Joaquin Rodrigo (1901 - 1999)

Started by Mirror Image, July 11, 2010, 05:18:30 PM

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71 dB

Quote from: Sid on July 13, 2010, 07:54:05 PM
Well you can stick to "canned" music, I'll stick to "real" music.
What is wrong with "canned" music?
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Mirror Image

Since our friend Sid enjoys Naxos recordings, I openly recommend the Rodrigo complete orchestral series to him. There are 10 volumes in all and have proven to be an excellent, inexpensive way to get familiar with this composer.

I own all of these volumes and I also own Enrique Batiz's 4-CD set on EMI, which is pretty good, but doesn't have the sonic clarity of the Naxos recordings. I also think the interpretations on the Naxos recordings are more in-tune with what Rodrigo was trying to say.

springrite

Quote from: 71 dB on July 14, 2010, 08:12:38 AM
What is wrong with "canned" music?

I prefer glass bottles.


I have not heard the NAXOS set, having only the 4 CDs set by Batiz, which I thought was just fine. Maybe one day I will obtain a few of the NAXOS to see if they are really better.
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

Mirror Image

#23
Quote from: springrite on July 14, 2010, 08:46:04 AM
I prefer glass bottles.[/img]

That's a good one! :D

Quote from: springrite on July 14, 2010, 08:46:04 AMI have not heard the NAXOS set, having only the 4 CDs set by Batiz, which I thought was just fine. Maybe one day I will obtain a few of the NAXOS to see if they are really better.

I'm not sure about better, but I enjoy the Naxos recordings more, but it all comes down to personal subjectivity.

SonicMan46

Well, just wanted to join this thread for comments and recommendations; my collection lacks much of this composer - only own the 2-CD bargain package below which I do enjoy.  The Naxos discs appear the way to go for a more complete & modern set of recordings - is there a box in the making?  ;) ;D


Brian

The only Naxos/Rodrigo album I have a qualm about is the piano music disc with Artur Pizarro, which has sound quality I'd consider less than ideal - though great playing. I haven't heard any of the Batiz recordings, but based solely on my Naxosperiences, the violin, cello and piano concertos are all very much worth getting to know, with the piano concerto's slow movement maybe my favorite Rodrigo yet. As mentioned to Sarge in the listening thread, I didn't much like the light ballet (?) suite Soleriana, which was a bit too monotone bubbly-bouncy for me. I like really chipper ballets, of course, like Pineapple Poll or Gaite parisienne, but those have more varied action and great tunes.

SonicMan - even if there was, Naxos' box sets are almost never of the space-saver kind. Only their Haydn and Mahler boxes are, not counting the OOP "The White Box" series. Pity they prefer slipcovers. :(

Mirror Image

Quote from: SonicMan on July 14, 2010, 09:03:13 AMThe Naxos discs appear the way to go for a more complete & modern set of recordings - is there a box in the making?  ;) ;D

I bought all 10 volumes individually, but I think that I did read somewhere that they were going to do one, but I'm just not sure when.

SonicMan46

Quote from: Brian on July 14, 2010, 09:04:45 AM
SonicMan - even if there was, Naxos' box sets are almost never of the space-saver kind. Only their Haydn and Mahler boxes are, not counting the OOP "The White Box" series. Pity they prefer slipcovers. :(

Hi Brian - yep, I own some Naxos' boxes that have gone either way; separate jewel boxes or sleeves; the last one I purchased was the Haydn Masses which included a good booklet + 8 CDs in sleeves, but the box was almost twice as wide as needed!  Dave  :D

Brian

#28
Quote from: SonicMan on July 14, 2010, 01:07:35 PM
Hi Brian - yep, I own some Naxos' boxes that have gone either way; separate jewel boxes or sleeves; the last one I purchased was the Haydn Masses which included a good booklet + 8 CDs in sleeves, but the box was almost twice as wide as needed!  Dave  :D

Hey, I'm thinking about that Haydn Masses box; it's on sale for $40 at ArkivMusic. EDIT: Originally I asked if it included texts, but the whole booklet is on Naxos Music Library!

kishnevi

Quote from: SonicMan on July 14, 2010, 01:07:35 PM
Hi Brian - yep, I own some Naxos' boxes that have gone either way; separate jewel boxes or sleeves; the last one I purchased was the Haydn Masses which included a good booklet + 8 CDs in sleeves, but the box was almost twice as wide as needed!  Dave  :D

I have the Masses and the Concerto sets.  The booklet for the Concertos also includes the Symphonies and String Quartets, so obviously Naxos used it for all three sets.   It makes a big booklet, but four fifths of it is totally irrelevant for my purposes.

Meanwhile, on Rodrigo,  this EMI double seems to have a bunch of the concerto performances mentioned in connection with the Brilliant box

Besides the concertos listed on the CD cover it also includes the Concerto in Modo Galante.

71 dB

Few years ago I was very interested of Rodrigo but somehow his music didn't turn out as intetesting as I thought. I bough 9 volumes of the orchestral music and one disc of piano works on Naxos.

Today, I started to listen to volume one. Five minutes into the first track my players starts skipping. I take the disc out for inspection. There are two huge scratches on the surface! What the heck?? I don't scratch my CDs!  :o Must have been like this when I bought it used.
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

karlhenning

Quote from: kishnevi on July 15, 2010, 09:10:10 AM
Went probing into the depths of Wikipedia, which says
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concierto_heroico
A modified version of the concerto, produced for Joaquín Achúcarro, was first performed in 1999; this removed two virtuosic cadenzas and balanced the relationship between the piano and orchestral parts.

The Batiz was recorded in December 1984; and therefore unless a friendly Gallifreyan was involved,  it's not the Achucarro version.

Here's a Wikipedia anomaly for us:

Quote
The Concierto heroico for piano and orchestra was composed by Joaquín Rodrigo for pianist Leopoldo Querol between 1935 and 1943.

Rodrigo began work on the concerto in 1935, and completed the first two movements before setting the work aside; having forgotten about it, he returned and completed it in 1945. The piece is called "heroic" because of the martial rhythms and fanfares of the first movement.

The first sentence claims that the final date of composition was 1943.

The next sentence claims that the piece was completed in 1945.

Where are these dates coming from and why do they not harmonize? (← rhetorical question)

71 dB

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 15, 2010, 09:40:53 AM

Where are these dates coming from and why do they not harmonize?
Maybe the composition is too chromatic?
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 15, 2010, 09:40:53 AMQuote from Wikipedia:

The Concierto heroico for piano and orchestra was composed by Joaquín Rodrigo for pianist Leopoldo Querol between 1935 and 1943.

Rodrigo began work on the concerto in 1935, and completed the first two movements before setting the work aside; having forgotten about it, he returned and completed it in 1945.

It is not the most encouraging state of affairs when the composer himself forgets about his own composition.  ;)
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Mirror Image

Quote from: Sforzando on July 15, 2010, 03:20:21 PM
It is not the most encouraging state of affairs when the composer himself forgets about his own composition.  ;)

I'm glad he finished it, because it's one of the most gorgeous compositions he has written in my opinion.

Lethevich

Quote from: Sforzando on July 15, 2010, 03:20:21 PM
It is not the most encouraging state of affairs when the composer himself forgets about his own composition.  ;)
Indeed. At least Schnittke had an excuse, with the degree of illness he suffered from later in life (that famous story about him regularly waking up and not recognising the music he had added to the manuscript from the day before) ;)
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

greg

Has anyone listened to this disc?


It's quite Ravel-ish, and a very fine disc. I recommend it.

listener

4wiw  a reference, at least  the cover of the 1986 release of the Batiz Concierto-Serenata/ Concierto en modo galante CD
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."

Mirror Image

#38
Quote from: Sforzando on July 15, 2010, 03:20:21 PM
It is not the most encouraging state of affairs when the composer himself forgets about his own composition.  ;)

It's amazing to think about that Villa-Lobos would compose two or three different compositions all at once. He would be writing a melody line to one piece, then turn around and write a rhythm to another. It's certainly astonishing that he got anything done!

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: Mirror Image on July 22, 2010, 07:29:49 PM
It's amazing to think about that Villa-Lobos would compose two or three different compositions all at once. He would be writing a melody line to one piece, then turn around and write a rhythm to another. It's certainly astonishing that he got anything done!

How on earth one can write a melody line without writing a rhythm is beyond me, so your astonishment is understandable. As for Rodrigo, I have been baffled by this composer's reputation ever since I heard the Aranjuez. The slow movement is all right, but the outer movements sound like trite and commonplace attempts at local color, and that's been my experience with everything else of his I have heard. I have only two CDs of his, but there are passages I would have been ashamed to write if I thought of myself as a composer. He's not anywhere the equal of Falla at his best (Harpsichord Concerto, Nights in the Gardens), and after hearing the Soleriana the other night I can only agree with Brian, though he's more polite than I would have been.
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."