Recordings That You Are Considering

[PerfectWagnerite]

Muti/Philadelphia is my least favorite, of all that I have heard. Goes to show how taste can vary. I have to check to see if I still have it, maybe I can listen again.

I have quite a few recordings of these works for some reason. In no particular order I really enjoy Mata/Dallas, Reiner/CSO, Ozawa/BSO, Sinopoli/NYPO in addition to the abovementioned. A few that I don't particularly care for include Karajan and Oue/Minnesota.

[André]

Some pieces on vinyl: organ concerto on Turnabout, piano concerto on Aulos and trautonium concerto on Wergo, pieces for saxophone ensemble on a Koch Schwann cd were interesting for their instrumentation.  It's a long time since I heard them but the fact that I have more than one disc of his music makes me think I liked it.

Thanks for the comment. I bought it last week. At 8€ for 10 discs I figured there was no need to hesitate. Should be here in a week or so. Seems to be quite varied and samples sound intriguing.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I have quite a few recordings of these works for some reason. In no particular order I really enjoy Mata/Dallas, Reiner/CSO, Ozawa/BSO, Sinopoli/NYPO in addition to the abovementioned. A few that I don't particularly care for include Karajan and Oue/Minnesota.

I like Reiner/CSO, and particularly like Maazel/Pittsburgh and Maazel/Cleveland. I have a soft spot for Karajan/Berlin, even though you could say be distorts the piece, but he finds things in it that I didn't know were there. I even like Ansermet. But a real favorite is Previtali/Santa Cecilia.

[André]

I've been interested in acquiring a version of Dvorak's cantata The Sceptre's Bride for quite some time. I've read it belongs to the composer's middle period. It is based on a poem by Karel Erben, an author Dvorak was to cull from in his great late tone poems.

There's half a dozen recordings available, none of them exactly cheap, so I'm wondering about other members' experience with the work. Anyone has suggestions ?

[Madiel]

I've been interested in acquiring a version of Dvorak's cantata The Sceptre's Bride for quite some time. I've read it belongs to the composer's middle period. It is based on a poem by Karel Erben, an author Dvorak was to cull from in his great late tone poems.

There's half a dozen recordings available, none of them exactly cheap, so I'm wondering about other members' experience with the work. Anyone has suggestions ?

Spectre. Not Sceptre. Rather different.

I have it in the Supraphon box set below, with Belohlavek conducting.



I can't offer comparisons with other versions, all I can say is that one of the reasons for buying the box is that the performances in there seemed to be viewed pretty favourably. Depends on whether you're also interested in the other things in there. Major works include the Stabat Mater, the Requiem and Saint Ludmilla. I have to say that unfortunately, I find Saint Ludmilla's plot to be embarrassing. Unlike the Spectre's Bride which I find pretty enjoyable.

[Biffo]

I've been interested in acquiring a version of Dvorak's cantata The Sceptre's Bride for quite some time. I've read it belongs to the composer's middle period. It is based on a poem by Karel Erben, an author Dvorak was to cull from in his great late tone poems.

There's half a dozen recordings available, none of them exactly cheap, so I'm wondering about other members' experience with the work. Anyone has suggestions ?

I can't be very helpful as it is not a work I am very fond of and I only have it as part of a box set. The performance is by Belohlavek and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and it is part of the Supraphon box Dvorak's Sacred Works and Cantatas (8CDs). I am sure it is fine one but don't have any comparisons - it is well played and sung.

I heard Martinu's setting of the same poem first and was surprised by the length of Dvorak's work; Martinu takes 27 mins to Dvorak's 78 to set essentially the same text. Martinu makes some cuts but not a many as you would expect from the disparity in lengths of the two works. the problem for me with Dvorak is that he is very repetitive. A large part of the story is told by a narrator (bass) and the chorus. Typically for four line stanza, the bass sings the 1st line then repeats it, then he sings the  2nd line and repeats it, then he sings lines 1 & 2 again. The chorus then sings the 1st line then repeats it, the then second line etc. After the same formula for lines 3 & 4 the chorus then repeats the whole stanza. Dvorak is unvarying in this pattern for most of the work. There are some wonderful moments such as the duet for the Spectre and his would be Bride but I find the whole thing too drawn out.

The work was a great success at its Birmingham premiere and you may enjoy it more than I did.

[Judith]

Just ordered

Haydn
Symphonies nos 44 45 49
ASMF
Iona Brown

Not got a lot of Haydn in collection and going to see no 49 perfomed by local ensemble in December so wanted to familiarise myself🎼🎼

[Karl Henning]

Just ordered

Haydn
Symphonies nos 44 45 49
ASMF
Iona Brown

Not got a lot of Haydn in collection and going to see no 49 perfomed by local ensemble in December so wanted to familiarise myself🎼🎼

This is a rabbit hole which, I believe, you will entirely enjoy.

[aligreto]

Just ordered

Haydn
Symphonies nos 44 45 49
ASMF
Iona Brown

Not got a lot of Haydn in collection and going to see no 49 perfomed by local ensemble in December so wanted to familiarise myself🎼🎼

There is some wonderful music to be found in the Haydn symphonies. You are perhaps embarking on real voyage of discovery here. Haydn's String Quartets and Masses are also worth your time at some point in the future. Happy listening.

[Judith]

There is some wonderful music to be found in the Haydn symphonies. You are perhaps embarking on real voyage of discovery here. Haydn's String Quartets and Masses are also worth your time at some point in the future. Happy listening.

Thank you. Have the some of the String Quartets. Do love them

[aligreto]

Thank you. Have the some of the String Quartets. Do love them

The fact that you like your Haydn String Quartets is great and that should make the transition to the Symphonies very easy for you.

[milk]

Do I want this? Do I need this? The sound is great as is the instrument but does Rousset have the right stuff?

[Mandryka]

Do I want this? Do I need this? The sound is great as is the instrument but does Rousset have the right stuff?

It is authoritative, aristocratic and a little bit stiff.

[milk]

It is authoritative, aristocratic and a little bit stiff.

Hmm...I don't think this is what I want in Monsieur Couperin. Skip Sempe is still my favorite. I have some of the Asperin. But I still want something else maybe. Maybe not Rousset. Thanks!

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Do I want this? Do I need this? The sound is great as is the instrument but does Rousset have the right stuff?

Checking into this thread, which I realize I had been out of.

Speaking of this: I think Rousset has the right stuff, but the sound isn't quite that of his Bach recordings, if you know those. Enjoyed this a good deal without going gaga about it.

[Mandryka]

Checking into this thread, which I realize I had been out of.

Speaking of this: I think Rousset has the right stuff, but the sound isn't quite that of his Bach recordings, if you know those. Enjoyed this a good deal without going gaga about it.

Why is it called New Suites?

[SurprisedByBeauty]

I've been interested in acquiring a version of Dvorak's cantata The Sceptre's Bride for quite some time. I've read it belongs to the composer's middle period. It is based on a poem by Karel Erben, an author Dvorak was to cull from in his great late tone poems.

There's half a dozen recordings available, none of them exactly cheap, so I'm wondering about other members' experience with the work. Anyone has suggestions ?

The only two good recordings are the Supraphon one with Belohlavek and, surprisingly perhaps, also the Cornelius Meister one* with the Vienna RSO. I listened to Albrecht and Macal/New Jersey and found them wanting.

Disclaimer: My wife sang in the chorus; I should like to think that that did not make me biased in its favor, though.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Why is it called New Suites?

Seriously? Why was New Coke "New Coke"? Well, bad example. Because they were the latest, hippest, newest thing on the market that Mr. Rameau was hawking. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%A8ces_de_Clavecin#Nouvelles_Suites_de_Pi%C3%A8ces_de_Clavecin_(1726%E2%80%931727)

[Mandryka]

Seriously? Why was New Coke "New Coke"? Well, bad example. Because they were the latest, hippest, newest thing on the market that Mr. Rameau was hawking. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%A8ces_de_Clavecin#Nouvelles_Suites_de_Pi%C3%A8ces_de_Clavecin_(1726%E2%80%931727)

No one else besides Rousset calls them nouvelles as far as I know, he must have done something new to them. Maybe the way he's assembled them.

To Milk. The recording is lyrical, I mean really lyrical. If that floats your boat, then I'd go for it.

[Draško]

No one else besides Rousset calls them nouvelles as far as I know, he must have done something new to them. Maybe the way he's assembled them.

I was curious about the same. Does anyone have the booklet? The only idea I had is that 'nouvelles' was Rousset stating these are different pieces than the ones he recorded previously on Aparte (i.e. that this is not a reissue).