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

Doug,

Musical preference is even more polarised than HIFI.

I don't take a democratic approach and only interested in the performance that moves me. ( regardless of sound quality or series of misplaying by a pianist )

This is why classical music is interesting where essentially trying to find the best covers to suit a listener.

I don't put too much equity on the book perfect technical exactness so long as the misplaying does not get in the way of an intended interpretation for communication. 

Maybe there is a technical explanation for why I prefer a certain performance than others but in general I found there is a tendency Chopin music to be played like stale bland flowery elevator Musak, I generally try to avoid his work. But when everything is played right ( in my mind ) Preludes are potent powerful music that gets through deep in one's heart and mind. 

P.S. I have no intention of playing Preludes again as I am absolutely lousy at it.

Originally Posted by Florestan:

 This week, I listened to Yundi.  Technically flawless.  I don't think there is anything he cannot do.  Interpretively though .... well, I don't know.  Out of the 24 preludes, there is not anyone who I have heard that ever nailed the 24 completely (except for yours truly, ha ha).  Yundi here has some nice moments but also some very week moments where, in my opinion, he misses the mark completely.

 

It might remind me a little of the Pollini syndrome.  Sometimes he is just wonderful but his over arching character, to me, is just too cold and lifeless.  The technical side is the strong point but the musicality is lacking.  These individuals are very much against anything showing too much much emotion or having any meaning associated with it.

 

 Yundi:  Chopin Preludes

A competent player with his forte on technicality and perfection rather than on artistry, emotion or poetic values.

 

I am glad you said it.

Whilst the Youtube isn't the best tool to assess sound quality but when I saw Yundi's new Preludes popped up on the new release radar, I checked them out. ( no.15 & 16 )After all he was the 2000 Chopin competition first prize winner.

From the first bar, the music was dead so it saved me 15 USD.

I put him in the same boat as Lang Lang. Both are pretty much flat liners for me. Exciting but empty inside.

P.S. How is Ingrid Fliter's Preludes? Tempted to get her Linn vinyl release.

I quite agree. I have a Yundi copy of Beethoven Sonatas, Appasionata, Pathetique etc.  There's no connection with the music.  And ditto Lang Lang and Yuja Wang. Am I missing something?

Tower of Power: Live and in Living Color  1976 release

Vivid and highly charged live performance.  Sounds wonderful as Little Feat's 'Waiting for Columbus'. 

Monk live at the It club.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOvKLvWuZjg

Doin' that late 80s early 90s thing...

Eric Clapton. 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974). On Polydor remastered CD from 1996. EC had a real nice funk going on throughout this recording session. This particular remaster has a great SQ. In fact, it trumps the original vinyl per the Dynamic Range Database.

Streaming | FLAC

Another one from the excellent Tangerine Tree project and once again my first listen to this one, just easing my way into it with parts one and two (Volume 7) for now. 

I agree with you Joe I have the same copy and it does sound very good. Digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio at PolyGram Studios.

Brahms Symphony 1: Sawallisch/London Philharmonic  1991 recording

Pureed music without much chunks to chew on. 

Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits. On HDCD from 2003. A warm vintage sound. Cline's deep, rich, textured vocals are so well offset by Floyd Cramer's tickling ivories.

Great album.

CCR. Cosmo's Factory (1970). 40th Anniversary CD from 2008. The math doesn't work out, but I'm ending what has been a very long Saturday for me with this classic.

Pollini's remake of the 24... freeer in form and spirit than his previous recording, much loved on this forum, but similar in scale and concept. As ever, his grasp of the musical arguments provides lean, focused readings that do not meander - arguably this makes him a better Beethoven than Chopin player, but in the proper mood, I find these to be just as exciting as those of more poetically-inclined pianists.

EJ

 

Originally Posted by Florestan:

 This week, I listened to Yundi.  Technically flawless.  I don't think there is anything he cannot do.  Interpretively though .... well, I don't know.  Out of the 24 preludes, there is not anyone who I have heard that ever nailed the 24 completely (except for yours truly, ha ha).  Yundi here has some nice moments but also some very week moments where, in my opinion, he misses the mark completely.

 

It might remind me a little of the Pollini syndrome.  Sometimes he is just wonderful but his over arching character, to me, is just too cold and lifeless.  The technical side is the strong point but the musicality is lacking.  These individuals are very much against anything showing too much much emotion or having any meaning associated with it.

 

 Yundi:  Chopin Preludes

A competent player with his forte on technicality and perfection rather than on artistry, emotion or poetic values.

 

I am glad you said it.

 

Whilst the Youtube isn't the best tool to assess sound quality but when I saw Yundi's new Preludes popped up on the new release radar, I checked them out. ( no.15 & 16 )After all he was the 2000 Chopin competition first prize winner.

 

From the first bar, the music was dead so it saved me 15 USD.

I put him in the same boat as Lang Lang. Both are pretty much flat liners for me. Exciting but empty inside.

 

P.S. How is Ingrid Fliter's Preludes? Tempted to get her Linn vinyl release.

Have a listen but I find Ingrid Fliter quite interesting for Chopin ....

Steve Rothery, The Ghosts of Pripyat on CD. Why? Because it is very very good

Streaming | FLAC

This is a very good compilation of some of his own singles and the also from Doobie Brothers years, he has a voice I have always enjoyed.

As I'm growing more familiar with this interpretation, I've started to get a handle on what Melnikov and Heras-Casado are trying to achieve. However, where I felt Brautigam's fortepiano in Mozart and Beethoven brings rewards that more than offset the loss of tonal lustre and projection of a concert grand, I'm not so sure here; the Schumann concerto repeatedly uses the orchestra to set the stage for the soloist to take over the musical argument, at which point Melnikov's puny music box fails to deliver. However what I do appreciate more is the removal of the lead bottom that so often characterises this work; and it's made me curious to listen to the recording of Schumann's piano quintet by Melnikov and the Jerusalems, hoping for a similar fleetness.

Cheers

EJ

Streaming | FLAC

(1975)