Records recently heard

I recommend Bach organ trio sonatas played by John Butt and Holm Vogel. Walcha (Lübeck-Cappel-mono version is nice too because of the Arp Schnitger.

 

I managed to get Ross's 34 CD Scarlatti box cheaply. No matter what "experts" say it is marvellous music, and I wonder why D.S doesn't seem to be front ranked by many. Ignorance I think, Ross thought otherwise and he knew better.

 

I listened to Gilbert's partitas, which I have been unable to find as yet here in the US, quite some time ago (a friend's copy). Searching high and low to see if hearing it again affects me as much as when I heard it the first time.

Yes, Ross is excellent and must have had some of the strongest fingers around. His playing is very clean eg, the gigue of the first partita, if played fast usually sounds a bit blurred, but Ross's version is nimbly and cleanly articulated. His ornamentation is also very natural but IMHO (and I know that many would disagree) Rousset's version is more refined eg, the menuet of the first suite and emotional eg, the sarabande of the sixth partita, Leonhardt is masterful and majestic eg, the gigue of the sixth partita, and Suzuki is really transcendent eg, the allemande of the fourth partita. Still, Ross's interpretation is a marvellous one that I shall listen to often.

As to the trio sonatas, I am not really familiar with them but find them to be wonderful music and also enjoy their technical difficulty. I also recently heard some of Bach's most famous organ music played by Karl Richter. Although they sound a tad bit mechanical, the pieces are fairly well-played on some very powerful-sounding organs. My preferred instrument, however, is the harpsichord.

Bat, I will try and listen to your recommended versions of the trio sonatas. I am, however, ashamed to admit that I know next to nothing about Scarlatti's music. The only available version around here at present is by Pierre Hantai and I find his style a little too bubbly and frenzied. Even his much-admired Goldbergs, which I acquired at quite a high price, pale in comparison to Gilbert's superb recording.

Regards.

 

Good heavens, doesn't anyone round here ever listen to anything other than Baroque / Classical keyboard music? :yikes:

 

My thoughts exactly... and its not as if we don't have enough threads full of it already! no offence chaps....

Pete - please talk about some big late romantic/modern stuff before I start imagining I can hear those skeletons at it on the roof. What do you think about Tippet's Piano Concerto?

 

Recent shopping and working on 'the archive'

Last night:
Brahms Alto Rhapsody/Wagner Wesendonck Lieder - Christa Ludwig
then Wesendonck-Lieder - Jessye Norman

Very different from each other and Ludwig is totally new to me; it's nice to find there are such great voices still sitting in the racks waiting for me to pull them out. Don't know whether I prefer these songs sounding more like Wagner (Ludwig) or more like Lieder (Norman). There's Nielson at home as well....

Mahler Das Lied von der Erde - Janet Baker didn't really do it for me so next stop Ludwig.

Strauss Four Last Songs - Lisa della Casa - sounds too hurried for me, like she can't wait to get to the end of the phrase; generally a bit light.

Chopin - Rubinstein - Balades and Nocturnes so far but liking him very much

Also new to me:
Elgar/Delius - Part Songs - very enjoyable
Elgar - The music makers - good in places

Dutilleux(sp?) cello concerto - now have a copy - just need to listen to it!

Lots of Tippet to choose from, probably triple concerto next but will try and fit in Child of our Time over the w/e as well

 

Sorry - almost forgot:

- - - - English Suites - Ralph Kirkpatrick, rather 'twangy' sounding instrument, not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

 

I have the whole weekend free... Mrs Beeb and young Miss Beeb are off to the big smoke to visit g'parents and friends, so looking forward to some serious listening (and a lie-in on Sunday ).... I acquired the complete Karl Bohm Bayreuth Ring a few weeks ago and haven't had any time yet. Also got a disc of Richard Rodney Bennet Choral Music off ebay still to try. And the five mins I've managed to listen to of Boulez's Das Lied von der Erde with VPO, Urmana and Schade sounds very promising - but not expecting it to supplant Klemperer + Ludwig and Wunderlich.

And mow the lawn, weed the borders, tidy the garage, paint the downstairs loo and put up the wall shelves for the hifi (if they arrive)

 

Never heard it to my knowledge I'm afraid. In my defence I've got to dash for a rehearsal of Child Of Our Time now

 

No - we listen only to Baroque / Classical keyboard music.
Pe-zulu and others, I bet you will like Holm Vogel's trio sonatas. John Butt's recording is IMO perfect but Vogel is perhaps more beautiful. Both are great I think.
To me, listening to Ross's Scarlatti box is just like discovering Bach the first time. Incredibly fresh and imaginative music.

 

Currently listening to Szymanowski's Symphony No. 4 (Sinfonia Concertante) in Rattle's fine recording which is a generous makeweight on his King Roger recording. It's a curious work, light on the heady, perfumed exoticism and eroticism which I associate with most of Szymanowski's music [that I've heard] - in fact it's very strikingly like Bartok's first piano concerto, all pounding, percussive piano writing and visceral urgency.

Terrific performance and absolutely superb recorded sound.

 

This, I think, was the first of Paul McCreesh's reconstructions, and I think the second most successful, IMHO the most successful being the fabulous "Chrismette", the Praetorius Lutheran Mass for Christmas Day, recorded at Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark, which just about blows your head off.

The music comes largely from the Gabrielis and is very varied, from delicate devotional pieces and plainchant to strutting fanfares with flaring trumpets and thundering drums. I've actually owned a cassette of the performance, but when I came across the CD today, I had to have it. Wonderful stuff.

 

Now playing: Berlioz Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Charles Dutoit / Decca. I've yet to hear a fully satisfying recording of this work, surprisingly on performance grounds rather than sonic. Decca's engineers do the Montreal forces proud in catching the big moments with the brass bands and armies of percussionists (10 cymbals and 4 gongs, famously ), but the actual performance just lacks something. The choir is sort-of-borderline-OK in terms of singing in time and in tune - it sounds like they're threatening to go flat throughout, which is a step up from actually singing flat throughout (as many symphony choruses do on recordings). There's just a slight lack of bite and drama - the amazing, hair-raising weirdness of Berlioz's music falls a bit flat in places. Excellent sound quality though, which of course is a big asset in this piece.

The other recording I've got is Robert Shaw's on Telarc, which on balance I think is probably preferable - slightly more exciting and slightly better sung.

 

Went to a concert of that the other week. Beautiful. Must check it out on disc.


This evening, I've been playing this:


I don't care what anyone else thinks, the songs of the Auvergne are simply beautiful, and need no more justification than that. Victoria De los Angeles' version is the best I've heard (so far). Any suggestions for other versions to listen to?

 

My recollection is that this is generally thought of as one of the top versions, Joel. Kiri te Kanawa did them -her version of "Bailero" was at one point unavoidable, probably because Torvill and Dean had a routine set to it, and we all got sick of it. However, I don't know that the te Kanawa set overall was particularly well rated. Dawn Upshawe and Frederica von Stade did highly-rated performances, but not considererd better than yours.

 

Thanks Tones. I've been fortunate not not to hear the Kiri'd version, and in her recording that I've heard, Upshawe is totally wrong (starting with her "accent"). Guess I'll stick with Victoria's version for those odd moments I need a listen.
Anyway, as this thread seems to be in danger of getting a bit too modern and 19th century...
I've was listening to this on the train into work this morning:

 

For authentic you should hear Natania Davrath, originally (1960's) on Vanguard, but has been re-issued. Pleasantly rustic and not at all operatic or over sweet (which they can be), sound quality is as you might expect, but well worth finding.

 

Thank you! That was the one I was trying to remember! All I could remember that it was a Russian-sounding name, but I could recall so little that I wondered whether I was imagining it. The World Record Club in Oz issued it (on vinyl) and a friend had it.

 

Thank you Coda! That sounds like what I'm looking for.

 

weekends listening (the new stuff)

In order of preference:

Ockeghem: Requiem (actually 'Mass for the dead' or something)
Like this, must find more. It's on Archiv, performers include James Bowman. What else to lookout for?

Bruckner: 7th symphony
No really, never listened to a whole symphony before, pleasantly surprised. Is this a composer people object to who don't like Wagner or Mahler either?

Pfizner: Songs for baritone & orchestra
Encouraging enough to want to play the opera that's sitting on the shelf

Rachmaninov: Vespers
A wonderful sound, just kept wondering why it wasn't in Latin...

Tippet: Child of our time
First time I've listened to this all the way through, this is the sort of Tippet I like

Dutilleux/Lutoslawski: Cello Concerto
Similar reaction to both of these: though I enjoyed much of the solo writing I just didn't get what the orchestra was up to and why they kept interupting


Tippet:Triple concerto
The only one I gave up on (twice). The sort of Tippet I don't like.