Whilst we’re having a Pires appreciation theme, can I also add:
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You may know this already, KJC, but that Klemperer Mahler record was made as EMI’s Walter Legge (husband of Schwarzkopf) tried to fire/disband the Philharmonia Orchestra in some temper tantrum. The orchestral players promptly reformed themselves as the “New Philharmonia”, and carried on the recording sessions.
Which is why the record shows “New Philharmonia &Philharmonia Orchestras” on the cover and record label.
It is the only LP ever issued listing both orchestras.
It is also one of the very few recordings made by the great Fritz Wunderlich (aptly named) before he fell to his death going down a flight of stairs to fetch a bottle of wine - he needed to use the cork on which to stand some loudspeakers. (There are a number of German language operettas, and he took the role of Tamino in Böhm’s Berlin PO/DGG ‘Zauberflöte’.)
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I recently bought the Boulez The Conductor box set which is great particularly if you like 20th c. music. This is disc 9.
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I guess that box includes Boulez’ recording of the Ravel piano concertos with Krystian Zimerman, my favourite recording of these superb pieces. Indeed it’s one of my all-time favourite albums.
Roger
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Another one with Pires at her best!
Cheers,
EJ
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Agreed Roger. There are so many fine recordings of these Concertos, but the Boulez/Zimerman are lovely performances and recordings.
Boulez has a good take on Ravel in general IMO and I’m particularly fond of this disc.
My most played Boulez recording is the Bartok Piano Concertos, one of which is with Zimerman. Boulez simply makes more sense of these concertos for me.
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he is on quobuz - but they don’t seem to have updated their index - if you search for hyperion and click label option then click ‘show all’ you will see the initial release of 200 recordings
Thank you. I had discovered that but the announcement did precede their availability (probably by only a few hours).
Disc 49. I will have a listen later. Thank you four the recommendation.
I’m a big fan of Bartok and I agree that Piano Concerto disc is excellent.
Gramophone had a lot of praise for this new release, but I’m not sure I’d go that far. These appear to be somewhat bland performances that lack the filigreed personal touch that Herreweghe or Pierlot can bring to Bach’s work.
Cheers
EJ
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Also interesting to see how it’s significantly cheaper than direct download through Hyperion (assuming you have Sublime). Anyhow pricing of Qobuz is sometimes a big frustration. I started buying the Bruckner symphonies from Thielemann some time ago, now as soon the cycle is coming to an end they offer all Bruckner symphonies for just 15 Euros, so you always are on the bad side when you are early adopter of something…
I don’t have Sublime, so my go-to site for downloads is Presto Classical. It’s easy to use, includes reviews of recent releases and downloading just works without any hassle. It’s often cheaper than other outlets, too.
Roger
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Claudio Arrau’s ‘Final Sessions’ included his last Beethoven recordings (such a pity he wasn’t able to complete his ‘digital 32’) but the best discs here (IMO) are of Schubert. Just take the moments musicaux (D 780) - the purest, simplest execution combined with his deep sound and Philips’ superlative recording. In his late 80s, he played better than ever.
Cheers
EJ
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Arrau was one of the greats.
In the 80s Philips released a series of box sets reissuing a lot of his solo and concerto piano records. It was called the Arrau Edition. I have the entire series of them comprising eight box sets plus a single album, 59 LPs total:
Beethoven Piano Concertos (6 LP)
Beethoven Piano Sonatas/Variations (14 LP)
Brahms (5 LP)
Chopin (9 LP)
Debussy (3 LP)
Liszt (7 LP)
Schubert (4 LP)
Schumann (10 LP)
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto (1 LP)
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Fantastic set! Universal briefly offered his complete Philips recordings on CD as well, one of the few big boxsets I would have loved to have.
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The Liszt set is special. A very young Arrau’s piano teacher In Germany was Martin Krause, who was in turn a student of Liszt, which is kind of amazing.
Renata Scotto’'s famous recording of Butterfly with Barbirolli has overshadowed her later recording with Maazel, which is unfair: hers remains the most detailed portrayal of all, and here she is still in excellent voice and partnered by a very committed and superb sounding Placido Domingo and a superb cast down to the smallest roles. Maazel was sometimes accused of vulgarity but he achieves some breathtaking moments here. For me, this ties with Sinopoli (with Freni, for whom this was also her second recording following her more famous one with Karajan) as the best Butterfly on records. Recorded sound was very good for CBS Masterworks at the time, not to Decca’s standard but not far behind.
Cheers
EJ
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I haven’t heard the Maazel set, but Mirella Freni’s portrayal of the role under Karajan (Decca) is heart-breaking.