The classical music thread

In the U.S. RCA had the nipper.

So they do. I had forgotten that Thank you.

OG RCA Living Stereo releases in the U.S. are referred to as “shaded dog”.

To my ears the Pavel Haas are one of the finest string quartets around at the moment, particularly excelling in Czech music. Full of both delicacy and vigour, I suspect their playing would have delighted Dvorak. Gramophone Magazine made it Record of the Year and BBC’s Record Review chose it as their version of Op 106. Very well recorded and available on vinyl.

Roger

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Wrong college — the one with magic wands was down the road… :rofl:

Thanks. I might see if I can stream it. I don’t see it available on vinyl at the usual sources.

And this is another rather good recording from the Pavel Haas Quartet:

These guys know their music…

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My favorite Schubert Death and the Maiden is the Melos Quartet on DG. I have the individual release, but also came across this 7-LP box set of all the quartets some years ago.

One of my favorite sets of string quartets is those of Bartok. I have the old celebrated DG set by the Tokyo Quartet, but the Juilliard on Columbia is my favorite. This is the Speakers Corner reissues from some years ago.

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But the labels still have “His Master’s Voice.” And Americans referred to the dog as Nipper.


There have been quite a few posts about Vaughan Williams’ symphonies and rightly so as they are his most famous compositions. I didn’t even know until last year that he had written three string quartets. I bought this cd recorded in 2000 out of interest as a VW fan and was very pleasantly surprised. I love the music and the recording by the Maggini Quartet plus Garfield Jackson is great. Although the music is 20th century VW had an interest in Tudor music, hence the ‘Phantasy’ Quintet! I believe there are only two recordings of this music.

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I’m not a vinyl user myself, but it’s available on eBay, at least in the UK.

Roger

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think there’s little reason to seek out the vinyl on eBay (or elsewhere). It’s almost certainly recoreded digitally anyway, and I can stream it on Qobuz.

I also have and enjoy that disc, especially the Phantasy Quintet, for which I have a soft spot. I’m not sure everyone is as enthralled, though. I recall being at a concert where it was being performed by some string players from the Manchester Camerata and being transported by the slow movement Sarabande, only to notice a group of people in the row in front passing sweets around! I guess it just shows you can’t please all the people all the time.

Roger

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I’ve listened to Mozart aplenty, but the Trio’s I’ve either missed or haven’t registered. This set shows me I’ve been missing a trick. Seems to me that this Piano, Violin, Cello blend makes an ideal canvas for Mozart to show his full talents with great clarity. Beautiful sound from the always brilliant Beaux Arts Trio on this set to match.

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I have lots of the Beaux Arts Trio recordings, including the Mozart you posted. They are a top notch group.

There are others by Beethoven Schubert, Brahms, and…

One of the gems of my library is this one, the complete Haydn trios. It’s a 14-LP box. Some years ago I was able to replace my old copy with one in better condition for $18 in an eBay auction no one else bid on. Score!

The music on this is excellent. This one earned a Rosetta in the Pengiun guide. Quite an accolade for such a large set.

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Don’t overlook his Kegelstatt Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano.

I have that on CD. Did anyone write more first-rate music than Haydn?

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Bach and Handel were also quite prolific.

Mozart.

When I ripped my CD collection the Mozart part of it seemed to be enver ending… and I was just ripping it. The guy actually wrote the entire stuff! Without computer or even electric light…

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