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Discussion: Schumann, Dvorak: Piano Concertos - Helmchen, Albrecht

Posts: 14
Page: 1 2 next

Post by flyingdutchman October 7, 2009 (1 of 14)
This competes with Channel's release, but I surely hope it will be better than that release. The Dvorak especially needs a great recording to supplement other greats by Firkusny.

Post by akiralx October 7, 2009 (2 of 14)
flyingdutchman said:

This competes with Channel's release, but I surely hope it will be better than that release. The Dvorak especially needs a great recording to supplement other greats by Firkusny.

Isn't the Firkusny of the 'piano-ised' version? I do like the work a lot, and have Hayroudinoff on Chandos and Aimard on Teldec, both are good.

But my favourite is probably Richter's live Praga version which though in mono sounds rather better than his famous EMI recording with Carlos Kleiber, good though that is.

Post by flyingdutchman October 7, 2009 (3 of 14)
akiralx said:

Isn't the Firkusny of the 'piano-ised' version? I do like the work a lot, and have Hayroudinoff on Chandos and Aimard on Teldec, both are good.

But my favourite is probably Richter's live Praga version which though in mono sounds rather better than his famous EMI recording with Carlos Kleiber, good though that is.

Firkusny's mono recording with Szell is an excellent Dvorak, one of many he recorded--my favorite. What do you mean by "pianoised" version--the Kurtz version?

Post by chenzl October 8, 2009 (4 of 14)
flyingdutchman said:

This competes with Channel's release, but I surely hope it will be better than that release. The Dvorak especially needs a great recording to supplement other greats by Firkusny.

My favorite is Susskind / St Louis symphony, released many years ago on CD by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

Post by wehecht October 8, 2009 (5 of 14)
chenzl said:

My favorite is Susskind / St Louis symphony, released many years ago on CD by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

This is Firkusny's complete, pre-Kurtz, version, once available in a Vox box (lp) in Sansui's QS matrixed multichannel sound, produced and engineered by Joanna Nickrenz and Marc Aubort. The box included all of Dvorak's concerted works. It would be great if MoFi were to release this excellent version on sacd. Unfortunately the cello Concerto with Nelsova and the violin concerto with Ricci are good but not outstanding performances and the competition is much more extensive. EMI's recording of the piano concerto with Richter and Carlos Kleiber was also in multichannel sound (Sony's SQ matrix) but is not representative of either artist at his best. In any event the sizeable archive of EMI multichannel recordings, some of which are truly excellent, seems destined to remain buried as long as the bean counters are in control. I have high hopes for the new Pentatone, since the Channel recording is at best a good stopgap on the way to something better.

Post by flyingdutchman November 23, 2009 (6 of 14)
Ok, who likes this one and why?

Post by Windsurfer November 23, 2009 (7 of 14)
flyingdutchman said:

Ok, who likes this one and why?

It came in the mail this morning and I listened to it in the car on my way to PT for a slight tear in my left biceps tendon. Well I tried to listen to it anyway. In the car isn't so great. But I noticed a lot of expressive / interpretive differences from what I am accustomed to in both concertos. People are either going to love this one or hate it.

Post by wehecht November 23, 2009 (8 of 14)
flyingdutchman said:

Ok, who likes this one and why?

I've only had the opportunity to listen once but my first impression is that these are very youthful, extroverted performances, like a breath of very fresh air, and a vast improvement on the early Channel release. The Dvorak is played in a hybrid version, neither pure Dvorak nor pure Kurz, in order "to deal in a more liberal manner with a Romantic text, in the tradition of the pianists of the past" as Mr. Helmchen puts it in his booklet note. If that sounds to you like these are likely to be rather free wheeling performances that might upset some purists I think you've got it exactly right. I also thought the orchestral support was fine and the recording excellent, much better balanced than the Strauss tone poems from the same orchestra and conductor (though apparently a different hall).

Post by krisjan April 5, 2010 (9 of 14)
Link counterbalances Don Vroon's childish 5-word review in ARG...
http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=12691

Post by terence April 5, 2010 (10 of 14)
and the five words in question were....?

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