Classical Music Only | What You're Listening to Now, Or Very Recently | Any Mediums :

[Julot]

Parsifal has always been the most difficult of Wagner's music dramas for me (and I think for most). My starting point was the Knappertsbusch Bayreuth 1951 mono version on London/Decca which I have on the original vinyl. Do you know that one and how the Janowski compares?

I remember the Janowski Ring from the early days of digital - I think it was on something like 18 or 19 CD's on Eurodisc - I have the CD's somewhere. I thought was better than most critics - the wonderful Jeannine Altmeyer was the Brunnhilde IIRC.

Larry

Those are polar opposites. Knappertsbusch is the epitomy of the "mystic" approach to Parsifal, slow and solemn, and he does it very well. By contrast, Janowski's tempi are brisk, and there is no grandiloquence in his expression. While the Kna way is one of a long transe in which you may lose track of what's going on, Janowski feels like a lively reading of the score.Both because of the approach and the sound, Janowski lets you hear how rich and polyphonic the score is. It is actually the first Parsifal I find too short.

The sound on the 51 version is mediocre, but this Janowski may be one of the nicest recordings available. Both are live but Janowski is in concert, recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie. To fully enjoy Kna and the oversized voices of this time, I prefer the Philips "official" 1962 recording: great sound, awesome Hotter as Gurnemanz (who sings the longest), lovely Jess Thomas as Parsifal (but the 51 has the burning Mödl as Kundry), and the profound Kna inspiration.

For an even lighter and more dynamic approach (some would say a materialistic, atheistic one), Kegel is a great option. For luscious sound, and even slower approach than Kna (but more precise orchestral playing), I love Levine at the MET (or in Bayreuth).

The first Janowski ring is indeed full of lovely wonders such as Altmeyer and the Staatskapelle Dresden, but it fails to convince overall, ends up kinda boring. Your having left the CDs somewhere may be a case in point. Janowski matured a lot in those 30 years. I haven't heard his second Ring, but his new Tristan and Parsifal have become go-to versions for me.

Parsifal is indeed difficult. Even more than other Wagner operas, it is tough to appreciate it without some serious study of the libretto. The easiest way to do it, in my opinion, are DVDs (or Blurays): they let you read all the text and understand some of its connection to the music. Listening to the music without following the word can be boring. Reading the text without the music definitely is. The Wagner's magic really is in the way they go together. Different productions carry different ways to read the text. The Kupfer/Barenboim production was the first one where I started understanding Parsifal. I love Herheim but it is maybe not for an "initial" approach, and there's no quality recording available. The production conducted by Haitink in Zurich is quite good, especially in the first act. The recent Covent Garden production (cond. Pappano), or the even more recent Tcherniakov/Barenboim in Berlin are possibly good ways to learn Parsifal too.

One thing that may help find Parsifal less difficult is to understand that it is a lot about sex, and that the center of the piece is the "kiss" of Kundry and Parsifal, through which he understands Amfortas' suffering, i.e. desire.

 

[Julot]

Sorry about the multiple posting -- though I was editing but something is off. Maybe a moderator could erase all posts but this last one?

 

[socfan12]

 

[astrotoy]

Allen this is part of of a very nice set of reissues that Chesky did of some of the great RCA Living Stereo, most of which were on the Absolute Sound Super Disc list, and which were all but unobtainable at the time of the reissues. I especially liked the Ravel Daphnis et Chloe which was one of the earliest stereo issues (RCA LSC-1893 IIRC) and multihundreds of dollars used. Chesky did this way before Classic records came out with their famous (infamous) set of RCA reissues, with cover and back reproductions of the originals. Chad Kassem at Acoustic SOunds is doing a set of around 30 of the most sought after albums, pretty sure "The Reiner Sound" will be one of them. IMHO Chad's reissues are as good or better than the originals - something that I would not say of the Chesky or especially Classic reissues. The Classic 45's were much better than their 33's.

I grew up near Chicago and was a kid when Reiner was conducting the CSO - don't know if I actually saw him conducting, probably not. I think he got chased out of town by a well known music critic of the Chicago Tribune, who had a lot of power in those days. His CSO recordings are among the finest of the Living Stereo series.

Larry

 

[groovy]

Come and get one (in the yarbles.)

 

[puroagave]

Allen this is part of of a very nice set of reissues that Chesky did of some of the great RCA Living Stereo, most of which were on the Absolute Sound Super Disc list, and which were all but unobtainable at the time of the reissues. I especially liked the Ravel Daphnis et Chloe which was one of the earliest stereo issues (RCA LSC-1893 IIRC) and multihundreds of dollars used. Chesky did this way before Classic records came out with their famous (infamous) set of RCA reissues, with cover and back reproductions of the originals. Chad Kassem at Acoustic SOunds is doing a set of around 30 of the most sought after albums, pretty sure "The Reiner Sound" will be one of them. IMHO Chad's reissues are as good or better than the originals - something that I would not say of the Chesky or especially Classic reissues. The Classic 45's were much better than their 33's.

I grew up near Chicago and was a kid when Reiner was conducting the CSO - don't know if I actually saw him conducting, probably not. I think he got chased out of town by a well known music critic of the Chicago Tribune, who had a lot of power in those days. His CSO recordings are among the finest of the Living Stereo series.

Larry

Larry, what didn't you like about the Classic reissues? I'm assuming we're talking about the ones Bernie cut. I think Myles said it, the RCA's the Chesky's reissued were from backups or safety tapes, at the time RCA wouldn't release the original tape. I saw Chad is redoing witches brew but what was more surprising is LSC 2449, the Gounod/Faust record. Was it you that mentioned the British RCAs wouldn't be reissued again, at least not for a long while?

 

[socfan12]

Allen this is part of of a very nice set of reissues that Chesky did of some of the great RCA Living Stereo, most of which were on the Absolute Sound Super Disc list, and which were all but unobtainable at the time of the reissues. I especially liked the Ravel Daphnis et Chloe which was one of the earliest stereo issues (RCA LSC-1893 IIRC) and multihundreds of dollars used. Chesky did this way before Classic records came out with their famous (infamous) set of RCA reissues, with cover and back reproductions of the originals. Chad Kassem at Acoustic SOunds is doing a set of around 30 of the most sought after albums, pretty sure "The Reiner Sound" will be one of them. IMHO Chad's reissues are as good or better than the originals - something that I would not say of the Chesky or especially Classic reissues. The Classic 45's were much better than their 33's.

I grew up near Chicago and was a kid when Reiner was conducting the CSO - don't know if I actually saw him conducting, probably not. I think he got chased out of town by a well known music critic of the Chicago Tribune, who had a lot of power in those days. His CSO recordings are among the finest of the Living Stereo series.

Larry

Hi Larry,

Thanks for the background. This is my only Chesky reissue that I found at Princeton Record Exchange. I also have some of the Classic Records reissues also purchased from PREx. I have Witches Brew on CR, 45, cut on one side only. To my ears, that remaster seemed a bit bright, but I've only played it once. I later read that Brew is not one of their best remasters.:facepalm:

I also have 2 or 3 of the AP reissues. Based on what I heard, I actually purchased a subscription! The first half should be coming this week or next. I am looking forward to them!

Larry, what didn't you like about the Classic reissues? I'm assuming we're talking about the ones Bernie cut. I think Myles said it, the RCA's the Chesky's reissued were from backups or safety tapes, at the time RCA wouldn't release the original tape. I saw Chad is redoing witches brew but what was more surprising is LSC 2449, the Gounod/Faust record. Was it you that mentioned the British RCAs wouldn't be reissued again, at least not for a long while?

Rob, I've preordered Brew, didn't know Gounod/Faust was going to be reissued. That should be good. I'll look for that as well. I think the CR reissue goes for big $$$.

 

[socfan12]

On MoFi.

Hi-Q (or something like that) has reissued this, supposedly all analog. Anyone know anything about this label? Any good?

 

[MikeCh]

On MoFi.

Hi-Q (or something like that) has reissued this, supposedly all analog. Anyone know anything about this label? Any good?

Hi Allen,

Per the link, "Cut from the Original Analogue EMI Master Tapes" .....I think I'd buy it and see.

 

[socfan12]

Hey Mike, when are you coming back and start posting again?

I did buy a Hi-Q release, a Starker. We'll see how they are.


For tonight:

Wonderful music and sonics.

 

[MikeCh]

Hey Mike, when are you coming back and start posting again?

I did buy a Hi-Q release, a Starker. We'll see how they are.


For tonight:

Wonderful music and sonics.





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Nice selection once again Allen!

I'll be back to listening and posting my selections as soon as I can. It's been a very busy summer for me/us between work, camping and building cables but hoping to get back into the swing of things (and re-break in my phono stage LOL) in a few weeks or so.

I miss spinning vinyl and dedicating whole nights to it....

 

[puroagave]

Rob, I've preordered Brew, didn't know Gounod/Faust was going to be reissued. That should be good. I'll look for that as well. I think the CR reissue goes for big $$$.

its was in the circular that came with my recent order, not on the website but shows a catalog number: AAPC 2449, 200g $30 list.

 

[astrotoy]

its was in the circular that came with my recent order, not on the website but shows a catalog number: AAPC 2449, 200g $30 list.

Both Witches Brew and the Gounod/Faust were actually produced and engineered by Decca (by Wilkie in the vast majority of cases) under contract for RCA. Classics Records reissued quite a few (around 20) of these albums when they did their initial RCA Living Stereo Releases. The originals are considered by most as some of the best sounding of the Living Stereo albums. I talk a bit about them in my Decca book, in the early pages in Volume 1. I paid a lot for my original pressings, IIRC both 1S.

The licensing of these Decca engineered releases is pretty complex, I believe. Decca, now Universal, actually owns the rights. RCA only has the rights for 10 years, and then Decca got the rights back and released them in the early 1970's, in the case of both Witches Brew and the Gounod/Faust, they were on the Decca SPA bargain label. Others were released on the Decca Eclipse label. In the case of Venice, another of the most famous Decca engineered RCA albums, in the US Decca released the album on their full priced London series. I noticed that originally, Chad only had one Decca engineered album in the first 30 or 35 albums he listed. However, I am very pleased that he is getting some of these really important titles. I have been very pleased with the reissues that he has do so far. I think I have all the originals bought used, and getting these albums in pristine shape, with very well engineered sonics at a reasonable price is a real treat. One of the very most expensive of the RCA's is the double album "Royal Ballet" also engineered by Decca. Originally in a very fancy Soria box, Classics reissued the album, including a very nice reprouction of the box in a special album. They also had a cheaper version of the album with just a double sleeve. They also did a 45rpm box which I think has better sonics than their 33 release (true generally for the Classics issues that I have).

There is a story (in my book p.26) about RCA and Decca. Mike Mailes, one of the old timers at Decca whom I was able to interview extensively for the book (and who has become a good friend), was in the US for the first time, engineering (with Wilkie) Dorati and the National Symphony in DC in the early '70's. One of the orchestra players (and Mike said it was not the contrabassoonist - who wrote for Stereophile or TAS) said that they had some great sounding classical albums in the US. He mentioned RCA specifically, Witches Brew and Venice and a couple of others. Mike was able to tell him that it was Decca that had engineered those albums! BTW, out of those sessions in DC came the Absolute Sound Super Disc Roberto Gerhard's The Plague (Decca HEAD 6).

I'll see whether I can post pictures of my originals and the Decca reissues.

Larry

 

[socfan12]

its was in the circular that came with my recent order, not on the website but shows a catalog number: AAPC 2449, 200g $30 list.

Ah, I threw those circulars in the recycle bin wo looking at them. Just pulled one and see it now. Wow, can't wait to preorder it.

Perhaps they're waiting until the Classic Records 45 reissue are sold out? $425!!! About a year ago it was much less than that, geez!

 

[socfan12]

Larry, thanks for the info again. Never heard of Decca Spa, need to look for them. Are they good pressings?

Congrats on scoring Brew 1S, wow!! That must sound phenomenal!

re: Gerhard's The Plague. Have the CD, a bit odd. Passed on the LP as I don't think I would listen to it too often.

 

[socfan12]

 

[socfan12]

Back to Mozart. Took a chance for $8, 5lps. Enjoying this much more than I thought I would. Fun music!

 

[Mas]

Gideon Kremer;

 

[socfan12]

My first Hi-Q LP. Good sonics, but a bit noisy pressing.

 

[MikeCh]

Back to Mozart. Took a chance for $8, 5lps. Enjoying this much more than I thought I would. Fun music!

View attachment 12798

Some of these ffrr's sound better than they should for the price, I agree!