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Thanks Parrot: Part 2


edwinr

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The Parrot's been hard at it!

The beaky bird has sorted through his somewhat small CD collection and has kindly sent me some more classics. I'm sure Paul won't mind if I share these with you. The first package arrived with this wonderful collection. I have included some of Paul's comments, including the one about SET amplifiers! LOL!!!!!

Package 1:

1) Bach: The Goldberg Variations. Glenn Gould. This is the re-
recording Gould made when digital first started. This is a classic.

2) Heifetz: Beethoven and Brahms Concertos. You'll recognize some of
these melodies within seconds. Conducted by Munch and Reiner. More
classics.

3) Brahms: Sym 4. Haitink/Boston Sym Orch. This is one of my absolute
favorite symphonies.

4) Dvorak "New World" Symphony. Now called No. 9, it used to be
numbered his 5th. I have it called both ways on many LPs. Kurt Masur/
NY Phil. This is also a must-have great symphony.

5) Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel; Grieg: Peery Gynt; Tchaikovsky: Romeo
& Juliet. Von Karajan/Wiener Phil. Yet more great stuff. Hard to beat
Peer Gynt for sheer beauty.

6) Horowitz: Encores. 18 tracks recorded 1942-1980. Good variety of
short pieces.

7) Mahler Sym 4. This is probably Mahler's most approachable symphony
and his prettiest.

8) Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3. Horowitz live recording 1978. This is
to mark his 50th(!) year as a performer!!! It isn't my favorite
version, but I have an extra of it, and it's historic. What he may
lack in power from his younger years is exchanged for wisdom/
experience. It's an incredible composition, if you don't know.

9) Schubert: Sym 8 (unfinished). My favorite Schubert symphony and
another must-have. Sinopoli. Also Schumann Sym 3, which you'll also
recognize. Giulini.

10) Saint-Saens Sym 3/ Debussy: La Mer/ Ibert: Escales. Munch, Boston
Symphony. This is an RCA Living Stereo SACD/CD. The St-Saens 3 has
been much discussed on the Forum by Larry.

Package 2:

1) Music of Gabrieli
2) The Legendary Andres Segovia: My Favorite Works
3) Schubert: Sym 8 Unfinished and Schumann: Symphony No. 3
4) Sibelius Sym 2 and Tubin Sym 5 SACD
5) Brahms Concerto No. 1 and Schumann Introduction and Allegro and
Mendelssohn: Capriccio brillant. Serkin/Szell
6) Ravel: Bolero, Rapsodie espagnole, La Valse, Pavane for a Deceased
Infanta
7) Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto and Bruch: Violin Concerto
8) Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake and The Nutcracker
9) Mozart Piano Concertos 14, 15, 16. Barenboim.
10) St-Saens Sym 3 and Debussy La Mer and Ibert Escales. Munch. SACD
11) Leonard Bernstein: Nocturnes. 14 selections for quiet evening
listening. (Parrot's comment: "But don't get ridiculous and try to play it with a SET") LOL!

Paul. Thanks very much for these wonderful CD's. They arrived in brand new condition and the selection is amazing. For anyone else half interested in starting up in classical music, feel very safe in making a selection from these discs.

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I wondered what had been happening to some of my favorite CDs! It didn't make any sense that they were stolen by a burglar and why didn't the dogs take care of him? Now it looks like an inside job. Someone has been sending you gems from my collection and pretending that I did it. You gotta watch your family members all the time. Could it be to get back at me for playing them too damned loud?

I had a piece on the other day, Glenn Gould playing some Beethoven, and had it at low medium volume, and my brother called me on the phone. I picked it up on the second floor. He said, over the phone, that I better turn that music down or I was going to ruin my ears.

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LOL! And you're worried about some background noise in your system!

I've been listening to Glenn Gould as well - The Goldberg Variations. That man is brilliant. It's hard to believe anyone can extract so much emotion and passion from the music. I've been listening to this disc over and over. I feel like I've done a couple of rounds with Ali in his prime each time I listen!

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Edwin,

Since you like the Gould/Goldberg Variations so much, you MUST get this:

http://www.amazon.com/State-Wonder-Complete-Goldberg-Variations/dp/B00006FI7C/sr=1-1/qid=1166478647/ref=sr_1_1/102-5665283-7826569?ie=UTF8&s=music

This set is terrific. It includes his 1955 recording of the Variations, and his 1981 that you have, BUT, the 1981 recording included in this one is the analog recording made simultaneously to the early 1981 digital recording that I sent you. The piano sounds much more natural on the analog recording. There was some argument several years back when this bargain-priced set came out. While just about everyone agreed the analog sounded more natural, some asserted that Gould approved the digital recording and liked that sound, and maybe even tailored his playing to work with the digital medium.

Anyway, you'll have fun comparing the analog and digital 1981 recordings, and you'll unquestionably love the 1955 recording. Plus the third disc in this set is an enjoyable listen as well, mostly interview.

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Yep, Paul's musical gift selections are legendary in these parts (I know from the organ selections he offered me; had I not already owned a few of 'em I would be listening to them today).

In the '70s Glenn Gould performed Bach's The Art of Fugue on a small pipe organ...yes, he was brilliant indeed! This man was hailed as one of the 20th Century's greatest piano virtuosos with his brilliant technique, expression, and refinement of details, and his playing transcended into organs as well (since organ technique is a bit different from piano technique).

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