Quintetto C minor Op 29 No 1; G major Op 60, No 5. Guido Mozzato and Arrigo Pelliccia violins, Renzo Sabatini viola, Nerio Brunelli and Arturo Bonucci celli. Angel records, library series, vol 3. Angel 45008. Very nice, very good sounding recording. Superb interpretation. 9/11/20
Concerto per il Violoncello obligato op 34 D major; Archive ARC-3057. VIII Research Period, The Italian Settecento. The center label is falling apart. Seems as if it's made with some sort of aluminum / metallic painting. I've seen this happen to several of the Archive records. The sound quality is not very good, MUCH inferior to the Angel above. 9/11/20
Haydn, String Quartets, Op 76 Erdődy Quartets: July 2, 2020.
Tátrai Quartet, Hungaroton LPX 1205-7. Very nice playing, and well recorded. Cannot tell much more, record is super dirty, needs a heavy cleaning before extended listening. LP has French Grand Prize sticker.
Budapest String Quartet, Columbia Masterworks SL-203. Seems to be of better recording quality than the Hungaroton, but the Tátrai quartet interprets it better.
Aeolian String Quartet, Argo Stereo HDNP 57-60. Has quartets 76,77 and 103. L/R channels out of phase relative to each other!!
Haydn, London Symphonies (93-104): July 2, 2020.
Doráti, Philharmonia Hungarica, London FFRR STS15319-24. Superb interpretation, playing and recording! Beautiful big full sound. Yellow London label copy sounds better than orange London FFRR label copy (both have identical box set covers saying first release in the USA.)
Jochum, London PO. DG 2720-091. Rich full sound, beautiful playing nd interpretation. Different from Doráti's, more Mozart-like, while the Huns play it as pure Haydn. (Haydn lived for most of his life in Hungary, so it's not unexpected.)
Colin Davis, Concertgebouw O. Amsterdam. Philips 6514-074. Nos 95 & 97 only (1LP). Interpretation halfway between Jochum and Dorati. Recording quality is much better - dynamics, ease, naturalness, imaging tops both box sets.
Marriner, Academy of StM-in the -F. Nos 92 and 104 (Oxford and London). Dutch Philips 9500-304. Very nice recording quality, but not as good as the Coli Davis. Ipressive preformance by all means, but conducting does not strike me as particularly Haydn. Did not let me dive deep into the music, stayed on the surface.
Reiner and His Symphony Orchestra, LSC-2742 Dynagroove. EQ3. Very good recording! Layered string section, superb staging. The conducting overall results in a very enjoyable and lively Clock symphony (which normally is relatively anemic). If I analyze the conducting, the interpretation is 80% Strauss, and 20% Mozart. Very much Fritz, leaves not much Haydn in the mix. Nevertheless, this is a very nice performance with superb sonics. It's a keeper!
9/11/2020
Songs without words, Gieseking: Angel 35428. A superb interpretation of this pianoforte works. The recording is surprisingly quiet for Angel, and very good sounding, although on the thin side - light on midbase and base. But highs are very clear, and soar. Highly recommended for Mendelsshon enthusiasts!
E minor concerto: Milstein / Leon Barzin, Philharmonia Orchestra: Angel 35730. Again, bass is light, but very low noise floor for Angel, and clear recording. Superb interpretation, I prefer it to Jascha Heifetz's interpretation. (Deeper). Recommended.
E minor concerto: Heifetz / Beecham: Seraphim 60162 mono. Better tone, imaging and bass than Milstein's, but noisier. Interpretation is more intellectual than Milstein's. Honestly, I like it a lot. The noise level is a little bothersome though. Still, not much noise listening to it on the VOL with silver cabling, but on most systems the background noise will be most likely a major detriment to enjoyment.
Octet Op 20. Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Argo ZRG-569. On B side: Boccherini Cello quintet Op 37 no 7. Beautiful music for quiet listening. Boccherini is also interpreted as Mendelssohn.
String symphonies Nos 9,10,12. Marriner, Acad StMartFields. Agro RG-467, mono. Beautiful recording, standard RIAA EQ (EQ2). Very good imaging, music fills the room, can't tell it's not stereo. Superb interpretation, superb recording. Sometimes at forte the violins get a little screechy, but not really bothersome.