maxg Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Good times for me on the music front. I finally found myself a Du Pre Elgar Cello on ebay and won it in the old traditional way - I outbid everyone so I have ended up paying a silly price - but I dont care - I wanted it. Including post and packing it comes to 15.80 Pounds - in $ that is around $25 I would imagine - far too much really but it has been such a bugger to find I am VERY happy about it. Then I got a call from one of the local vinyl suppliers who had a container of stock from the US arrive. I picked up the following greats - IMHO of course. Comments between listings - so it is almost interesting for classical buffs - possibly: Schumann Symphony No. 1 / Symphony No. 4 London Symphony Joseph Krips London STS 15019 Stereo UK ffrr This was sold as an audiphile recording to me - I dont mind - it didnt cost much more and I generally like Londons. At least I ddint own it till now - more than can be said for some of the others. Rorem String Symphony / Sunday morning Atlanta Symphony Robert Shaw / Louis Lane New World Records NW 353 Stereo UK Teldec Digital Completely new to me - Listened to about 5 minutes of it and it seems rather nice - again audiophile but who is counting - and again not too much of an uplift from normal vinyl. Rachmaninov Piano Concerto 3 Rachmaninoff Philadelphia Eugene Ormandy RCA Victor Red Seal LM-2051 Mono US Well fancy that - another copy of the Rach 3!! But look who is playing - the man himself. I have not heard his version for years - will be an interesting contrast to the other 6 versions of this I have - sadly I am not kidding - I have to stop buying this piece!! Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Isaac Stern New York Philharmonic Leonard Bernstein Colombia ML 5415 Mono US "6 eye" OK - yes I already have it - but only twice so it is not that bad. I dont own many "6 eyes" and this one seemed such a Jewish performance I had to give it a go. Oy Vey! Beethoven Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major Colombia Symphony Bruno Walter Colombia ML 5320 Mono US "6 eye" No - I do not know how many 3rd's I have either - "6 eye" again was an appeal - and I only have Bruno on SACD so it will be slightly more interesting. Also fun to compare Bruno with Toscanini - the master IMHO. Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 Emil Gilels Chicago Symphony Fritz Reiner RCA Victor Red Seal LM 2219 Mono US Orthophonic Oh I dont know why either - cant hurt - can it? Borodin / Rimsky-Korsakov Symphony No. 2 / Capriccio Espagnole London Symphony Jean Martinon RCA Victor Red Seal LM 2298 Mono US Orthophonic Well at least I didnt have the Borodin - and as must be apparent I am a sucker for Red Seals (Blue dolphins could be cute too). Bellini / Donizetti "Presenting Monserrat Caballe" Monserat Caballe Carlo Felice Cillario RCA Victor Red Seal LM 2862 Mono US Dynagroove I like her - enough said - and I have neither of the operas these arias are taken from. Carl Orff Carmina Burana / Cantiones Profanae Janice Harsanyi / Rudolf Petrak / Harve Presnell Philadelphia Eugene Ormandy Colombia ML 5498 Stereo US "2 eye" Yeah - got this one too - but it is not such a great recording - worth a flutter. That's it - not a bad haul - plenty of listening ahead - cant wait for that Du Pre to get here - lets hope he is an honest trader!! Seems to be - lots of positive feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Very nice, Max. I haven't heard most of those recordings, but, FWIW, I do like the Ormandy Carmina and the Gilels-Reiner Brahms second piano concerto, very much. I have the latter in a stereo LP. It would be interesting to hear how the Walter style matches up with theEroica, although I'm now used to hearing the exposition repeated, and, as you probably know, conductors in the Walter-Toscanini era routinely did not take those repeats. Thank you! -- Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 Well I have now listened to most of these. In the main they are great - sadly the Rachmaninoff is more of a historical record than a decent recording. I dont think it was ever a great recording - you really have to strain to hear Rachmaninoff the pianist's master Rachmaninoff the composer - a little too much. As it is the vinyl has seen better days and the combination of the 2 makes it worth having only from the perspecitve of its uniqueness. The rest are good, however with the Carmina Burina being almost perfect. Larry - I can see why you like this performance! Biggest surprise is the Borodin/Rimsky Korsakov - it seems like it has never before been played - in 50 years it is hard to believe - but there are no surface marks and no background noise from the vinyl - most impressive!! Right now I am on a break from all of this - so its Puccini's Boheme with Callas doing the wonderful thing. This is a catharsis from the adventures of the day like no other. Monserat Caballe is good - Callas is something else again - it never ceases to shock me how good this woman was - thank God for recordings - or in this case EMI... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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