What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XI)

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I prefer Brendel's earlier Vox recording of Beethoven Sonata over later over pontificating his later recordings. 

Surprisingly colourful and expressive set by Brendel. Certainly more tongue and cheeky. Pity that the pitch is entirely unstable making it difficult to hear the subtleties for the piano segements. Not as funky as Gould or does not have the spontaneity of Kempff but well throughout performance in that does not get monotonous or mechanical. The long trills at the end is clear as a bell yet retaining a lyricism.

kuma,

I have bought this box:

on Amazon, it's a treasure of recordings of his Vox age, ranging from Mozart to Schoenberg; the sound is more than acceptable, and depending on when you buy it the price can be almost ridiculous.. I paid €29 for these 35 CDs, and I must say no one is so stylistically perfect in Viennese repertoire...

M

on Amazon, it's a treasure of recordings of his Vox age, ranging from Mozart to Schoenberg; the sound is more than acceptable, and depending on when you buy it the price can be almost ridiculous.. I paid €29 for these 35 CDs, and I must say no one is so stylistically perfect in Viennese repertoire...

Good god Max. that's a great price!

I was checking it out on Amazon but could not justify 130$USD since I already own many of the same recording in vinyl.

 Brendel here sometimes reminds me of another Viennese pianist Gulda whom I adore.

Pollini's Oop.111 starts out similar to Pathetique opening. Pretty emotive for Pollini. 

Tremendous dynamics with a laser precision. A bit like a pit bull that doesn't want to let go of his bone. 

The slow back end, however, does not match the same level of tension as his front half.

On CD.  This is a great album, Bach music adapted for trumpet.  None of the pieces in the album was conceived for this instrument. 

Lipatti/Karajan's last live orchestra recording of Mozart Piano Concerto No.21. 1950 recording.

Lipatti passed away a few months after this recording. This is a tremendous live recording where he's giving all he's got. Highly emotional in that it's much harder to talk away from this performance. It's not your usual *salon* style upper crust Mozart. This is played out with plenty of drama a la Beethoven. 

Lipatti offers his own terrific cadenza instead of usual Beethoven cadenza.

Karajan's orchestration is equally bold and firm.  Certainly this is not that Anda rendition of floaty transparent Andante. More realistic with both feet firm on the ground. 

Listen to the last cadenza ( again by Lipatti ). It's one of the bold and lively Mozart. A celebration of life from a dying man. 

Meditation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN2BBXny-Y4

Emanuel Ax + Eduardo Mata/Dallas Symphony: Mozart Piano Concerto No.22  1977 recording

Mozart's first concerti with clarinets. I am less familiar with this concerto but Ax/Mata set is surprisingly expressive and less generic than usual. 

Rolling Stones - No Security; chronicles the Bridges to Babylon tour:

CD  - AAD

Backhaus/Bohm/Vienna Phil Mozart Piano Concerto No.27 1955 recording.

Famous duo tackles the Mozart program. Alas, coming off rather *commercial* rather than personal altho this is a highly polished production and excellent piano sound to boot.

Or perhaps I am having a mental block Backhaus playing Mozart instead of Beethoven.

Pink Floyd. Soundtrack From The Film "More" (1969). On remastered CD from 1995. Winnowed from the s/h bins today, my first listen and I thoroughly enjoyed it. PF's third album and first without Syd Barrett, it is still very strongly Barrett inspired .

Thanks I ordered one from an Amazon Marketplace seller who was selling them at £10 a pop. Normally they are very good as I have dealt with them a lot over the years so I will wait and see if I manage to get it at that price.

(2012)

This is played beautifully and is a lovely start to the day.

Steely Dan. Katy Lied. On original vinyl from 1975. An OP bought today from a local shop, some minor surface noise does not detract from the superb sonics. Wow!

Artur Schnabel's two Mozart Concertos.

No.21 with Sargent & No.27 with Barbirolli Recorded 1934 & 1937

Sargent's No.21 sounds too conservative for my taste but Barbirolli's No.27 is quite unique and effective.

Overall, I like Schnabel's Mozart much more so than his Beethoven Sonata pieces.

JB’s intro is less stodgy and more youthful than Sargent. 1st movement intro is done in more of legato with less bouncy string accents. Piano is clear and firm handed yet full of expressiveness. There is a deliberate manipulation of timing throwing off the flow ever so slightly to keep the interest. Playful moment with piano frolicing with strings. Beautiful integration and timing between the soliost and orchestra. Schnabel here is in an adventurous mood with many delightful surprising elements.

The most compelling is this ultra slow Larghetto. Like a monologue style, the solo piano depicts loneliness in life so well. I’ve never seen this tune played this slow but this is a good example of timing signature does not matter when it’s done right. This is so moving to me.

Enjoying some Karajan...