What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[soulpope]

[Alexander Hawkins]

Got this recently, and have been listening through...though I know and love the more well known Lipatti stuff, almost all of the earlier things are totally new to me. Interesting when you know e.g. the Besancon and studio Bach Partita no.1 to hear him play the Allemande at the age of 19 on a harpsichord...at a completely insane tempo!

[soulpope]

As good as it gets ....

[soulpope]

[Peter Friedman]

Gewandhaus Quartet - Beethoven - String Quartet Op.18/6

Ferras - Franck Violin Sonata

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[Peter Friedman]

Brahms Cello Sonatas No.1 and No.2 plus Schumann Adagio and Allegro in A Flat major, Op.70,  & 3 Fantasiestucke Op.73

[Balladeer]

Maybe for some obscure, but it´s always worthwhile diggin up some unknown masterly music. IMHO this one, recorded fifteen years ago, surely is a winner;

Wilfred Josephs - Works for clarinet (Metier) - Complete beauty but it is the Clarinet Quintet that´s the real stunner - one of the most precious written for this format.

[Larry Kart]

I very much admire Zacharias' complete Mozart Piano concerto set; so far his complete sonatas are top-drawer too.

[soulpope]

9 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

Excellent ....

[Larry Kart]

Obscure (that means I'd never heard or heard of it) but lovely and quite individual music, gorgeously played, especially by clarinetist Friederike Roth.

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

7 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

Very good ....

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[Larry Kart]

16 hours ago, soulpope said:

Excellent ....

That second movement!

[HutchFan]

Brahms: Piano Works / Peter Rösel (Edel Classics; originally released on Eterna)
Disc 2 - Second Piano Sonata; Variations on an Original Theme; Eight Pieces, Op.76

Katchen & Kempff are probably the biggest "names" associated with this repertoire, but Rösel is my favorite all 'round interpreter of Brahms' solo piano music.

[Peter Friedman]

Violin Sonatas No.4, No.6, & No.7

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

3 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Brahms: Piano Works / Peter Rösel (Edel Classics; originally released on Eterna)
Disc 2 - Second Piano Sonata; Variations on an Original Theme; Eight Pieces, Op.76

Katchen & Kempff are probably the biggest "names" associated with this repertoire, but Rösel is my favorite all 'round interpreter of Brahms' solo piano music.

Full agreement on Peter Rösel .... :

Now listening to this formidable transfer released in Japan end of 2016 (together with four more Cd`s covering his early 70`s Brahms recordings for Eterna - later reissued on Berlin Classics) ....

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, soulpope said:

Full agreement on Peter Rösel .... :

Now listening to this formidable transfer released in Japan end of 2016 (together with four more Cd`s covering his early 70`s Brahms recordings for Eterna - later reissued on Berlin Classics) ....

The 5-CD set released on Edel Classics is the same music, recorded in the mid-70s for Eterna.  Regardless of label, it's such wonderful music-making!  

Rösel does a masterful job of balancing the extroverted, Schumann-esque "Romantic" elements with the meditative, inward, and melancholy aspects of Brahms' music.  As a result, his readings of the early works in particular are more fully realized -- make "more sense" -- than other versions I've heard. 

I wonder: Would Rösel would be a more familiar pianist if he'd spent the early part of his career in West Germany rather than East Germany? Did being behind the "Iron Curtain" hamstring his opportunities for recognition in the "West"?  Then again, Rösel's strengths aren't flash; it's his interpretive subtlety that's so astounding.  And that's not exactly a quality that gets concertizing pianists noticed.  Who knows?!?!  The East/West thing may not have made any difference. 

[soulpope]

17 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

The 5-CD set released on Edel Classics is the same music, recorded in the mid-70s for Eterna.  Regardless of label, it's such wonderful music-making!  

Rösel does a masterful job of balancing the extroverted, Schumann-esque "Romantic" elements with the meditative, inward, and melancholy aspects of Brahms' music.  As a result, his readings of the early works in particular are more fully realized -- make "more sense" -- than other versions I've heard. 

I wonder: Would Rösel would be a more familiar pianist if he'd spent the early part of his career in West Germany rather than East Germany? Did being behind the "Iron Curtain" hamstring his opportunities for recognition in the "West"?  Then again, Rösel's strengths aren't flash; it's his interpretive subtlety that's so astounding.  And that's not exactly a quality that gets concertizing pianists noticed.  Who knows?!?!  The East/West thing may not have made any difference. 

Not really sure about the impact of the "East/West thing" - competition for being part of the "acclaimed" group of pianists was fierce to say the least and furthermore Classical Music Labels started from the 70`s onwards looking much closer about marketing opportunities reg individual artists .... a similar faith to Rösel`s was the limited fame of the Suske Quartett, whose 70`s Mozart and Beethoven recordings (again originally released on Eterna) easily could withstand the competition of the best string ensembles of that time ....

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]