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Classical ♫ Music only | Some you listen now or recently, some you love...

alik1006

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I'm a big Dmitri Shostakovich fan ...

It took me quite a while to develop a taste to his big works. It definitely requires a certain state of mind and mood. But it is definitely sophisticated and epic.

Apparently he has some romantic works as well. :)
This was written for his son, who is conducting here while the grandson is playing...

 

alik1006

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maxxevv

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Always loved David Oistrakh. To me he conveyed all the feeling I'd imagined the composer wanted to get across. His pairing with Mendelssohn always evokes strong emotions.
I do think Ostrakh's Tchaikovsky with Eugene Ormandy was one recording for the ages.
 

amadeuswus

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Always loved David Oistrakh. To me he conveyed all the feeling I'd imagined the composer wanted to get across. His pairing with Mendelssohn always evokes strong emotions.
Good to see King David mentioned here. One of my favorite Oistrakh clips is this rehearsal footage of the Beethoven "Kreutzer" Sonata from a Japan tour. If only there were more... sound and picture quality are pretty bad, but he makes all such irrelevant when he catches musical fire.

 

Tremolo

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Good to see King David mentioned here. One of my favorite Oistrakh clips is this rehearsal footage of the Beethoven "Kreutzer" Sonata from a Japan tour. If only there were more... sound and picture quality are pretty bad, but he makes all such irrelevant when he catches musical fire.
Wonderful, thanks for sharing.
When I was a child my mother kept playing a pre Melodiya recording of Thcaikovsky violin concerto with Oistrakh conducted by Kondrashin.
 

alik1006

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Wonderful, thanks for sharing.
When I was a child my mother kept playing a pre Melodiya recording of Thcaikovsky violin concerto with Oistrakh conducted by Kondrashin.

And again if I may I would recommend different rendition of Tchaikovsky VC1.
IMO it's hard to beat Karajan + Mutter. Precision, power and emotion.
And there is a remastered version of DG recording. The quality is quite good.

 

Tremolo

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And again if I may I would recommend different rendition of Tchaikovsky VC1.
IMO it's hard to beat Karajan + Mutter. Precision, power and emotion.
And there is a remastered version of DG recording. The quality is quite good.
I didn't know this version (I usually avoid the late Karajan) but I could not disagree more
 

Rotiv

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alik1006

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I didn't know this version (I usually avoid the late Karajan) but I could not disagree more

It's hard for me to understand why would somebody "usually avoid Karajan" but everybody is entitled to his opinion. We would not have all that different beautiful music if we all agreed all the time.

If this is Karajan thing, maybe give her chance with Previn? :)

 

Brsvde

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I've been frequenting this forum for a while, but have not felt like I could offer anything until I found this thread. Thank you for such fun suggestions!

My listening of today has been this wonderful Vespers for the Virgin Mary by Monteverdi.

This is the Psalmus 126. Nisi Dominus


A very similiar and exquisitely mixed recording also here on Idagio:
 

Tremolo

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It's hard for me to understand why would somebody "usually avoid Karajan" but everybody is entitled to his opinion. We would not have all that different beautiful music if we all agreed all the time.
I am afraid that my bad english caused a misunderstanding. Karajan is one of the greatest directors of any time, his recordings are very often real milestones, I really love his Beethoven Symphonies recordings of the sixties. But, specially at the end of his career, some essai wasn't up to his fame and the one you mentioned was, imho, one of those and his protegè doesn't help.
If this is Karajan thing, maybe give her chance with Previn? :)
So it is not a Karajan thing, nor Mutter or Previn (I listen very often with real enjoyment to their Sibelius concert recording for DG). It's only that, for me, the ultimate renditions of Tchaikovskij's violin concert lie somewhere else. I need a more "russian" mood :)
 

alik1006

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I am afraid that my bad english caused a misunderstanding. Karajan is one of the greatest directors of any time, his recordings are very often real milestones, I really love his Beethoven Symphonies recordings of the sixties. But, specially at the end of his career, some essai wasn't up to his fame and the one you mentioned was, imho, one of those and his protegè doesn't help.

Oh I see what you mean. Not sure if I could generalize this way but there are certainly quite a few recording, where I would agree.

So it is not a Karajan thing, nor Mutter or Previn (I listen very often with real enjoyment to their Sibelius concert recording for DG). It's only that, for me, the ultimate renditions of Tchaikovskij's violin concert lie somewhere else. I need a more "russian" mood :)

I think I know what you mean by "Russian mood" and if I got it right (Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin?), I would say Tchaikovsky main romantic works do not belong there. He rather belongs on the West with Grieg and Saint-Saens. I know how controversial this statement is (and that Stravinsky would definitely disagree) so feel free to disagree as well. :)

To avoid being off-topic, here is something from my other favorite violinist.
(as always, there's definitely a better version, just not on youtube)

 

maxxevv

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I am afraid that my bad english caused a misunderstanding. Karajan is one of the greatest directors of any time, his recordings are very often real milestones, I really love his Beethoven Symphonies recordings of the sixties. But, specially at the end of his career, some essai wasn't up to his fame and the one you mentioned was, imho, one of those and his protegè doesn't help.

So it is not a Karajan thing, nor Mutter or Previn (I listen very often with real enjoyment to their Sibelius concert recording for DG). It's only that, for me, the ultimate renditions of Tchaikovskij's violin concert lie somewhere else. I need a more "russian" mood :)
The Sibelius violin concerto leaves a lot of room for artistic interpretation for the performer. As such its highly dependent on how the listener prefers it.
My takes are that for pure technical perfection without deviation from the original scores by obviously noticeable amounts,
Viktoria Mullova with Seiji Ozawa. Early years of Hilary Hahn. Leonidas Kavakos.
In terms of pure emotive music value, Sarah Chang with Jaap van Zweden.
If you like something in between, the most recent Hilary Hahn performances of this concerto.
Vengerov is in this category too, at least in my preference list.
 

alik1006

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The Sibelius violin concerto leaves a lot of room for artistic interpretation for the performer. As such its highly dependent on how the listener prefers it.
My takes are that for pure technical perfection without deviation from the original scores by obviously noticeable amounts,
Viktoria Mullova with Seiji Ozawa. Early years of Hilary Hahn. Leonidas Kavakos.
In terms of pure emotive music value, Sarah Chang with Jaap van Zweden.
If you like something in between, the most recent Hilary Hahn performances of this concerto.
Vengerov is in this category too, at least in my preference list.

Oh yes, Vengerov is the top of my list for Sibelius.
 

Robin L

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I think Jascha Heifetz is Russian enough for me. Would have been amazing to hear him team up with Evgeny Mravinsky in this music. We have to settle for Fritz Reiner, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at its peak, and an RCA Living Stereo recording:


However, this performance---Ruggiero Ricci · The New Symphony Orchestra Of London · Sir Malcolm Sargent, 1951---has a unique quality of schmaltz:

 

vilnis

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Soundtrack to the Film "Pūt, vējiņi!": Finale​

Created Year: 1973
Genre: Symphonic music
Ilgums: 00:05:30
Instrumentation: symphony orchestra

 
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alik1006

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1954 recording in Dresden.... Oistrakh at his best.
I believe this is it:


or in better quality on Spotify


Thank you for pointing to it. I haven't listened it for quite a while. And I don't have this recording, it is not part of "The Complete EMI recordings". :)
 
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