Paul Lewis at his best in middle-period Schubert sonatas which require real skill to convincingly pull off. On CD.
Cheers
EJ
5 Likes
Leonidas Kavakos & Yuja Wang | Brahms Violin Sonatas | Decca CD (2014)
At first, a Wang / Kavakos collaboration may sound like a strange proposition - Wang’s amazing virtuosity and sometimes flashy playing is 180 degrees from Kavakos’ intimate and thougthful style.
This album proves that Wang is capable of intense emotion and delicacy, her playing is at times all in restraint and nuances (listen to the Adagio of Sonata No. 3) and that Kavakos can deliver as much fire and and dazzling technique as any violin player I can think of. Together, they make Brahms violin sonatas wonders of invention and romance.
Claude
5 Likes
My first ever experience (aged 15 I think) of Sibelius’ Fifth was on CFP with Malcolm Sargent - total gateway drug!
Still got the LP, even tho it’s old and worn I can’t get rid of it - too important a founding stone!
3 Likes
IMO Sir Malcolm is one of the most underrated conductors of the 20th Century
Claude
2 Likes
Your input, please. Brahms Symphony 2 - What is your favourite version?
My listening window is limited this morning so I quickly picked up a CD, almost randomly. I fell on Brahms Symphony 2 by Chailly and the Gewandhausorchestra Leipzig. I’m really enjoying it, and I realize it’s a piece of work I should have paid more attention to.
What other version(s) should I start with?
Claude
6 Likes
The Chailly cycle is very good.
Probably my fave Brahms 2 is on this Disc with Giulini and the LA Phil-
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I have that recording but have not yet played it.
I like both Walter recordings. The 4th movement of his mono recording with the NY Phil must be heard. I also like Mackerras on Telarc and Abbado on DG. And Klemperer.
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Thanks for the tip - that’s insane pricing.
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Pichon goes after textual delivery over beauty of sound in his new St John’s Passion. Soloists and chorus articulate with the emphasis of a stage play, while the music stretches and pulses in the service of the text.
Cheers
EJ
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Sounds like it could be impressive and important but a bit of a rough listen?
I thoroughly enjoyed his B minor Mass, so will put St John on the listening list.
Curtain call at Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Met yesterday.
Lise Davidsen crushed it, just crushed it. Watching her sing Wagner right now is like watching Ronaldo in his prime - completely dominant physically and mentally. And Davidsen is doing it after having had twins last year. Maybe Serena is the better comparison. Amazing.
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@Richard.Dane, apologies for asking this question, but:
I have a set of piano CDs that I am just not bonding with. I would like to give them away to a good home, and that home likely could be found among the participants in this thread. Could I offer them up here? Not a commercial transaction, I would even pay (domestic) shipping …
This may be off limits, from my reading of the rules of conduct? Regardless, thank you for the work you do here!
Brahms: Ein deutches Requiem | Elizabeth Schwarzkopft, soprano; Dieter Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano | The Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Otto Klemperer | Warner Classics | Qobuz FLAC 192kHz 24-bit
This is one of the two versions I have of the Deutsches Requiem, and the one I prefer (the other one is John Elliott Gardiner and the Orchestre révolutionnaire et romantique on period instruments)
The stars here are of course Fischer-Dieskau and Schwarzkopf, but I discovered Christa Ludwig listening to that album.
Claude
5 Likes
I have the Columbia 1962 2 LP set in mono. Agree. Really good 
If you meant to drive me crazy with jealousy, it worked! 
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Strictly forbidden on here. Please ensure you have read and understood forum rules. If you wish to give them away then take them to the charity of your choice. Thanks.
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Apologies! Was not meant to make you green with envy, honest guv 
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Thank you, Richard, for the confirmation.