The worst CD you've ever had?
Opus47
What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
The worst one that I've ever heard is a Shostakovich CD with G. Levine
conducting the Cracow Philharmonic on Arabesque. According to the Schwann
Catalog it is still available. The music was the 1st symphony and Golden Age
ballet Suite of Shostakovich. I listened to it once and then threw it in the
garbage. I probably could have traded it in, but in my opinion no one should
ever listen to music interpreted so badly so into the trash it went. Now I
wish I had kept it being a collector of Shostakovich. Note G. Levine is not
the same as James Levine.
I await to hear your stories.
Fred
Eric Schissel
To date, Schumann songs with Graham Johnson at piano, a famous (but for
the moment forgotten by me) singer- Felicity Lott perhaps?, on IMP
Classics, was the worst purchase idea. Flat interpretation, no
excitement, nothing to hold my interest- I eventually found out that the
singing, not the songs, were at fault. Almost turned me off lieder...
just when I was just getting in.
-Eric Schissel
--
schi...@lightlink.com
http://www.lightlink.com/schissel ICQ#7279016
standard disclaimer
CEASAR BRAGA,JR.
Opus47 wrote in message <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
>
>What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
>
>The worst one that I've ever heard is a Shostakovich CD with G. Levine
>conducting the Cracow Philharmonic on Arabesque. According to the Schwann
>ballet Suite of Shostakovich. I listened to it once and then threw it in
the
>garbage. I probably could have traded it in, but in my opinion no one
should
>ever listen to music interpreted so badly so into the trash it went. Now
I
>wish I had kept it being a collector of Shostakovich. Note G. Levine is
not
>the same as James Levine.
Anything by Ozawa!
Gilles Cazelais
In article <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
The worst CD I ever owned, and I owned it for less than 24 hours, was
Beethoven's 5th symphony played by the Hanover Band with Monica Huggett
conducting. The performance is absolutely horrible.
This CD is, I believe, one of the early attempts at "authentic" Beethoven
interpretation and it was a fiasco.
--
Gilles Cazelais
Matthew Shou-Chung Shum
The Solti/Schiff Brahms d-minor concerto
bad piano playing, brutal orchestral playing, orchestra and soloist not
together at all. Its still in print, also.
Matt
On Mon, 11 May 1998, CEASAR BRAGA,JR. wrote:
> Opus47 wrote in message <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
> >
> >What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
> >
> >The worst one that I've ever heard is a Shostakovich CD with G. Levine
> >conducting the Cracow Philharmonic on Arabesque. According to the Schwann
> >Catalog it is still available. The music was the 1st symphony and ge
> >ballet Suite of Shostakovich. I listened to it once and then threw it in
> the
> >garbage. I probably could have traded it in, but in my opinion no one
> should
> >ever listen to music interpreted so badly so into the trash it went. Now
> I
> >wish I had kept it being a collector of Shostakovich. Note G. Levine is
> not
> >the same as James Levine.
>
> Anything by Ozawa!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Matthew Shum voice: (650) 725-8874 fax: (650) 725-5702
cas...@leland.stanford.edu http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~castorp
Mr. Mike
Some CD of "national anthems of the world" (on RCA in Dolby Stereo to boot!) ...
as I recall, their version of "O Canada" had a couple of totally bizarre
modulations!
Simon Roberts
Gilles Cazelais (caze...@math.ubc.ca) wrote:
: In article <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
: Opus47 <opu...@aol.com> wrote:
: >
: >What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
: >
: The worst CD I ever owned, and I owned it for less than 24 hours, was
: Beethoven's 5th symphony played by the Hanover Band with Monica Huggett
: conducting. The performance is absolutely horrible.
: This CD is, I believe, one of the early attempts at "authentic" Beethoven
: interpretation and it was a fiasco.
They are certainly responsible for many awful discs (listen to the cello
playing in the trio of Haydn 95 on Nimbus!). Yesterday I bought (cheap,
luckily) a close contender, Daehler's Nelson Mass on Claves, and heard,
but did not buy, surely the worst Haydn Creation ever (the new HIP effort
on Newport). Hard to reduce it to one, really....
Simon
John Gavin
I bought a CD from a French Label called Dante. It was a performance
(the only recording) of the Grande Sonata in E Minor by Leopold Godowsky
performed by a pianist named Geoffrey Douglas Madge. This performance
was shockingly bad. Mr. Madge seemed woefully unequipped to perform
this work. This was one in a projected series of the complete piano
works of Godowsky. I didn't dare buy any of the others, but they
disappeared off the shelves rather suddently.
Happily for us Godowsky fans, a fine pianist named Konstantin Scherbakov
is doing all of Godowsky on Marco Polo.
samir ghiocel golescu
I don't want to open Pandora's box, but I heard a HIP Matthew-Passion
(I will not name the famous conductor) where the poor Jesus seemed
extremely happy to be crucified and the choir seemed to sing Stalinist
propaganda songs. The obviously un-professional performance is not as
dangerous (even with false notes or other missed details) as the
"ideologically correct" performance which makes the spirit of the music
disappear. IMHO etc.
Samir Golescu
MRPERMAN
The Boyce symphonies with Boughton on Nimbus. Boring performances, but the
recorded sound was so bad it sounded like the orchestra was in a different room
than the microphones.
Marc Perman
Ed Boxer
Michael Bolton's terrible attempt to sing opera arias.
Ed "Boxer" Jones
Check out my home page: http://www.GeoCities.com/WestHollywood/9172
A Guide to Opera on CD; Boxing; my Lego creations; Drum and Bugle Corps; Key
West
Brendan R. Wehrung
And to add insult to the injury, it was extrmely short.
Brendan
Ps Maybe that was a plus, come to think of it. Anybody notice that Naxos
is coming out with a multi-disc set of national anthems?
jat...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
CEASAR BRAGA,JR. (SAZ...@prodigy.net) wrote:
: Opus47 wrote in message <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
: >What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
: >
: >conducting the Cracow Philharmonic on Arabesque. According to the Schwann
: >Catalog it is still available. The music was the 1st symphony and ge
: >ballet Suite of Shostakovich. I listened to it once and then threw it in
: the
: >garbage. I probably could have traded it in, but in my opinion no one
: should
: >ever listen to music interpreted so badly so into the trash it went. Now
: I
: >wish I had kept it being a collector of Shostakovich. Note G. Levine is
: not
: >the same as James Levine.
: Anything by Ozawa!
I have a recording of "Music for the Royal Fireworks" and "Water Music"
by the Slovak Chamber Orchestra (Oliver Dohnanyi, dir.). PLLLLLLLLL!!!!
--
*******************************************************************************
* Bernhard Michael Jatzeck *
* *
* jat...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca *
* http://www.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~jatzeck/bmj1.html *
*******************************************************************************
Simon Roberts
Ed Boxer (edb...@aol.com) wrote:
: Michael Bolton's terrible attempt to sing opera arias.
: Ed "Boxer" Jones
You BOUGHT that?
Simon
Ed Boxer
NO it was given to me as a gift - obvoiusly someone hated me :')
Diane Wilson
This was an LP rather than a CD, but by far the *WORST* performance I've
ever paid money for was Jean Martinon conducting the Shostakovich 1st.
How *anyone* could take such a wonderfully acerbic and witty piece and
treat it to a lush, impressionist performance is utterly beyond me.
Dreadful! Horrifying! Revolting!
Yes, I got my money back.
--
Diane Wilson | Marriage is really tough because
anon-...@anon.twwells.com | you have to deal with feelings
http://www.lava.net/~dewilson/ | and lawyers.
http://www.acm.org/chapters/trichi/ | --Richard Pryor
Yoram Regev
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sings Early Wolf Lieder on Claves.
Lee Chen
The first classical CDs I purchased were LvB's symphonies by Walter
Weller. The set wasn't THAT bad (the 9th was actually decent), but the
5th was horrible!! I didn't know it was possible to screw up the first
4 notes of the 5th! The tempi and phrasing just in the first few bars
were awful. I cringe just thinking about that recording. Need to
listen to Kleiber for a while...
Lee
Opus47 wrote:
>
> What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
>
> The worst one that I've ever heard is a Shostakovich CD with G. Levine
> conducting the Cracow Philharmonic on Arabesque. According to the Schwann
> Catalog it is still available. The music was the 1st symphony and Golden Age
> ballet Suite of Shostakovich. I listened to it once and then threw it in the
> garbage. I probably could have traded it in, but in my opinion no one should
> ever listen to music interpreted so badly so into the trash it went. Now I
> wish I had kept it being a collector of Shostakovich. Note G. Levine is not
> the same as James Levine.
>
Mr. Mike
On 12 May 1998 03:51:59 GMT, ck...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Brendan R. Wehrung)
wrote:
>> Some CD of "national anthems of the world" (on RCA in Dolby Stereo to boot!) ...
>> as I recall, their version of "O Canada" had a couple of totally bizarre
>> modulations!
>
>And to add insult to the injury, it was extrmely short.
Ah! Fellow sufferer!! ";-/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
True crime books for sale, all w/cover shots -- http://www.mjq.net/books
Colin Rosenthal
On Wed, 13 May 1998 03:15:28 +1200,
David Morriss <dmor...@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
>
>Opus47 wrote in message <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
>>
An Erato cassette called "Telemann in Hamburg". It's generally ok, but
side 2 starts with a "Concerto for Hunting Horns" which must be one of
the most hideous things I've ever heard. Something is just horribly wrong -
the horns appear to be playing about a semi-tone flat. Their opening blast
has a certain comic value, but after that it's pure torture the rest
of the way through. Unfortunately it's rather hard to skip tracks on a
tape.
--
Colin Rosenthal
High Altitude Observatory
Boulder, Colorado
rose...@hao.ucar.edu
jeffk...@worldnet.att.net
In article <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
This doesn't quite qualify, because it's an LP that has never (I hope) been
reissued on CD. I owned an old recording of Handel's Dixit Dominus.
Mercifully, I've forgotten most of the details about it, except that it
featured a soprano named Janet Wheeler whose woeful attempts at singing are
still in my memory as the worst I have heard - recorded or live.
Jeff
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
Adam Dubin
In article <MPG.fc1faafb...@news.mindspring.com>,
dewi...@pobox.com (Diane Wilson) wrote:
>
> This was an LP rather than a CD, but by far the *WORST* performance I've
> ever paid money for was Jean Martinon conducting the Shostakovich 1st.
> How *anyone* could take such a wonderfully acerbic and witty piece and
> treat it to a lush, impressionist performance is utterly beyond me.
> Dreadful! Horrifying! Revolting!
>
> Yes, I got my money back.
> --
> Diane Wilson
My goodness! Was this the same performance on RCA Living Stereo (recorded by
Decca, I believe) paired with the Age of Gold Suite? This seemed fine to me
(I hope my ears aren't *that* tin-plated).
Adam
Piotr Kaminski
Opus47 a écrit:
> What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
Worst ever I don't know (but I remember a Mozart Te Deum conducted by Horst
Gunther on a marginal, German label - it was eons ago, and not on CD anyway...).
But the recent Rodelinda conducted by Nicholas Kraemer for Virgin is already a
good candidate for the worst CD of the day. It's only Tuesday, but it might hold
its own a whole week.
PK
Piotr Kaminski
MRPERMAN a écrit:
> The Boyce symphonies with Boughton on Nimbus. Boring performances, but the
> recorded sound was so bad it sounded like the orchestra was in a different room
> than the microphones.
Try Cantilena's Haydn Symphonies on Chandos - you'll adore it! Unfortunately, it's
quite well recorded.
PK
Mario Taboada
I can recall only a fraction of the bad CDs I've gone through. A few
that stand out are:
* A Teldec CD of Rudolf Buchbinder attacking the Diabelli Variations in
the most savage manner imaginable.
* A set of live performances of Mozart's string quintets with the
Guarneri and Kashkashian on RCA. Some of the ugliest, most unstylish
chamber music playing I have ever heard.
* A disk of Schubert violin sonatas with Kang and Devoyon on Naxos.
Atrocious. Now replaced with the wonderful Laredo set and the equally
wonderful Kremer set.
* A disk of Janacek quartets by the Medici on Nimbus. Infuriatingly
unidiomatic, shabby playing and poorly recorded. Found at a cut-out bin
for a few dollars, it soon found its way back.
* A CBS disk of Solti and Perahia playing Bartok's sonata for two pianos
and percussion and Brahms's great Haydn Variations. Mismatched artists,
putrid sound, and a performance of the Bartok that is barely above
sight-reading in a dark room. The Brahms is a little better, but still
not up to par (and certainly unacceptable for guys in Solti's and
Perahia's league).
* The oft-mentioned EMI set of Beethoven string trios by superstars
Perlman-Zukerman-Harrell. Horrible.
* Two Michelangeli CDs of Mozart piano concertos with Garben on DG. A
sad document of the disastrous state of Michelangeli's pianism in his
later years. This should not have been released.
* A dismal performance of Brahms's double concerto by Stern and Ma. This
was the recording that convinced me that Stern was way past his prime.
(Soon afterwards, a live concert with Robert Macdonald and a disaster in
a Bartok violin sonata reinforced the impression.) The Brahms was only
terrible but superfluous, given the exemplary recording that Stern had
made years before with Leonard Rose under Ormandy. Coupled with the Op.
60 piano quartet, perhaps Brahms's greatest work; again, Stern's sound
is awful and the brilliant playing of Laredo, Ma, and Ax cannot cover it
up.
* Glenn Gould playing against Mozart's sonatas. The ultimate party disk
for those who love Mozart.
* Volodya Horowitz playing Schubert's D960. An unqualified disaster. How
could a fine musician like Volodya allow the release of this travesty?
I am not even going to get started on Toscanini butchering Haydn's
symphonies (the "Surprise" was a brutal victim).
Regards,
Mario Taboada
Matthew B. Tepper
In article <355859...@sprintmail.com>, matr...@sprintmail.com
spake unto the unwashed masses:
>
>I can recall only a fraction of the bad CDs I've gone through. A few
>that stand out are:
>
>pianos and percussion and Brahms's great Haydn Variations. Mismatched
>artists, putrid sound, and a performance of the Bartok that is barely
>above sight-reading in a dark room. The Brahms is a little better, but
>still not up to par (and certainly unacceptable for guys in Solti's
>and Perahia's league).
With percussionists David Corkhill and ... Evelyn Glennie.
>* Glenn Gould playing against Mozart's sonatas. The ultimate party
>disk for those who love Mozart.
Amen, brother! I thought this could not be bottomed, until I heard
Gould cruelly and spitefully dissect Chopin's Piano Sonata #3. Proof
absolute that he was an automaton.
>* Volodya Horowitz playing Schubert's D960. An unqualified disaster.
>How could a fine musician like Volodya allow the release of this
>travesty?
Maybe Wanda wanted a new poodle.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/index.htm
My main music page --- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/berlioz.htm
And my science fiction club's home page --- http://www.lasfs.org/
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
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MRPERMAN
>Try Cantilena's Haydn Symphonies on Chandos - you'll adore it! Unfortunately,
>it's
>quite well recorded.
>
>PK
I've heard Cantilena's (early?) Haydn a while back on an MHS set. It was truly
terrible. They play like a mid-level community chamber orchestra.
Marc
Colin Rosenthal
On 12 May 1998 20:10:43 GMT,
>>* A CBS disk of Solti and Perahia playing Bartok's sonata for two
>>pianos and percussion and Brahms's great Haydn Variations. Mismatched
>>artists, putrid sound, and a performance of the Bartok that is barely
>>above sight-reading in a dark room. The Brahms is a little better, but
>>still not up to par (and certainly unacceptable for guys in Solti's
>>and Perahia's league).
I'll add the complete Solti/Chicago Beethoven Symphonies, which I unwisely
borrowed from a neighbour. As a newbie to classical music, the leaden
uninspired playing nearly put me off Beethoven for life. Fortunately I
found some ratty old cassette tapes of the Szell/Cleveland 6th and 7th
in a Flea Market and discovered what LvB _could_ sound like.
kun...@hilltop.ic.edu
I admit to not having much Ozawa, but I love his BSO recording of Respighi's
"Ancient Airs and Dances." The famous Dorati recording is good, but I think
Ozawa is decisively better, especially in the wonderful 2nd suite.
Robert
n article <6j7s3p$3522$1...@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com>,
"CEASAR BRAGA,JR." <SAZ...@prodigy.net> wrote:
>
> Opus47 wrote in message <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
> >
> >What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
>
> Anything by Ozawa!
kun...@hilltop.ic.edu
OK, Simon, you've told us the worst Haydn's "Creation"; how about letting us
know which one is THE BEST? You seem to be an admirer of Mr. Gardiner, and I
wonder if you've heard his recent recording? I love "The Creation," but only
have a paltry three versions of it, so I'm looking for fresh worlds. Any
opinion on Harnoncourt's?
Robert
In article <6j81ja$g5b$7...@netnews.upenn.edu>,
si...@dept.english.upenn.edu (Simon Roberts) wrote:
>
>
> They are certainly responsible for many awful discs (listen to the cello
> playing in the trio of Haydn 95 on Nimbus!). Yesterday I bought (cheap,
> luckily) a close contender, Daehler's Nelson Mass on Claves, and heard,
> but did not buy, surely the worst Haydn Creation ever (the new HIP effort
> on Newport). Hard to reduce it to one, really....
>
> Simon
>
John Grabowski
Colin Rosenthal wrote:
>
> On 12 May 1998 20:10:43 GMT,
> Matthew B. Tepper <ducky兀deltanet.com> wrote:
>
> >>* A CBS disk of Solti and Perahia playing Bartok's sonata for two
> >>pianos and percussion and Brahms's great Haydn Variations. Mismatched
> >>artists, putrid sound, and a performance of the Bartok that is barely
> >>above sight-reading in a dark room. The Brahms is a little better, but
> >>still not up to par (and certainly unacceptable for guys in Solti's
> >>and Perahia's league).
>
> I'll add the complete Solti/Chicago Beethoven Symphonies, which I unwisely
> borrowed from a neighbour. As a newbie to classical music, the leaden
> uninspired playing nearly put me off Beethoven for life.
Not to turn this into a "let's bash Solti" thread, but his set of piano
concertos with Ashkenazy ain't much better. Fortunately I'd already
heard good performances of these, so I wasn't put off on ol' Ludwig van,
but this set soon turned into frisbees for our outdoor lawn picnics.
John
--
You're right, I did lose a million dollars this year. I lost a million
dollars last year. I expect to lose a million dollars next year. You
know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I'll have
to close this place in...sixty years. --Charles Foster Kane
@bac
Maria Callas' "La Divina" (no less), with a truly hair-raising rendition of
the aria 'Ritorna vincitore' from Aida.
A voice enjoyable like the siren of a fire truck.
BrtherJohn
In article <355859...@sprintmail.com>, Mario Taboada
<matr...@sprintmail.com> writes:
>
>* Volodya Horowitz playing Schubert's D960. An unqualified disaster. How
>could a fine musician like Volodya allow the release of this travesty?
>
>
If you're talking about the DG recording, it was *released* after the pianist's
death. Maybe Wanda or Thomas Frost knows for sure why. I think instant sales
have a lot to do with it....
BTW, I do like VH's earlier RCA '53 performance...
Brthe...@aol.com (John Blair)
John Grabowski
Don't know if it's quite *the* worst, but several I've heard
(particularly the one containing the "Les Adieux") in John O'Connor's
cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas for Telarc. A mechanical piano could
play with more feeling.
John
--
...The only thing that works is the fucking helicopter battle...
--Francis Ford Coppola's personal writings during
the editing of Apocalypse Now.
John Grabowski
kun...@hilltop.ic.edu wrote:
>
> I admit to not having much Ozawa, but I love his BSO recording of Respighi's
> "Ancient Airs and Dances." The famous Dorati recording is good, but I think
> Ozawa is decisively better, especially in the wonderful 2nd suite.
Funny, that's the first Ozawa record I ever bought.
Haven't bought many since, but that brought back memories...
Russ & Martha Oppenheim
Adam Dubin wrote:
>
> In article <MPG.fc1faafb...@news.mindspring.com>,
> dewi...@pobox.com (Diane Wilson) wrote:
> >
> > This was an LP rather than a CD, but by far the *WORST* performance I've
> > ever paid money for was Jean Martinon conducting the Shostakovich 1st.
> > How *anyone* could take such a wonderfully acerbic and witty piece and
> > treat it to a lush, impressionist performance is utterly beyond me.
> > Dreadful! Horrifying! Revolting!
> >
> > Yes, I got my money back.
> > --
> > Diane Wilson
>
> My goodness! Was this the same performance on RCA Living Stereo (recorded by
> Decca, I believe) paired with the Age of Gold Suite? This seemed fine to me
> (I hope my ears aren't *that* tin-plated).
>
> Adam
>
----------------------
Russ Oppenheim
mopp...@ix.netcom.com
----------------------
David Morriss
Opus47 wrote in message <199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
>
>What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
On Virgin, Lecons de Tenebres by Michel Lambert. The singers are constantly
and consistantly flat.
DJM
Simon Roberts
Mario Taboada (matr...@sprintmail.com) wrote:
: I can recall only a fraction of the bad CDs I've gone through. A few
: that stand out are:
: * A Teldec CD of Rudolf Buchbinder attacking the Diabelli Variations in
: the most savage manner imaginable.
Yes; a wonderful disc!
Simon (who seems, luckily, not to remember discs he really dislikes)
Simon Roberts
MRPERMAN (mrpe...@aol.com) wrote:
: >Try Cantilena's Haydn Symphonies on Chandos - you'll adore it! Unfortunately,
Yes; all their recordings are like that; try their Arne organ concertos,
where the combination of boring music and awful performaces is
breathtaking.
Simon
Simon Roberts
kun...@hilltop.ic.edu wrote:
: OK, Simon, you've told us the worst Haydn's "Creation"; how about letting us
: know which one is THE BEST? You seem to be an admirer of Mr. Gardiner, and I
: wonder if you've heard his recent recording? I love "The Creation," but only
: have a paltry three versions of it, so I'm looking for fresh worlds. Any
: opinion on Harnoncourt's?
I don't think there's a best by my criteria (one reason I have so many --
c. 20 -- is that many have virtues but few are uniformly excellent), and
since I don't know yours.... I was disappointed by Gardiner's; well
played, superb choir, but it nevertheless doesn't seem very dramatic, just
relentlessly fast. What does it in for me is McNair's wimpering; not once
does she just sing out. (Best soprano is Margaret Marshall for Jordan on
Erato.) I'm not wild about Harnoncourt's soloists (that may be an
understatement) and Harnoncourt indulges in rather more legato than I like
in this music. What else; well, among HIP recordings, Brueggen's is
probably the best -- great conducting, generally good soloists -- but the
sound could be more distinct. Kuijken's live recording has much better
sound and while the conducting isn't quite as exciting or imaginative
as Brueggen's, it's impressive, with good soloists. The sound -- distant,
churchy -- also undermines Weil's; the combination of very fast tempi and
significant reverberation doesn't work well. Hogwood's is better recorded
than most, and it's interesting, I suppose, if you want to hear a huge
orchestra of period instruments and to have it sung in English, but
Hogwood's not a first rate conductor (Rattle is better if you want it in
English, I think -- he displays HIP influences too, one being the
unfortunate inclusion of David Thomas, who's way past whatever it was).
My favorite non-HIP is Bernstein's thrillingly alive Sony NYPO recording,
though it must be admitted that the tone of all the singers, solo and
choral, is decidedly coarse. De Burgos is slowish, but incisively and and
excitingly conducted; I could do without Tear, but the other soloists are
first rate (it's cheap too). Forster's, if you can find it, is worth
investigating if you're a Gruemmer and/or Traxel fan (as I should expect
anyone who has ever heard them to be), but otherwise ignorable. Levine's
is pretty good in a generic sort of way; were there less competition it
would rank higher, since it has no obvious flaws. Karajan has too many
flaws for me, rosette notwithstanding: second rate (at best) choir,
lethargic rhythms, a soprano soloist who (wonderful singer that she is)
lacks the requisite agility and trill-capacity, etc. Horenstein's has a
fairly good soprano, but the other two soloists are awful, the choir as
bad, the orchestra inadequate, the conducting dull, the sound excruciating
(a soloist will sound out of one speaker, but you will simultaneously get
echo effects out of the other). Ghastly. Two mono versions are worth
investigating: Woeldicke, in part for his wonderful soloists (Stich
Randall, Dermota and Schoeffler), in part for his generalized good
musicianship; and Markevich, again in part for his soloists (Seefried,
Holm, Borg). There's a recording on Capriccio notable mainly for having
an adult male soprano soloist.
I realize the foregoing is awfully generalized. Feel free to ask for more
details about any of these if you want.
Simon
A S Graham
>
>What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
>
>
I still own it. The Brahms Cello sonatas w/ Kovacevich & Lynn Harrell. I keep
it only for the Handel Variations which is quite good but the sonatas are
god-awful.
_________________________________________________
Scott Graham
Monterey, CA
Norman M. Schwartz
Simon Roberts <si...@dept.english.upenn.edu> wrote in article
<6jap6e$n5a$9...@netnews.upenn.edu>...
All their recordings? I think their Boyce 12 Overtures and 3 Concerti
Grossi spread over 2 Chandos Collect Series Discs (6531, 6541) very good to
excellent!
Norman
All their reco
> Simon
>
Simon Roberts
samir ghiocel golescu (gol...@students.uiuc.edu) wrote:
: I don't want to open Pandora's box, but I heard a HIP Matthew-Passion
: (I will not name the famous conductor) where the poor Jesus seemed
: extremely happy to be crucified and the choir seemed to sing Stalinist
: propaganda songs. The obviously un-professional performance is not as
: dangerous (even with false notes or other missed details) as the
: "ideologically correct" performance which makes the spirit of the music
: disappear. IMHO etc.
Well you're no fun. Which one do you mean? (There's no point in
Pandora's box if you're not going to open it....)
Simon
cupahgne yes
CEASAR BRAGA,JR. <SAZ...@prodigy.net> wrote in article
<6j7s3p$3522$1...@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com>...
> Opus47 wrote in message
<199805112113...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
> >
> >What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
> >
> >The worst one that I've ever heard is a Shostakovich CD with G. Levine
> >conducting the Cracow Philharmonic on Arabesque. According to the
Schwann
> >Catalog it is still available. The music was the 1st symphony and ge
> >ballet Suite of Shostakovich. I listened to it once and then threw it
in
> the
> >garbage. I probably could have traded it in, but in my opinion no one
> should
> >ever listen to music interpreted so badly so into the trash it went.
Now
> I
> >wish I had kept it being a collector of Shostakovich. Note G. Levine is
> not
> >the same as James Levine.
>
> Anything by Ozawa!
>
>
>
>
>
>
hahaha. i used to think that way too, but one day i heard his mahler 1 on
the radio and didn't know who it was. it was a splendid performance, well
thought out, and with exceptional detail !
cupahgne yes
Ed Boxer <edb...@aol.com> wrote in article
<199805120339...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
> Michael Bolton's terrible attempt to sing opera arias.
> Ed "Boxer" Jones
>
> Check out my home page: http://www.GeoCities.com/WestHollywood/9172
> A Guide to Opera on CD; Boxing; my Lego creations; Drum and Bugle Corps;
Key
> West
>
>
>
>
i heard that on the radio and pissed myself laffing ! He tries though, but
his attempts to cover his sultry raspy tone, with a smooth one don't sail
with me.
i give him credit for trying, heck, he sounds better than me !
Paul Kintzele
Opus47 (opu...@aol.com) wrote:
: What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
"Vivaldi's Greatest Hits" (CBS). And they evidently mean the kind of hits
that leave a bruise afterwards. The Spring concerto on this disc is
off-the-chart appallingly bad--out of tune, limp, ugly.
Someone actually *compiled* this disc, too.
Paul K.
Mr. Mike
On 13 May 1998 15:41:22 GMT, kint...@mail2.sas.upenn.edu (Paul Kintzele) wrote:
>Opus47 (opu...@aol.com) wrote:
>
>: What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
>
>"Vivaldi's Greatest Hits" (CBS).
Does anyone remember "Stockhausen's Greatest Hits" on DGG?
Matthew B. Tepper
In article <3561c6b2.4890603@proxy>, a02...@giant.mindlink.net spake
unto the unwashed masses:
>
Or when London Records had a series of "Best of" LPs aimed at, well,
pot-smokers, and simply repackaged a Mehta/Los Angeles Philharmonic
collection of Varèse music without changing the contents?
Eric Schissel
I found the first movement of an Ozawa Mahler 8 on Philips pretty good
too. But then it's my least favorite Mahler symphony, I'd say, and this
might be an extremely positive or an extremely negative thing to say about
Ozawa depending on how you look at it.
-Eric Schissel
--
schi...@lightlink.com
http://www.lightlink.com/schissel ICQ#7279016
standard disclaimer
Ward Hardman
Neil (ne...@thump.org) wrote:
: On 11 May 1998 21:13:23 GMT, opu...@aol.com (Opus47) wrote:
: >
: >What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
: LP: Karajan Schubert 9 on DGG & Brahms 3 (DDD).
It's amazing how tastes can differ... the DGG Karajan Schubert 9th is one
of my "desert island" CDs, one of the few times he ever showed some spine.
Of course this performance is unpopular with British reviewers... when
Karajan's "100 Masterpieces" series was issued in conjunction with his
80th birthday, this was the only issue panned by Grammophone magazine.
He later rerecorded the work for EMI, but I dimly recall an article
about him, which appeared in "High Fidelity" or "Stereo Review" in the
late 70's, in which he was quoted as saying that he had given up playing
the ninth, because he "didn't understand it."
Simon Roberts
Ward Hardman (har...@saturn.sdsu.edu) wrote:
: It's amazing how tastes can differ... the DGG Karajan Schubert 9th is one
: of my "desert island" CDs, one of the few times he ever showed some spine.
: Of course this performance is unpopular with British reviewers... when
: Karajan's "100 Masterpieces" series was issued in conjunction with his
: 80th birthday, this was the only issue panned by Grammophone magazine.
I'm fond of it too, though I think I understand the Penguin swipe in its
1975 edition, which puts it at the bottom of the heap: "a tour of a
chromium heaven". Presumably we like what they don't, and vice-versa.
Simon
Ward Hardman
Opus47 (opu...@aol.com) wrote:
: What's the worst classical CD you've ever owned?
On an RCA Victor LP: Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony in
Johan Strauss' "Blue Danube" waltz. Uggghhhh! How charmless...
On an Orfeo CD of a couple of Spohr symphonies (I think that one was
called "the Seasons" and the other the "Historical," but didn't retain
the CD long enough to guarantee this) I listened to only about twenty
*notes* before deciding that this was the most boring music I had ever
heard and returning the disk. (Normally I'm not this intolerant.)
On a Decca/London CD of Ashkenazy conducting and playing the Mozart
piano concerti numbers 24 and (I think) 19, about ninety seconds into
the first movement of #24, I heard a phone ring. Thinking that this was
my own phone, I stopped the CD player and ran out to the kitchen to
answer the phone. Nobody was on the line. Returning to the music room,
I decided to start from the beginning, and again the phone rang. After
another fruitless dash to the kitchen, I became suspicious. Yes, there
it was on the CD. I was amazed that the record producers would not have
restarted the performance, or at least spliced it out, but immediately
proceeded to the next concerto. Soon my room began to shake. (I have a
powerful subwoofer.) Thinking that a huge garbage truck must be passing
my house, I ran to the window... nothing outside of course. I saw that
the recording had been made in Kingsway Hall, London, and got out my
London map (from a visit several years earlier). Sure enough, *two*
subway lines cross right under the hall. The CD went back to Tower,
with me claiming it was defective. I told some buddies at work about
this disaster, and they all rushed out to buy the CD (once they had
finished laughing).
--Ward
BrtherJohn
In article <6jd0de$s22$2...@news01.deltanet.com>, duckyþ@deltanet.com (Matthew B.
Tepper) writes:
>>Does anyone remember "Stockhausen's Greatest Hits" on DGG?
>
>Or when London Records had a series of "Best of" LPs aimed at, well,
>pot-smokers, and simply repackaged a Mehta/Los Angeles Philharmonic
>collection of Varèse music without changing the contents?
>
>
The worst case of "Hit" packages must go to RCA, where back in the early 70's,
they packaged an lp, called (something close to) "Classics That Inspired Great
Rock Hits". The liner notes too, as I barely recall, were a disgrace as well.
There were very Bach, Mussorsky, Copland pieces on it. The cover art was aimed
at capturing some of the late-flower power generation too.
Brthe...@aol.com (John Blair)
MRPERMAN
>On an Orfeo CD of a couple of Spohr symphonies (I think that one was
>called "the Seasons" and the other the "Historical," but didn't retain
>the CD long enough to guarantee this) I listened to only about twenty
>*notes* before deciding that this was the most boring music I had ever
>heard and returning the disk.
I think this is the disc with Spohr's 6th and 9th symphony. I hated it too.
That's "Spohr" as in "bore."
Marc Perman
Iian Neill
> * Volodya Horowitz playing Schubert's D960. An unqualified disaster. How
> could a fine musician like Volodya allow the release of this travesty?
Might be a silly question, but is Volodya and relation to Vladimir Horowitz?
Regards,
Iian Neill.
Jeremy Cook
One and the same person; Volodya is the diminutive of Vladimir, just as
Jim is the diminutive of James.
Jeremy Cook - Newtown, Connecticut
Mike Holme
Mario Taboada wrote:
>
(snip)
> * Glenn Gould playing against Mozart's sonatas. The ultimate party disk
> for those who love Mozart.
I've not heard the main Gould/Mozart recordings, but his rendition of
K330 in Salzburg on the Salzburg Recital CD is Mozart playing of the
finest order.
Mike Holme
Mr. Mike
On 14 May 1998 01:56:43 GMT, har...@saturn.sdsu.edu (Ward Hardman) wrote:
>On a Decca/London CD of Ashkenazy conducting and playing the Mozart
>piano concerti numbers 24 and (I think) 19, about ninety seconds into
>the first movement of #24, I heard a phone ring. Thinking that this was
>my own phone, I stopped the CD player and ran out to the kitchen to
>answer the phone. Nobody was on the line. Returning to the music room,
>I decided to start from the beginning, and again the phone rang. After
>another fruitless dash to the kitchen, I became suspicious. Yes, there
>it was on the CD. I was amazed that the record producers would not have
>restarted the performance, or at least spliced it out, but immediately
>proceeded to the next concerto. Soon my room began to shake. (I have a
>powerful subwoofer.) Thinking that a huge garbage truck must be passing
>my house, I ran to the window... nothing outside of course. I saw that
>the recording had been made in Kingsway Hall, London, and got out my
>London map (from a visit several years earlier). Sure enough, *two*
>subway lines cross right under the hall.
Fritz Reiner's recording of Strauss's Symphonia Domestica has some very peculiar
noises in the background if you listen carefully, which sounds like traffic...
Isn't there a recording of Wanda Landowska playing the harpsichord which has the
sounds of Paris being shelled by the Germans in the background?
Mr. Mike
On 14 May 1998 03:36:03 GMT, brthe...@aol.com (BrtherJohn) wrote:
>The worst case of "Hit" packages must go to RCA, where back in the early 70's,
>they packaged an lp, called (something close to) "Classics That Inspired Great
>Rock Hits". The liner notes too, as I barely recall, were a disgrace as well.
>There were very Bach, Mussorsky, Copland pieces on it. The cover art was aimed
>at capturing some of the late-flower power generation too.
This series was truly nauseating ... I remember reviewing it for an underground
paper where I was working at the time!
Mr. Mike
On Thu, 14 May 1998 14:31:30 +0100, Mike Holme <M.H...@doc.mmu.ac.uk> wrote:
>> * Glenn Gould playing against Mozart's sonatas. The ultimate party disk
>> for those who love Mozart.
>
>I've not heard the main Gould/Mozart recordings, but his rendition of
>K330 in Salzburg on the Salzburg Recital CD is Mozart playing of the
>finest order.
Yes, it is fairly civilized. But the Sony/Columbia ones are a total abomination.
Another Gould recording I can't stand is the one he did of the Two- and
Three-Part Inventions. The piano sound is totally gross (it sounds like it is
broken) ... Yet this is one of the very few GG recordings which the Grammy-phone
slobbered over with little reservation!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
True crime books for sale (all w/cover pix) -- http://www.mjq.net/books
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Also ... visit the Jack Olsen Home Page -- http://www.mjq.net/jackolsen
wall...@yahoo.com
Good question! I've bought a few real clunkers. Among the most
disappointing--at least in terms of the recent thread on Brahms--I am afraid
I would class Hough's recordings of the Brahms Piano Concerti as among the
most anticipated AND disappointing that I've purchased in recent years
and--while I'm thinking about it---the Andre Watts recording of Brahms Piano
Concerto #2 is something I find a horrible mess.
RF
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
Paul Goldstein
Yes, one of her Scarlatti sonata recordings, now available on EMI
References. The cannon are very clearly heard.
The worst CD I've ever owned is probably Stokowski's Tchaikovsky 5 on
London Weekend. Abysmally recorded -"Phase 4" at its absolute worst.
And don't get me started on the ludicrous performance. I still have
this CD - it has no resale value and I wouldn't inflict it on an
innocent listener.
Another true turkey was Andras Schiff's collection of Mendelssohn Songs
Without Words. Coma-inducingly boring.
woo...@prodigy.net
In article <355859...@sprintmail.com>,
Mario Taboada <matr...@sprintmail.com> wrote:
>
> I can recall only a fraction of the bad CDs I've gone through. A few
> that stand out are:
>
> * A Teldec CD of Rudolf Buchbinder attacking the Diabelli Variations in
> the most savage manner imaginable.
I have a Teldec CD of Buchbinder playing various short Beethoven pieces -- my
god that man is a player-piano, not a piano-player.
I have a 2-LP set of Gustav Leonhardt playing Mozart piano sonatas and other
pieces in a bloodless, constipated manner on a rattly fortepiano. Unbearable.
SOME of the Bach cantatas conducted by Harnoncourt in the Teldec Complete
Cantatas set are excruciating -- the boy singers bleating like doomed lambs,
terrified by the tuneless braying of the trumpets, with Harnoncourt stomping
everything mercilessly into the ground. The weird thing is... some of the
cantatas Harnoncourt did in the same series are BRILLIANT. So uneven.
Oh, and Beethoven's 5th played by the Hanover Band on Nimbus -- oh my god.
Some of the other symphonies done by them are fine, and their overtures
disk is superb, but what a thin, scrappy mess their 5th is.
Don't get me wrong. I LIKE HIP performances...when they're good.
Tom Wood
Stan Szpakowicz
Jeremy Cook <jerem...@erols.com> wrote:
>Iian Neill wrote:
(Mario Taboada said:)
>> > * Volodya Horowitz playing Schubert's D960. An unqualified disaster. How
>> > could a fine musician like Volodya allow the release of this travesty?
>> Might be a silly question, but is Volodya and relation to Vladimir Horowitz?
>One and the same person; Volodya is the diminutive of Vladimir, just as
>Jim is the diminutive of James.
Yes, and Mario (no handy diminutive!) has a special relationship with
Maestro Vladimir. He gets to call him Volodya.
(:>)
--
Dr. Stan Szpakowicz, Professor http://www.site.uottawa.ca/~szpak
School of Information Technology & Engineering sz...@site.uottawa.ca
University of Ottawa tel +613-562-5800/6687, fax +613-562-5187
Russ & Martha Oppenheim
You may think Spohr is a bore and deplore Spohr but some adore Spohr,
pore over Spohr lore, are for Spohr, and wish only for more and more
Spohr. I'll take my Spohr to your Spohr.
----------------------
Russ Oppenheim
mopp...@ix.netcom.com
----------------------
Russ & Martha Oppenheim
Whoops, I almost forgot a truly vile Palladio (I think) reissue of Guido
Cantelli in Beethoven 7 (Philharmonia) and Franck (NBC).
Obvious dubs from the EMI and RCA issues, the sound in the Beethoven was
thin and muffled; the Franck was a mono transcription of
the performance which was issued in stereo on the RCA LP. The notes
gave a 1950 date for the Franck; if one can believe Lawrence Lamb's
biography of Cantelli which contains repertoire lists for his entire
career Cantelli didn't give the Franck at all in 1950! I dumped it in a
hurry and when it appeared lost no time in acquiring the wonderful EMI
twofer of all of this marvellous conductor's stereo recordings
(including the Franck licensed from RCA).
----------------------
Russ ppenheim
mopp...@ix.netcom.com
----------------------
Ward Hardman
Mr. Mike (a02...@giant.mindlink.net) wrote:
: Fritz Reiner's recording of Strauss's Symphonia Domestica has some
: very peculiar noises in the background if you listen carefully, which
: sounds like traffic...
: Isn't there a recording of Wanda Landowska playing the harpsichord
: which has the sounds of Paris being shelled by the Germans in the
: background?
Arturo Toscanini's Carnegie Hall recording of Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll"
concludes with a flourish of taxi horns. (BMG)
Simon Roberts
Russ & Martha Oppenheim (mopp...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: Whoops, I almost forgot a truly vile Palladio (I think) reissue of Guido
: Cantelli in Beethoven 7 (Philharmonia) and Franck (NBC).
: Obvious dubs from the EMI and RCA issues
Right; they couldn't even be bothered, apparently, to try to remove the
scratch at the start of the first movement of 7! (And have you heard
their Scherchen Beethoven cycle? The inner groove distortion on the LP
they found for that is something to behold....; sadly, there's no other
way to obtain it other than real LPs.)
Simon
MRPERMAN
>You may think Spohr is a bore and deplore Spohr but some adore Spohr,
>pore over Spohr lore, are for Spohr, and wish only for more and more
>Spohr. I'll take my Spohr to your Spohr.
No more, I implore! Show this Spohr whore the door!
Marc Perman (just kidding)
Eric Schissel
MRPERMAN (mrpe...@aol.com) wrote:
>>On an Orfeo CD of a couple of Spohr symphonies (I think that one was
>>called "the Seasons" and the other the "Historical," but didn't retain
>>the CD long enough to guarantee this) I listened to only about twenty
>>*notes* before deciding that this was the most boring music I had ever
>>heard and returning the disk.
>I think this is the disc with Spohr's 6th and 9th symphony. I hated it too.
>That's "Spohr" as in "bore."
Oh yes- the same Spohr whose string quintets 1&2 form one of my favorite
disks, and whose 6th and 9th symphonies- in this recording- I have heard
and enjoyed on the radio very often? Gotcha.
BrtherJohn
In article <355B2E...@hotmail.com>, Paul Goldstein
<paulgo...@hotmail.com> writes:
>
>The worst CD I've ever owned is probably Stokowski's Tchaikovsky 5 on
>London Weekend. Abysmally recorded -"Phase 4" at its absolute worst.
>And don't get me started on the ludicrous performance. I still have
>this CD - it has no resale value and I wouldn't inflict it on an
>innocent listener.
>
>
I had the original lp. I think die-hard Stoki fans relished over his
"enhancements" - like doing away with the famous finale pause. There's a whole
host of instrumental reinforcements and unmarked tempi changes. I still think
Mengelberg is a far more ludricrous performance, but the Phase 4 engineering in
Stoki's account is quite artificial and inflated.
Brthe...@aol.com (John Blair)
David Morriss
Simon Roberts wrote in message <6jg8qf$7u9$3...@netnews.upenn.edu>...
>way to obtain it other than real LPs.)
>
>Simon
A friend gave me a Palladio CD of Knappertsbusch conducting the Bruckner
5th. It was either give it away or jump up and down on it, apparently. It
truly is awful! (The sound, that is). Is this a characteristic of Palladio
discs?
DJM
Simon Roberts
David Morriss (dmor...@ihug.co.nz) wrote:
: A friend gave me a Palladio CD of Knappertsbusch conducting the Bruckner
: 5th. It was either give it away or jump up and down on it, apparently. It
: truly is awful! (The sound, that is). Is this a characteristic of Palladio
: discs?
Yes; they just find an LP and copy it, without apparent regard to how worn
it is or whether it needs cleaning (cedar is sometimes advertised on their
discs as having been used, but I can't imagine what for). The problem is
that they have released all manner of recordings that no-one better has,
so unless you already have the LPs or know where to find some, there's no
alternative (thus, I've kept their Piatigorsky/Solomon Beethoven Cello
Sonatas because as far as I can tell EMI (or whosever it is) can't be
bothered to release it). There are several other (related?) Italian
labels (Enterprise is another, I think) which do the same. Arlecchino
used to, but now seems to do a rather better job (or have I just been
lucky?).
Simon
Matthew B. Tepper
In article <356c1c66.5577069@proxy>, a02...@giant.mindlink.net spake
unto the unwashed masses:
>
>On Thu, 14 May 1998 14:31:30 +0100, Mike Holme <M.H...@doc.mmu.ac.uk>
wrote:
>
>>> * Glenn Gould playing against Mozart's sonatas. The ultimate party
>>> disk for those who love Mozart.
>>
>>I've not heard the main Gould/Mozart recordings, but his rendition of
>>K330 in Salzburg on the Salzburg Recital CD is Mozart playing of the
>>finest order.
>
>Yes, it is fairly civilized. But the Sony/Columbia ones are a total
>abomination.
>
>Another Gould recording I can't stand is the one he did of the Two-
>and Three-Part Inventions. The piano sound is totally gross (it sounds
>like it is broken) ... Yet this is one of the very few GG recordings
>which the Grammy-phone slobbered over with little reservation!!!
And for that Chopin Sonata #3 which R. Glenn Gould recorded, he
deserved to have had his fingers chopped off. Except that the robot
experts who built him would have just had another set put on....
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/index.htm
My main music page --- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/berlioz.htm
And my science fiction club's home page --- http://www.lasfs.org/
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
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Piotr Kaminski
Simon Roberts a écrit:
No, they really do better nowadays, having got access to the original sources, or
78s in better shape. It's an interesting problem as far as precious, unavailable
recordings are concerned. Of course, when Decca re-issues a Flagstad recital
obviously copied from a LP (they did!), it's a different matter. But as for
Arlecchino : if they do today what they couldn't yesterday, it's because they did
yesterday what they shouldn't have, if you know what I mean... They have
established a catalogue and a notoriety, many contacts and so for. If all of the
greatest recordings of Russian opera, things comparable in importance to, say,
Gigli Chenier - like Reizen's Boris, or Nebolsin's Onegin etc - are unavailable
(and have been unavailable forever, even in LP format), I wonder what I'd rather
have? Nada, or a correctly done LP copy...
PK
JJ
In article <6jgerg$48u$2...@netnews.upenn.edu>, si...@dept.english.upenn.edu
(Simon Roberts) wrote:
> David Morriss (dmor...@ihug.co.nz) wrote:
>
>
> : A friend gave me a Palladio CD of Knappertsbusch conducting the Bruckner
> : 5th. It was either give it away or jump up and down on it, apparently. It
> : truly is awful! (The sound, that is). Is this a characteristic of Palladio
> : discs?
>
> Yes; they just find an LP and copy it, without apparent regard to how worn
> it is or whether it needs cleaning (cedar is sometimes advertised on their
> discs as having been used, but I can't imagine what for). The problem is
> that they have released all manner of recordings that no-one better has,
> so unless you already have the LPs or know where to find some, there's no
> alternative (thus, I've kept their Piatigorsky/Solomon Beethoven Cello
> Sonatas because as far as I can tell EMI (or whosever it is) can't be
> bothered to release it). There are several other (related?) Italian
> labels (Enterprise is another, I think) which do the same. Arlecchino
> used to, but now seems to do a rather better job (or have I just been
> lucky?).
>
> Simon
Palladio/Enterprise is the same company, I believe. They are by far the
worst of all the pirate companies. Their sound is truly wretched, and any
money spent on their CDs is a waste, even if it's the only way to get the
performance. Their operatic CDs are particularly wretched, particularly
the Valletti recital and the Mitropoulos/Tebaldi/Del Monaco La Forza del
Destino. That said, they do have one wonderful release - a two CD set
called "The Rare Klemperer" which has superb sound and wonderful
performances of Beethoven's 4th and 5th, Brahms' 2nd, and Beethoven's 4th
piano concerto with Leon Fleisher(!) This is available, I believe, from
Berkshire (www.berkshirerecoutlet.com). Arlecchino is a much better
pirate label, comparatively.
Jon
rkha...@adnc.com
In article <355B2E...@hotmail.com>,
Paul Goldstein <paulgo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> The worst CD I've ever owned is probably Stokowski's Tchaikovsky 5 on
> London Weekend. Abysmally recorded -"Phase 4" at its absolute worst.
> And don't get me started on the ludicrous performance. I still have
> this CD - it has no resale value and I wouldn't inflict it on an
> innocent listener.
This reminds me of perhaps the worst, over-the-top performance I've ever
heard: Tchaikovsky's Fourth with Stoki and the American Symphony Orchestra (on
Vanguard LP with a terrifying photo of the conductor on the jacket).
I wonder if this thing has made it to CD (not that I want it, having the LP is
bad enough).
Ramon Khalona
Carlsbad, California
Martin Monkman
Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>
> In article <355859...@sprintmail.com>, matr...@sprintmail.com
> spake unto the unwashed masses:
> >* Glenn Gould playing against Mozart's sonatas. The ultimate party
> >disk for those who love Mozart.
>
> Gould cruelly and spitefully dissect Chopin's Piano Sonata #3. Proof
> absolute that he was an automaton.
Now while I agree that Gould's Chopin and Mozart (and a lot of the
Beethoven he recorded) were relentless in their derision, I don't
think an automaton could have conceived such diabolical readings of
the score.
I'd take these seditious interpretations, along with his recognized
masterpieces, as proof absolute that he was an artist of the highest
order.
Martin
Simon Roberts
E...@NOSPAMTHANKS.coastnet.com>Distribution:
Martin Monkman (mon...@NOSPAMTHANKS.coastnet.com) wrote:
: Now while I agree that Gould's Chopin and Mozart (and a lot of the
: Beethoven he recorded) were relentless in their derision, I don't
: think an automaton could have conceived such diabolical readings of
: the score.
: I'd take these seditious interpretations, along with his recognized
: masterpieces, as proof absolute that he was an artist of the highest
: order.
Or at least one with a wicked sense of humor; I'm constantly puzzled that
so many fail to "get" that aspect of his musicianship but instead assume
it's just another example of failed earnest musicianship (or whatever
they think it is).
Simon
Richard Schultz
Russ & Martha Oppenheim (mopp...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: You may think Spohr is a bore and deplore Spohr but some adore Spohr,
: pore over Spohr lore, are for Spohr, and wish only for more and more
: Spohr. I'll take my Spohr to your Spohr.
It looks like they certainly know the Spohr score, or at least don't
find listening to Spohr a chore.
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry tel: 972-3-531-8065
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel fax: 972-3-535-1250
-----
"French bread makes very good skis"