Spoke too soon. Had only listened to the 2nd concerto. Side 2 of the 1st concerto has a loud click/pop from 1 minute in throughout the rest of the track. Impossible to ignore. Nothing visible externally so may well be inherent in the pressing. Having to return it. Such a shame as the Beethoven was excellent.
A wonderful discovery, repertoire and artists. Fully justifies my decades of wading through reviews.
3 Likes
My DGG ‘Original Source’ 2LP set of the Gilels/Jochum Berlin PO Brahms Piano Concertos arrived today.
I think that it will be informative to compare Gilels’s and Pollini’s recordings of the Second, both recorded by DGG just a few years apart, one of my favourite concertos ever. Two keyboard titans, both of whom I was lucky enough to see in concert in London many years ago.
PS And what is Radio 3 broadcasting now ‘live’ from the Proms? Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto!
2 Likes
Another recommendation for the DG Original Source series on vinyl. I have Schubert Trout Quintet, Brahms Piano Concertos, Stravinsky Le Sacré du Printemps and Debussy Nocturnes. I have Beethoven 7th on order. All pressings are mint with no flaws thus far and the gatefold covers are of the highest quality. The Stravinsky record has to be the best sounding LP in my collection of over 2000! The dynamics are nothing short of scary going from ffff to pppp! I also love the Trout Quintet for the sound of the strings and piano and a great performance too. My go to Trout has always been the Clifford Curzon on early Decca 1959 but I also love this DG version. Looking forward to the next batch of releases.
1 Like
I have the first three of those, Michael, but not the Debussy LP.
I haven’t played any of them yet, as I need a bit of time. And far as possible, I want to try playing an old copy of the LP before trying the Original Source version.
The Gilels/Amadeus ‘Trout’ is a very special recording indeed, and I can’t wait to hear this ‘new’ version.
1 Like
Agreed Michael, these releases are revelatory. I have 4 or 5 on order including the Trout and Abbado’s Debussy/Ravel. I currently have the Kleiber 7th and Gilels Brahms Concertos. They are spectacular in bandwidth, presence and richness. Being persnickety I’d say you are entirely in the hands of Sidney Claire Meyer who controls the mix and the cut at all times, just occasionally she’ll overemphasise something but she seems to do a superb job overall IMV. Nothing but praise here. Some exciting future releases in the pipeline from William Steinberg ( The Planets) amongst others I believe. Better start saving…
2 Likes
Yes really looking forward to The Planets and Also Sprach Zarathustra. Agreed Sidney has done a wonderful job as the cutting engineer… I wonder at how my stylus manages to stay in the groove with those extreme dynamics!
1 Like
If that’s Karajan’s recording of ‘The Planets’, I will be giving it a miss. It is, to me at least, one of the most horrible, artificial sounding releases that DGG ever made.
If it’s Steinberg’s Boston version, that is another thing entirely.
1 Like
It will be the Steinberg Graham. I’ll have to think hard about whether I buy it as my charity shop copy IIRC already sounds pretty impressive. I may Degritter my copy next to see if it’s up to scratch (sic).
For similar reasons I passed on the Abbado Rite, as I already have a fine sounding and good condition copy in this set.
also passed on Mahler 5 as my Discogs sourced copy sounds pretty startling already…
That said, I’ve no doubt the new cuts will be very significantly better, but sadly I can’t justify buying all of them…just most of them!
3 Likes
Hmmm…I have the Steinberg Planets and love it, but on the showing of Rite I think a punt on the forthcoming (hopefully) DG OM remaster is well worth the try.
Suspect you’re spot on Stevie. I was trying to talk some sense into myself, but…
DG CLassics is a doing a 3-LP box set for The Original Source series of the three albums Steinberg recorded with the BSO for DG in the 70s. The Planets, Also Sprach Zarathustra and Mathis der Mahler.
Thank you, JDP. I will definitely try to find that.
1 Like
@anon70766008 Don’t look for it just yet. It has only been hinted so far in a Youtube video about the series with three from DG and EBS. It’s not yet announced officially, and definitely.
They said it would come in January, 2024.
Thanks. I have a (very old) LP of Steinberg’s ‘Planets’, which is spectacularly good, and it’s great to have a ‘non British’ take on the piece - like Karajan’s Vienna performance from 50-odd years ago.
And the other two pieces are interesting too.
1 Like
I gotta say that Karajan’s Also Sprach is pretty amazing and I hope that do that one too. If they add the bass back to the opening it will be real test for systems.
I don’t have any of the Steinberg originals so they will definitely be on my shopping list!
You may try to talk some sense into yourself, but that will go out of the window once other Members here chip in!
I think that Karajan’s earlier Decca recording from Vienna was used - to spectacular effect - in the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001 - A Space Odyssey’.
2 Likes
I am totally uninterested in football, but even so the result of the match just now made me think that I wanted to listen to this, which is the re-mastered version of the last of the Solti Ring. It seems kind of appropriate. And anyway my wife who doesn’t appreciate Wagner is out until tea time.
2 Likes