Charity Shop Trawl

[nersner]

On Saturday Bradford Oxfam had lots of BBC Music Magazine discs at eight for a pound.
I dived in and managed to get four I already owned but still great value.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

On Saturday Bradford Oxfam had lots of BBC Music Magazine discs at eight for a pound.
I dived in and managed to get four I already owned but still great value.

- been there, done that! But, yes, at 12.5p each, even the weaker BBCMusMag cover CDs are worth hearing.

[cloughie]

On Saturday Bradford Oxfam had lots of BBC Music Magazine discs at eight for a pound.
I dived in and managed to get four I already owned but still great value.

Was that a lapse of memory or so good you wanted them twice? 8 for £1 is a bargain anywhere as most of the BBC Music discs are mostly very good and many original BBC recordings.

[Mal]

I'd agree with that - and what's wrong with the strictest of historically informed accounts from period bands anyway?

Having said that, I did come to the conclusion after listening to many versions of the 9th a few decades ago that a couple (of "modern" orchestra conductors' recordings) stood out - Furtwãngler and Karajan. One of the middle Karajan vesrsions is really outstanding - not a digital recording - though even the last/later digital ones are pretty good. I came to that decision at a time when I was particularly averse to much of Karajan's output, so if anyone hasn't heard these versions they should...

You answered your own question! I have the Karajan '63 set, which is my first choice for Beethoven's odd numbered symphonies.

[silvestrione]

You answered your own question! I have the Karajan '63 set, which is my first choice for Beethoven's odd numbered symphonies.

I just listened to the Karajan DG 60s 9th, for the first time since on an LP years ago. Wow! I think it's terrific, an unfolding drama across the whole symphony. I loved the orchestral sound and the recording, and lots of entrancing detail, like the distant horns towards the end of the first movement, and the superb bassoon counterpoint to the 'Joy' theme in the last.

[visualnickmos]

Not quite on topic, but as we're talking BBC MM CDs, I wonder if anyone has a spare, or unwanted BBC MM cover disc of Bychkov's recording from a Prom concert IIRC, of Eine Alpensinfonie, that they may wish to do a barter for. I think it was the cover CD sometime earlier this year. Open to any discussion. I'm not after something for nothing.

Thank you.

[Pulcinella]

Not quite on topic, but as we're talking BBC MM CDs, I wonder if anyone has a spare, or unwanted BBC MM cover disc of Bychkov's recording from a Prom concert IIRC, of Eine Alpensinfonie, that they may wish to do a barter for. I think it was the cover CD sometime earlier this year. Open to any discussion. I'm not after something for nothing.

Thank you.

Available here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DPPHB6F/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528913804&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Byckkov+alpine

[nersner]

Was that a lapse of memory or so good you wanted them twice? 8 for £1 is a bargain anywhere as most of the BBC Music discs are mostly very good and many original BBC recordings.

When stupidity meets senility it's not a pretty sight.
I've always been blessed with a poor memory.
I simply picked the most interesting, actually increasing the chances of duplication, I should have picked the least!

[visualnickmos]

Available here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DPPHB...Byckkov+alpine

Thanks a million. I recently became a fan of Bychkov's recordings - the few that I've recently acquired, and want to discover more of his work.

[Pulcinella]

Thanks a million. I recently became a fan of Bychkov's recordings - the few that I've recently acquired, and want to discover more of his work.

Pleased to have helped: I think that Alpie rated this performance quite highly!

[visualnickmos]

Pleased to have helped: I think that Alpie rated this performance quite highly!

And Alpie's 'yer man' when it comes Eine Alpensinfonie! I look forward to it's arrival.

[cloughie]

And Alpie's 'yer man' when it comes Eine Alpensinfonie! I look forward to it's arrival.

In the pseudonym really!

[visualnickmos]

In the pseudonym really!

Hadn't noticed!

[Mal]

Karajan's "Karajan Gold" Die Alpensinfonie DG 439 017-2GHS is superb. It was stand-out winner in the Gramophone "Awards 2017" issue in a five page comparative review by Hugo Shirley, which concluded, "makes compelling sense like no other: an exhilarating, moving, and supremely satisfying performance defined by glorious lyricism and cohesiveness." Couldn't say it better myself. (Note, early copies were very "early digital" [1980] and rather bright. But, Gram points out, DG engineers put a lot of work in to tone it down - the copy I have sounds great, though it has the original date, so they may not have bothered specifying "tone down" dates!)

Shirley suggests Bychkov's performance with the WDR Symphony Orchestra is "well worth seeking out".

[Dave2002]

You answered your own question! I have the Karajan '63 set, which is my first choice for Beethoven's odd numbered symphonies.

I was specifically referring to number 9. I have many other preferences for most of the other Beethoven symphonies. I think the K version of 9 which I particularly liked was the one after the 63 one - but not the later digital one. Most of his recordings of 9 are good, AFAIK.