I find Gould fascinating and his perfectionism and modus operandi are very interesting to hear on these discs. That said. . .I'm not a big Bach man. A little dab of him does me, this Gould series of sessions irregardless. I like these first recordings of the variations more than his later ones. I have a few other interpretations of the Variations. .. but don't seek out more.

There are geniuses, and there are towering geniuses... and then there are a few people who are really special. For me the short list includes Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Johnny von Neumann... and Beethoven, YMMV. His music has been special to me since I first figured out how to play my parents LPs of Toscanini and the NBC Symphony as a young child, and a little later when I would play Fur Elisa over and over and over and over on the piano...

Picking a favorite Beethoven symphony is a fools errand, but if forced to do so I would go with the 4th (the 7th is a very close second). Picking my favorite performance of the 4th is much easier.



DSD download from HDTT

Bruno Walter and the series of recordings he made late in life, mostly in LA with a pick up band of LA Phil and Hollywood studio players and mostly recorded in the American Legion Hall in Hollywood, is one of the great documents in the history of recorded music. For at least the last 40 years "historically informed performance" has been all the rage. And IMO what could possibly be more authentic than recordings made by a guy who was conducting professionally when Brahms was alive? And recorded in fine late 50s stereo.

Cool. No pianist's humming has ever bothered me, and I have yet to hear a version of the Variations I really prefer to Gould's first series.

Must be a reissue as he did those a long time ago and he has retired from performing and recording. It's an interesting recording. . . doesn't top Gould's for me as much as I DO love Jarrett.

I'm sure there are literally dozens of great interpretations of the Variations but I have enough and am not buying classical discs these days having inherited my Dad's and without Dad don't listen to Classical as much. It was my great way to spend time with him this century til he passed.

As long as the humming is tune I'm fine with it. FWIW.

I don't have versions of "Over the Rainbow." Can't even think of one offhand in the collection. It's not a common jazz standard, not at all, and I'm not a Garland person. I know of it done in the pop realm, but I am not a pop music collector. Or listener really. Not a very well chosen example.

I don't know. . . Jarrett's classical work seems legit to me. He had the training and he took it seriously. I have most and enjoy them. Wynton for example was a celebrated classical recording artist before he recorded jazz.  I try to be neither a jazz nor classical snob.

Lon wrote,
Quote:


You know now I´m home I see Im miss remembering, the recording just released is Bach but it´s Philip Emanuel, not his dad and idling minds...

I was listening on the headphones at work to someone on the radio talking about these newly released recordings from 1994 in passing.

Quote:


You don´t like his Beethoven recordings from ´63? I did like some of his Wagners too.

This is another HvK does "German" that I really like.



On CD.

Quote:


Indeed. I think mine is the 3 disc set from which yours was extracted. Of course if you're talking 2nd Viennese School you have to mention:



On CD. One of the best recordings I have and it sounds better than ever on the UFO25s.

Quote:


Fair enough .

How about more Second Viennese School, 12 tone music for people that don't like 12 tone music.



On CD.

I'm not a big fan of the 12 tone, but the Berg concerto is 12 tone with training wheels. That should not be confused with more expressionistic, atonal music, a lot of which I really enjoy.

OK, back from our European vacation and nice to hear my system again. For a quiet morning of coffee and jet lag I choose:



16/44 FLAC Download.

Lovely in every way.

Yeah, that DG vinyl is no prize, that's for sure. I'm glad I don't live in a world where I'm limited to a single Beethoven symphony cycle, but if I did this would probably be it:



DSD rip from Tower Japan SACD.

This was the first stereo cycle the Berlin Phil recorded (Walter Legge banished HvK to London to record Beethoven with the Philharmonia) and at this point the orchestra is still as much Furtwangler's as it is Karajan's. Solid early stereo sound and IMO a goldilocks interpretation that balances passion, lyricism, truth and beauty just right.

 

Jordi Savall "Marin Marais -- Pieces for Viol: Selections from the Five Books" SACD box set, disc 2

I'm a big fan of Savall and the viol de gamba and should play his discs more often. Great sound on this box set.

Nice, not heard those, I looked them up on youtube (what convenient times we live in)

"The Cello in Wartime" BIS SACD



As the centenaries of various events of the First World War are being commemorated, we are reminded of the great battles and the large-scale suffering. To imagine what day-to-day life may have been like in the trenches in Flanders is more difficult, however, 100 years later and with no living survivors of the war to bear witness. Poems and paintings can give us some idea – but, as this disc from Steven Isserlis proves, so can music! The main, more conventional section of the programme is a selection of cello works composed around the time of the war, by composers from three of the countries involved in it: France, Britain and Austria.

This is followed by something rather more unusual, however, as Isserlis exchanges his ‘Marquis de Corberon’ Stradivarius for an instrument that was once played and heard in the trenches of Ypres. Harold Triggs, the owner of this so-called ‘trench cello’, brought it with him to Flanders from England – other soldiers, on both sides of the conflict, constructed their own violins, cellos or flutes on site, from ammunition boxes, pipes and whatever else they could get hold of. These instruments thus become a highly moving testimony to every man’s need for beauty and solace and joy, even in the middle of a battlefield. With the delicate support of Connie Shih on the piano (and in fact even pianos could be found in the trenches, even if not concert grands!), Isserlis and his trench cello transport us, for a brief moment, to a trench near Ypres during a quiet spell between skirmishes, with soldiers resting, writing home, playing cards – and with the help of the music dreaming of a life elsewhere.

https://bis.eclassical.com/performers/isserlis-steven/the-cello-in-wartime.html

At my wife's request, Christmas music, on the living room system. One of the few choral albums I have and like.

I'm a big fan of choral music, and it is esp. popular this time of year.



On CD. A great collection of both the sacred and profane, with plenty of Christmas carols. Once in Royal David's City is a personal favorite, it always gives me goosebumps.

Also, FYI/FTR, while I hesitate to call any recording "definitive" there is one that is absolutely, positively definitive.



The Robert Shaw Choral singing Christmas music is as good as it can possibly be. JMO, but if you disagree with me you're crazy.

That's fine, you'd only be crazy if you thought other recordings were better.

Happy Holidays regardless Lon. I look forward to another year of posts and discussion from/with you.

That's classical music alright Rap! Duke with Pops and All Stars!

More Christmas choral music.



On CD.

No Xmas without The Messiah either.



On CD.

For me Mozart's arrangement of Handel's Messiah is just about the best thing ever. An intoxicating cocktail of the The Bible and Don Giovanni. YMMV.

Back to Bach.



On CD.

Quiet music for a quiet morning.

Was Victor Herbert the 19th century Leonard Bernstein? He was a composer, conductor, performer and all-around musical polymath. He was born in Ireland but worked in the USA, and allegedly his E Minor Cello Concerto inspired Dvorak to write his (rather more famous) concerto.



On CD.

Things I wonder about: Were the best recordings Herbert von Karajan's Berlin Philharmonic made conducted by someone besides HvK?

Good morning CA,

I cannot tell you how many times I have thought the exact same thing!

BTW, I have been expanding my musical interest into the classical stuff, last night I listened to your Franz Schubert.  Thanks for your suggestions.

Happy New Year CA, and to Everyone,
Tony