BaL 21.11.15 - Bartok: Piano Concerto no. 2

[verismissimo]

This should be an interesting BAL. I have the Ashkenazy/LSO/Solti as a 2 disc set of all the Bartok Piano Concerti along with the Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion.

I have Ashkenazy/Solti too, and the Anda/Fricsay with the BRSO on LP. Both terrific IMO, but the latter recording probably too early.

But my money, unheard, would be on Schiff/Fischer. Anyone got that?

[Bryn]

The Pollini/Abbado has been re-issued several times. I have the Galleria version , which apparently was released in 1999. Can anyone here offer an opinion as to whether any of the later re-issues improved on the (very fine) sound?

[Serial_Apologist]

The version performed by John Ogdon at the (from what I remember) 1967 Proms would be mine, if it were available. The level of excitement gained from the rapid pacing of the first and last movements surpassed almost anything I have since heard in the classical repertoire, aside from Boulez's Rite at the Festival Hall the year before, even at the expense of accuracy in one or two places. Taken in this manic way, no work better illustrates Bartok's bi-polarity, for me.

[HighlandDougie]

Can anyone here offer an opinion as to whether any of the later re-issues improved on the (very fine) sound?

I have the original issue on CD (and the LP but that's in Scotland) - DG 415 371-2 - and the version in the 'Maurizio Pollini 20th Century box'. The latter sounds better than the former - there is more detail and depth in the orchestra, although there isn't a lot in it. I would guess that the pressing used in the Galleria re-issue will be the same one as in the box, particularly as I don't think that there is a Japanese remastering - no SHM-CD version as yet. Towering performance, although I would have loved to hear John Ogdon in this work (I grew up with his recording of the 3rd). Schiff/Fischer is no less exciting than the Pollini - it brings out the humour and the folk elements in the music rather more than Abbado. And it's more warmly and spaciously recorded.

[Bryn]

I have the original issue on CD (and the LP but that's in Scotland) - DG 415 371-2 - and the version in the 'Maurizio Pollini 20th Century box'. The latter sounds better than the former - there is more detail and depth in the orchestra, although there isn't a lot in it. I would guess that the pressing used in the Galleria re-issue will be the same one as in the box, particularly as I don't think that there is a Japanese remastering - no SHM-CD version as yet. Towering performance, although I would have loved to hear John Ogdon in this work (I grew up with his recording of the 3rd). Schiff/Fischer is no less exciting than the Pollini - it brings out the humour and the folk elements in the music rather more than Abbado. And it's more warmly and spaciously recorded.

Agreed re.the Schiff/Fischer, though I have temporarily mislaid mine. It will turn up.

[verismissimo]

'What's that?' enquired my wife as I prepped for this morning listening to Anda. 'Ah, Bartok's second racket.'

Shades of the Faultys.

[Alison]

Everyone happy?

[Pulcinella]

Who won?

[Bryn]

Who won?

Meanwhile I have found both my copies of the Schiff/Fischer, the single CD and that in 9CD Concertos & Chamber Music box.

Oh, and contrary to what was claimed on BaL, the Schiff/Fischer is widely available, in various manifestations, both on disc (new and used) and as mp3 or lossless downloads, e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...ncertos+schiff

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Everyone happy?

I am - no gratuitous sneering at any recording; neither that dry delivery nor the irritating "chirpiness" that so often gets between me and the recordings under discussion; opinions made clearly distinct from "facts"; the same recordings chosen for especial praise that I would have chosen (and, uncannily, for the same reasons I would have chosen them) - but, best of all for me, she chose a recording I didn't know and it sounded fantastic in the excerpts we heard. Maybe she caught me in a particularly good mood, but I found this one of the very best BaLs ever.

[Bryn]

I am - no gratuitous sneering at any recording; neither that dry delivery nor the irritating "chirpiness" that so often gets between me and the recordings under discussion; opinions made clearly distinct from "facts"; the same recordings chosen for especial praise that I would have chosen (and, uncannily, for the same reasons I would have chosen them) - but, best of all for me, she chose a recording I didn't know and it sounded fantastic in the excerpts we heard. Maybe she caught me in a particularly good mood, but I found this one of the very best BaLs ever.

I concur entirely. Worth mentioning, for those who did not listen, that the legendary 1959 Anda/Fricsay effectively lost out only due to its dated recording quality.

[BBMmk2]

I concur entirely. Worth mentioning, for those who did not listen, that the legendary 1959 Anda/Fricsay effectively lost out only due to its dated recording quality.

That's a great shame. Perhaps a remastering might help?

[HighlandDougie]

Oh, and contrary to what was claimed on BaL, the Schiff/Fischer is widely available

Easy mishearing to make but it was the 1980s Philips Kocsis/Fischer which was described as "unavailable". Great BaL - and pleased that J-E B was the winner (a disc I've liked a lot since it came out - great 1st PC as well). No showboating this week .....

[Bryn]

Easy mishearing to make but it was the 1980s Philips Kocsis/Fischer which was described as "unavailable". Great BaL - and pleased that J-E B was the winner (a disc I've liked a lot since it came out - great 1st PC as well). No showboating this week .....

Oops. Misheard indeed. However, the Philips Kocsis/Fischer can also be found on amazon.co,uk, new and used, though at something of a premium for new. I await its re-issue.

[BBMmk2]

]

Ah, I might just purchase this!