Quarterly retrospect

[pastoralguy]

That was a good feature wasn't it? I often wonder whether these reviewers have the hi fi equipment to do recordings justice. This was somewhat borne out when they ran an audio doctor series, in which some of the reviewers, themselves, had fairly shabby set ups in need of fairly urgent surgery. Probably the lack of faith which this inspired in listeners sounded the death knell for the feature.

Yes, Sir Velo, I picked up on that too! I've always felt that reviewers should reveal what kind of equipment they are 'road testing' review discs on.

Presumably their equipment will be tax deductible...

[rauschwerk]

Two sets which I've hardly had time to dip into:

Poulenc complete songs - the Decca set with Pascal Rogé and five singers including Felicity Lott;

Wilhelm Kempff solo repertoire - 35 CDs recorded from 1950 onwards and including the stereo Beethoven cycle. I began with Chopin, not realising that Kempff had ever recorded any. The Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise is an object lesson in how to generate excitement with an unfailingly beautiful tone, and some of the shorter pieces (B major Nocturne) are quite magical. I now look forward to Bach (including the Goldbergs), Beethoven Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Schubert and Schumann.

[pastoralguy]

An evening dominated by the late, great, John Ogdon.

An early Mendelssohn piano concerto with Sir Neville and the ASMF. Bartok's third piano concerto followed by the Tippett concerto. Superb music making.

[jayne lee wilson]

I have a horrid suspicion that the second of these will be the so-called "reloaded" thing by one Peter Jan Marthé and, if so, it's to be avoided at all costs (what does he think Bruckner was? a gun?)...

Oh, I do hope not! Please let one of them be the latest revisions of Carraghan or S-P-C-M. Venzago may be a touch quixotic sometimes, but so far he has stuck to the revised Nowak or Carraghan texts (including the 1889 3rd - a very fine, if surprisingly respectful performance..)...

Having recently revisited the Rattle 9th (and experimented with playing the Rattle finale after the Venzago 9th i - iii ), I can only say how committed I feel to the complete 9th (at least as heard in that SPCM edition) - more convinced than ever that it should be played, and often; trying to find time to say more on the B9 thread...

[HighlandDougie]

An evening dominated by the late, great, John Ogdon.

followed by the Tippett concerto. Superb music making.

And how! I was transfixed when I first heard the Tippett (with that great photo of the composer on the album sleeve), particularly by the slow movement. Time seems to stand still - there is an almost numinous quality to Ogdon's music-making which I still find deeply moving, forty years later.