Turning into Todd - historical classical
Posted by: herm on 18 April 2003
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Paris has got to be the historical records capital of Europe. I came back from our holidays with close to fifty CDs, and the vast majority of 'em were from the mono era, prompting Rosie to say it's kind of funny to put so much money into one's stereo and then buy mono records.
However she quickly agreed that Rubinstein's 1938 Chopin Nocturnes were, especially in the three breakthrough Opus 15 pieces, much more committed than the 'aristocratic' 1962 recordings - and the latter has been my reference for quite some time. It's interesting to compare the timings: the f sharp minor piece is 4:42 first and 7:11 later. Same Rubinstein, same Chopin, different story. In fact there's virtually no overlap. As I said, the Opus 15 pieces, which define the Chopin idea of Nocturne, had always disappointed me in the stereo recording. Here they are the best. The D flat piece, one of Rubinstein's signature pieces, is not so good in the early recording; it's stellar on the stereo recording. Perhaps I should get the forties recording of the Nocturnes, too - but I guess that would mean 'turning into Todd', as Nick Lees phrased it recently (as he was turning into Todd himself).
There's a funny hole-in-the-wall store near the St Germain statue (close to the river) aptly called Dream Store which specializes in recordings culled from radio archives, and I got a couple of Dante Gieseking discs with Debussy (Images, 1948; Estampes, 1938) and Ravel's Miroirs (1949) - the music's great, the sound is good, the playing magnificent. I'm going to say goodbye to some nineties Debussy discs soon. I don&rsquot need them anymore. Another Giesking item on Archipel Records features Schumann works: Kreisleriana, the First Sonata and Davidsbündlertänze (1942), Carnaval (1943), and the Fantasie in C (1947, allowing some relief from the idea you're listenign in on an SS event). I'm only going to say one superficial thing about this Schumann for the moment, and that is that in fast passages Gieseking clearly loses it sometimes. But how can you blame him when Schumann is the composer who started one piece with the direction: 'as fast as you can' and near the end noted: 'ever faster'. I am, however, assuming, these are not Giesking's 'official' Schumann recordings - or does he fly off the handle on those too, when the going gets fast?
I'm being superficial, as Gieseking's Schumann is currently eclipsed by the transcendent Carnaval in the A.B. Michelangeli box on Aura Records called The Seven Wonders. One disc Schumann (Carnaval, Faschingswank), two Chopin discs, one Brahms (Ballades, Paganini vars), one Beethoven disc, one Debussy and one with Bach and Scarlatti. The provenance of the recordings is mixed to say the least, but the playing is always spellbinding. Every time I'm fascinated by this Italian thing. This country with its melodramatic opera culture is also the place that produced these hugely introverted guys like Michelangeli, Pollini, Guilini and the Quartetto Italiano. There are moments (such as the 'Chopin' episode in Carnaval) when A.B.M. turns all analytical rather than the expected lyrical release, which are kind of weird, but even then you get this uniquely limpid piano phrasing.
Lastly I got an embarrassing pile of Beethoven piano stuff: the Kempff mono sonatas from the fifties plus a variety of Schnabel discs including one with violinist Szigeti (I have had Szigeti's famous Beethoven sonatas with Arrau for like for ever). The Kempff box includes a bonus disc with Kempff talking, plus a thirties Pathétique. I gave up looking for the Kempff stereo box, which is retired from the catalogue (and no doubt will be reintroduced now that I plumped for the mono).
Herman
However she quickly agreed that Rubinstein's 1938 Chopin Nocturnes were, especially in the three breakthrough Opus 15 pieces, much more committed than the 'aristocratic' 1962 recordings - and the latter has been my reference for quite some time. It's interesting to compare the timings: the f sharp minor piece is 4:42 first and 7:11 later. Same Rubinstein, same Chopin, different story. In fact there's virtually no overlap. As I said, the Opus 15 pieces, which define the Chopin idea of Nocturne, had always disappointed me in the stereo recording. Here they are the best. The D flat piece, one of Rubinstein's signature pieces, is not so good in the early recording; it's stellar on the stereo recording. Perhaps I should get the forties recording of the Nocturnes, too - but I guess that would mean 'turning into Todd', as Nick Lees phrased it recently (as he was turning into Todd himself).
There's a funny hole-in-the-wall store near the St Germain statue (close to the river) aptly called Dream Store which specializes in recordings culled from radio archives, and I got a couple of Dante Gieseking discs with Debussy (Images, 1948; Estampes, 1938) and Ravel's Miroirs (1949) - the music's great, the sound is good, the playing magnificent. I'm going to say goodbye to some nineties Debussy discs soon. I don&rsquot need them anymore. Another Giesking item on Archipel Records features Schumann works: Kreisleriana, the First Sonata and Davidsbündlertänze (1942), Carnaval (1943), and the Fantasie in C (1947, allowing some relief from the idea you're listenign in on an SS event). I'm only going to say one superficial thing about this Schumann for the moment, and that is that in fast passages Gieseking clearly loses it sometimes. But how can you blame him when Schumann is the composer who started one piece with the direction: 'as fast as you can' and near the end noted: 'ever faster'. I am, however, assuming, these are not Giesking's 'official' Schumann recordings - or does he fly off the handle on those too, when the going gets fast?
I'm being superficial, as Gieseking's Schumann is currently eclipsed by the transcendent Carnaval in the A.B. Michelangeli box on Aura Records called The Seven Wonders. One disc Schumann (Carnaval, Faschingswank), two Chopin discs, one Brahms (Ballades, Paganini vars), one Beethoven disc, one Debussy and one with Bach and Scarlatti. The provenance of the recordings is mixed to say the least, but the playing is always spellbinding. Every time I'm fascinated by this Italian thing. This country with its melodramatic opera culture is also the place that produced these hugely introverted guys like Michelangeli, Pollini, Guilini and the Quartetto Italiano. There are moments (such as the 'Chopin' episode in Carnaval) when A.B.M. turns all analytical rather than the expected lyrical release, which are kind of weird, but even then you get this uniquely limpid piano phrasing.
Lastly I got an embarrassing pile of Beethoven piano stuff: the Kempff mono sonatas from the fifties plus a variety of Schnabel discs including one with violinist Szigeti (I have had Szigeti's famous Beethoven sonatas with Arrau for like for ever). The Kempff box includes a bonus disc with Kempff talking, plus a thirties Pathétique. I gave up looking for the Kempff stereo box, which is retired from the catalogue (and no doubt will be reintroduced now that I plumped for the mono).
Herman