I have absolutely nothing by Murray Perahia, I think. Sounds like I have to check him out. Will do so.

Elly Ney is probably the weirdest pianist I've ever encountered. Maybe I'll put a post together on her one day. I just don't know if I'm up-to-date on all my psychoanalysis to even get a grip on her. ;) Shady, yes, to the max, but also apparently someone who immersed herself so much in Beethoven that she even began to look like him.

I've never heard Maria João Pires' Schumann interpretations. I do have her Schubert set with the Impromptus and a few other bits and pieces, some with Augustin Dumay. Excellent stuff.

A pianist I like in Schumann is Murray Perahia. He's a pianist who typically excels in Mozart, Schubert and Schumann, but whose playing is a tad too light for Beethoven's sonatas - at least to my ears. His Beethoven piano concertos with Bernard Haitink, on the other hand, are great. An exception to the rule, I'd say :) Other Schubert interpreters I like are Radu Lupu, Alfred Brendel and Imogen Cooper.

As with jazz pianists I can go on and on and on...

You mentioned Elly Ney earlier. I know her name, but I've never heard anything by her on record/CD. She certainly was a shady personality, especially during the Nazi years.

Man, I had to fight several gag reflexes to appreciate a lot of the Glenn Gould "Original Jacket Collection" reissues, especially the Schoenberg recordings ... but then ... bliss.

We agree on the Rubinstein (thank God!) ;) The more expensive remasters SUCK.
We agree on that as well.

We agree on Maria João Pires, whose Schumann interpretations ("Kinderszenen. Waldszenen. Bunte Blätter") is simply one of the most sensitive AND sensible recordings available.

And it's cheap.:)

Let me exaggerate here a tiny little bit: I have a million recordings of "Von fremden Menschen und Ländern" (the epitome of my own life in a single composition), and Pires nailed it.

Perfect tempo.
Perfect intonation
Perfect ...

Love it.

Cheers!

:)

Thanks for the kind words, they're appreciated.

Perhaps I should listen to the Paul Lewis interpretations again, but the - to my ears - lacking tension etc. annoyed me so much that I will have to overcome some considerable aversion first... By the way, it's good to disagree on things like this, it makes discussions more interesting.

Having said that, I must admit that my favourite Chopin recordings are... Rubinstein's, especially his 1950s/1960s interpretations. They're indeed very cheap, as long as you're looking for the "Chopin Collection" CDs that came out in the 1980s. I'd avoid the later and more expensive remasters, they don't sound very good to my ears, too harsh and processed.

Other favourite Chopin interpreters of mine are Dinu Lipatti and Yuri Egorov, who both died way too young, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Maria João Pires, but Artur Rubinstein comes first, technical flaws and all. His playing oozes Chopin, so to speak.

great to see you here once again. Thanks for being this site's most faithful - and most thoughtful (!) - reader and commenter.

Of course, I have to agree with your "Ludwig Beck" sentiments. We're on the same plane there. I have no idea what their shipment policies are, but inside of that shop I almost got a heart attack ... and I mean that in a positive way. :)

I completely disagree with you on the Paul Lewis recordings. Yes, they might be lacking here or there (minutely) when compared to Richter and Kempf (sorry, but I do not have any Solomon recordings), but I personally think that he has actually managed to nail exactly what you are missing in these recordings: tension and feeling.

I've heard so many interpretations, the Gulda and Brendel recordings being my favorites (yes, I know that Brendel is mannered, but at least he did NOT manage to spoil his student, Lewis), but do not forget that I was influenced by a mother who spent a lifetime ingesting Beethoven. The other day we had a long talk about Elly Ney, shady a personality as she was, and her immersion in Beethoven to the extent that she had her hairdo shaped accordingly.

My feelings for what Beethoven "should sound like" were, for better or for worse, shaped by my mother's intimate knowledge of Beetoven's oevre.

I am taken in by Lewis's interpretation (yes, interpretation) and I stick by my recommendation. It's fabulous stuff, the technical expertise not withstanding, which might often distract from the emotions pouring from a recording.

Hans, I have always valued your opinion and continue to do so, almost unquestioned, escpecially because it makes me rethink my take on what I'm hearing.

Let's just agree ...
that we disagree on this one.

Additionally, I have soaked up every snippet you posted on Organissimo re the Jamal set (I HATE it when things I WANT are delayed), but your information is very much appreciated (consider the "Very" doubly underlined!), which I looked for once Jamal showed up on my radar. To be quite honest, your information was the only worthwhile and useful information I found. Kudos!

Let me add one thing: Chopin is another composer my heart bleeds for. It took me ages to find one single cycle my heart agrees with: It turned out to be the one Rubinstein recorded before I was even a figment of imagination. Today it can be had dirt-cheap.

Will we disagree on that one as well?

:)

My best to you, Holland, and the northern hemisphere.

Let's meet and listen to some good (or: controversial) interpretations of ... music?

Ludwig Beck has had a fantastic CD department for years, and before that a great LP section. In my vinyl days I got several fabulous Japanese LP pressings of jazz recordings from them and after I had switched to CD, numerous jazz CDs from Japan. Unfortunately, several years ago they decided to stop mailing CDs abroad; I don't know if they still ship within Germany.

A huge Ahmad Jamal set is planned by Mosaic. It will probably be 9 or 10 CDs and include Jamal's 1950s piano/bass/drums trio sessions for Argo/Chess with Israel Crosby and Vernel Fournier. Release was originally scheduled for March 2009, but unfortunately, due to the fire at Universal (they own Argo/Chess) which caused several tapes to be mislaid, the set will probably not be released until some time in 2010. More news here: http://www.organissimo.org/...hp?showtopic=47470&hl=