haitink's approach doesn't work so well for Shostakovich. A bit too polished, I think. Not quite enough dirt under the fingernails. I do like his version of the 8th Symphony though.

Originally Posted by Alypius

I thought of you today when I stumbled across an announcement of a release of the complete works of Shostakovich on Brilliant Records (BIS's budget label). It's 51 CDs and just came available today. The Symphonies are by Barshai. Other works are conducted by Gennadi Rozhdestvensky with the WDR Sinfonieorchester. ArkivMusic has it on sale for the $110. Here's the link:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...lbum_id=616625

Will have to look into that. Thanks for the heads-up.

Originally Posted by Alypius

BTW, my newest Shostakovich acquisition is a great performance of his first Violin Concerto: Maxim Vengerov (violin) / Mstislav Rostropovich (conductor). Simply magnificent (and their version of the Prokofiev Violin Concerto is maybe even better). This won Gramophone's Record of the Year back in 1994 (I think it was)

YES! One of my faves too. Got it back when the CD was released, and it blew me away immediately. Vengerov is ridiculous! Probably my favorite living violinist.

Originally Posted by Alypius

But best of all is the new performance of Shostakovich's string quartets by the Pacifica Quartet. Two volumes thus far (2 CDs each): The Soviet Experience, Vol. 1: String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and His Contemporaries: Shostakovich Quartets 5-8 and Miaskovsky, Quartet #13 (Cedille, 2011) and The Soviet Experience: Vol. 2: String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and His Contemporaries: Shostakovich Quartets 1-4 and Prokofiev Quartet #2 (Cedille, 2012). A great performance and an excellent recording

More for the list! I like how they mix in works by Shotakovich's contemporaries.

[HutchFan]

Listening to Shosty again today:


Shostakovich: Orchestral Works / USSR Ministry of Culture SO, Rozhdestvensky
Mostly suites from film scores. Remind me a bit of Rota's scores for Fellini. NOTHING like the bleak extremity the symphonies or string quartets.



Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1, 5, 6 & 9 / USSR Ministry of Culture SO, Rozhdestvensky
Disc 1

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

Just a heads-up about this box set. It packages up all the Gidon Kremer tango recordings for Nonesuch, reducing them to digipacs, but losing none of the great music.

My goodness this is excellent stuff. What I didn't know about the Tango! I had the first CD previously, but the others are new to me. The set also includes a previously unreleased live CD/

All the original booklets are here - so really there is no reason to pass it up. Enjoy!

Vaughan, Thanks for the heads up on this. According to Amazon, it won't be released in the U.S. until November 19th. I look forward to exploring it.

[Vaughan]

Blimey, we got something first!

Here's what's in it:

Hommage a Piazzolla
El Tango
Tango Operita (double CD)
Tango Ballet
Eight Seasons
Tracing Astor
Astor Quartet Live

All but the Live were available before. This ships in a (flimsy) box, but I can't deny it's all nicely done. Tango is truly amazing music, in all its guises. Prior to hearing Gidon Kremer, I really had no idea of how varied it was or could be.

I expect you have already heard the Gary Burton recordings - but in case not they're also great.

[Vaughan]

Over the last few months, Ligeti has been played quite a bit in my household. I bought a couple box sets, and thought I'd mention this one.

The pricing on this is ridiculously cheap, and it's a collection of music that deserves attention. What I particularly like about it is that, played back-to-back, this set takes you on a whirlwind journey of all Ligeti had to offer.

The opening Sonata for Cello is wonderfully evocative and beautiful, I could listen to those 9 minutes on repeat all day, but the set doesn't shy away from some dissonance and vocal works later on. These are the complete recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, and it's difficult to think of a better sampler into the world of this amazing composer.

The only downside here is the booklet, which is thin and says very little. But at this price point it would be churlish to moan. It ships in a double-sized jewel case containing all four discs. (And a heads up to check immediately, my first purchase of this set from Amazon had to be returned because one of the discs was missing despite it being factory sealed).

[jkelman]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

Over the last few months, Ligeti has been played quite a bit in my household. I bought a couple box sets, and thought I'd mention this one.

The pricing on this is ridiculously cheap, and it's a collection of music that deserves attention. What I particularly like about it is that, played back-to-back, this set takes you on a whirlwind journey of all Ligeti had to offer.

A second shout-out for this terrific box set. I've had it for a couple years and it's just great.

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

Vaughan and / or John, Have you compared this Deutsche Grammophon edition against the 8 volume "Ligeti Edition" (Sony) and 5 volume "Ligeti Project" (Warner / Telarc)--which was personally overseen by Ligeti himself?

I have the first 3 volumes of the Ligeti Edition:
Vol. 1: The String Quartets
Vol. 2: Lux Aeterna
Vol. 3: The Piano Etudes

I also have 4 of the 5 volumes of the Ligeti Project:
I: The Piano Concerto & Chamber Concerto
II: Lontano, Atmosphers, Romanian Concerto
III: Cello Concerto, Violin Concerto, Clocks & Clouds
IV: Hamburg Concerto, Requiem

I realize that the Deutsche Grammophon might have other performers, but are there important works that I'm missing? Thanks

[Vaughan]

I don't feel confident enough to comment on "important works" by Ligeti if I'm honest. I'm at the stage where I simply listen, and like it. I bought two sets, the one I highlighted - which I've spent most time with - and Ligeti Project box set. The latter has a lot of recordings from live performances (I'll give it another listen today though). The booklet is also better in this as it has text from Ligeti himself. There is a lot of crossover in the two sets, and I've found myself playing the DG one the most.

I too want the Ligeti Edition discs - I don't have any. There is a box set with all those, but it's not cheap. Actually, looking at the box set - it has 9 discs, but I can only bring up 7 individual releases... it seems the box contains two discs of an Opera that didn't get a single disc release.

I'm not in the US at the moment - but the discs are considerably cheaper there.

ps: Saw how cheaply you can get the individual discs in the box set (bar the Opera, of course). I went ahead and ordered all 7 for around $50.

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

I don't feel confident enough to comment on "important works" by Ligeti if I'm honest. I'm at the stage where I simply listen, and like it. I bought two sets, the one I highlighted - which I've spent most time with - and Ligeti Project box set. The latter has a lot of recordings from live performances (I'll give it another listen today though). The booklet is also better in this as it has text from Ligeti himself. There is a lot of crossover in the two sets, and I've found myself playing the DG one the most.

I too want the Ligeti Edition discs - I don't have any. There is a box set with all those, but it's not cheap. Actually, looking at the box set - it has 9 discs, but I can only bring up 7 individual releases... it seems the box contains two discs of an Opera that didn't get a single disc release.

I'm not in the US at the moment - but the discs are considerably cheaper there.

ps: Saw how cheaply you can get the individual discs in the box set (bar the Opera, of course). I went ahead and ordered all 7 for around $50.

Vaughan, Thanks for the comment and the update. I think you'll enjoy the individual Ligeti Edition discs, especially the amazing performance of the string quartets by the Arditti Quartet and the equally amazing performance of the 2 complete books (and a few from book 3) of the Etudes by Pierre-Laurent Aimard. I was going to tell you that from Amazon's sellers, you can get great deals on them (I got mine for roughly $6-7 per volume). I got my copies of the Ligeti Project from a public library (and thus on my computer and iPod, but not CDs or CD-quality sound). I am still debating whether to order the box set. Thus my question to myself: get the Clear & Cloudy or order the complete Ligeti Project. I've read great things about the Clear and Cloudy collection, but I've been a little wary of Deutsche Grammophon reissues (as we discussed with regard to Steve Reich).

[Vaughan]

Personally speaking I couldn't see paying $100 more just for a two-disc Opera - albeit I'd love to hear it. The price differential was just too large in this case.

I did listen to some of the other box set today. It's obviously marvelous, but first impressions are that your preference will depend on how you like your classical music to sound. The DG set was recorded in a studio, and as such the individual instruments have more definition (I suppose they were each close miked). Whereas the other set is a mostly a live recording, so the sound is more uniform (for want of a better word).

I'd also say that I think another reason the DG set struck me was, as I've stated previously, the music tells a wonderful story. It starts with a very accessible Sonata, and from there gets progressively more idiosyncratic. As such it works well as an opening gambit in a Ligeti collection.... In the UK they're relatively cheap too. The DG set cost $25 - which isn't bad for a four disc set.

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

Personally speaking I couldn't see paying $100 more just for a two-disc Opera - albeit I'd love to hear it. The price differential was just too large in this case.

I did listen to some of the other box set today. It's obviously marvelous, but first impressions are that your preference will depend on how you like your classical music to sound. The DG set was recorded in a studio, and as such the individual instruments have more definition (I suppose they were each close miked). Whereas the other set is a mostly a live recording, so the sound is more uniform (for want of a better word).

I'd also say that I think another reason the DG set struck me was, as I've stated previously, the music tells a wonderful story. It starts with a very accessible Sonata, and from there gets progressively more idiosyncratic. As such it works well as an opening gambit in a Ligeti collection.... In the UK they're relatively cheap too. The DG set cost $25 - which isn't bad for a four disc set.

Vaughan, Thanks for the comments. They are helpful. I'll probably go with the DG.

[Alypius]

Chandos, one of the best (small) classical labels, has been steadily issuing the complete works of Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994), one of the more important composers of the 2nd half of the 20th century. In the early part of his career, he (like Shostakovich, Ligeti, and Arvo Part) suffered under the constraints of the narrow Soviet aesthetic and found subtle brilliant ways to express themselves despite Communist oversight; in the latter part of his career, he defied all that and became daringly experimental, incorporating aleatory techniques (via John Cage).

Just released: Edward Gardner / BBC Symphony, Lutoslawski: Orchestral Works 3 (Chandos, 2012). Released: November 13, 2012.



This has his Symphony #2 and Cello Concerto. Excellent performances, but be sure and first check out Volume One of this series, which has his brilliant Concerto for Orchestra (1950-54), a self-conscious homage to Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra (which people around here are huge fans of), as well as what most consider his masterpiece, Symphony no. 3 (1981-83). Volume Two has his equally brilliant Symphony no. 4, and Piano Concerto.