What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. X)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 31 December 2013
On the cusp of 2014, we start a new thread...
Anyway, links:
Volume IX: https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...16#22826037054683416
Volume VIII: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...nt/12970396056050819
Volume VII: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...6878604287751/page/1
Volume VI: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878604097229
Volume V: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605140495
Volume IV: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605795042
Volume III: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878607309474
Volume II: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878606245043
Volume I: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878607464290
Picked up today $10(Nz). Sounds great .
Finally opened a Speakers Corner reissue I have purchased back in 2011 for a listen.
This is a '57 recording of Curzon/Knappertsbush/VPO recording of Emperor Concerto.
Majestic and full of pageantry good looking package but expression is restrained and rather academic and pedestrian.
Speakers Corner's remastering is relatively quiet but the late 50s Decca stereo recording should have a better clarity. On the whole it is natural and dynamic but the massed strings still a tad strident and artificial typical of this label. Good bottom end reach and scale but not the best sounding reissue I have heard.
This reading both sonics and performance turned out to be one of the dullest I have heard on the 5th.
Fast forward 20 years, this Pollini/Böhm/VPO is much more to my liking. It's a rare good sounding late 70s DG pressing. Same venue and same orchestra but different engineers chose an opposite tonal decision. ( Decca=warm, DG=Neutral )
Coming off from a comfy Curzon set, this is a shot in the arm adrenalin rush.
His note cuts through and leave no ambiguity but it's like a beautifully detailed Italianate marble sculpture. Böhm's direction is matured but never gets stodgy keeping it bubbly all the way through.
As Curzon set, the piano is close mic'd in that you can hear the piano players grunting and singing or sometimes stomping the foot. This is a tough piece which needs enough stamina to get through all the way to the final push.
"THIS NEARLY PERFECT PIANO TRIO SET BY CYRUS CHESTNUT, captured at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club in New York, is his first live recording date. It retains all of the feeling and power of his thrilling live performances but also benefits from Smoke’s Steinway B that Cyrus claims is the best piano in the city. "
2014 has been a great year for Smoke Session Records.
My favoruite Cyrus Chestnut tune for this time of the season.
Delicate and very insightful - recommended...
Clever, Gianluigi
MDS,
The Floyd actually beamed the album cover on buildings around the world just before and on release day.
Gian,
If thats a Banksy?
I don't want to be cutting it out.
Well i don't know Stu. I just was googling....... 
ERIC REED DIDN’T WANT TO MAKE A GOOD RECORD, he wanted to make a great one. The celebrated pianist and musician says, “I could have called guys who play exactly what I want; it would have been good and not very interesting. It would have been swinging or it would have sounded nice—there wouldn’t have really been a spark. You don’t just want to sound good. You want it to be amazing.” And, his Groovewise is that killing record. It features a memorable quartet with Seamus Blake, Ben Williams, and Gregory Hutchinson and is the first recorded meeting of Reed and Hutchinson in over 15 years. They are clearly inspired performing in front of a live audience and the creative energy flies off the bandstand.
Not all my taste, I guess well executed...
Not all my taste, I guess well executed...
Try S. osborne
How very hateful these non-musicians are with their beautifully formulated value judgements and superbly crafted one liner dismissals of splendid music making. One does not have to like every detail of a performance to see the good in it!
I began to tire of Radio Three's all-knowing style a good ten years ago, not long after I gave up on all television!
I remember a time when presenters stuck to introducing music without judgement, and perhaps the occasional enthusiastic comment at the end ... A musical critical view was left to an occasional interview with a real expert on the music in question.
In other words Radio Three would do well to play the music without any presenters at all now - apart from the continuity bods, IMHO.
George,
You are the Dave Spart of classical music 
Cheers,
Chris
PIANIST DAVID HAZELTINE, a musician’s musician known for his harmonic sophistication and elegant pianism, delivers a thoroughly beautiful recording with his latest For All We Know. His rich sound and comping is often reminiscent of the late, great Cedar Walton and Hazeltine honors the piano master with several original compositions including “Et Cedra,” “Lord Walton,” and “Pooh,” as well as Kurt Weill’s “My Ship.” For All We Know also captures the first meeting between tenor saxophone sensation Seamus Blake and Hazeltine. It is abundantly clear on tracks like Charlie Parker’s “Cheryl” and Hazeltine’s “Eddie Harris,” that this collaboration is one worth returning to again and again.
Double vinyl. An excellent album from 2009.
CD rip. Their first and best album.
Portishead - Third (2008)
Vinyl 2 x 45rpm
First spin of Hamelin's Debussy. It always takes me a while to 'digest' his blend of musicianship and virtousity to form a lasting impression. Later it will be the beloved Bavouzet used as a measuring stick.
CD rip. Their first and best album.
The MFSL is due out this coming year so depending upon it's q it may end up being the go to version.
Not all my taste, I guess well executed...
Try S. osborne
Thanks for the tip...
I didn't think she would be good in Debussy, but in the contrary quite good
Solid performance
