I just found and downloaded the Bastianini Rigoletto, and it truly has never sounded this good.
This recording now, must rank as a primary choice.
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I didn’t know of Alexandra Dovgan until now. I found that she is a rising star who is having quite a career even as a teenager. She has already performed in major concert halls and festivals (Verbier, Salzburg). She has been performing internationally including Japan, and just a few weeks ago with the Detroit Symphony in Saint-Saens Piano Concerto #2. Next year at age 18 she will have a solo recital at Carnegie Hall.
Here was Dovgan at 10 years old, quite the prodigy.
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Pristine usually give you the option of both.
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I do wonder about the copyright issues of operations like Pristine or HDTT. They’re remastering commercially released recordings, often sourced from LPs or other non-mastertape originals. I assume these are not directly licensed from the original owners.
in some cases I’m happy to have them (see Rigoletto), but others seem dubious, at best (the Met Trovatore).
I think they are largely legit, but I’ve notice some disingenuousness of the quality of their products when I’ve put them through Spek…
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Have been on a live music tear and it has had the odd effect of temporarily decreasing my listening to recorded music. Though I have a nice listening system, live performance is so much more vibrant and performance physicality, which I’ve always been riveted by (and occasionally appreciated on what some would term flawed and I would call beautifully revealing microphone placement in recordings) is manifest.
Had the pleasure of recently listening to Nelson Goerner, a renowned Argentine pianist now living in Geneva, at the Chopin Society in St. Paul, MN in a lovely venue. He assayed Ravel, Debussy and Liszt. The standouts to me were his Mouvement from Debussy’s Images, Book 1, L’isle joyeuse and the Liszt Etude de concert ‘La leggierezza’ all of which he has recorded to great effect.
My previous and continuing favorite for the recorded Debussy are Marc-André Hamelin’s, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli’s (previously cited in this blog) and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s
.
That said, I found Mr. Goerner’s live performance more deeply pleasurable than any of these and his recording is a wonderful one. His Mouvement was as refined and articulate as Marc-André Hamelin’s, with a bit greater dynamism and color. Splendid.
I found his Liszt performance spell-binding and ‘La leggierezza’ put me over the moon. His recording of the same is also wonderful.
For an enjoyable comparison, I highly recommend Benno Moiseiwitsch’s incredible recording of this piece.
Lastly, I wanted to note that Mr. Goerner trained in Florence with Maria Tipo, a recently set sun in the piano world.
Some have called these Scarlatti performances ‘Bachmaninovian’. See what you think.
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Some interesting late 50’s- early 60’s LP’s, boxed and otherwise, a few of which have crossed into the digital realm, so something some of us could not listen to with our digital systems, were we so inclined. Could you comment upon what you find/found compelling about these recordings when you generously share them?
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I bought them all new “in the day” and am slowly taking them out of storage. I have not heard them in decades until now. I found several more today from Musical Heritage Society but am awaiting sleeves into which to place them.
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I previously mentioned that I’ve been to multiple live performances recently. I’ll mention another one that was remarkable. Leif Ove Andsnes is a wonderful and virtuosic pianist and I’ve greatly enjoyed his turn to Nordic works. In this performance he played Piano Sonata in E minor by a 22 y old Edvard Grieg, happily besotted in Copenhagen with future wife Nina Hagerup. This sonata, rarely performed or recorded, is a young composer’s piece and has a resounding (sempre grandiose), densely chorded finale that Mr. Andsnes performed with aplomb.
The next piece was the highlight, Geir Tveitt’s Piano Sonata No. 29, aka Sonata etera, (ethereal) and the artist took a moment to explain it. This piece, with atonal and other unique and experimental elements was spurned by Norwegian critics when premiered in 1947. It has since become highly esteemed and Mr. Andsnes refers to Geir Tveitt as “a kind of Norwegian Bartok.” I found this sonata and performance stunning. In the beginning of the second movement, Mr. Andsnes disappeared from view (sadly, we had acoustically wonderful, visually mediocre seats), as he pressed 16 keys with his left forearm whilst playing tone clusters with his right hand. The overtones associated with this were spellbinding. The rest of the piece was remarkable and evoked Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Bartok and Ravel, but was, in the end, its own idiom. I’ve found only two recordings of this piece and look forward to Mr. Andsnes’ recording. The audience gave a standing O at the end of the sonata.
The post-intermission was a brilliantly performed Chopin 24 Preludes, which revealed the performer’s sensitive, refined, articulated, beautifully colored facets. Wonderful.
Here are the Geir Tveitt’s Piano Sonata recordings I found
and highly regarded Tveitt orchestral works
Lastly, here is a Mr. Andsnes recording (with Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and Grete Pedersen) of Liszt by at his most spiritual and pared down. Have a listen and see if you can hear Liszt in Via Crucis. Far from the tempestuous virtuosity of earlier works. This is paired with Consolations and two Poemes poétiques et religieuses. Contemplative music.
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