Past Purchases (CLOSED)

[Que]

Well, these 2 arrived today from MDT:



I now have all 4 volumes of this series. The first 3 are in digipaks. The 4th one is in a fat jewel box. WTF is that all about? Not that I prefer one over the other, but it seems like minimal aesthetics to be consistent if you are publishing a set. I was not really pleased with that. 

I'm going to complain to Harry!

Same here, Gurn. Let's complain together!

Q

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Same here, Gurn. Let's complain together!

Q

Yes I was wondering about that too, probably somebody messed up. I will dive into the matter. 

[The new erato]

A small order from current europadisc offers soon to expire.

I'm a sucker for baroque vocal music, and the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin under Rene Jacobs (now on Profil) usually does this very well:



After a 4 year wait for vol 2 I was ready to give up on this series and start aquiring the series on Northern Flowers instead, but here it is... and I damn well hope it won't be 4 years to wait for the next:



Due to a recommendation by my favorite music blogger, I had to have this:

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2011/02/herr-mahler-has-been-forced-to-withdraw.html



I really ought to buy the Lyrita catalogue complete.......

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

A small order from current europadisc offers soon to expire.

I'm a sucker for baroque vocal music, and the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin under Rene Jacobs (now on Profil) usually does this very well:



After a 4 year wait for vol 2 I was ready to give up on this series and start aquiring the series on Northern Flowers instead, but here it is... and I damn well hope it won't be 4 years to wait for the next:



Due to a recommendation by my favorite music blogger, I had to have this:

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2011/02/herr-mahler-has-been-forced-to-withdraw.html



I really ought to buy the Lyrita catalogue complete.......

Last year I bought all the issues on Dutton and Sterling I was interested in, Lyrita will be the next battle.

[The new erato]

Last year I bought all the issues on Dutton and Sterling I was interested in, Lyrita will be the next battle.

There's so much interesting stuff, I don't manage to focus.....concentrating on Lyrita will bar me from buying all those wonderful baroque operas and early music discs that appear all the time, and German lieder and US music will be out of bounds for the period.....

Much as I'd like to do something similar, I'm afraid it woud be impossible.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

There's so much interesting stuff, I don't manage to focus.....concentrating on Lyrita will bar me from buying all those wonderful baroque operas and early music discs that appear all the time, and German lieder and US music will be out of bounds for the period.....

Much as I'd like to do something similar, I'm afraid it woud be impossible.

Lyrita is the biggest part of what I want. Since the releases of all major companies are dwindling into nothing, and streaming will take over in the next five years, its easy to concentrate on one company.
And its going that way, streaming I mean. Linn, a major player in audio equipment choose to abandon CD players, and has releases three streamer models on the market, the most expensive one costing 7000 euro's.
I had it in my home some weeks ago, and also the flagship made by Meridian, a CD player and streamer in one. The streamer sounded amazing, getting the music from one of my NAS servers, even better as my NuVista from Musical Fidelty. The Meridian considered the best player on the market, is truly out of this world. I do not think that I ever heard music so well. Cost 14.000,- euro, but then you have something which will take your breath away. I will probably go for this player.

[prémont]

Congratulations! That Haydn disc catched my eye because it was a pioneer recording. AFAIK, Hugo Ruf was a gifted harpsichordist and a pioneer himself of the revival of the Early Music. I think his complete recording of the concerti for lira organizzata (played on the proper instrument, not the usual transcriptions by Haydn himself) were unique for more than 30 years and, even now, nobody has recorded the complete set again on that weird instrument. 

From the Schott Music home page (Google translation from Germen):

Hugo Ruf, born on 04.09.1925 at Schramberg Württemberg, died 1/11/1999 in Brauweiler near Cologne, studied from 1946 at the State Academy of Music in Freiburg (harpsichord / historical keyboard instruments in Fritz Neumeyer, performance practice in music Gustav Scheck). To complete his musical education, he devoted himself to musicological studies in Freiburg (Hermann and Zenck Wilibald Gurlitt), and later in Munich and Paris.

Numerous concert tours in the major European cultural centers, radio recordings, all German and many foreign channels and numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon include company, EMI and Harmonia Mundi, made him a formidable expert on the performance practice of music of the 17th and 18 Century and the baroque instruments known internationally. In 1984 he was awarded the Prize of the German Record Critics for his recording of 3 sonatas for harpsichord by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (EMI).

1967-1990 Hugo Ruf harpsichord taught at the Cologne Music Academy harpsichord and directed the Department of Ancient Music. In 1971 he was appointed full professor. He was a pioneer in the movement "early music in historical performance practice and influenced by his profound influence many students, which continues his work continues.

World recognition came Hugo reputation as a publisher and editor of numerous works of old masters. Its about 400 editions, hitherto mostly unpublished works are scientifically sound and music selected from a wealth of authentic source material. Hugo Ruf guarantees as an expert in the field of music for an older, both in style and in the practical sense, proper restitution.

Unfortunately he recorded almost exclusively as continuo-harpsichordist, and other than the Haydn Lyra concertos and a LP with CPE Bach sonatas, which I have not heard, I do not know of any solo recordings from his hands.

[Antoine Marchand]

From the Schott Music home page (Google translation from Germen):

Hugo Ruf, born on 04.09.1925 at Schramberg Württemberg, died 1/11/1999 in Brauweiler near Cologne, studied from 1946 at the State Academy of Music in Freiburg (harpsichord / historical keyboard instruments in Fritz Neumeyer, performance practice in music Gustav Scheck). To complete his musical education, he devoted himself to musicological studies in Freiburg (Hermann and Zenck Wilibald Gurlitt), and later in Munich and Paris.

Numerous concert tours in the major European cultural centers, radio recordings, all German and many foreign channels and numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon include company, EMI and Harmonia Mundi, made him a formidable expert on the performance practice of music of the 17th and 18 Century and the baroque instruments known internationally. In 1984 he was awarded the Prize of the German Record Critics for his recording of 3 sonatas for harpsichord by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (EMI).

1967-1990 Hugo Ruf harpsichord taught at the Cologne Music Academy harpsichord and directed the Department of Ancient Music. In 1971 he was appointed full professor. He was a pioneer in the movement "early music in historical performance practice and influenced by his profound influence many students, which continues his work continues.

World recognition came Hugo reputation as a publisher and editor of numerous works of old masters. Its about 400 editions, hitherto mostly unpublished works are scientifically sound and music selected from a wealth of authentic source material. Hugo Ruf guarantees as an expert in the field of music for an older, both in style and in the practical sense, proper restitution.

Unfortunately he recorded almost exclusively as continuo-harpsichordist, and other than the Haydn Lyra concertos and a LP with CPE Bach sonatas, which I have not heard, I do not know of any solo recordings from his hands.

Fortunately, Brilliant Classics has made widely available the recordings of all the five concerti for two lire organizzati (licensed from Vox Recordings). As those compositions were written for two lire, I always had doubts about how those LPs were made and the answer is in the notes of (?) Vox Recordings: "The player of the lira organizzata which was used in Haydn's time turned the crank with his right hand and pressed the keys of the fingerboard with the left. The wind action of the instrument constructed by Johannes Koch is generated electrically, which enables the player to use both hands to operate the keyboard and thus, to play the parts of both lire as required by the score. Koch's instrument is provided with three stops which permit different registrations and combinations. The range of the instrument is adapted to the requirements of the score".

Obviously an instrument using an electrical mechanism is not "strictly" a period instrument, but the sound produced is remarkably good, pleasant and close to the original (a comparison can be made with a Haydn disc called "deLirium", Laborie Records). Besides, interestingly that instrument was constructed by the gambist Johannes Koch (part of the ensemble, together with people like Susane Lautenbacher et al.).

Ruf's interpretations are superb and the sound quality is excellent in the Brilliant disc (CD 40 of the Haydn Edition). 

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes I was wondering about that too, probably somebody messed up. I will dive into the matter. 

Ah, good, Harry, I see that Que got you on the case whilst I was still sleeping. Yes, while you're at it, please give them my address to post the empty digipak to so I can just transfer the disks and booklet....     OTOH, the music itself is up to the standards of the series to date, which is pretty darmed good.



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Now playing:
Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater / Gergiev  Gautier Capuçon  (Cello) - Prokofiev Op 125 Sinfonia Concertante in e for Cello & Orchestra 1st mvmt - Andante

[Gurn Blanston]

After a 4 year wait for vol 2 I was ready to give up on this series and start aquiring the series on Northern Flowers instead, but here it is... and I damn well hope it won't be 4 years to wait for the next:

The Northern Flowers disks are the only Taneyev I've heard except for the Leopold Trio on Hyperion. So I can't compare to the Naxos

Anyone who likes Late Romantic chamber music, and/or Russian music at all, would be doing themselves a favor to look into Taneyev if you haven't already. He came along as a surprise to me, but glad I ran across him.


----------------
Now playing:
Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater / Gergiev  Gautier Capuçon  (Cello) - Prokofiev Op 125 Sinfonia Concertante in e for Cello & Orchestra 2nd mvmt - Allegro giusto

[Scarpia]

The Northern Flowers disks are the only Taneyev I've heard except for the Leopold Trio on Hyperion. So I can't compare to the Naxos

My lord, that' something to drain the bank for.  They're good?

[Brian]

My lord, that' something to drain the bank for.  They're good?

I've only heard the first Naxos disc, and none of the Northern Flowers ones, but the two Taneyev quartets I've heard were very good indeed.

[Gurn Blanston]

My lord, that' something to drain the bank for.  They're good?

Yes, excellent, in fact. I got the lot on eBay for less than $50. I haven't seen them for sale, but I was thinking that I may have got a bargain...

[Scarpia]

Yes, excellent, in fact. I got the lot on eBay for less than $50. I haven't seen them for sale, but I was thinking that I may have got a bargain...

They're sporatically available on Amazon, but on mdt they are priced as ordinary "full price" CDs.  I see they are billed as "St Petersburg Archives."  That seems to suggest post-Soviet recordings.  Are they nicely engineered recordings?

[SonicMan46]

The Northern Flowers disks are the only Taneyev I've heard except for the Leopold Trio on Hyperion. So I can't compare to the Naxos

Anyone who likes Late Romantic chamber music, and/or Russian music at all, would be doing themselves a favor to look into Taneyev if you haven't already. He came along as a surprise to me, but glad I ran across him.

Gurn - GREAT HAUL from eBay!  I don't use eBay much but maybe should start looking at the music offerings - just own 2 discs of Taneyev, i.e. String Trios & Piano Quintet/Trio which I enjoy, so need to explore those SQrts!   

[Gurn Blanston]

They're sporatically available on Amazon, but on mdt they are priced as ordinary "full price" CDs.  I see they are billed as "St Petersburg Archives."  That seems to suggest post-Soviet recordings.  Are they nicely engineered recordings?

Sound is good. They don't sound like they were taped off the shortwave like some Melodiya that I've heard.   So yeah, they are competitively engineered, I would say.

[SonicMan46]

For me last night (top 3 listings from BRO), mostly GMG recommendations; Mozart VS are on the Arcana label, so giving them a try?   

Ives, Charles - Symphonies 1/4 w/ Litton & Dallas SO

Ives, Charles - Symphonies 2/3 w/ Litton & Dallas SO

Mozart, WA - Violin Sonatas w/ Alvini & Gatti - 2CDs

Strauss, Richard - Alpine Symphony w/ Haitink & London SO

 

 

[Gurn Blanston]

Gurn - GREAT HAUL from eBay!  I don't use eBay much but maybe should start looking at the music offerings - just own 2 discs of Taneyev, i.e. String Trios & Piano Quintet/Trio which I enjoy, so need to explore those SQrts!   

Dave,
Well, I check eBay every day for new listings. I just made up a bunch of 'canned' searches and run them quickly. Takes about 10 minutes to look at new listings in my areas of interest. Maybe an eighth of my collection comes from that method. 

This disk should be generally available, unless it is the one you are already having:

[SonicMan46]

Dave,
Well, I check eBay every day for new listings. I just made up a bunch of 'canned' searches and run them quickly. Takes about 10 minutes to look at new listings in my areas of interest. Maybe an eighth of my collection comes from that method. 

This disk should be generally available, unless it is the one you are already having:

 

In the String Trios, I have the one on MDG (inserted above) which is excellent if anyone wants another recommendation!  Dave 

[Bulldog]

Sound is good. They don't sound like they were taped off the shortwave like some Melodiya that I've heard.   So yeah, they are competitively engineered, I would say.

Yes, the Taneyev/Nothern Flowers series has pretty good sound.  The advantage over the Naxos series is not sound, but the performances.