What are you listening to now?

[Chris]

"Hammerklavier" Wilhelm Kempff.
Fine performance. I'll forgive him for omitting the expo repeat in the first movement.

That's an odd repeat to skip. Does it seem to be for practical reasons (to fit the recording in somewhere) or artistic reasons?

[Harvey]

Mainly listening to the first 34 tracks of this set: The Genius of Beethoven: 100 Classical Masterpieces, which is the entire Leibowitz Beethoven symphony cycle, which can be had in digital form, along with a lot of other Beethoven tracks, for a measly $1.09.

[Michael]

That's an odd repeat to skip. Does it seem to be for practical reasons (to fit the recording in somewhere) or artistic reasons?

Kempff is quite odd about repeats throughout all the sonatas. It could be for artistic reasons, but when it comes to recordings made in the 60s or thereabouts, it could be down to the limitations of vinyl. I had a recording of George Szell conducting Beethoven's 5th and the expo repeat was left out in the first movement. When it was re-issued on CD, it was restored. (Artificially, I suspect - by which I mean that Szell didn't play it twice - they rewound the tape!)

However, the "Hammerklavier" would easily fit on two sides of vinyl, so I really don't know what the reason was. The performance is very convincing so maybe Kempff felt like forging ahead.

This rang a bell with me so I uncovered this old thread:

http://www.gyrix.com/forums/archive/...hp?t-2763.html




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[Chris]

I had a recording of George Szell conducting Beethoven's 5th and the expo repeat was left out in the first movement. When it was re-issued on CD, it was restored. (Artificially, I suspect - by which I mean that Szell didn't play it twice - they rewound the tape!)

With the Cleveland Orchestra? I have that cycle on CD. I never noticed that repeat being a copy and paste job. I'll have to listen again.

[AeolianHarp]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VvB_UmmIzk[/YOUTUBE]

Really beautiful, authentic and moving...

[Michael]

With the Cleveland Orchestra? I have that cycle on CD. I never noticed that repeat being a copy and paste job. I'll have to listen again.

I haven't tried to verify it with this particular recording- it's just a theory. Maybe the repeat was on the original tape and was excised for the vinyl.

I once had a vinyl recording of a Beethoven string quartet, and I knew the repeat of the exposition was a "paste job" for a number of reasons but mostly because a far-off background noise occurred in the same spot in both the expo and its repeat. And this wasn't because of vinyl limitations.



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[Decrepit Poster]

I haven't tried to verify it with this particular recording- it's just a theory. Maybe the repeat was on the original tape and was excised for the vinyl.

I once had a vinyl recording of a Beethoven string quartet, and I knew the repeat of the exposition was a "paste job" for a number of reasons but mostly because a far-off background noise occurred in the same spot in both the expo and its repeat. And this wasn't because of vinyl limitations.

Back when my hearing and audio system were better I too noticed a good many "phony" repeats on record. I image much of it is due to economics, especially with studio recordings. Time is money, as they say. It almost has to be cheaper to copy and paste (or splice in in the old days) an already existent passage than pay a full orchestra and a number of recording engineers for those extra minutes.

Some of it might also be a quest for perfection. An ensemble might indeed play the repeat, but deem one of reading superior to the other. The lesser reading might be jettisoned and a copy of the better one substituted in its stead.

[Michael]

Yes, I suppose, as you said, studio time was limited and anything is better than having even a minor mistake repeated over and over whenever you listened to a record.
I imagine nobody realised that one day nearly everybody would have equipment that would reveal all those "tricks".

[Michael]

Listening to the "Appassionata" today, played by Emil Gilels.
And again the first movement exposition repeat was left out.
(But this time, it was Beethoven's idea - and he made up for it by repeating both the development and recapitulation in the finale. )

[Peter]

R.Strauss 'Metamorphosen' - I know this work is highly regarded by many, but I just find it rambling - it seems to me dreary and too long. Maybe it's just the mood I'm in!

[Sorrano]

This morning:
Prokofiev:
Piano Sonata #1 in f, Op 1
Piano Concerto #1 in D-Flat, Op 10

[Chris]

Gilbert and Sullivan - HMS Pinafore

Haven't listened to this one in a while. Perfect for the last day before the long Thanksgiving weekend.

[Harvey]

Just started Bruno Walter's Beethoven symphony cycle.

[Decrepit Poster]

Last night I listened to B's first and sixth symphonies as performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado on EuroArts DVD. (The DVD also includes the eighth, but I became too sleepy to continue on after the first, which follows the sixth on disk.)

[AeolianHarp]

Never heard anything by Clementi before- he is really good!!

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QrIl1ASNo[/YOUTUBE]