Review: Kocsis' Essential Complete Philips Recordings
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- Just about everything Kocsis did is worth hearing, and there is nothing in this 26-CD set the falls below the very highest standards. Many of these recordings, including works by Bartók, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Debussy remain reference versions. Kocsis' Philips discography may not have been all that large, but very bit of it is essential.
ClassicsToday.com Insiders: see the review there and check out the sound samples.
Thanks for your kind comments about my booklet notes. And I want to remind you that when I first told you that I had been hired to write the notes, you immediately told me to tell the folks at Decca NOT to forget to include the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. More importantly, thank you for your enthusiastic and pinpointed overview. This box set is a real legacy, and deserves to be in every serious piano collection. Re the Rachmaninov concertos, you didn't mention your other reference set: Hough/Litton, together with Kocsis/De Waart and WIld/Horenstein. I personally rank Wild/Horenstein's Nos. 1, 4 and Paganini Rhapsody among the references, but not so much their Nos. 2 and 3. And what I wouldn't have given for a Kocsis Debussy Etude cycle! Hopefully Hungaraton will bring a Kocsis box set, since he recorded a lot of wonderful repertoire for them that he didn't do for Philips, such as the Brahms Piano Sonata No. 3, Haydn and Mozart Sonatas, etc.
Thanks Jed, also for mentioning Hough in Rachmaninoff. I didn't want ot take the focus off of Kocsis by getting too Rachy.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Got it! I also was lucky enough to have met Kocsis back in 2010 and 2011 in Kopasvar.
Kocsis is one of my all time favorite pianists, and one great musician. So glad to see you honor him here!
Thanks very much for the review! When I heard the news of this boxset coming out, I immediately thought that some record company executive must be familiar with your vlogs. 😉
Unfortunately, the rollout of this edition managed to fall so much under the radar that even we (the Kocsis Zoltán estate) were initially unaware of its existence. There were no reports of it in the Hungarian classical music press anywhere, furthermore, I couldn’t even find it on the official Decca website. it’s a shame really because this has been a long time coming.
That’s crazy… Thanks for sharing the story
Having bought many of the discs individually when they first came out, I really can't decide to buy all these again as a set! One reason why they did not get the shelf life they deserved were the sniffy reviews on Gramophone. I remember the review of Rach 3 & 4 - "not recommended" said the critic. I bought it anyway, and was blown away! Nobody plays No.3 (the uncut version) faster - some 37-38 minutes of it! Thank goodness the Rach concertos were still readily available as individual discs in Taiwanese pressings with Chinese programme notes!
About Kocsis' transcription of the Rach Vocalise, its the one many pianists choose to record - including Ashkenazy, Howard Shelley and Boris Bloch. Its technically more difficult than the Alan Richardson transcription (chosen by Gilels and Kissin) and less florid than the Earl Wild transcription. There was nothing that Kocsis did that wasn't well thought out or brilliantly executed. Thank you, Dave, for this life-affirming review. Looks like I'm going to get it anyhow!
Nice observations.
thanks for mentioning Moses und Aron! I've heard that and was a truly great experience!
This video review is now two years old, and the box is still available at multiple sources, and at a very reasonable price!! People need to see this video, and get this box! I bought it some time back on Dave's recommendation in this video, and I have worked my way through it gradually.... Of course I had been warned about boxes like this, and the very first day I picked it up and the bottom fell out and I had a floor full of Kocsis. Haha. But in every way it is a wonderful, super collection.
The Bartok and Debussy are famous and pretty nearly complete; and the other stuff, (e.g. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart) has interesting repertoire choices. Not necessarily rarities, but not the most obvious hits. He went his own way. I've already had so much enjoyment from this collection and I feel like I've only scratched the surface.
Love your channel.
Kocsis is one of my most favorite pianists. The only thing bad is since you gave such a great review, this boxset may be out-of-print and became hard-to-get quickly. I would need to purchase it soon when it is in-stock. Now we need to pray that Hungaroton will come up with a Kocsis box soon. Speaking of Kocsis, I like his fellow countryman Dezso Ranki too and I hope there will be a Ranki box in the future
Don't hold your breath. Hungaroton seems to be dead in the water these days.
What a great pianist!. I heard him play Rachmaninovs 2nd piano concerto here in Leicester UK...... It really rocked the old die hard old gits ( arm chair pianists / gramophone subscribers) with his tempi.... Brilliant!.... Did I miss you mention the splendid Ravel concerto disc?.... Loved the review, one of my all time favorite pianists. Cheers Ian.
Oops I've just edited a typo and the highlighted reply has disappeared.
Have his annees on Phillips. Still listen to it weekly. That box is calling me.
There are more cds out there, mainly on Hungaroton, which are definitely worth seeking out. It's such a shame that he didn't record more Schubert and Bach.
That Rachmaninov recital cd is, in my opinion, the best ever recital commited to the great Russian composer. No one matches his interpretation of the 2nd Sonata.
What a great pianist! On one of his old Hungaraton lps, with very young pictures of him, he plays a Bach keyboard concerto that I don't think I ever heard any other pianist play.Maybe a transcription, though I don't know. And what a great performance of it too, whatever it was originally.
Thank you, David, for your comprehensive, insightful review. It really helps me setting my priorities. And I am a pianofile!
Definitely good news. Used copies of Kocsis' Philips CDs have become almost as rare as hen's teeth in the remainder bins at my local record/thrift/bookstore outlets. I think I found all of one last year.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Can’t wait to dive into it when it arrives tomorrow!
Great news!! A few years ago, I had to hunt down Kocsis albums on all the websites and at local shops, and I just ended up with half a dozen of not-so-good-condition used CDs. Doing so, I found he even had a handful of albums released at Harmonia Mundi - Mozart, Bartok, Schoenberg, all of which are terrific. Still, I have no clue how many more of his albums are out there. I'm really hope that Hungaroton and other labels that have his catalogue put together all his recordings in a good box set, including the ones that he did as a conductor.
110 CDs. That is an amount!
Another "FINE" video, Dave !!!! I agree that the DOHNANYI: "Nursery Song" Variations should be heard and recorded more often. What a fun piece and that introduction that really gives the listener no idea of what is going to follow. If anyone out there is into a different version of RACHMANINOV'S: Vocalise, Opus 34 No. 14, look up GREGOIRE BLANC on RUclips. Gregg performs it on the THEREMIN with orchestra. This guy is really talented. KEEP ON TRUCKIN'''
Debussy - Fantaisie pour Piano et Orchestre is a absolute gem. I am not really a Debussy person but I can listen to this all day and every day.
A fine pianist - I have most of these in my collection already!
I became acquainted with Bartok's Mikrokosmos set played by Kocsis, together with his other magnificent Bartok pieces.
This is very exciting! Thank you.
Glad you mentioned Earl Wild/Horenstein Rachmaninov cycle because it is my favourite but I dont think you talked about it in you "Best Rachmaninov piano concerti" review....
Of course I did.
I have some of the Kocsis Hungaroton LPs. Great performances, but so-so pressings.
Hi Dave, I'm a bit disappointed that you actually wear a shirt without the "LIstening" typo. I told my family "I'm wearing the same shirt as David Hurwitz" and how do I look now?
Sorry. I fixed it.
With the title i got kind of concerned, but It is very fine turns out!
Thanks, Dave! Great overview. I'm burning with curiousity, though - what is that yellow and violet set of boxes over your left shoulder?
You're like the millionth person who has asked. The old Philips Haydn opera series.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks! Pretty patient of you, I must say, to answer that question a million times. I was a junior high school teacher, so I feel your pain.
Dave, you mentioned having one of these records on LP. Do you still have your LP collection? Love your videos.
Got rid of them all decades ago, and never looked back.
god bless you
Dave, has anybody recorded "Moses und Aron" with Kocsis's completion?
Not that I know of.
When is Jed going to do one of these video reviews?
Some year!
His filmed performance of the original Rachmaninoff 2nd sonata is wonderful. Available on RUclips.
Sadly this box is on the expensive side. You need to like Bartok a lot.
I think it's a steal.
Haven't decided whether to buy yet, but about $110 for 26 discs on Amazon is very reasonable IMO.
4 bucks a cd is expensive? Boy have you not been buying audiophile LPs!
I really don't understand why Universal had to retire the Philips label, and then release these sets labelled "Philips recordings" on Decca. How does that make any sense?
If you want sense, you need to look elsewhere.