Listeners should approach this two-disc set of Rudolf Kempe leading the Staatskapelle Dresden aware of certain caveats. These are live performances recorded in East Germany in 1974, and the sound is harsh, distant, and one-dimensional. Pianist Malcom Frager isn't up to the enormous difficulties of Schumann's Piano Concerto, and his performance is riddled with dropped and missed notes. Also, Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun sounds as Gallic as sauerkraut. The listener who can get past these flaws, though, will be ...
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Listeners should approach this two-disc set of Rudolf Kempe leading the Staatskapelle Dresden aware of certain caveats. These are live performances recorded in East Germany in 1974, and the sound is harsh, distant, and one-dimensional. Pianist Malcom Frager isn't up to the enormous difficulties of Schumann's Piano Concerto, and his performance is riddled with dropped and missed notes. Also, Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun sounds as Gallic as sauerkraut. The listener who can get past these flaws, though, will be rewarded with some amazing performances. Kempe and the Staatskapelle are well known for their incomparable studio Strauss recordings, and their account of Ein Heldenleben is simply magnificent -- forceful yet tender, colorful yet incisive, opulent but heroic. Although this Prelude will never be mistaken for a French performance of the work, it is still singularly effective as seduction music. Frager makes a mess of Schumann's cadenzas, but his interpretations do not detract too...
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Add this copy of Staatskapelle Dresden Edition 28 to cart. $34.30, new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Profil.
Add this copy of Staatskapelle Dresden Vol.28 to cart. $44.39, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by PROFIL.
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