Classical Music & Chess

The Shaham  is GREAT!!!!

I've purchased season tickets to Denver's Friends of Chamber Music for quite a few years now.  Mr. Shaham appeared for the 2013-2014 season, in February 2014 if I remember correctly, and I don't remember any disturbing gyrations.  He didn't stand there like an oak the way Jascha Heifetz did, but neither did he move like some crazy person a la Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Lang Lang on the piano.  Perhaps he has toned down his movements.

What is interesting is the real disappointments who showed up over the years, namely Hillary Hahn and Olga Kern on separate occasions.  Perhaps they were having a bad night, but they came off as mere mechanics.  I admit it, I was bored, not with the music, mind you, but with their rather emotionless, workmanlike performances.

Any takes on Janine Jansen? I saw her once  and was completely in love..she has that certain something alright...what a technique and brilliance...

well Janice Joplin  is pretty   good also Kay..wow ladies and music.

I haven't heard or seen much of Jansen, but am starting to watch some YouTube videos with her. Not bad - I'm enjoying them!

Hilary Hahn is impeccable when it comes to technique and ease of playing; great intonation, amazing stage presence, etc., but she's not my cup of tea - I just don't like her style - I like a more rugged, thick style of playing, I guess: Oistrakh, Ruggiero Ricci; I gotta say, I really love Hahn's Bach though... Hahn, agreed, can be too mechanical for my taste though, much of the time.

Here's my guy (not flawless, but listen to this sound!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6H9oZlR_7M

Gitlis has that same kind of rough-edged but soulful devil-care-less quality about him; here he plays the Bach - Chaconne, with none of that Hilary Hahn refinement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh8pKgwapSA

Gitlis is like a Mikhail Tal-like character who would just gambit it all away for the beauty of the art. Gitlis reminds me of a guy who would drink strong black coffee, whereas there are a lot of interpretations out there working with 1% fat milk - no way, Jose - I mean, come on!

The same kind of character and depth of emotion can be found with the heartfelt work of the Lahti Symphony (geologists at work!) and Vänskä's recordings of the Sibelius Symphonies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ZvVXMpH14

Say, that's superb and sublime; is that Donald Trump conducting?

Thanks gerberk, this is tremendous playing here... !!!

The dark, brooding, chilling sounds of Sibelius creep up in other composers' work. Rachmaninoff - Francesca da Rimini, for example. Listen to this suspenseful opening orchestral interlude from the opera. Beautiful interpretation of the opening (great violas, contrabassoon, low brass, rich black tone colors...) - Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy (Northeast France) with Rani Calderon, conducting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqGBpjqiVyA

I'm not such a great fan of my compatriot Kavakos, but his interpretation of the Sibelius concerto is simply stunning:

Can't disagree there... Plus he has done the original version of it too, with permission of the family.

Love Max Bruch.  I hope the Friends of Chamber Music can lasso Miss Jensen for a performance here in Denver in the next few years, or at least when she's on tour in the states.  Now there's a woman with musicality to go along with her technique.

I think they may try because they've already had the magnificently talented and attractive Julia Fischer in May of 2009 and this coming season it will be the Venice Baroque Orchestra with Nicola Benedetti.

Regarding refinement, two good friends of mine, husband and wife, who have attended the Friends of Chamber Music for 40 years or more make a similar argument.  For example, the Emerson String Quartet is impeccably refined, but they prefer the Takács Quartet for their Hungarian passion and wildness.

By the way, if you like chamber music, catch Trio Con Brio Copenhagen sometime.  I've seen them twice, and they have impressed me on both occasions.

Lastly, I don't have many BIS recordings, but I'm going to add to my collection by purchasing Vänskä's recordings of the Sibelius after your recommendation.  Another talent you don't hear much about in the states but who also records for BIS is the Russian Pianist Yevgeny Sudbin.  I highly recommend him.

Yes, my Sibelius set on CD with the Lahti Symphony looks to be Musical Heritage Society, rather than BIS label. The Leonidas Kavakos Sibelius Concerto renditions - if you like those - are available on BIS label.

I see that the Sibelius Symphonies with Lahti/Vänskä are available on BIS too. Sorry, my mistake; but I really do have them on MHS label.

I have an old recording of Vladimir Ashkenazy leading Sibelius' Fourth that I just love, too! (with the Philharmonia Orch.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXN8ANZ1mSs

    Grew up, proudly, with this baby! Enthralling...

Do you guys have any favorite recordings (orchestral, chamber music, opera, piano literature, other genres...) that you just loved listening to as a kid - which you grew up with?

Not attacking you, Sco64, it was more an observation about the millennials I've observed.  However, thank you for being true to form, what with your immature need to go on and on with not so clever insults when your narcissism is threatened.  I've observed that too among some thin-skinned millennials, but your tirade was more than I expected.

I would wager there are more unique rhythms, more unusual melodies and more complex harmonies in World music than are dreamed of in even your aural philosophy, horatio, so don't put your music on a pedestal just yet.  As far as Mozart being a bore, it says more about the listener than it does about the composer.  Obviously, subtlety and depth just don't score with you, so to speak.  So it goes.

By the way, can we expect another rant to lock down the attitude and behavior, or should we be content with just this one?

Don't apologize, ChessPlayinDude, there were quite a few CDs the Musical Heritage Society and BMG Classical Music Service got the right to reproduce, but BMG left the original label alone and just added BMG.

I belonged to BMG from 1994 until they sadly went belly up due to the popularity of godawful MP3s and the portability demanded by ... guess who ... millennials.  Hi Fi just doesn't get the high five from them.

Before there were CDs and BMG, it was the International Preview Society where you got to try out the current record release (I went with cassettes).  When International Preview Society was big in the early 1980s, Musical Heritage Society was releasing some truly mediocre recordings by no-name orchestras, but probably due to competition they came around in the era of the CD to releasing top performances.

I belonged to both, and also the Columbia Music Club, but nothing beat the 3 for 1 and sometimes 4 for 1 deals of the BMG Classical Music Service.  Just another trip down memory lane.

 I grew up with the Max Bruch ,the Beethoven and the Paganini violin concertos .Sibelius came a little later and Opera came much much later.But I never lost my love for the violin concertos of my youth.

They were on Melodiya a cheap  USSR label with all the Russian stars like the Oistrachs.As i remember they were about 10 guldens( 9.95) but i m not sure here.Anyway they were great records and they bring back lovely memories today.