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5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Schumann, etc., November 7, 2000
This review is from: Centenary Collection 6: 1978-1987 (Audio CD)
Seven years ago I was in a Vienna music shop and passed on the opportunity to buy the original Sinopoli recording of the Schumann Second - my favorite musical work - with the Vienna Philharmonic. Until this collection was released, I had never heard this particular 2nd Symphony recording which is now truly my favorite (and I have them all). It even led me to find the original release (which includes the Manfred Overture) by searching the Internet for used CDs. Sinopoli and Vienna beautifully convey the struggle and ultimate triumph of this great symphony.
The other recordings are also among DG's best and helped to fill in several repertoire gaps in my collection. I highly recommend the entire set. Thanks to DGG for reissuing these great recordings, especially Sinopoli's Schumann.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Who says there was nothing good in the 1980s?, April 9, 2000
This review is from: Centenary Collection 6: 1978-1987 (Audio CD)
Not enough can be said for this marvellous compilation of some of the finest recordings from 1978-87! Nevertheless, I will try to do some justice and start at the beginning. Anne-Sophie Mutter's Mozart concerto and stellar Bruch set the tone for this set. Very few recordings have the depth of insight into the Mozart that she does, and for such a young woman! The next disc is dedicated to another violinist par excellence: Gidon Kremer, whose Tchaikowsky concerto will blow you out of your chair, even compared with the Perlman recording of the same work. Disc three focuses on Daniel Barenboim the conductor, although the last track features one of his finest recorded piano works, the paraphrase of Rigoletto by Liszt. The two recordings featured are (brace yourself), the Perlman/Paris recording of the Lalo Symphonie Espagnole, the likes of which have not been known before or since, and the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony with Chicago and the organ of Chartres. The little catch in the Saint-Saens is that the organ part and orchestral work were recorded a month seperate from each other and across the Atlantic, but if you didn't read the liner notes, it would be impossible to tell; the editing is so well done! Ivo Pogorelich's Gaspard de la Nuit gives the work new meaning, not to say any less of his Chopin Second sonata. Giulini's conducting of Verdi's Falstaff is a force not to be reckoned with, with flawless casting to boot. I would expect more from Sinopoli than the Schumann delivers, however this is partly DG's fault for picking one of his least successful recordings. The Bernstein disc is all of his own music, including highlights from the splendid Candide and Trouble in Tahiti. Have a laugh over Carreras' pronunciation in West Side Story (why cast him as the American! ) and the other thoroughly inappropriate voices for this work, but remember that Bernstein was given the cold shoulder on this work and was trying to make it appeal to the classical crowd that had unfortunately shunned it on Broadway.
Maisky's cello playing is next, with the three sonatas originally for harpsichord and viola da gamba being played on modern cello with Martha Argerich at the piano. These are excellent recordings if inauthentic, but are certainly the best modernizations available, as are the two Vivaldi concerti with Orpheus. Saving the best for last, Vladimir Horowitz's landmark 1986 return to Moscow is no less breathtaking on the 1000th listening than on the first. There may be no better single CD of piano music in existance; the simplest track "Träumerei" from Schumann's Kinderszenen is utter perfection and emotion molded into one. Zimerman holds his own beautifully, though, with some of the best Chopin Ballades to be had. True, they lack some of the momentum and drive of the Rubinstein recordings, but the sheer technical ability displayed along with absolute control (and they're not at all skimpy on the emotion either!), they are in the top five recordings of these works ever. Add to this his recording of the Liszt E-flat concerto with Seiji Ozawa/Boston Symphony, which is flawless. The cherry on top (!) is the Liszt Totentanz, which is so often played as an overly flashy, bangy, loud and raucous showpiece. Not so here, even in such a murderously difficult and crashing work, Zimerman displays control, even if it means wrestling the work to the floor. This set is pricey, no doubt, but well worth it (and the sore arms you'll get carrying it home, another good reason to mail-order it) for the unmatched brilliance.
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