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emusic classical gems

20th September 2004 permanent link

Tim Bray has been looking at emusic. Kimbro Staken is still bitter about them taking his unlimited downloads away. I haven't changed my original opinion that it’s more an interesting bargain bin than a potential primary source of music; but the classical section, which is the part I've investigated most thoroughly, is a bargain bin with some real gems in it. Here are some recommended picks for anybody who might be interested:

• Elgar Cello Concerto: Casals, Boult, BBC Symphony Orchestra.
  This 1944 recording isn’t as extrovert as Jacqueline du Pré’s famous 1960s one. But marvellous playing. The orchestral accompaniment is outstanding.
• Bach Cello Suites: Yehuda Hanani (vol.2).
  Exuberant and very likeable playing by a pupil of Casals. I have an odd relationship with this music: I really like it and I have a feeling that somewhere out there there must be the ultimate recorded performance, but I haven’t yet found one I’m completely comfortable with. Meanwhile, this is my current favourite version when I’m in the mood for extrovert.
• Tchaikovsky piano concerto no.1: Sviatoslav Richter, Karel Ancerl, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
  Earth shattering.
• Bartok Violin Concerto: Zoltan Székely, Willem Mengelberg, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
  Fantastic playing, awful 1939 recorded sound.
• Haydn String Quartets “5 & 82” : Hungarian Quartet.
  Székely again. (And they even fixed the title)
• Anthony Watson string quartets: New Zealand String Quartet.
  I haven’t listened to these yet. I know nothing about Anthony Watson; the only thing I have read about the New Zealand String Quartet is that they were pupils of Székely. That’s a good enough recommendation.
• Beethoven Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”: Wilhelm Furtwängler, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
  Breathtakingly intense and passionate performance of the greatest piece of orchestral music ever written. They have a whole set of Furtwängler’s wartime Beethoven recordings. The Eroica is the only one I've listened to so far; the others are reputedly also quite something. The 1942 Berlin Philharmonic version of the Ninth, for example, is said to be the ultimate in scary intensity.
• Brahms Symphony No. 1: Hollreiser, Bamberg Orchestra.
  The Bamberg are a not particularly famous German regional orchestra, based in a town in northern Bavaria that is otherwise mainly known for its smoked beer(*). This performance rather suggests that they can play(**), and that Hollreiser, who I've otherwise never heard of, can conduct too. Similarities (not entirely accidental on Brahms’ part) to Beethoven's 9th Symphony include the last movement being the Good Bit.
  (*) Yes, really. .
  (**) They can play: musicians' technical term borrowed from my brother, generally used by him as quite high praise.
• Brahms Violin Concerto: Walter Schneiderhan, van Remoortel, Bamberg Orchestra.
  There are dozens of really good recordings of this centrepiece of the violin repertoire. This, in which the Bamberg demonstrate once again that they Can Play, is one of them.
• Frank Bridge String Quartets: Brindisi Quartet.
  Excellent performances of little known twentieth century British masterpieces.
• Mussorgsky arr. Stokowksi, Pictures at an Exhibition: James Sedares, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra..
  Stokowski’s orchestral arrangement of Mussorgsky’s piano masterpiece isn’t as dramatic and colourful as Ravel’s better known version, but well worth a listen nevertheless. Really good orchestral playing. As David Hurwitz has pointed out, the world is full these days of relatively obscure provincial orchestras that can play really well and, now and again, produce excellent recordings. It’s no longer the case (if it ever really was – see “Bamberg” above) that the big Philharmonic Orchestras – Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, Leningrad, Prague, London, New York, a handful of others – are clearly a tier above everybody else. Some people interpret this as a symptom of terminal decline.

A word about sound quality: emusic’s files are mp3s at about 192 kbps. I find them generally pretty good. I think I can tell that they’re not as good as CDs, I’m pretty sure they sound significantly better than 128 kbps AAC. But I haven’t done any proper abx testing to prove either of these assertions.

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