Records recently heard

Were there any hidden messages? BTW, could it be possible that Bach's lost works are hidden somewhere in Leipzig, perhaps in Thomaskirche? Bach must have known that his days are numbered and that his eldest son is no good. So one day he takes his precious autograph manuscripts and hides them somewhere without telling anyone. He makes a secret treasure map and has a painting made in 1746 by Haussmann that shows him holding the map. The map is disguised as "canon triplex", but it is probably a map.

Who could decipher the Bach code?

 

Bat,
Nobody can accuse you of lack of fancy. Look at the painture, and you will see a piece of paper in Bachs hand - not a book. I surely agree, it would be a tremendous event, if we discovered a lot of unknown Bach-compositions. But I am sad to say that I think we shall not. If you know the complete collection of surviving Bach-works well, you may be able to see, that this is the core of his works, only lesser important works can be supposed to be lost. As to the Toccata in d-minor, which may be by Bach or not, I belong to those who think that no one else but Bach could possibly have composed it, and certainly he composed it in Arnstadt or Weimar, very early in his career, how could latent messages about Leipzig be hidden in it??
I realy miss RdS here, he would be able to explain these things in a better wording.

 

To go back to records recently heard...

...in fact, yes indeed, so recently heard that that's it playing in the background right now. When I saw it, I thought that it was a record of saucy songs from operas. Well, it was, sort of. The point is that, at one point in the 18th century, the Vatican banned all opera in Rome (in the days before Italian reunification, the Vatican ruled the whole of Rome, plus substantial slices of Italy - when it lost them all to Garibaldi, it went into a monumental huff with the Italian state that lasted about 70 years). It also banned women from stage, so the parts had to be sung by castrati.

My initial reaction was
CAN THAT WOMAN SING!!!
The technical facility of La Bartoli is nothing short of astounding - the beauty and strength of the voice, the flawlessly-executed rapid runs, the expression and phrasing. This woman is truly not human like the rest of us.

The accompaniment (by Mark Minowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre) is excellent, typical Minowski high energy, but beautifully, crisply executed.

The various numbers (from operas by Handel, Scarlatti and Caldara) are mixed up, such that a slow/mellow/soft one follows a rapid/exciting/spectacular one. This helps it not to be like a meal consisting entirely of your favourite ice cream. I tend not to like "bleeding chunks"-type records, of arias removed from their natural context, but I have to admit that this one is very good indeed. It is also pleasing to see an established star take on this older repertoire.

 

Yes, she certainly can sing, but the picture shows, how you nowadays have to compromise, if you want to sell quality.

 

Clearly a sales pitch to go with the title, and no doubt with its eye on people who wouldn't usually buy a classical CD - it was even in with a collection of this week's specials at Musik Hug in Basel, including mainly pop/rock stuff.

However, funny photography or not, and unlike certain other "classical" artists who adopt the pin-up mode, the lady's artistry is not in doubt.

 

Anita Ekberg hasn't changed a bit, wait a minute wasn't she blonde?

 

Bolet rediscovered (on RCA red seal) - the best piano cd I have ever heard. All Liszt.
Jussi Björling volumes I and III (on Pearl) - the best singing I have ever heard.
The day the earth stood still / Joel McNeely / Bernard Herrmann - magnificent UFO film soundtrack.

 

Speaking of Bernard Hermann - one of my favourite discs at the moment is a selection of suites from his film scores performed by Salonen and the LAPO on Sony.... some superb stuff. Its mainly the Hitchcock movies, but also got Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 and Scorcese's Taxi Driver. Highlight for me is the music for Vertigo.

Anyone heard any of Hermann's concert music - apparently he did quite a lot but its mostly forgotten.

 

Why is this so disappointing?



The man has a wonderful voice but it is just all a bit polite I guess. It's not a case of opera singer does crossover - he has always been an all round singer who enjoys singing a wide variety of music. There's nothing particularly scary in terms of what he chooses to sing ( Mozart Ave verum corpus through Amazing Grace to Send in the Clowns) but given his performances on the opera stage it all comes across (to me) as rather restrained.

Still, it was only a pound from the charity shop so shouldn't complain!

 

At least Herrmann's First Symphony (1941) exists on CD - haven't heard it.

 

I was lucky enough to catch 'the concert of the album' at the Barbican last week. A most enjoyable evening. She certainly can sing, although, picking nits probably, her tone is not quite as delicious as it was 5 years ago. The agility and musicianship are as wonderful as ever though. It's admirable that she avoids hackneyed repertoire (and still sells truckloads of CDs). She's also a great comedienne, if you ever get to hear in in something like Il Turco in Italia

As to the picture on the cover, how can I put this politely....it's caught her at a good angle!

duncan

 

Not exactly sure what possessed me to do it, but this item from the Linn mailing list caught my eye:

ARTIST Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) and Joseph Swensen
TITLE Scottish Chamber Orchestra 5 CD gift Collection
PRICE £45 (RRP:£75)
YEAR 2005
CAT No CKD 921

Available as a complete five CD collection for the first time, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra series featuring music by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak Sibelius and Prokofiev conducted by Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen.

The 5CD/SACDs have the violin concertos of Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Dvorak, with the rest of the disc being filled by other works of the relevant composer (the Sibelius is the exception, having no violin concerto, which is a bit odd as he wrote a good one). So, in the case of Brahms, you get the Hungarian dances, in Mendelssohn you get Fingal's cave and the Scottish Symphony, that sort of thing. Sibelius has "Pelleas and Melisande" (famous for Parick Moore's "Sky at night" music) and other occasional music.

Having nothing much to do last weekend, I listened to the lot and found them very enjoyable. Recently Titian and I dissected Hilary Hahn's Brahms Violin Concerto. This Linn one seems very good, but I must drag out Hahn again for another listen. However, I think the Brahms benefits from a full symphony orchestra, rather than a chamber orchestra, to give full weight to it. Swenson's Prokofiev didn't sound any better than Hahn's, but then I'm not that wild about the piece itself. I need to listen to it a few more times, I think.

 

OMG - listened to the Living Presence Byron Janis Plays Mussorgsky SACD last night, for the first time.

Jesus H. Christ on Bike, Ravel's composition of Pictures at an Exhibition is mind-blowing . And there I was thinking Szell had this nailed!

Dorati conducts the MSO with real authority. Superb recording too (ok, maybe a bit too much tape hiss, but who cares?).

Very bloody jealous of those who own mint original LP's of this recording. Just mind-blowing!

DT

 

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Edition, 12 CDs issued from Capriccio 49 367).

 

I'm just listening to that, Tones.

 

Lumen valo's Zelenka 2CD - beautiful, a must, sort of Bach meets the renaissance masters! Zelenka - one of the best composers ever!

 

Last weekend a friend of mine came here and brought with a CD with Hahn playing the Mendelssohn's violin concert.
Then I put on my Lp with Grumiaux playing it and for my friend it was like opening a door to a beautiful place...
Of course these are personal feelings...but are sometimes the essence of music.

 

I confess to my shame that, until last Saturday, I didn't know that a Schumann violin concerto even existed. But good ol' Diskothek in Zwei on Swiss Radio put me right, and I bought this, the one they adjudged the best. It's not stellar music, but it's pleasant and nicely played and recorded, and also has a bright, bouncy version of the Mendelssohn.

 

I'm a bit of a Herrmann nut... but I think he put his best ideas into his film scores. His instantly recognisable personal idiom doesn't seem to work as well in long structures (for me, a bit like Delius in that respect).

Some recordings of Herrmann's concert music are ruled out of court for me by their use of the worst tenor I have ever heard on record. I'm sure he is (or was) a very nice chap, so I won't name him.

My favourite concert pieces are "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and the very effective orchestral barcarolle "For the Fallen", which concludes with a beautifully fitted-in and entirely appropriate quote from a Bach (or is it Handel? baroque is not my strong area...).

But the best Herrmann record I have heard is still the one which drew him (and Kiri te Kanawa!) to my attention back in about 1974:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ref=sr_1_2/104-1788956-5687100?_encoding=UTF8

Seemingly unavailable in the UK, after a brief reincarnation - get it from the USA while you can!

 

Céline Frisch's Goldbergs and Wolgang Rübsam's Art of Fugue. I'll report. Frisch's version seems good. Rübsam is very interesting, but it takes a lot of time to really understand what he is saying (no bad thing, mind you).