Like so many people in the music business, I find that CDs start to pile up and, despite my best intentions I end up with dozens of CDs and DVDs that just don’t get listened to or watched. Now that I finally have a couple of free days, I have a long list of discs and DVDs that are begging for my attention.
Here are some of them:
Fritz Wunderlich: The Legend on Profil (PHO 8016). I’ve always loved his sweet voice and these recordings are from the 1950s, early in this extraordinary singer’s short career and life. Most of the recordings I own of Wunderlich (in fact, probably all) are from the 1960s. So I’m looking forward to hearing how Wunderlich sounded early on.
Elliott Carter String Quartets, Volume 1, The Pacifica Quartet (Naxos 8559362). I actually did listen to the Quartet No. 1, which was absolutely superb. I’m looking forward to hearing the entire cycle when the Pacifica performs them at the Ethical Culture Society on January 30. I must confess that Carter’s music isn’t always my first choice, but this performance of the Quartet No. 1 made a believer out of me. I have an old recording of the Arditti buried in my CD collection somewhere. I’m curious to compare the performances…
A good friend recently lent me a performance of Mahler Symphony No. 10 featuring the New Philharmonia with conductor Wyn Morris. Morris also recorded an absolutely superb performance of Mahler Symphony No. 8 with the Symphonica of London, which has long been a part of my collection. Sadly both of these discs are out-of-print. I’m curious to compare this performance to the Rattle/Berlin.
Jean Sablon… Yes that velvet-voiced French baritone of the 1940s and 1950s is one of my personal favorites.
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus; Piano Concerto No. 1; Symphony No. 3 (Naxos 8554147). Actually I’ve already listened to—and loved—Cantus Arcticus and the Piano Concerto. I’m very anxious to listen to the Symphony No. 3, which I do not know at all. I love Rautavaara’s music so this should be a pleasure.
Messaien: Des Canyons aux étoiles; Hymne au Saint-Sacrement; Les offrandes oubliées; Yvonne Loriod; Ensemble Ars Nova; Orchestra Philharmonique de l’ O.R.T.F., Marius Constant (Warner Classics/Apex 2564 60427). I recently watched a wonderful film by Olivier Mille on Idéale Audience’s Juxtapositions series, Olivier Messiaen: La Liturgie de Cristal, after which I realized that Messiaen’s wife and muse, the extraordinary pianist Yvonne Loriod, had somehow fallen off my “piano junkie” radar. I needed to correct that quickly so I ordered this disc.
Osvaldo Golijov: Oceana. Yes, I love Golijov’s music and I bought this discs months ago. Tsk, tsk… (Universal 4776426)
Jacqueline du Pré: A Celebration of Her Unique and Enduring Gift, a DVD from Christopher Nupen Films (A07CN D). Jacqueline du Pré has always been my absolute favorite cellist. And I confess I actually watched most of this DVD yesterday. The second film on the DVD, Remembering Jacqueline du Pré, was especially wonderful and had a lot of memorable performance footage, including performance clips from the Elgar Concerto, and the entire second movement of Beethoven’s “Ghost” Trio, one of my favorite Beethoven chamber works.
Two DVDs Idéale Audience’s Juxtapositions series: Arvo Pärt : 24 Preludes for a Fugue (a film by Dorian Supin); and György Kurtág: The Matchstick Man (Judit Kele); which is paired with Peter Eötvös: The Seventh Door. This superb composer-based series profiles many great composers including Elliott Carter, Olivier Messaien, Philip Glass, Nadia Boulanger, and many more. There are some terrific upcoming titles on this series as well (I understand there will one on composer Frank Zappa).
Last, I believe one of my Christmas gifts will be a long coveted 5-disc set on the Doremi label of Sviatoslav Richter’s 1960 Carnegie Hall concerts. I’ve had two or three of the LPs for years, but I was never able to afford to purchase them in good enough condition to subject my stylus to without fear, so they’ve been listened to maybe once (in good condition one of the single LPs used run at least $125). Richter has always been my personal piano God, and I’ve a shelf in my apartment devoted to his LPs. I also have quite a few CDs of the great Ukrainian pianist as well, including his performance of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (which is terrific; I’m only sorry he never recorded The Goldberg Variations). But I’ve been looking forward to this set since I found out it existed. Hey, even if the sound is bad, it has to be better than the LPs I have? Or at least I hope so.
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