Past Purchases (CLOSED)

[Harry]

Another wonderful cd Daverz.  Here is a shot of the cover:



Note that Emma Kirkby performs on this cd.

The finest voice there ever was.......

[Bogey]

The finest voice there ever was.......

I try to stay away from from best, worst, finest, etc., but I will gladly step off this "finest" cliff with you in this case Harry.   0:)

[Harry]

I try to stay away from from best, worst, finest, etc., but I will gladly step off this "finest" cliff with you in this case Harry.   0:)

Wonderful.

[PerfectWagnerite]

The finest voice there ever was.......

Really? I just ordered this:



Look forward to listening to it.

[Bogey]

Really? I just ordered this:



Look forward to listening to it.

I have yet to find a recording that I did not enjoy on the MHS label PW.

[M forever]

Parrott and the Taverner Players did a great version of Vivaldi's "4 Seasons", definitely one of the best "HIP" contributions I have heard, and I mean really "HIP", not just a bunch of people somehow playing on somehow period instruments and pretending to be "HIP".

[PerfectWagnerite]

Parrott and the Taverner Players did a great version of Vivaldi's "4 Seasons", definitely one of the best "HIP" contributions I have heard, and I mean really "HIP", not just a bunch of people somehow playing on somehow period instruments and pretending to be "HIP".

Oh I don't have that one. Anyway it will be the first Parrot recording I have. I am always intrigue when listening to a new ensemble.

Incidentally I have a lot of stuff by the Tallis Scholars, not sure whether they are fake HIP or not or not even pretending to be HIP since they use sopranos and not countertenors as in other recordings of early music.

[Daverz]

Prompted by a classicstoday review, but I've been interested in picking up some of Steinberg's Boston recordings for a while.

[Hector]

Prompted by a classicstoday review, but I've been interested in picking up some of Steinberg's Boston recordings for a while.

Vastly overrated. 'The Planets' in particularly is earthbound.

I know classicstoday likes these performances but it is Boult for the Holst(or Spano?) and Blomstedt will do for the rest.

I hope you got them cheap.

[Don]

Prompted by a classicstoday review, but I've been interested in picking up some of Steinberg's Boston recordings for a while.

Steinberg's Planets is one of the best - enjoy.

[M forever]

Vastly overrated. 'The Planets' in particularly is earthbound.

Not true. Steinberg's Planets is an outstanding recording, a document of great orchestral culture and a very nuanced interpretation. Interpretation is more or less a matter of "opinion" though, but the craftsmanship displayed by orchestra and conductor really aren't. That goes far beyond playing the right notes at the same time. The way the orchestra plays, and how they play together are great and very stylish. The same goes for the accompanying "Also sprach Zarathustra" - the playing there is so stylish I could mistake it for the Staatskapelle Dresden.

[Haffner]

What does Barenboim find so funny about Mahler's 9th?

Perhaps he listened to his performance of it. There are so many (much better) performances of this piece.

[Hector]

Not true. Steinberg's Planets is an outstanding recording, a document of great orchestral culture and a very nuanced interpretation. Interpretation is more or less a matter of "opinion" though, but the craftsmanship displayed by orchestra and conductor really aren't. That goes far beyond playing the right notes at the same time. The way the orchestra plays, and how they play together are great and very stylish. The same goes for the accompanying "Also sprach Zarathustra" - the playing there is so stylish I could mistake it for the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Nuanced? Steinberg? Steinberg would not have recognised "nuanced" if it had hit him in the face with "nuanced" written all over it. Why do you promote these second rate recordings?

As for interpretation, well, he has no idea where to start. Perhaps that is why the performance hits the rocks so soon after Mars. Superficial at best and irrelevant.

I have no doubt the orchestra play well but they are hardly into the real feel of the work. Less so, I would suggest, than Karajan's Berliners.

I cannot speak for the Strauss but suspect it is no better or worse than anything else Steinberg committed to disc.

Play as an example of how fine the truly great interpreters of this work are, otherwise...avoid!

[PerfectWagnerite]

Perhaps he listened to his performance of it. There are so many (much better) performances of this piece.

Now now...I think he is saying: this piece is EASY! Give me something harder next time.

[MishaK]

Perhaps he listened to his performance of it. There are so many (much better) performances of this piece.

Have you actually listened to it? It should very much be among the top recommendations, not least because of the Staatskapelle Berlin's outstanding playing.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Have you actually listened to it? It should very much be among the top recommendations, not least because of the Staatskapelle Berlin's outstanding playing.

It's pretty good - until you hear the BP under Bernstein, that is a performance that really lets every single orchestra detail and even sound effect stand out and no stones are unturned.

[M forever]

Nuanced? Steinberg? Steinberg would not have recognised "nuanced" if it had hit him in the face with "nuanced" written all over it. Why do you promote these second rate recordings?

As for interpretation, well, he has no idea where to start. Perhaps that is why the performance hits the rocks so soon after Mars. Superficial at best and irrelevant.

I have no doubt the orchestra play well but they are hardly into the real feel of the work. Less so, I would suggest, than Karajan's Berliners.

I cannot speak for the Strauss but suspect it is no better or worse than anything else Steinberg committed to disc.

Play as an example of how fine the truly great interpreters of this work are, otherwise...avoid!

Oh man, you really have absolutely no clue. None at all. You must be nearly deaf. Or completely unmusical. Or both. You certainly don't have the slightest shred of musical education.

If there is one recording I can think of which certainly doesn't have "the feel" (whatever that is) of that piece, it's Karajan's Berlin recording (and I say that as a great admirer of that team that I grew up with hearing in concert) in which they blast and trample through that piece which they had never played under him in concert. Probably only because DG wanted to have a digital recording of that early in the CD area.

Steinberg's account is rich in nuance and musical detail and fine textures. He does the composition justice. Same about his Zarathustra recording. That is one of the best Strauss recordings I know, stylistically spot on. But then of course, I am pretty sure you have no clue what that style is when it comes to Strauss' music.

[M forever]

Nuanced? Steinberg? Steinberg would not have recognised "nuanced" if it had hit him in the face with "nuanced" written all over it. Why do you promote these second rate recordings?

I forgot: I don't promote any recordings. I just point out what I find good and bad, and why. Musically inexperienced people like you *could* learn something from that, but somebody who makes arguments like "would not have recognised "nuanced" if it had hit him in the face with "nuanced" written all over it" is probably way too far from even beginning to learn the first things about music, so I don't see much hope for you.

[hautbois]

Sibelius, Karelia and Kuolema. Osmo Vanska, Lahti Symphony Orchestra. (BIS)
The fact that the Karelia suite is so popular didn't lead Vanska to conduct it like another circus showpiece, instead, he interprets the highlights with taste, and most importantly, they are placed satisfying in context with the complete work itself. The orchestra has a beautiful sound, and the playing is most beautiful and detailed.


Ravel, Daphnis et Chloe. Myung Whun Chung, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. (DG)
Was looking for a modern recording of the complete Daphnis, and found this. No idea how it sounds like, yet.


Roussel, 4 Symphonies. Charles Dutoit, Orchestre National de France. (Apex/Warner)
Certainly a curiosity. I have never heard of anything by Roussel, and at a bargain price, i took the plunge.

[Papy Oli]

Received this one today :