The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2010-12-14 00:08
Neither.
There is a good version of the first movement with Jonathan Cohler on youtube which is great. Also great version on youtube by Wenzel Fuchs. Geroge Pieterson has also a great version.
Many great versions out there superior to the once you mentioned.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2010-12-14 04:29
I just don't find their playing interesting at all. Leave me cold. Specially with Leister while plays smooth has just one color of tone coming from his horn(sounds that to my ears at least).
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Author: Le9669
Date: 2010-12-14 05:32
That's a valid point. I like the Cohler version, it's very expressive.
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Author: Bob Barnhart ★2017
Date: 2010-12-14 06:26
I am a big fan of both Karl Leister and Jon Manasse, but I'm afraid I agree with Iceland Clarinet on this one. Though Leister has a gorgeous sound, I can't imagine Muehfeld with such a sterile approach to the Brahms works.
I've heard a bit of the Manasse recordings and really should just buy them. I like his playing a lot, but though very clean, I'm not sure that his Brahms quite reflect what I would look for.
I think the Fuchs performance is more like the interpretation I would want to hear, but his sound in the YouTube videos is not his best. I'll have to listen to Cohler's recording as well.
For my money, I think the old recording with Harold Wright and Harris Goldsmith is ideal. The passion and nuance are unsurpassed. Perhaps there are other recordings with similar qualities, but I'm not familiar with them.
Bob Barnhart
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Author: Lam
Date: 2010-12-14 13:16
anyone has listened to Alfred Prinz interpretation ? its great, same as his Mozart's concerto with Bohm, he did all the expressions and at the same time its so natural.
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Author: Lam
Date: 2010-12-14 13:20
by the way, there were many Leister versions, his 1960s version (DG with jorg demus) was far more musical and better than his later ones.
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Author: rtaylor
Date: 2010-12-14 18:03
I think the best Leister version is on Orfeo with Gerhard Oppitz. Also his later version on Nimbus(?) I think with Ferenc Bognar is worth a listen.
I did an interview with Alfred Prinz a few years ago. He mentioned the Mozart Concerto with Karl Bohm. He didn't like the recording too much. He felt that Bohm's tempi were too slow. For Mozart, Joseph Krips was his personal favorite.
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Author: Lam
Date: 2010-12-15 01:36
Hello Robert, is there any way that I could view the interview? (Alfred Prinz is my idol !)
and yes, i forgot the Leister/Oppitz version, its really nice too !
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Author: rtaylor
Date: 2010-12-15 18:34
I'll see if I have a copy of the interview. I did it back around 1994 or so. So let me check.
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Author: salzo
Date: 2010-12-15 19:27
Walter Trampler with Vladmir Horsievski (sic?). Best opus 120 recording out there.
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2010-12-15 20:17
Tastes differ: to my ears Cohler's sound is far too thin to be enjoyed, whatever his interpretative virtues. The best performance I've heard (and there are several web resources where you can quickly compare dozens of takes on the start of a given piece) is by Romain Guyot: a silky smooth tone, but plenty of range and passion.
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2010-12-15 20:25
I always like listening to Leister.
For the Brahms 120, though, put me down for George Pieterson. Incredible clarinet playing, as are his recordings of the Brahms 5tet and Messiaen Quatour, both of which are my favorite recordings of the those pieces.
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: arundo
Date: 2010-12-16 16:43
I'm fond of the old Harold Wright/Peter Serkin recording. He sings through the clarinet like a lieder artist. Also recommended are the complete Brahms' songs with Fischer-Dieskau, Jesse Norman and Daniel Barenboim. Brahms -- as a writer of songs -- is perhaps second only to Schubert.
mark dickman
7738565490
markdickman82@hotmail.com
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Author: Ed
Date: 2010-12-17 00:04
I am also a fan of the Wright recordings. There is a lyrical supple quality to his playing that makes you forget there is a clarinet in his hands.
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Author: David Niethamer
Date: 2010-12-17 04:15
My $0.02 -
Wright/Harris Goldsmith is very nice clarinet playing. Unfortunately, HG treats the piano as if it was a bicycle (if you get my meaning), and so the total effect of Brahms is ruined.
Wright/Serkin - balanced too heavily toward the piano for my taste.
One of my favorites is Richard Goode with R Stoltzman. Goode plays the piano parts so wonderfully that RS is forced to be on his best musical behavior. I heard a live performance of the F minor sonata by Stoltzman/Goode at a Mostly Mozart pre-concert recital many years ago. It was just before they made this recording, and it was a very fine performance.
In spite of all the silly arguments about which instrument is "best"in these sonatas, I find the viola versions instructive. The viola has a very different approach to sound and phrasing, which is not a surprise, but helps to take one's emphasis away from clarinet issues and more toward musical issues.
The Trampler recording that I own (on Seraphim LP) is accompanied by Rudolf Firkusny. There is some funky intonation, and a **VERY** fast 32nd note variation in the Eb sonata.
I like the Zuckerman/Barenboim recording on viola - DG, available as a single CD now. On LP, you had to buy all the violin sonatas as well as part of a box set.
David
niethamer@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/index.html
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Author: salzo
Date: 2010-12-18 23:53
Arundo wrote:
"Also recommended are the complete Brahms' songs with Fischer-Dieskau, Jesse Norman and Daniel Barenboim. Brahms -- as a writer of songs -- is perhaps second only to Schubert."
I have a wonderful recording with Hans Hotter and Gerald Moore, doing several Brahms songs, including the "FOur serious SOngs".
It is definately in my top five list of Lieder recordings.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2010-12-19 20:02
Here comes my $0.02.
Love the Wright.
The Stoltzman recording is remarkable for the exquisite piano playing, but Richard's vibrato often makes it sound as though his phrasing and intonation are off.
The viola versions of 120 are horrid perversions, but not as bad as the high school chick with the French Horn on youTube.
Bob Phillips
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