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jpc

Discussion: Brahms: Piano Music Op. 116-119 - Elisabeth Leonskaja

Posts: 9

Post by deckerm July 4, 2006 (1 of 9)
Has anyone heard either this album, or at least piano music recorded by this label or person? This is the only thing out there for the brahms 118 in SACD, and would love to get my hands on a good recording.

Whomever said they would recommend this album, can you write up a little something about it? Please?

Regards,
Mark

Post by robstl July 4, 2006 (2 of 9)
deckerm said:

Has anyone heard either this album, or at least piano music recorded by this label or person? This is the only thing out there for the brahms 118 in SACD, and would love to get my hands on a good recording.

Whomever said they would recommend this album, can you write up a little something about it? Please?

Regards,
Mark

Hey, Mark --

I haven't given this enough listening time to write a review, but I can tell you a few things. I was a bit worried about getting this, because a prior disc from this company (DVD-A of Shostakovich 10) was, for me, awful in performance, sound, and production.

I like the sound on the Brahms recording. The piano has a beautiful tone to it. To me, it sounds like I am listening to it from the middle-of-the-recital-hall, rather than up close. The playing is flexible and nuanced, maybe a little fussy sometimes, but she's talented. From the sound samples on jpc (linked from this site) you can get a sense of what I mean, and whether it is too much for your taste. This is part of the record label's 2+2+2 series, which is a different set-up than traditional 5.1, but it sounded fine on my system without moving speakers around.

It's great music, isn't it?

-Rob

Post by Arthur July 5, 2006 (3 of 9)
deckerm said:

Has anyone heard either this album, or at least piano music recorded by this label or person? This is the only thing out there for the brahms 118 in SACD, and would love to get my hands on a good recording.

Whomever said they would recommend this album, can you write up a little something about it? Please?

Regards,
Mark

Mark:
I raced to get this disc as I love the late works, epecially Op. 118. The sound is good and the piano sounds like an excellent one. But I'm afraid Leonskaja is not very convincing in these pieces. She seems to loose track of the musical line repeatedly, and it's not really because she gets too caught up in the details. I can't even really say what the problem is. I've listened to it three times now, and each time I simply felt something was missing.
Bret

Post by brenda July 5, 2006 (4 of 9)
Arthur said:
I've listened to it three times now, and each time I simply felt something was missing.
Bret

what's missing is Gilels or Kovacevich. B

Post by deckerm July 5, 2006 (5 of 9)
brenda said:

what's missing is Gilels or Kovacevich. B

Thanks for the posting all. I listed to the brief clip on cduniverse, and the recording sounds a lot like the DG 4D process, where you put a piano on a concrete floor in a large room with no sound absorbtion and throw on reverb for good measure. That may be unfair to judge sound quality based on Real player, but I am very fussy about the sound quality of a piano and the person playing it. For that reason, I passed on getting the recording but remain hopeful that some of the old masters will make it on this. As Brenda wrote, Gilels would indeed be a nice surprise to see this, but I have more faith in EMI releasing a SACD then I do of DG releasing older works, and if they did, I would put more stock in Gilels' Beethoven first.

Post by robstl July 7, 2006 (6 of 9)
deckerm said:

Thanks for the posting all. I listed to the brief clip on cduniverse, and the recording sounds a lot like the DG 4D process, where you put a piano on a concrete floor in a large room with no sound absorbtion and throw on reverb for good measure. That may be unfair to judge sound quality based on Real player, but I am very fussy about the sound quality of a piano and the person playing it. For that reason, I passed on getting the recording but remain hopeful that some of the old masters will make it on this. As Brenda wrote, Gilels would indeed be a nice surprise to see this, but I have more faith in EMI releasing a SACD then I do of DG releasing older works, and if they did, I would put more stock in Gilels' Beethoven first.

This was reviewed today on classicstoday; here's the link:

http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=10121

-Rob

Post by deckerm July 7, 2006 (7 of 9)
robstl said:

This was reviewed today on classicstoday; here's the link:

http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=10121

-Rob

Interesting comments about the piano. That probably explains why I was not overwhelmed at the sound of the piano. Thanks for the notice

Post by ramesh July 7, 2006 (8 of 9)
As the 1901 piano was made no more than a decade after these pieces were composed, one presumes this is the sound Brahms expected, with allowances made for age-related hearing loss. The rolled-off upper frequencies give it a less brilliant tone, making the performances seem a little dour, perhaps. But it sounds different to the mellower historic instrument on which Michelangeli recorded the Opus 10 Ballades for DGG some while back.
Gilels in Op116 was given better analogue sound by DGG than he received in the digital era. But compared to this SACD, the Gilels sound, presumably due more to the recording than his technique, sounds bright in the treble, and thinner in the mid-bass. Regarding what Brenda has mentioned, it could be what's missing is the ability Gilels ( and Michelangeli ) had to sound a massive chord, yet vary the pressure on each finger so exquisitely that the inner lines have a bell-like clarity.

This gets me to the quandary we all have, which is what trade offs one accepts in terms of artistry for good sound. Leonskaja actually is one of the few veteran pianists who've had a number of recordings made for a major label in the past. Most of the instrumentalists we have on SACD are young. Pentaman has mentioned how he has preferred not to sign up big names from the past, because their demands and expectations don't align with the resources of a smaller company.
I believe Arthur also has the expensive Exton SACD of Ashkenazy playing Schumann. It may not be the most thrilling Schumann disc around, but Ashkenazy is one of the bare handful in the Philips 'Great pianists of the century' series to have more than one SACD in the catalogue.
If we don't support the new SACDs, even the few we have may wither. For the Liszt B minor, I first bought Yundi Li's DGG SACD which was recorded in DSD. If one heard this live, one would be thrilled. Yet, compare this to the Arrau SACD of the same work. The dark sonority the Chilean achieves together with the power and vision fully chime with the consensus of the Liszt B minor as a summit of romantic pianism. Li performs a showstopper, but Arrau sculpts tragedy and rapture. Yet, I've also ordered the new SACD of this work reviewed in 'Gramophone' by Bryce Morrison, although I know nothing of the pianist.

Post by akiralx July 13, 2006 (9 of 9)
I've also ordered the new SACD of this work reviewed in 'Gramophone' by Bryce Morrison, although I know nothing of the pianist.
If that's the Groh SACD, I wasn't actually that impressed with his reading of the sonata. I also have Li on DG and agree that is a fine performance, certainly a young man's interpretation but to be honest I prefer it to Groh's - which is decent enough. I haven't yet heard the rest of his disc.

If I were to recommend a good Liszt Sonata to complement a collection of others, it would be Paul Lewis on H Mundi. But Zimerman on DG is still my top choice.

I do have the Arrau but only on RBCD (the same recording as the Japanese SACD, I believe he recorded it twice.)

Closed