Thanks for the heads-up, @EJS.
Ordered. I’ve so far greatly enjoyed Rouvali’s Sibelius symphonies.
Looking forward to hearing his take on the Fourth.
Charity shop purchase today that has finally introduced the wonder of Nathan Milstein to me. Such beautifully smooth, even, mellifluous, yet emotional playing suits the Brahms Concerto perfectly. Combined with Steinberg’s even handed ‘play it as the composer wrote it and don’t add any arbitrary emphasis’ style the recipe could be for a rather acedemic account, but it works to illuminate the score in a way that creates a new perspective on an old workhorse.
There’s no ‘best’ version of this spectacular Concerto, but this LP will certainly join an admittedly long list of greatly appreciated (by me) accounts of the mighty Brahms VC. The copy I lucked into today is in remarkable condition. The sound is as you might expect from a 70 year old recording - truncated bass and treble by modern digital standards, but what’s left in the middle is extraordinarily realistic and involving. Wonderful!
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Oh, Wow. Not only is it Nathan Milstein, but also William Steinberg conducting the Pittsburg. Legendary stuff that is. Really nice find! Congrats.
Color me green. 
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You probably know that DG coaxed Nathan Milstein out of his comfortable retirement to make a few new recordings, including a 3LP set of Bach’s Solo Sonatas and Partitas, and the Brahms Violin Concerto with Eugen Jochum and the Vienna Philharmonic. The Bach pieces had a limited re-release recently, but I don’t know about the Brahms.
I bought them at the time of their release. All great, lovely recordings.
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The Milstein Bach sonatas on DG are wonderful, but I think I might like the earlier monos on Capitol better. Analogphonic reissued those a few years ago in a 3-LP box. Those are long gone now, but there are two sealed copies for sale on Discogs (for €150, $175).
If I hadn’t tried many times to buy from Discogs and failed each time, I might try.
I’ll content myself with the DG set.
But thank you.
I hope you can figure that out some day. There’s a lot of good stuff on Discogs and it really is very straightforward to order once you find what you want.
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Congratulations, these are a good buy! I presume it’s the same Antony Hopkins who used to broadcast his music education programmes on BBCR3 regularly; I think it was entitled “Talking About Music”. From memory, it was always a few minutes into each episode before he revealed the work he was talking about and it was an enjoyable few minutes trying to work out what it was. He was a very knowledgeable and interesting broadcaster.
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Janacek’s violin sonata is his first work where he let go of the romantic idiom and started using his own language. His first modern work but still relatively accessible. It’s a perfect work for Kopatchinskaja, and this is by far the best and most memorable performance I know.
Cheers
EJ
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Also an active composer in the early part of his career and a practising musician throughout his life.
R3 has had some interesting music series with an educational slant. David Munrow’s Pied Piper was another. Makes me wonder if there’s any gap in the current market for such programmes.
Roger
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Thanks and well remembered, it was the same broadcaster. ‘Talking About Music’ is mentioned in the biography on the sleeve of the books. My plan is to have these volumes to hand when listening and dip in. A bit like having a two volume collection of concert programmes. When I have a dedicated listening room (!), these can go on a discreet bookshelf.
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R.I.P P.D.Q. Bach aka Peter Schickele.
Thanks, will investigate.
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Just ordered this:
This shortly after picking up the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt set. But you never know how long these boxes will be around.
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You won’t be disappointed. Herreweghe is the standard bearer for great Bach choral performances, IMO. After that Bach Collegium Japan with Suzuki is really good.
I can only listen to Herreweghe’s Bach St. Matthew Passion now. It’s that good.
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I have another Herreweghe box - a 30 disc survey of his recordings for Harmonia Mundi. It includes the St. Matthew Passion and the Messe in h moll.
I have that 30-CD set, ripped to my Roon storage. It runs the gamut of music from my own sorry dead ass (i.e. Josquin) to the 2nd Viennese School, with a nice selection of Baroque choral music including Bach (and the St. Matthew Passion). I listened to the Bach Mass in b-minor the other day. It’s a terrific performance.
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I have been trying to find a recording of Peter Maxwell Davies 8th symphony “Antarctic”. It cropped up in a Ralph Vaughan Williams Society webinar on Scott of the Antarctic and of course RVW’s music for the John Mills film and his subsequent symphony. But I digress…
A snippet of Max’s symphony was played which I was rather taken by. And I have subsequently listened to it on YouTube. But this is the only recording I have located. If anybody has any ideas where I could find a CD or download (or vinyl for that matter but I suspect that is very unlikely given it was written this century), it would be great to hear.