Review: Two Outstanding (if duplicative) Heinrich Schiff Boxes

[@jacquesracine9571]

So great to wake up and discover a new video! Keep them coming. Thank you so very much.

[@stevecook8934]

When Schiff's recording of the Shostakovich Cello concertos was released, I was still reluctant to embrace any recording that didn't feature the dedicatee. But I gave it a chance. And almost 40 years later, it remains my standard for these two works. To pick only one detail, has anyone else pulled off the danse macabreesque tutti towards the end of the second concerto as effectively? It still makes the hair on my neck stand up. Thanks for another great review, Dave! Messrs Schiff and Kocsis passed at about the same time and age - they are missed!

[@stpd1957]

I bought the NEOS box and I’m gradually making my way through it. The Dvořák cello concerto is a knockout. I was wondering if I should get the Decca box set but now I think I don’t think that I will bother.

[@ammcello]

I remember my elation upon finding Schiff’s Vieuxtemps album with Marriner at that magical Tower Records by Lincoln Center. This remains one of my favorite of all albums. His ability to turn out a phrase and his possession of total clarity and and technical precision is illustrated on this album like nowhere else. Some might think lowly of these works (I happen to love them, especially the first - should’ve been included) but it really is something else. The Encore album which you ran down at lightning speed is fabulous - some real gems there you can’t find elsewhere (Schmidt Hungarian tunes). And wow, his sound on the Paganini Cantabile ❤️

[@DiegoGonzalez-nv9qv]

A Viktoria Mullova box would be desirable.

[@woongcho7709]

I am hesitating to buy the Neos set because I don't know much about Schiff as a conductor yet. As a cellist, he's the best in my book. A few years back, I listened to his Bach Cello Suites and Shostakovich concertos back to back. I thought he must be a superhuman.

[@stpd1957]

The NEOS is a marvellous box set.

[@tom6693]

Great to be reminded of so many wonderful recordings by Schiff. Really like your description of him as having a big warm tone, so apt in Romantic repertoire, but also the rhythmic exactness that allowed him to excel in Baroque works too. He's always a joy to hear. Your saying that "he has the best Bach cello suites out there" had me trying to recall your video on those works, but I can't really remember seeing it and couldn't find one on your Bach Playlists either. Am I somehow forgetting or just not finding that review? Or have you not actually done one yet? If the latter, I hope it's something that can happen soon. I've recently been reveling in the lush Schafran set and would love to hear you weigh in on music which has produced such a wide range of approaches and performances. Thanks.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Haven't done one yet. There are just too many, and as you say, too many different approaches, and frankly the music doesn't excite me most of the time (Schiff and a few others excepted).

[@tom6693]

@@DavesClassicalGuide It would be a herculean task to survey them all, true. Also true that it's not music we turn to "most of the time." It's just always fascinating to get your view both of the music itself and of the performances that deliver it most comprehensively. Has the effect of making me go back and listen more closely--which invariably enhances my pleasure.

[@kylejohnson8877]

As a cellist myself, I agree with your lukewarm attitude towards the Lalo and Elgar concertos - the Schumann has grown on me, but I still think its orchestration is quite lackluster. I think that most of the best cello concerti are actually outside the “standard rep” - Finzi (thanks for mentioning it!), Weinberg, Atterberg, Honegger, Kabalevsky (x2), Englund, Bridge (“Oration”), etc. So yes, there are quite a few great cello concerti out there, just most people don’t particularly pay attention to them, sadly….

[@dmntuba]

The 2nd(conducting) box is for me👍

[@martinhochbaum8936]

Just a point of completion: Till Fellner's recording of the Beethoven Piano Concerto 4 with Nagano and Montreal (coupled with the Beethoven 5) on ECM is simply terrific and as reviewed very positively

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I agree.