People who love concertos are in good company

[Hovite]

I try to keep an eye out for Danacord releases.

However, i do feel the recording quality is a notch or 2 down from that of Hyperion.

Some of their recordings are ancient. Their range includes a set of romantic symphonies recorded in 1954, 1956, and 1957. The violin concertos are apparently from "studio recordings during the 1960s and 70s ... many of the recordings are Stereo".

[Alan Howe]

The recordings are mainly acceptable in quality - no more. The violin-playing is very good, however.

[peter_conole]

Hi all

Many thanks for the much desired and thought provoking posts. I think Amphissa's comments about the qualities of the piano and the violin hit the nail on the head. They help explain the dominance of concerto-form works for those instruments very nicely. More later.

But the piano...what a hey-day it had in the 19th century. It seems to have been an essential article in vast numbers of households, and not just those of the upper classes.

I can't resist telling a couple of funny and touching (and true) anecdotes about the piano in the early history of my State. Some settlers were landed on a sandy, wind-swept beach in 1830, with a vast pile of luggage and furniture. It was a while before help arrived. The first article dragged out, unpacked and assembled? A piano, a priority before food and shelter.... And it seems one of the first successful businesses established was that of piano tuner - Charles Gillingham (whoever he was) did quite well tuning pianofortes for six pounds and six shillings per annum. A young lawyer and poet named George Moore helped his social life along because of his ability to assemble upright Stodart pianos for desperate recent arrivals. He was also frantic to use them - his own arrived months too late.

regards
Peter