What are you listening to?

[jdb1]

I don't know, Chris. I've never understood the popularity of Karen Carpenter. I don't think she had any style at all - to me, everything she did sounded exactly the same, no matter what kind of song it was. I prefer to listen to the Canadian Anne Murray, who has a similar vocal range and smoothness, but at least puts a little spark into her singing.

I thought both Carpenters were kind of --- unpalatable ---- especially him. He looked like one of those high school boys who does icky things in private.

I do love Ronstadt, though, especially after I saw her in concert. That voice is the real thing - no studio tweaking necessary. She sounds exactly the same in person as she does on records. I'm not familiar with Krauss, but I'll check her out. I have to admit I don't listen to much contemporary music, 'cause most of it bores me. It's all oldies, opera and classical for me.

[MichiganJ]

Alison Krauss is really more of a bluegrass/country singer. Her album with Robert Plant is very good, but Krauss definitely has a country twang to her voice.

While I like the songs the Carpenters did, they are very over-produced, even for the seventies.

Of the three, Ronstadt definitely has the best voice and is the most versatile. Pop, rock, country and the standards (her Nelson Riddle albums are extraordinary), she can sing ‘em all and make each song her own.

[movieman1957]

Judith:

Now I haven't thought of Anne Murray in a while but she did have a sweet voice that was full bodied. From what I do know I just wish she had more interesting material.

You're right about Richard Carpenter. I find him nerdy at best. But he could play a piano and was a pretty good arranger. I think they were going after an older market until they lost their way in the mid 70's.

I too share a love for classical music. While I have my favorites I tend to get lost after the early 20th century save for Copland and Rachmaninoff and individual pieces here and there. I've never been a big fan of opera though.

Having mentioned Carpenter's talent at the piano reminds that I always enjoyed Rudolf Serkin. I probably have more of his recordings than any other pianist.

Who are some of your favorite classical artists?

[jdb1]

Judith:

. . . . Having mentioned Carpenter's talent at the piano reminds that I always enjoyed Rudolf Serkin. I probably have more of his recordings than any other pianist.

Who are some of your favorite classical artists?

Having taken piano lessons for umpteen years (but having not touched a piano in almost that long), I tend to favor piano literature. My favorites are:

Horowitz/Rubinstein --IMO, two sides of the same coin.
Murray Perahia --he was a student of Serkin's at the Curtis Institute, and served as his teaching assistant as well. I have more of his recordings than any other. I heard him last Nov. at Carnegie Hall --- words fail me. It was piano heaven.
Mieczyslaw Horszowski - fantastic artist (and child prodigy) who avoided the limelight and played primarily in ensembles. He was another of Perahia's teachers at Curtis, and he performed well into his 90s (lived to be over 100).
Leif Ove Andsnes - sensitive and skillful, relatively young Norwegian - very like Perahia in technique.
Solomon - do you know him? A very fine English pianist (another child prodigy), whose career was cut short in his 50s by a serious stroke.
Maria-Joao Peres - excellent, underrated Portuguese pianist.
Menachem Pressler - leader of and pianist with the Beaux Arts Trio (they have retired - phooey!) An excellent pianist and respected teacher.
Marc-Andre Hamelin - a Canadian. His thing is playing the really hard stuff that most other pianists won't touch. Technically amazing, and musically sound, too.

I don't dislike Serkin, but I find his playing rather reserved, which suits some works, but not others. I like his recordings in ensemble chamber work better than his solo performances. It's been said of him that he was not entirely comfortable in the recording studio, and was more expansive in concert. Unfortunately, I never saw him perform.

There are many others I enjoy and admire, but these are the ones who first come to mind. As you can see from the list, I generally prefer musicianship over dazzle, but some of the above are very capable of both.

[movieman1957]

No, I'm not familiar with Solomon. I started buying records in the 70's usually on budget labels that featured recordings that were done in the early 60's or so.

I like Perahia and have quite a few "Beaux Arts Trio" recordings. I'm embarassed to admit some of the others you mention I am not familiar with.

Some of my older piano recordings include the more familiar names like Graffman, Fleisher, Ashkenazy, Brendel and the like. I'm less familiar with most of the newer artists. Lang Lang I've heard but not many others.

The only one I remember seeing was Misha Dicter. I have seen Yo Yo Ma do Elgar's Cello Concerto. That was wonderful.

I must be too main stream.

[charliechaplinfan]

I think this is the first time I've wandered on to this thread.

My thoughts are the smae about the Carpenters. I associate them so much with my childhood, my father is a big fan. There just too sweet for me.

I like lots of classical music but don't have much knowledge. I like opera, George Gershwin, Rachmaninov as well as the more popular composers like Mozart, Bach and Tchaikovsky.

At the moment I'm listening an awful lot to the soundtracks for Young Girls of Rochefort (thanks Dewey), Gigi and a collection of RKO recordings from the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies.

[Mr. O'Brady]

I tend to favor piano literature. My favorites are...

What, no Pinetop Perkins?!

[jdb1]

Many years ago at a Mostly Mozart Festival I saw Mischa Dichter and his wife Cipa, also a pianist. They played a concerto for two pianos. They were so in synch that it was almost frightening.

I forgot to mention another of my favorites, Emmanuel Ax, who is a very intelligent and sensitive painist. I do like Ashkenazy as well, but I think his playing can be very uneven, like he's not really interested. The newer generation suffers from the "get out in front of an audience and make money" syndrome, I think, and many of them play music they aren't really ready to play. Evgeny Kissin is one of those, IMO. His playing can be sublime, or incredibly sloppy, and you never know what you're getting with him. Same with Lang Lang and Yundi Lee. All potentially fine, but pushed into it too soon.

There's a thirty-ish Russian called Nicolai Lagansky whose recordings I've heard and who I like very much, but so far I haven't loved everything I've heard. You have to give these artists time to mature, and time to learn that there's more than just playing -- there's understanding the music, too.

The pianist Solomon (Solomon Cuttner), was a London East Ender who was discovered by a piano teacher and impresaria called Mathilde Verne. By the time he was 5 or 6, she had taken him on tours all over Europe, and she controlled every aspect of his life. He practiced and practiced, but received virtually no other education. Although he made money and was famous, by the time he reached the age of majority, he broke with Verne and withdrew from public life. He spent his time catching up with the education he should have had, and studying music from a theoretical and interpretive aspect. After a long hiatus, he went back to performing, in the 1940s and 50s, to much public acclaim. He was a very popular performer among British troops, and travelled far and wide to play for them during WWII. He suffered a massive stroke in his early 50s and was no longer able to perform. He lived on another 30 years, dying in the early 1980s. A sad loss -- he was one of the greats, a "pianist's pianist."

[jdb1]

I tend to favor piano literature. My favorites are...

What, no Pinetop Perkins?!

Nah -- in terms of piano technique, it's Chico Marx all the way for me!

[Synnove]

It depends on what mood I'm in, but I like listening to Cole Porter. That's the music I'm always in the mood for. Otherwise I don't restrict myself to certain styles. I've stopped listening to the radio. Radio pop isn't very interesting to me.

[charliechaplinfan]

Me too, Synnove. I stopped listening to the modern channels years ago. I'm completely oblivious to some of the bands/singers that chart these days.

I've started to like some opera. To get the most of it it's better to listen to it without interuptions which is rarely possible here.

[MichiganJ]

Another list of the latest cd’s I’ve been listening to that need to be cleared off my desk:

Melody Gardot--Worrisome Heart (A nice jazz/vocal album that will probably stay on my desk for the next couple of weeks).
The Velvet Underground--Loaded (Even the Velvet’s worst is still good)
The Knack--Retrospective (Hey, a Knack greatest hits album, gotta love it!)
Diana Ross--Diana (this is the Deluxe Edition with a 10-minute version of Love Hangover. Hard to resist)
Joe Jackson--Rain (Joe’s latest is good, but needs guitar!)
Electric Light Orchestra--ELO II--(overproduced, sure, but Roll Over Beethoven still cracks me up)
Patti Smith--Easter (I was in the mood for some Patti and had recently pulled out Horses, so Easter was up next)
The Fratellis--Here We Stand (Loved their first album, this one, not so much)
Debussy solo piano works--Alexis Weissenberg (probably my most listened to CD, this is never far from reach)
A Tribe Called Quest--The Anthology (I know nothing about rap, but ATCQ was recommended in another thread so I picked this up. It rocks the house!)
The Bonzo Dog Band--Cornology (Neil Innes is a genius)

Gotta get to my filing....

[ChiO]

MichiganJ said:

The Velvet Underground--Loaded (Even the Velvet’s worst is still good)

If truer words were ever written, I'll let you know. .... Oh, wait a minute, here are the truer words: The Velvet Underground--Loaded (Even the Velvet's worst is still great)

I'll forgive you for the ELO and Diva Diana (nee Diane) .

[MichiganJ]

ChiO,
What can I say about ELO? I hated them when I was a kid. And then Lynn got involved with George Harrison, over-producing his stuff, sure, but getting some brilliant music from the “Quiet Beatle” nonetheless. (He did a great job on Harrison’s posthumous album, Brainwashed, and co-produced the Wilburys with Harrison, who I think kept Lynn in check, a little). Now, ELO amuses me no end. Is it good? Not really. Is it entertaining? Absolutely.

Diana? What can I say? Every once in a while you just need to hear the Diva in all her glory...at least when produced by Nile Rodgers.

[movieman1957]

I liked ELO up through their "Out Of The Blue" album in '77. It was overproduced but I thought it had some very interesting chord and song structures in what was, at times, pretty inventive music. I was never a big fan of Lynne's voice but I enjoyed his work. It was different.

By the time they got to "Discovery" it was more techno(?) and seemed to become more so after but I had given up.

Any Alan Parsons fans?