Past Purchases (CLOSED)

[DavidRoss]

Hi David - just put the order in today, so should arrive by mid-week; appreciate Don's comments and suspect that I will enjoy - only 5* comments from the Amazonians, including Santa Fe Listener who typically provides excellent reviews IMO (although I'm not always in agreement); also 10/10 rating from Jed Distler reprinted HERE - Dave

Well, Dave, we can just agree to disagree re. "Santa Fe Listener." I think he's a pompous ass and his reviews are usually more about himself than the recording. He's like the Hurwitzer, all over the map, blinded by prejudices, usually wrong but right just often enough to be an unreliable reverse guide. But if Huntley and Hurwitz both pan something, then you can be all but certain it's one of the greatest recordings of the Century!

Incidentally, I found Freire's Schumann on Mog and am listening to it now. Carnaval is brilliant--alive and dancing. I suspect Freire really likes this music!

[Wakefield]

Cutting down be damned. And I'm part of the union again, that's what counts:

[asin]B005G0ETV0[/asin]

Just ordered. Pretty cheap (as such things go) on jpc.de.

Vade retro me Satana!!!

[DavidRoss]

Vade retro me Satana!!!

¡Sí!
(Toma toda mi fuerza para resistir la tentación de ver el precio al jpc.)

[Wakefield]

¡Sí!
(Toma toda mi fuerza para resistir la tentación de ver el precio al jpc.)

Unfortunately, I already did it: EUR 129,99, less VAT.

Less than 1 Euro for every CD.

I'm condemned, I figure.   

[CriticalI]

Connelly is pretty good--her Urlicht surprised me. But the biggest surprise was Henschel. Try his Revelge.  Makes me want to hear him in DLVDE.

Speaking of - I hope you'll listen to Tennstedt's dLvdE soon. Then that'll make TWO people on this forum who've heard it!

[kishnevi]

Unfortunately, I already did it: EUR 129,99, less VAT.

Less than 1 Euro for every CD.

I'm condemned, I figure.   

Come, cheer up.  You were considering this one a while back, weren't you? So you merely achieved your purpose of finding a good price 

Speaking of - I hope you'll listen to Tennstedt's dLvdE soon. Then that'll make TWO people on this forum who've heard it!

No,  I became number 2 a while back.  He'll be three.

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:

[asin]B004DIPKZK[/asin]

Bought this M9 for Dad as he already owns Abbado's #1-7 on Blu-ray.

And one for myself...

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I just couldn't bring myself to buy an opera on blu-ray. I don't even enjoy the medium enough to watch it at home or really anywhere. I'm a symphony/concerto/ballet guy through and through. It's just what I like the most.

[DavidRoss]

Bought this M9 for Dad as he already owns Abbado's #1-7 on Blu-ray.

What a thoughtful son! When my older boy was home visiting a couple of weeks ago, we watched Abbado's Lucerne M6 together, one of his favorites. Which reminds me that I was going to send him the link to PBS's MTT Mahler episodes of Keeping Score!

Unfortunately, I already did it: EUR 129,99, less VAT.

Whoa...that is a bargain! I already have several of those discs, the usual suspects: Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann. Even so I'm tempted!

Speaking of - I hope you'll listen to Tennstedt's dLvdE soon. Then that'll make TWO people on this forum who've heard it!

Isn't that in EMI's "new , improved!" big box? If so, I'll be listening to it soon!

Edit: I just checked. It is included and I have heard it. It's the one with Baltsa. She's no Janet Baker (who is?!), but she's very good.

[Mirror Image]

What a thoughtful son! When my older boy was home visiting a couple of weeks ago, we watched Abbado's Lucerne M6 together, one of his favorites. Which reminds me that I was going to send him the link to PBS's MTT Mahler episodes of Keeping Score!

Yeah, my Dad and I are extremely close. We're best friends! Anyway, we're supposed to watch M5 today from that set, so this will be fun. I like this symphony a lot.

[Mirror Image]

The good news is that no one is rooted in cement; most people go through changes throughout life.  You may find yourself interested in opera one day,  not that I have anything invested in it one way or the other.   If you choose to look at life as a world of opportunities it does not make much sense (imo) to intentionally cut yourself off from some experiences.

Yeah, I may enjoy it enough one day to buy an opera on blu-ray, but until then, I've still got a lot of stuff to watch.

[Karl Henning]

Landed yesterday:

[TheGSMoeller]

Landed yesterday:

This dude abides. 

[DavidRoss]

Landed yesterday:

I Mogged it after the discussion last week. Liked it, but wasn't sure I wanted another recording of this warhorse. After seeing your post a couple of minutes ago, I Mogged it again. I'm liking what I hear even more than when I checked it out last week.

So I went to Amazon to see about snagging a copy. And there I saw Huntley Dent's review:

On its own this would seem like a bizarre-sounding Symphonie Fantastqiue. The orchestra is scrawny, the strings scratchy and without vibrato, giving them an irritating zing, the winds thin and not always in tune. But of course this is period performance, which means that nobody has to be up to professional standards.

Norrington is a rushed, unbending conductor of this music, as he is of most music, and although it is weirdly fascinating to hear such Berliozian oddities as the ophicleide in the orchestra (a blatty coiled metal kind of bassoon), the overall musicality isn't there. Those who like period performances would naturally disagree by a mile.

Hard to imagine a more compelling recommendation than this twit's strong disapproval reeking of the usual inane prejudice.

So I bought it!



along with this:



and this:



Between GMG & Mog I may soon have to stop eating in order to make my mortgage payment!

[Mirror Image]

and this:

Great recording there. Pay no attention to that Santa Fe Listener character. He writes so many reviews that it makes me question whether he actually listened to the music.

[Karl Henning]

But of course this is period performance, which means that nobody has to be up to professional standards.

Sacrée vache, but that about says it all, doesn't it? Gauges the writer right to the short hairs.

[Sergeant Rock]

So I went to Amazon to see about snagging a copy. And there I saw Huntley Dent's review:Hard to imagine a more compelling recommendation than this twit's strong disapproval reeking of the usual inane prejudice.

"Norrington is a rushed, unbending conductor of this music"

David, I wonder if The Dent even listened to it. Rushed? Much of the criticism I've read against this performance concerns Norrington's slow tempos in the last two movements. For comparison:

                      IV         V

Norrington   7:25   10:37

Colin Davis  6:31    9:59

Solti            4:54     10:06

Munch         4:27     8:35

Maazel        4:02    9:21


And the period instruments are a total delight and especially effective in the Marche au supplice.

I don't know if you and Karl will enjoy Norrington's Fantastique as much as I do (I've been a lone prophet in the wilderness) but I'm glad you guys are at least giving it a fair trial 

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

And the period instruments are a total delight and especially effective in the Marche au supplice.

Aye, Sarge, you feel you're right there in the tumbril : )

[Todd]

   



Plumped for Buchbinder's first cycle.  Decided I might as well try all of Gould's LvB, too.  I've not been particularly fond of the little I've heard, but who knows, maybe there are some gems in there.

[cjvinthechair]

First purchase in a year from E-Bay...Gee, saved a penny or two during that break ! Couldn't last.

Gianfrancesco Malipiero: Symphonies 5,6,8 & 11 on Marco Polo.

Brilliant underknown composer, though most of the sublime Italians of my acquaintance in that category begin with 'P' : Perosi, Pessina, Petrassi, Pizzetti, Pizzini, Porrino to the fore, with a plug for Procaccini in slightly more modern times.
Of course that doesn't include any of the wonderful Respighi (beyond Fountains/Pines/Birds).

Thank goodness for You Tube, & the Art-Music Forum (& Unsung Composers) Archives, or I'd be even more of a pauper ! Any 'Italian' thoughts, anyone ? 

[Mirror Image]

First purchase in a year from E-Bay...Gee, saved a penny or two during that break ! Couldn't last.

Gianfrancesco Malipiero: Symphonies 5,6,8 & 11 on Marco Polo.

Brilliant underknown composer, though most of the sublime Italians of my acquaintance in that category begin with 'P' : Perosi, Pessina, Petrassi, Pizzetti, Pizzini, Porrino to the fore, with a plug for Procaccini in slightly more modern times.
Of course that doesn't include any of the wonderful Respighi (beyond Fountains/Pines/Birds).

Thank goodness for You Tube, & the Art-Music Forum (& Unsung Composers) Archives, or I'd be even more of a pauper ! Any 'Italian' thoughts, anyone ?

Don't forget Casella!

Malipiero is an interesting composer. I wouldn't say, however, that he's in the same league as Respighi, Pizzetti, or Casella. Malipiero wasn't a particularly consistent composer by any means. Like Villa-Lobos, Martinu, and Milhaud, the guy composed A LOT of music. But, at his best, I find that there is a beautiful lyricism and harmonic language that runs deep through the music and he certainly has to be credited for getting Vivaldi's name out there (he was a scholar of his music).