Music for Passiontide & Easter

Started by Que, April 09, 2011, 12:44:50 AM

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DavidW

I'll probably listen to Bach's Easter Oratorio, not sure which recording yet.

Florestan

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: pjme on April 01, 2021, 01:27:43 PM
Ehhh...which work do you mean exactly?
Oh, sorry lol!  I had meant Penderecki's Passio Secundum Lucam.  :)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

pjme

#123
Afaik, this is the fist commercial recording & it is still very impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/v/bIaGM8xvf10

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933 - 2020)

Passio et Mors Domini Nostri Iesu Christi secundum Lucam
(1965)

Stefania Woytowicz - soprán / soprano
Andrzej Hiolski - baryton / baritone
Bernard Ładysz - bas / basso
Leszek Herdegen - recitace / recitation
Chlapecký a Smíšený sbor Krakowské filharmonie 
Boys and Mixed Choir of Krakow Philharmonic
sbormistři / choirmasters Janusz Przybyski a Józef Suwara
Orchestr Krakowské filharmonie
Orchestra of Krakow Philharmonic
řídí / conducting Henryk Czyż[/flash]


Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: pjme on April 02, 2021, 03:14:58 AM
Afaik, this is the fist commercial recording & it is still very impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/v/bIaGM8xvf10

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933 - 2020)

Passio et Mors Domini Nostri Iesu Christi secundum Lucam
(1965)

Stefania Woytowicz - soprán / soprano
Andrzej Hiolski - baryton / baritone
Bernard Ładysz - bas / basso
Leszek Herdegen - recitace / recitation
Chlapecký a Smíšený sbor Krakowské filharmonie 
Boys and Mixed Choir of Krakow Philharmonic
sbormistři / choirmasters Janusz Przybyski a Józef Suwara
Orchestr Krakowské filharmonie
Orchestra of Krakow Philharmonic
řídí / conducting Henryk Czyż[/flash]
Thank you! Will add that to today's play list.  :)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

aligreto

JS Bach: St. Matthew Passion [Leppard]





This performance would not necessarily be a top recommendation. It is of its time and would be typical of Leppard [for those who know his interpretations]. However, I enjoy it [as I do Leppard presentations]. Leppard basically provides the requisite forward momentum and rhythmic integrity for a good JSB interpretation. The solo female vocals can tend towards the operatic at times but not excessively so but the male vocalists are robust and are sympathetic to the music. The choral singing is robust and also quite sensitive to the spirit of the music. I also like the presentation of the woodwinds in this performance.

aligreto

Poulenc Stabat Mater from the Poulenc big box.





This is a wonderful, heartfelt and very powerful work. The musical language is straightforward and it is enhanced by lyricism, drama and tension at various stages. The harmonies are wonderfully appealing and the choral singing is very atmospheric. It is a very fine work.

Que

Any recommendations on Händel's Brockes-Passion:)

The field used to be monopolised by McGegan (Hungaroton), but nowadays there is a wealth of choice:

A new recording by Jonathan Cohen with Sandrine Piau et al. (Alpha)
Richard Egarr (AAM Records)
Lars Ulrik Mortensen (cpo)
Laurence Cummings (Accent)
Hans Peter Neumann (Carus)

Q

amw

#128
Currently listening to some versions of the 1725 version of Bach's St. John Passion. I have these two at the moment:




The Neumann is preferable, at least from a technical instrumental and vocal perspective. The van der Meel sounds more "historically informed" though.

What other recordings of this version should I look for?

edit: Found three more on streaming services, have listened to this one so far. Good, modern instruments, but generally on the slow side, and none of the soloists struck me as really exceptional. Other two are Herreweghe & Wunderkammer which I am saving for tomorrow.


DavidW

Quote from: Que on April 02, 2021, 11:38:01 PM
Any recommendations on Händel's Brockes-Passion:)

The field used to be monopolised by McGegan (Hungaroton), but nowadays there is a wealth of choice:

A new recording by Jonathan Cohen with Sandrine Piau et al. (Alpha)
Richard Egarr (AAM Records)
Lars Ulrik Mortensen (cpo)
Laurence Cummings (Accent)
Hans Peter Neumann (Carus)

Q

I've listened to the new recording and it is pretty good.  But I haven't heard the others so I have nothing to compare to.  I usually like Christie in Handel, but he hasn't recorded it.

amw

Quote from: amw on April 03, 2021, 12:22:38 AM
Currently listening to some versions of the 1725 version of Bach's St. John Passion. I have these two at the moment:




The Neumann is preferable, at least from a technical instrumental and vocal perspective. The van der Meel sounds more "historically informed" though.

What other recordings of this version should I look for?

edit: Found three more on streaming services, have listened to this one so far. Good, modern instruments, but generally on the slow side, and none of the soloists struck me as really exceptional. Other two are Herreweghe & Wunderkammer which I am saving for tomorrow.





Second one is one voice per part, and is also my preference out of this pair, somewhat to my surprise; I've never heard of any of the singers, but they're all excellent (some of them seem to have participated in the Carus Schütz integral which is also excellent, so that's not surprising), and the energy of the recording outpaces the somewhat sedate Herreweghe. Released last year, apparently.

The new erato

Quote from: Que on April 02, 2021, 11:38:01 PM
Any recommendations on Händel's Brockes-Passion:)

The field used to be monopolised by McGegan (Hungaroton), but nowadays there is a wealth of choice:

A new recording by Jonathan Cohen with Sandrine Piau et al. (Alpha)
Richard Egarr (AAM Records)
Lars Ulrik Mortensen (cpo)
Laurence Cummings (Accent)
Hans Peter Neumann (Carus)

Q
I have the Egarr and found no particular fault with it when I listened to it a year ago, but it is my only encounter with this work.

André

I normally observe obvious signposts of the season such as Christmas and Easter with the appropriate musical fare, but not this year. It seems the pandemic has upended my reaction to the passing of time, as if my internal clock was frozen in pre-covid time... ::)

DavidW

Quote from: André on April 04, 2021, 06:52:59 AM
I normally observe obvious signposts of the season such as Christmas and Easter with the appropriate musical fare, but not this year. It seems the pandemic has upended my reaction to the passing of time, as if my internal clock was frozen in pre-covid time... ::)

Quartet for the End of Time then? 

All kidding aside I understand.  I kind of went the other way.  Holidays I never cared out I now look forward to celebrating as excuses to get my head out of the grey fog.

aligreto

Rebelo: Lamentations for Maundy Thursday [A Secret Labyrinth CD 15] 13 Post in Music for Easter and Passiontide thread





This music is divine as is the presentation of it here.


[From the excellent A Secret Labyrinth set}




vandermolen

#135
I rather liked this LP (I have a CD version as well)
Although they are both on Supraphon and I've owned them for years/decades, I've only just realised that they are not the same performance!  ::)

Actually I've realised that I do own Smetacek's recording on CD as well (there's also a recording on Naxos).
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Jo498

Lassus/di Lasso Hieremiae prophetae lamentationes
Chapelle Royale, Herreweghe

[asin]B000027O3G[/asin]

I listened to the first two sets (maundy thursday and good friday) already yesterday, and the one for saturday now. It's beautiful music but I admittedly find it much more serene than plaintive. Other settings, such as the famous by Tallis seem closer to the text expression but I am also admittedly not sufficiently familiar with pre-1600 music to appreciate the nuances.
Next will be the Lamentation settings by Krenek; I am also planning to get to Stravinsky's (Threni) and some baroque settings (Scarlatti, Charpentier, Couperin).
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

aligreto

Pergolesi: Stabat Mater [Jacobs]





This is a terrific work and I like this version, generally speaking. The orchestration is never overstated and it is always sensitive to the vocalists. The vocalists themselves are also very sensitive to the music. I have not heard a boy soprano singing that role before. In general it works and I would not be against the pairing. They complement each other well. However, his voice can be a bit piercing sometimes and he very occasionally misses the note. However, everything is well balanced in the recording.

aligreto

Schutz: Die Sieben Worte [Hillier]





This presentation of this wonderful work is just divine. The tone is wonderfully atmospheric and solemn but not overly or heavily devotional. This wonderful balance in tone is achieved by both the supreme vocals from all concerned and the very atmospheric and appropriately sensitive instrumental accompaniment. The element of the brass in the accompaniment makes for a wonderful atmosphere. All of this is further enhanced by a warm and slightly reverberant acoustic. It all makes for really wonderful listening.

aligreto

Schutz: Johannes-Passion [Hillier]





This is a wonderful work. In terms of tone, the sense of the devotional is wonderfully balanced with a sense of understated drama. I like that the music has a sense of being slightly driven here without affecting its integrity. This augments the sense of drama. The vocal contributions are all excellent. The presentation is full sounding in a warm and overtly reverberant acoustic which lends a sense of place and also a sense of atmosphere. It also lends to an enhanced sense of solemnity. Interestingly, I am getting a sense of East European Orthodoxy here.