TSR Piano Society

Wow, the Lhevinne is really nice. What's your favourite ChopEts set? Mine is probably Freire.

I don't have enough sets to judge, really. I have Ashkenazy's and Berezovsky's - I prefer Ashkenazy's, though he's a bit uninspiring in some places - e.g. 25/12, though he brings out the melody nicely. He just does it wayyyy too slow for me. Berezovsky does it better. Pollini is like nerf Ashkenazy, nowhere near as emotionally affecting, I find.

Reply 1582

Haeron

I don't have enough sets to judge, really. I have Ashkenazy's and Berezovsky's - I prefer Ashkenazy's, though he's a bit uninspiring in some places - e.g. 25/12, though he brings out the melody nicely. He just does it wayyyy too slow for me. Berezovsky does it better. Pollini is like nerf Ashkenazy, nowhere near as emotionally affecting, I find.

Some of the Pollini is pretty cool, but yes, I agree. Get the Freire (it's split over 2 cds with the 2nd and 3rd sonatas though): damn fast but extremely nuanced and affecting. I really like the Perahia too. Cziffra is good for comedy value (eg. if he doesn't think there's enough arpeggios he sicks a few more in, and his tempi are eccentric). God, I have a lot of these :o:

Reply 1583

Da Bachtopus

Some of the Pollini is pretty cool, but yes, I agree. Get the Freire (it's split over 2 cds with the 2nd and 3rd sonatas though): damn fast but extremely nuanced and affecting. I really like the Perahia too. Cziffra is good for comedy value (eg. if he doesn't think there's enough arpeggios he sicks a few more in, and his tempi are eccentric). God, I have a lot of these :o:

Ew, Chopin 2nd Sonata. Sorry, I'm not a fan of it tbh :P I only like the 3rd.
I imagine all these recordings are satisfactory in some way, but it's way harder to find a completely satisfactory one of the Liszt Transcendentals :shifty:

Reply 1584

Haeron

Ew, Chopin 2nd Sonata. Sorry, I'm not a fan of it tbh :P I only like the 3rd.
I imagine all these recordings are satisfactory in some way, but it's way harder to find a completely satisfactory one of the Liszt Transcendentals :shifty:

Tru dat. I don't like Liszt much though, except the B minor sonata, so I just have the Cziffra complete, and listen to random other people (eg Richter) in selected études.

Reply 1585

Tru dat. I don't like Liszt much though, except the B minor sonata, so I just have the Cziffra complete, and listen to random other people (eg Richter) in selected études.

The B Minor Sonata is the best thing he ever wrote, IMO. However, he's brilliant for transcriptions and character pieces - e.g. Liebestraum no. 3, Waldesrauschen. I also think the Transcendental Etudes are up there. The Annees de Pelerinages are largely not great, save a few things.

There's always Rach :wink:

Reply 1586

I don't like Rachmaninov.

Reply 1587

I think I'll have to stop talking to you then, I'm afraid.

Only joking :wink:

To each his own.

I guess you're quite the Bach fan?

Reply 1588

ukebert

13

I've never got into Rach's solo piano music I have to say. His concerti and rhapsody are very good though.

Reply 1589

I've never got into Rach's solo piano music I have to say. His concerti and rhapsody are very good though.

It's interesting - his solo piano music is so much more exploratory than his other works - brilliant though they are. They're much less romantic in style, and tend (especially in the etudes-tableaux) to be a bit like prokofiev.
I found some of it quite inaccessible at first, but then I listened more and it grew on me, I suppose.
The Corelli Variations are crazy.

Reply 1590

I like Prokofiev so maybe I should given them a listen. Although Prokofiev can be quite naive it's a naivety that appeals to me in a way Rach's doesn't. The War Sonatas are great, and the first three concerti, plus quite a lot of misc. pieces. Rachmaninov I find just rather overstated and saccherine and sentimental, and whilst I've some time for the 2nd concerto, I just feel that the whole temperament of everything he wrote is so antithetical to my own (not to mention my grumpiness regarding his anti-modernism) I can't take much of it. I don't get the third concerto, I find it dull and rambling. I can see what's nice about the B minor prelude, say, but still it's not really my thing. I much prefer Medtner; yes it's conservative, but it's subtle and reserved in a way Rach isn't. I like this quite a bit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT6zEFxKhfE

And of course Bach is my hero; or at least up there with Beethoven and Mahler in my musical pantheon.

Reply 1591

ukebert

13

Have you tried the Paganni rhapsody? I've always liked that quite a lot.

Reply 1592

Me? I couldn't play that sheeyat. It's ok, but doesn't inspire me.

Have just realized that the MS Entourage "incoming mail" beep is the first piano entry in the Prokofiev 3rd Concerto.

Reply 1593

ukebert

13

I like it. Probably a lot to do with the theme of course.

Reply 1594