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Discussion: Starker plays Kodaly

Posts: 7

Post by Cellophile March 23, 2005 (1 of 7)
Well, I paid through the nose for this. Bought it on ebay from a vendor out of Hong Kong. Its Japanese, and they LOVE Starker. So do I. The more I listen to him, I realize that his performances are so musical, well thought out. The attention to detail is incredible. I basically buy evey recording of him I can find. He is that good.

The Kodaly Suite for Unaccompanied Cello is his signature piece. Kodaly heard Starker perform it and said to him that, excepting one ritardando in the 3rd movement, his was the "bible" of this piece. This is perhaps the greatest unaccompanied cello suite since Bach, and possibly, can be said to supercede Bach.

I have owned this on LP, CD, and now SACD. I can't remember the LP, and I do not currently have playback capabilities....but I still own the LP. Ican tell you that the CD is good, but the SACD is incredible. I played segments of both the CD and SACD alternately, and the overall detail on the SACD is fantastic. The tone of the cello is improved. It was worth the some odd $39.00 US I paid. I hope you can get it for less. I guess it will eventually be in greater distribution.

This disc also contains the Kodaly Duo for Violin and Cello, equally well done and of equal audiophile standards.

I would also reccommend the MLP version of Starker's Bach Cello Suites. These are his earlier recordings, when he was in his prime.

Now I see his Dvorak is out on SACD. Of course already have it on CD. But I'll probably get it too.

Post by Beagle May 12, 2005 (2 of 7)
Cellophile said:

I basically buy evey recording of him I can find. He is that good.

Dear Cello,

Just a quick note to say "YES, worth every yen" -- and encourage a few innocents to 'come on over to the Dark Side', i.e. discover Kidály's visceral music on this gorgeous recording.

I am not always in the mood for the Bach solos (the tune remembered in the head can get in the way of the tune in the ears?) -- but the pained music of Kodály always cheers me up. --I think I'm starting to miss the 20th Century: its horrors evoked such soulful music, at least out of central europe. It was splendid on vinyl, it stood up well in RBCD, and now it is an honour to step closer to the fire with SACD.

In a previous life, I was a 'gallery artist', and last month one of my old fellow artists reestablished contact through the internet. He is still in the exhibitionist business, I'm not. I mention these trivia because: the gallery owner with whom he now exhibits, is married to Starker's daughter. Small universe?

Dvorák...? what else lies in the Starker archives?

Post by akiralx May 13, 2005 (3 of 7)
Cellophile said:

Well, I paid through the nose for this. Bought it on ebay from a vendor out of Hong Kong. Its Japanese, and they LOVE Starker. So do I. The more I listen to him, I realize that his performances are so musical, well thought out. The attention to detail is incredible. I basically buy evey recording of him I can find. He is that good.

Haven't heard may of his recordings, and he is clearly a superb exponent of the Kodaly - but one I would avoid is his coupling of the Walton and Elgar concertos, IIRC with Slatkin. The latter was so choppily played that I couldn't bear it.

Post by onebit May 13, 2005 (4 of 7)
Looks like AcousticSounds.com is going to be stocking this and other "Top Music International" titles by the end of May.

It's on their "coming soon" list, and is $ 30.00 US.

Post by onebit July 7, 2005 (5 of 7)
Just got mine this week. An amazing performance, and definitely a wonderful recording.

Strangely, it comes in a box (not a jewel case), and half of the liner notes are promotional material for Bryston and PMC (!).

Seems kind of cheesy for such a great record. Oh well, probably my one and only purchase from Top Music International.

Post by Beagle July 12, 2005 (6 of 7)
onebit said:

...and half of the liner notes are promotional material for Bryston and PMC (!)

Yeah. Different, that. I found it all interesting though -- I'm a Bryston fan.
The equipment was used in the Mastering process; maybe it was a quid pro quo, but I don't have a problem with that. I'd be curious to see what other recording labs are using.

Neither am I likely to purchase another Top soon; the 15 listed under LABELS here are too 'eclectic' to be appealing. But, THANK YOU, Top, for the Starker Kodály!

Post by canonical March 22, 2009 (7 of 7)
Does anyone know:

1. Was this SACD actually produced from the original master analog tapes? Does the box say that? I emailed Top Music International, asking them same, but they have not answered. Charming.

2. Does anyone have this both on redbook ($6) and SACD ($34) and been able to compare?

Cheers and thanks

Colin

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