Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

    If you like chamber music, I strongly recommend that you try the
    Handel Trio sonatas. In particular, there is a denon disk with 3
    of the trio sonatas. One of the soloists is Heinz Holliger. There
    is 2 disk set by Phillips with the Trio sonatas Op 5. Both are
    excellent and will give you many hours of pleasant listening.

    I recently found the Beethoven violin sonatas on Deutsche Grammophone
    with Wilhelm Kempf (piano) and Yehudi Menuhin (violin). I'm not
    really crazy about Menuhin, but Kempf's Beethoven and Mozart are
    incredible--also his Schubert. I can't compare the CDs to the Lps
    because I never managed to find but one of the LPs. The sound is
    very good, though. The "Kreutzer" Sonata holds its own with the
    Rubinstein/Szeryng (sp?), which has always been my favorite recording
    of that.
    
    I also have a Denon CD of some Beethoven string trios with Josef
    Suk, but there's something off-putting about the acoustics of the
    recording location. Can't recommend it very highly.
    
    The Amadeus Quartet rerecorded Schubert's "Death and the Maiden"
    (DDD on Deutsche Grammophone) which is, in some ways, even more
    electrifying than their old analog stereo recording on LP.
    I wonder when their complete cycle of the Beethoven quartets will
    ever appear on CD? Perhaps now that they have disbanded, DG will
    release a memorial tribute or something.
    
    Good luck
    Jack Truslow
    

Another excellent choice for the "Kreutzer" and "Spring" sonatas is the
Perlman/Ashkenazy CD on DECCA. Actually, they are part of a set (still
being recorded) of all the violin sonatas, and if this disk is any indication
I'll probably buy more. I've also heard good things about the Kremer/Argerich
set. Perlman's violin has perhaps the best tone I've ever heard on CD, the
recordings are very well balanced and the dynamics are just astounding.

I'm hearing Alfred Brendel (for the n-th time since Saturday) play Schubert's
B-flat minor sonata on a Philips Silver Line CD (which I got for $8.99). 
This was a great bargain, the pianissimo start could have been more hushed, 
but otherwise this is played with great feeling. The coupling is the 
"Wanderer" fantasy, which I felt was slightly rushed in spots, but still would
make one of the all time great "Wanderer" performances.

Actually, this weekend I tried some other "Silver Line" CDs and haven't
found a bad one among the 3 I bought: Mahler's 4th with Elly Ameling as the
soparano and Haitink directing the Concertgebouw, and Ashkenazy playing
Rachmaninoff's 2nd concerto and the Pagannini rhapsody with Previn and
the LSO; and of course the one mentioned earlier. Definite recommendations 
for all the three. Definitely not chamber music, bu I thought you'd like
to know.

As for the Amadeus quartet playing "Death and the Maiden", I don't know
if I've got the one you are refering too, is it the one with "Quarttetsatz"
as a filler. There are some portions where the first violin get a little
rough in the "Maiden" (first movement), a little scratchy. But otherwise
it is a fine recording. More Schubert: try the Cleveland Quartet with Yo-Yo Ma
playin the string quintet (exquisite) and the Hagen Quartet with Andras Schiff
play "Trout".


So, anybody recommending anything for Mozart's late string quartets. It's
a lot of money and I'd like to spend it wisely.

Thanx,
Sudhir

    
    I have the Italian box of the Mozart quartets. The first 13 quartets
    are pretty much pieces Mozart wrote at a very tender age and not
    very interesting. The last ten are to my mind classic performances
    if somewhat sonically dated (mid-60s performances). Am I glad I
    bought the box? Yes (I had the late ones on vinyl). Would I recommend
    them to others? Yes, if you love the late Mozart quartets and the
    Italian Quartet and don't mind paying about $28/disk... you probably
    will listen to the early quartets once a year.
    
    More effective places to spend your money:
    
    1) There are about six two CD boxes of the Tatrai Quartet playing
       Hadyn: Opus 17, 20, 33, 50, 54/55, 64, 71/74, 76 (and a one box opus
       77.) Any of these are great, particularly 50, 64, and 76. The
       label is Hungaraton, the performances were recorded between 1964
       and 1980.
                
    2) The Grumiaux box of the Mozart quintets.
    
    3) The Lindsay doing Schubert, Hadyn, or Beethoven.
    
    4) The Vegh doing Bartok or late Beethoven.
    
    5) The Kempff/Menuhin set of the sonatas mentioned previously.
    
    What I've got in CDs is about 90% chamber music... these are probably
    my favorites.
    
       John
    
    ps. One of these days ASV will even put out the rest of the Lindsay's
    Beethoven on CD (still hoping!)
    

	This month's Grammaphone magazine announced their awards for the
	best CDs of the year. In the solo category, Alfred Brendel won for
	his collection of Haydn's piano sonatas on Phillips. I've heard
	some of the sonatas on radio (though I can't seem to recall the 
	soloist) and I remember disliking them because of their extremely 
	agreeable quality. If any of you has bought this collection, would 
	you be kind enough to post a review?

	Also on the awards list was the Chandos CD of the Hummel A minor
	and B minor piano concertos. The soloist is Stephen Hough and
	he is accompanied by the ECO under Bryden Thomson. Johann Hummel
	is perhaps the most overlooked composer of the Classical period,
	everytime I'm exposed to his music I marvel at his invention of
	melodic line and superb orchestration. The piano playing is of
	the highest order, and I'll look forward to more releases of
	Stephen Hough's music making. For a better review see Grammaphone
	magazine.

	That's it for now.
	Enjoy,
	Sudhir

    The Haydn sonatas played by Brendel were one of my very first
    purchases. Brendel is not a great favorite of mine (although I was
    very pleasantly surprised by some Schubert of his that I heard a
    few years ago at some friends'). The set has 3 CDs in it, each one
    recorded a few years after the one before it--the sound quality
    improves noticeably from disc to disc. But if you want to become
    more familiar with the Haydn sonatas, let me rave for a bit over
    the disc I bought yesterday. It's a sampler of sonatas on Nonesuch
    played by Gilbert Kalish and taken from his 5-Lp set on vinyl. I've
    owned one of the records for many years, but I always found the
    surface noise and/or grit in the grooves nearly unbearable. The
    CD is immaculate! Wonderful piano tone, almost no tape hiss--and
    the playing is nothing short of brilliant! But then I sort of like
    Haydn when he's being "agreeable"--he's ALWAYS quirky and interesting.
     
    Jack Truslow
    
    PS--Yes, the Schubert "Death and the Maiden" is the one with the
    quartet piece as a filler. Don't you think that the violin tone
    is deliberate?
    

    Let me correct that last note: the Haydn sonatas are on 4 CDs, not
    3. But the comments still apply.
    
    By the way--the Beethoven piano trios are out now with Kempff, Szeryng,
    and Fournier. I think it's the BEST recording on ANY medium (tape,
    vinyl, or CD) that I've ever heard. And the performances are
    comparable. 
    
    Another very good release is on Melodiya/Angel. It has two
    Shostakovitch quartets (played by the Borodin Quartet) and a
    Shostakovitch piano quintet (the Borodin is joined by Sviatoslav
    Richter).
    
    JT