Recordings That You Are Considering

[Atriod]

What do people think of Ozawa/Saito Kinen Orchestra recording of Concerto for Orchestra? My impression is the orchestral back and forth is a bit soft edged but this could be a "me" issue with too much Reiner burned in my brain, it was one of the earliest orchestral pieces I heard. Last I heard it I opted not to buy it for partly what I heard in the performance but more that I have too many recordings of it already.

Hurwitz says the Reiner version is lacking in emotional depth, but I don't really hear much in this piece to begin with. I like all of his selections from the ones I have heard.

[DavidW]

Just like that M9 it looks like another Ozawa recording I can't stream!  Hurwitz is a fool, the Reiner recording is one of the finest recordings of anything I've ever heard and in my top five recordings (of anything).

For a modern recording I like this one:

[Atriod]

the Reiner recording is one of the finest recordings of anything I've ever heard and in my top five recordings (of anything).

For a modern recording I like this one:

For sure, for me that Reiner is a desert island album regardless of any parameter. The Maalkki disc is one of the best, same with her Miraculous Mandarin Suite/Wooden Prince. Sort of forgot I had the Maalki for this until you pictured it. I think I'm going to do the sensible thing and skip the Ozawa, I have even more than I remembered and most truly great performances are more similar than not with the assumption that they're playing Bartok's revised score.

[DavidW]

For sure, for me that Reiner is a desert island album regardless of any parameter. The Maalkki disc is one of the best, same with her Miraculous Mandarin Suite/Wooden Prince. Sort of forgot I had the Maalki for this until you pictured it. I think I'm going to do the sensible thing and skip the Ozawa, I have even more than I remembered and most truly great performances are more similar than not with the assumption that they're playing Bartok's revised score.

I forgot about the Miraculous Mandarin Suite and Wooden Prince recording of hers!  I'll have to give it a listen.  You did prompt me to search and I found this recording on Qobuz which I plan to listen to this weekend:



That one and Ozawa's Prokofiev 4 will be how I honor him.

[VonStupp]

Hurwitz says the Reiner version is lacking in emotional depth, but I don't really hear much in this piece to begin with. I like all of his selections from the ones I have heard.

One person's emotionless is another's emotion-ful. Trust your own instincts. For me, Reiner's is great, deep or no!
VS

[DavidW]

One person's emotionless is another's emotion-ful. Trust your own instincts. For me, Reiner's is great, deep or no!
VS

Yes emotion is not content part of a performance.  It is the listener's own feelings and how they resonate (or fail to) with the recording.

[Spotted Horses]

There's been some mention of Daniel Grimwood's recording of Liszt's Annees de Pelerinage on a 19th century piano. Now I've noticed Grimwood has a recording of the Faure Nocturnes.



Different record label, very obscure (Peters Edition Sounds) which may or may not still exist. I can't find any reviews or advertising copy that mentions what plano he uses in this recording. I can only find the CD on presto, although it is available to stream on Apple Music and Qobuz. Download also available on qobuz, but no booklet. Anyone heard or know about this release? Listening it seem like it might be a period piano, but presumably the booklet would mention this.

[Mandryka]

There's been some mention of Daniel Grimwood's recording of Liszt's Annees de Pelerinage on a 19th century piano. Now I've noticed Grimwood has a recording of the Faure Nocturnes.



Different record label, very obscure (Peters Edition Sounds) which may or may not still exist. I can't find any reviews or advertising copy that mentions what plano he uses in this recording. I can only find the CD on presto, although it is available to stream on Apple Music and Qobuz. Download also available on qobuz, but no booklet. Anyone heard or know about this release? Listening it seem like it might be a period piano, but presumably the booklet would mention this.

https://theclassicalreviewer.blogspot.com/2015/01/music-publishers-edition-peters-launch.html

Looks like it's a Bosendorfer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lfdw0StIeA&ab_channel=DanielGrimwood

[Spotted Horses]

https://theclassicalreviewer.blogspot.com/2015/01/music-publishers-edition-peters-launch.html

Looks like it's a Bosendorfer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lfdw0StIeA&ab_channel=DanielGrimwood

Thanks for finding that. No mention in the review, but I see that he's playing a Bosendorfer in the brief clip at the beginning of the promotional video. Not definitive since it doesn't appear to come from a recording session, but the review is quite detailed and if it was a PI piano it seems like it would have been mentioned.

Note added: I did listen to the last Nocturne from this set. Good performance, but not destined to become a favorite of mine, I think.

[T. D.]

New Earthquake Mass recording on Glossa

Love the work, not sure about added passages and the instruments here (electric guitar?), but I trust anything on Glossa to be worth hearing.

'For their new album, Graindelavoix and Björn Schmelzer have turned to Antoine Brumel's amazing 12-voice Missa Et ecce terræ motus, "monstrous and unique", in Schmelzer's words. Recorded during their 2023 European tour, the ensemble has added to their regular singers four wind instrument players and, most especially, has invited the Portuguese composer and [electric?!] guitarist Manuel Mota, who provides some intriguing soundscapes which seamlessly blend with the spectacular singing.

Björn Schmelzer: "This mass was unprecedented for Brumel's time, totally incomparable to what else was being composed. It evokes many later genres and even contemporary styles, as you see when you perform it today. In any case, I am fascinated by musical works that are exceptional in their own time and in that specific sense are essential to a certain historical period. Taking such exceptional works seriously and seeing them as crucial means that you automatically change the existing image of the past, and I am convinced that you also change your own time."

In the booklet essay, Schmelzer builds on the similarities of Brumel's composition to Pieter Bruegel's drawing The Resurrection of Christ, providing yet another fascinating approach to one of the most outstanding and crucial musical creations of the Renaissance.'

[Que]

Björn Schmelzer does not pretend to be historically accurate or adhering to the composer's intentions. He does whatever he thinks makes the music sound interesting.

In my book he is nuts, and his performances sound nuts: ranging from just noticeably "off" to downright grotesque. I acknowledge that some find his approach intellectualy stimulating, but I guess I'm not a fan...

[prémont]

Björn Schmelzer does not pretend to be historically accurate or adhering to the composer's intentions. He does whatever he thinks makes the music sound interesting.

In my book he is nuts, and his performances sound nuts: ranging from just noticeably "off" to downright grotesque. I acknowledge that some find his approach intellectualy stimulating, but I guess I'm not a fan...

I'm not a fan of Björn Schmelzer either, but still I find a few of his recordings worth a few listens, e.g. "Joye" and "Cesena" - both featuring a rather rare repertoire. However I admit that I revisit them rarely.

[T. D.]

Thanks, I've discounted this recording.
Glossa is one of my favorite labels, and I like everything I've heard. Didn't know about Schmelzer, but found the announcement intriguing. I can deal with the controversy if I like the music.

But on investigation, the addition of independently composed sections by Mota is too much of a turn-off, and I question the electric guitar, etc.
Something I'd like to hear but am not willing to spend for a CD (it's a premium label). Although the Graindelavoix website offers the disc at reasonable prices (with free worldwide shipping for 2 or more).

Apparently the recording is on Spotify, but I don't subscribe.

[Mandryka]

Thanks, I've discounted this recording.
Glossa is one of my favorite labels, and I like everything I've heard. Didn't know about Schmelzer, but found the announcement intriguing. I can deal with the controversy if I like the music.

But on investigation, the addition of independently composed sections by Mota is too much of a turn-off, and I question the electric guitar, etc.
Something I'd like to hear but am not willing to spend for a CD (it's a premium label). Although the Grandelavoix website offers the disc at reasonable prices (with free worldwide shipping for 2 or more).

Apparently the recording is on Spotify, but I don't subscribe.

Oh don't be such a wuss. It is wonderful music making. Credo and Sanctus/Benedictus on youtube I notice.

[T. D.]

Oh don't be such a wuss. It is wonderful music making. Credo and Sanctus/Benedictus on youtube I notice.

Actually several sections on Youtube (though AFAICT not any of the sections composed by Mota). When I listened to those two, the algorithm suggested others. I liked what I auditioned and can roll the dice on the augmentations.

As an outsider with bad taste, I opted for it. By ordering direct from Graindelavoix along with their Gesualdo Tenebrae, which had long been on the wish list, I got free shipping to USA.

[Mandryka]

Actually several sections on Youtube (though AFAICT not any of the sections composed by Mota). When I listened to those two, the algorithm suggested others. I liked what I auditioned and can roll the dice on the augmentations.

As an outsider with bad taste, I opted for it. By ordering direct from Graindelavoix along with their Gesualdo Tenebrae, which had long been on the wish list, I got free shipping to USA.

The interesting thing TD is that people have criticised their Gesualdo for being too tasteful.  I'm not very keen on the music, so I don't really know the recording.

Basically my view is that they are one of the more interesting musicians around today -- and though what I've heard from them in concert has sometimes failed, none of that ever found its way on record.

[Atriod]

I forgot about the Miraculous Mandarin Suite and Wooden Prince recording of hers!  I'll have to give it a listen.  You did prompt me to search and I found this recording on Qobuz which I plan to listen to this weekend:



That one and Ozawa's Prokofiev 4 will be how I honor him.

I missed this when you posted it, I'm going to seek it out as well. Saito Kinen Orchestra are special. I ended up caving and buying the Ozawa/Saito Kinen Bartók Concerto for Orchestra/Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta after hearing it a couple more times. SMH I'm hopeless, why do I need so many recordings of repertoire.

[Mandryka]

The one on Onyx is very good.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Vogel, Böhm, Bielfeldt/ Osterholz-Scharmbeck

http://www.edition-falkenberg.de/produkt/harald-vogel-spielt-die-bielfeldt-orgel-173446-in-st-willehadi-in-osterholz-scharmbeck





Vogel, Lubeck, Schnitger/Norden

http://www.edition-falkenberg.de/produkt/harald-vogel-spielt-nicolaus-bruhns

@Mandryka (and friends), do you like Vogel's Lubeck and Bruhns?

[Mandryka]

@Mandryka (and friends), do you like Vogel's Lubeck and Bruhns?

You mean Boehm? It's a bit like he's demonstrating the music, presenting it objectively. He makes it feel like pure music. Can't remember the Lubeck.