erwbol

Thanks for sharing!

Isn't this just America getting a taste of its own medicine? Fake news!

Just listened to Peter Takács' recording of the Moonlight sonata. This whole box set is simply one of the most beautiful piano recordings I have ever heard. Every nuance of the Bösendorfer Imperial is captured perfectly. Don't discount Takács simply because he isn't a 'star'.

Cecil's best solo recording?

OK, then they probably used the latest US mastering. They also issued the Bill Evans Complete Village Vanguard 1961 recordings 3CD set in 2003. That set was conceptualised by the Japanese and I believe there were some Japanese characters visible on the bottom (backside?) of the ZYX box. I guess they didn't use their own mastering there either, because they couldn't possibly have had access to any previous release. After 2005 the US edition of that set was imported into the EU rather than it being produced locally. I used to own the ZYX, which got damaged, and now have the Concord set, so I can't compare.

That Kirk Felton credit is likely just a reproduction of the original mastering credits of the earlier OJC CD. Later ZYX digipacks like the one in the picture above shows double credits. ZYX remastered them themselves at their own "Music Studios" from who knows what sources. Japanese CDs sometimes also reproduce the original OJC booklet including mastering credits when the CD in question is clearly a later mastering, like for the Fantasy catalogue DSD remasters from around 2007/8 (which actually are good).

Steve, they were released between about 1999 and 2004. After that Universal took over. So more than 15 years ago. Count yourself lucky!

@Deepak & @Peter Friedman I would love to hear the Lucchesini cycle. I know it was recorded live, but is there audience noise like coughing audible (even a little)? If so I can stop pursuing a second hand copy of that set.

Taking into account both performance and sonics I believe Ronald Brautigam on his several fortepianos currently has the best complete cycle in or out of print. It is an expensive set, but worth the price and on Hybrid SACD. His Diabelli Variations are of similar quality. For a modern piano Peter Takács undoubtedly has the best recorded complete set. A sublimely recorded Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand on the Californian Cambria label, also on Hybrid SACD. Furthermore, the set is superbly annotated by Takács himself. Fine performances throughout, but lacking some of the eccentricities of the big name pianists. Another expensive set worth every cent. https://www.allmusic.com/album/beethoven-complete-piano-sonatas-mw0002029741 Still available on Cambria's website: http://www.cambriamus.com/cds/hybrid_sacd.htm

Which Gulda? He did two complete cycles, right? https://smile.amazon.de/Gulda-spielt-Beethoven-Klaviersonaten-Klavierkonzerte/dp/B000BQV52A/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=beethoven+gulda&qid=1570185559&sr=8-1 https://smile.amazon.de/S%C3%A4mtliche-Klaviersonaten-1-32-Variation-Bag/dp/B003L544SK/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=beethoven+gulda&qid=1570185559&sr=8-2

It was incredible. There was no lower register coming through at all. Now listening to No.26, both on CD 7, and there at least is some lower register coming through. I think. I have to sit down with a glass of Darjeeling for the next couple of hours. If I had spent more than €20 on this I probably would have been about to explode.

The Kovacevich was delivered today. First sonata I listened to (No.30) is a fine performance, but it sounded like shit. Like a bootlegger with a minidisc recorder in the middle of a concert hall only with the rest of the audience absent. I already regret spending €20 on this.

Was that perhaps after Fantasy was taken over by Concord and Universal started reissuing OJCs in Europe?

Only the 20 bit & 24 bit remasters in digipacks. ZYX did the mastering themselves. The front cover images had a small black border. I think they managed to make the Eric Dolphy/Booker Little Five Spot albums sound completely different between vol. 1 and 2. Atrocious every one of them. All other (16 bit) ZYX OJCs have the same mastering as the US discs (and came in jewel cases). This is what they looked like:

1989 CD.

1988 CD. Way too much bass in that recording. They should have toned it down. But excellent music.

I just played the Delmark, Love You Madly, but the Nessa is a favourite.