Records recently heard

Alan, although the CD is called "A Choral Pilgrimage" and there is much therein about the pilgrimage, including a bit that actually says, "This CD documents the Sixteens' Choral Pilgrimage", the recordings weren't made in any cathedral! This is clearly a different meaning of "documents" than the one to which I'm accustomed.

The churches were
-Boxgrove Priory
- St. Jude's, Hampstead Garden Suburb
- St. Bartholomew's, Orford.

The most recent recordings are 1998 and the oldest 1988. Still, they sound great.

 

Currently playing is the extraordinary recording by Leonidas Kavakos of the first version of the Sibelius violin concerto. IMO the Sibelius is the second finest concerto ever written for the violin (after the Brahms), and I must say that the withdrawn first version of 1903 is absolutely riveting - probably it ended up a better work in the "definitive" 1905 version, but the richer, heavier and more virtuosic (!) first version has a very strong power of its own. I must admit I actually feel profoundly grateful to BIS, Kavakos and the conductor Osmo Vanska for giving us another Sibelius violin concerto, and I simply cannot recommend this record highly enough.

Unfortunately I can't find a decent-sized picture, so I'll have to give you this tiny one instead....

 

Karajan 1977 version.

Again.

 

Walton's 1st Symphony, played by London Phil under Bryden Thomson.... much more oomph and more satisfying than Rattle and CBSO.

 

Have the vinyl of that, Wolfgang. One of the great recordings of the 9th., some (e.g., GrahamN) would say the greatest. I'm torn between it and the 1962 version, so I play both (not simultaneously, I might add).

 

I have heard the older version years ago that belongs to my flatmate. Let just say virtually all of the maestro recordings are not only remarkable but better then the rest. Only regards is I have never had a chance to hear him live.

Oh. Forgot to say that what I have been listening yesterday was Furtwangler/Wiener Ph 1953 version which appears to be not as famous as his other recordings. It was only 99p and sounds nice.

 

I prefer the 1962 - mainly for the stellar contributions of Gundula Janowitz. Karajan's vision was also 'hotter' here than in 1977. Still, Gunter Wand takes the my prize for the best overall 9th. Its now in 24-bit remastered format and it sounds superb.

 

I've enjoyed the Wand one too.... but my favourite is Norrington & LCP.
Anyone heard the 1952 Bayreuth Festival version with Furtwangler? Its the worst performance of anything I've ever heard - absolutely horribly distorted, wagnerized, over-aggrandized megalomaniacal nonsense.

 

SSsshhh! Its worshipped with candles on the shrines of all Furtwangites around the world. And its 'Bayreuth' - guaranteed instant quality.

 

Another Karajan masterpiece and one of the best L'arlesienne Suites out there. Deffayet's masterly control of the sax makes this recording extra special too. His tone and phrasing put many modern jazz saxophonists in the shade.

 

Vivaldi - Recorder concertos: Dan Laurin with the Drottinghem Baroque Ensemble. Inspired to listen to it by hearing some Vivaldi at a live concert on Friday evening; it's part of a mega box-set of Vivaldi concertos featuring various artists and orchestras.

 

Haydn Piano Trios - Beaux Arts Trio

Which I've heard dozens of times (it was the firct classical CD I bought) but it sounded better than ever last night, posibly because it was late and the 'leccy was higher quality than usual.

 

Is this the one with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf? I think part of its attraction was that it was seen by many to represent a sort of renaissance of German music post-Nazi period, and it is therefore viewed through glasses rose-tinted by other than the music.

 

That's the one... Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Hoengen, Hans Hopf, Otto Edelman, recorded August 1951 to celebrate the re-opening of Bayreuth.

 

Found in a sale in Zürich railway station:



I've only heard the first CD, but it's quite enjoyable, especially the concerto for the left hand, which I'd never heard.

 

And in the same sale...

Not the most profound music you'll ever hear, but a a wonderfully bright, light touch - and nobody better for this sort of stuff than Nev and the ASMF.

 

Listening to this at the moment:

Not a reconstruction this time, but "a programme to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the death of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber" (you'd think they wanted rid of him). Also features music by contemporaries (Muffat, Schmelzer and Megerle), plus two pieces by the rather earlier Orlando di Lasso.

A nice programme!

 

Just received and listened to Bachs six Triosonatas for organ, played by Holm Vogel on the Schuke-organ der Paul-Gerhardt-Church in Leipzig.
(Capriccio 51 066) recorded 1979/80 , 2CDs for the price of one.

Holm Vogel plays a typical modern German all-round organ, but that doesn't matter, when the registration is so discret and the playing so stylish as here, all carried through with lively and careful articulation and phrasing, and an extraordinary manual- and pedal-dexterity. I could just wish, that he had exercised a little more restraint with the reeds. The recorded sound has got more than the neccessary clarity and presence, indeed it might have been a quite new recording. The interpretations of Walcha and Alain do not fade, but Holm Vogels recording is up to the demand as to musicality and beauty. A most stimulating CD.

Thanks to Bat for drawing my attention to this recording.

 

Glad you liked it- I got bored with the trio sonatas. Your analysis is probably very accurate, but the truth is that BACH'S TRIO SONATAS ARE SLIGHTLY BORING! No wonder Friedemann started boozing.
But I still like the way Fagius plays them, his recordings are by far the most exciting I have heard, and he plays some wonderful instruments such as the Cahman organ in Leufsta Bruk.

 

Bat, I am disappointed to learn, that you find the triosonatas boring. Fortunately I am not the only one, who can see and hear, why they continue to fascinate and stir lovers of Bachs music.
Fagius (of course I know his complete Bach cycle) is fine, and well recorded, but he is not my first choice. You might try one of the recordings with arrangements of the triosonatas for two melodi-instruments and continuo. Robert Kings CD for Hyperion is probably the least boring, when you feel like that.

Regards,