Records Recently Heard of music composed after 1791.

PeteH said:
Now playing chez PeteH is Malcolm Binns playing Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov, Hyperion's The Romantic Piano Concerto volume 5.

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There are three works on the CD, namely Rimsky-Korsakov's piano concerto from 1882/3 and Balakirev's op. 1 and op. posth. concertos. The Rimsky and the early Balakirev are both fairly slight works at less than 15 minutes each, sounding rather like Chopin played with a vaguely St Petersburg accent. The late Balakirev work is over half an hour long and rather more characteristic - the slow movement in particular taps into the same vein of Slavic melancholy found in the slow movement of Balakirev's glorious and echt-Russian first symphony, if without quite such an unforgettable tune.

Thoroughly sensible, extremely well-played performances (David Lloyd-Jones conducting the English Northern Philharmonia on excellent form) and excellent recording as you'd expect.
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Hi Pete,

I was thinking of getting this CD as I'm a sucker for a piano concerto! I already have several of this series (Litolff, Saint-Saens, Pierne). While they are good performances and recordings, overall I find the acoustic a little bit 'dead' in comparison with, for example, the Rimsky-Ks' Piano Concerto (Tozer) tucked onto the end of the 3rd Symphony (Chandos 7029[2]) and many other piano recordings. I was wondering if you were aware of any other CD releases of the Balakirev, as I don't seem able to find any? Many thanks.
 
Hi walnut,

It is an excellent series isn't it :) . If the Chandos / Tozer / Medtner recordings are anything to go by, it's likely that pretty much anything will sound 'dead' by comparison with the Chandos version! There is a Chandos version of Balakirev's 1st, and if you search on MDT you'll find a few others too.

FWIW I think there's room for both approaches - the close-up / explicit / clear / dry kind of sound is for me a valid alternative to the distant / spacious / reverberant / indistinct approach Chandos often seems to favour; there are advantages and disadvantages with each.
 
Hi Pete,

I'm not familiar with the Chandos / Tozer / Medtner recordings. Unfortunately I've got the Naxos / Scherbakov / Medtners' which really are vague and indistinct. They are a great disappointment and I wouldn't recommend them.

Regarding the Hyperions http://www.the-woods.co.uk/ (an 'unusual' site composed mainly of lists) have an offer of 3 for £9.49 each until the end of the month. I shall be treating myself to some!

Thanks for pointing out MDT. I don't know why I've overlooked it as it is a very useful source of information and hopefully a few CDs. :D
 
Yesterday I picked up a s/h 'Mendelssohn Complete String Symphonies (Vol.1)' Broughton / ESO / Nimbus NI 5141 from 1988. This is wonderful. The performance is engaging and the recording offers a full, rich and sonorous sound that I find very seductive. Even better, the Vol.1 bit implies that there are more. :D
 
lordsummit said:
What are you going to do with all your records then Tones? You must have quite a job to chase all of them down?
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Sorry, Richard, only just noticed this. I don't go out actively hunting for replacements, but when the opportunity to get a CD version of an old LP favourite arises, I grab it. The records? I keep them out of a misplaced sense of nostaglia and a well-placed sense of smell. Smell? you ask. Well, they stink. They were in storage for quite a while when we moved to Switzerland, and mildew got in. I have them all in individual Ziplock bags! If someone knows how they can be deponged, I'm all ears.
 
Just rediscovered an old friend. About a million years ago, Stanley Black recorded an LP of Russian favourites with the Royal Philharmonic and called it "Sputniks for Orchestra". I think it was on Decca originally (mine is World Record Club Australia). This includes the best version of Tchaikovsky's other patriotic piece, the "Marche Slave", I've ever heard. It builds up at the end to an awesome roar as the Tsarist National Anthem reaches its climax. Marvellous! Must play it again...
 

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