Classical update II

Today's entry may be the last of this series this side of the new year where I look at old but new to me additions to my classical music collection

Bach was mentioned in late September 2008 on That Boarding School Girl during the period I established a modest selection of his more important compositions and replacing one cd whose conducting lead the playing  seeming more suited to F1 than sedate chamber music!
I am very fond of the Cello as an instrument and so had been looking at getting a recording of his Six Cello Suites when I spotted this which originally came out as three lps and cds in 1985 and to which this is the latest edition with two very well filled cds taking in all three discs worth which came out in 2015.
Maisky's performances have real character holding your attention.
It is interesting to note that would set you back around GBP £40 new in 1985/6 and I managed to get this two cd edition for exactly GBP £4.16 new including delivery!

There was a point in the late 1980's when I had on lp Rachmaninov's most popular Third Piano Concerto but in the intervening period that had left my collection so I had been thinking about picking up a set of his symphonies and piano concertos when I spotted this 'like new'  for GBP £9.99 which works out £1.99 per disc which takes Lorin Maazel's well regarded and performed 1980's account of the symphonies and the 70's Thomas Vásáry's account of piano concertos recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra  conducted by Yuri Ahronovitch across five discs.
He was the last leading Romantic classical composer of the Twentieth century, born in Russia of a military family moving after the October Revolution of 1917 to Switzerland and by W.W.2 to the U.S.A.
Like most two cd versions one of symphonies is split between the discs - here it is symphony No. 1 but the piano concertos are not.
For me this is ideal as a starter set as all the recording have been freshly mastered for the best possible sound and comes with background notes all in a small box.

Past links:
Bach

Bach

Bach is a composer I'm slowly making my way through in building up a sizable selection  of his compositions and recently I bought this 96/24bit transfer of the 1980 recording of the Goldberg Variations and the 1976 Italian Concerto for Harpsichord performed by Trevor Pinnock who normally conducts.

I love this account of Bach's Cello Sonatas that originally came out in 1985

This account of the Brandenburg Concertos originally came out to great acclaim in 1992 on EMI Eminence but four years ago was reissued by Classics For Pleasure in a slim double cd form.

 This is the later 1991 re-issue of the recording by violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter and Salvatore Accardo with the English Chamber Orchestra made in 1983 I bought on phase on of replacing my records and tapes with cds.

Bach wrote rather a lot for the organ and so at some point you are wanting a recording of his Organ works such as the Toccata and Fugue and this a re-release of a two cd set originally issued in 1992/3 by Peter Hurford a distinguished organist fits the bill.