Recordings That You Are Considering

Started by George, April 06, 2007, 05:54:08 AM

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JBS

Quote from: Madiel on April 16, 2021, 06:03:30 AM
I genuinely do not understand the distinction you are trying to make. As far as I can see the first is just a different way of expressing the same conclusion that the performance isn't any good. What's the difference between being a hack and not giving good performances?

One can write/perform hackwork and yet produce great art.  After all (to give examples from composers and writers) much of what Mozart, Bellini, Haydn, Vivaldi, Shakespeare, and Dickens wrote would qualify as hackwork--work produced for the sake of the income to satisfy an audience and provide income to the artist-- which happens to be great art.   The difference in quality is often something that doesn't become apparent until "the test of time" provides a filter.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

bhodges

Just got word that the Tallis Scholars' latest Josquin release—with Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie, Missa D'ung aultre amer, and Missa Faysant regretz—has won Recording of the Year from BBC Music Magazine. Thirty-four years ago, their recording of Josquin's Missa La sol fa re mi and Missa Pange lingua was the first early music recording to win Gramophone's Record of the Year. And as they say, the rest is history. In my book, they are peerless for this type of music.

I will certainly be hearing this one soon.

https://www.gimell.com/cdgim051-josquin-hercules-dux

--Bruce

Mandryka

Quote from: Brewski on April 16, 2021, 01:03:21 PM
Just got word that the Tallis Scholars' latest Josquin release—with Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie, Missa D'ung aultre amer, and Missa Faysant regretz—has won Recording of the Year from BBC Music Magazine. Thirty-four years ago, their recording of Josquin's Missa La sol fa re mi and Missa Pange lingua was the first early music recording to win Gramophone's Record of the Year. And as they say, the rest is history. In my book, they are peerless for this type of music.

I will certainly be hearing this one soon.

https://www.gimell.com/cdgim051-josquin-hercules-dux

--Bruce

Whenever I've seen them I've always enjoyed the concert, they are polished, authoritative, and they create varied programmes with music using different numbers of singers. They must give a huge number of concerts a year, but you don't really sense that it's become rote, you just sense that you're in a safe confident pair of hands. Best of all when their sopranos sing, that's their main USP, soaring sopranos, and it is indeed very impressive to see in action. It's a well balanced sound, but each singer's individuality is not completely lost by any means. Peter Philips likes Josquin, and I think he wants to record all the masses at least - he must be very close.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

bhodges

Quote from: Mandryka on April 16, 2021, 09:58:14 PM
Whenever I've seen them I've always enjoyed the concert, they are polished, authoritative, and they create varied programmes with music using different numbers of singers. They must give a huge number of concerts a year, but you don't really sense that it's become rote, you just sense that you're in a safe confident pair of hands. Best of all when their sopranos sing, that's their main USP, soaring sopranos, and it is indeed very impressive to see in action. It's a well balanced sound, but each singer's individuality is not completely lost by any means. Peter Philips likes Josquin, and I think he wants to record all the masses at least - he must be very close.

Can only agree, all counts. Haven't heard them live in quite a few years, but caught some of their concerts in the 1990s and early 2000s when they performed at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in New York. They must have done research on venues around town -- there are quite a few with good acoustics for this type of music -- and miraculously found this one, near Columbia University.

https://www.corpus-christi-nyc.org/

And you're right: This recording is the last one in their Josquin masses series!

--Bruce

Florestan

Quote from: JBS on April 16, 2021, 10:44:33 AM
One can write/perform hackwork and yet produce great art.  After all (to give examples from composers and writers) much of what Mozart, Bellini, Haydn, Vivaldi, Shakespeare, and Dickens wrote would qualify as hackwork--work produced for the sake of the income to satisfy an audience and provide income to the artist-- which happens to be great art.   The difference in quality is often something that doesn't become apparent until "the test of time" provides a filter.

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

T. D.

#16165


Relatively new (2018) release on New World (https://www.newworldrecords.org/products/we-like-salangan-swallows)  I just found out about. Will likely purchase for the Feldman and Oliveros; not sure about the other works.

Alek Hidell

Quote from: Madiel on April 16, 2021, 06:03:30 AM
I genuinely do not understand the distinction you are trying to make. As far as I can see the first is just a different way of expressing the same conclusion that the performance isn't any good. What's the difference between being a hack and not giving good performances?

I think what DavidW is saying is that Hurwitz attacks the person rather than the performance - calling performers' motivations or character into question as a whole.

I have seen a few of his YT videos and I have his Mahler symphonies book, but I don't really feel like I know enough about Hurwitz to say one way or the other - though it is clear to me that he dislikes period performance in general (an occasional exception or two notwithstanding). I appreciate his enthusiasm, but he's plainly conservative in his tastes, sticking with the established "greats" and not venturing too far back or too recently historically, and usually not far from the beaten path (at least, again, from what I have seen).
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist." - Hélder Pessoa Câmara

Daverz

Quote from: Alek Hidell on April 26, 2021, 08:08:28 PM
but he's plainly conservative in his tastes, sticking with the established "greats" and not venturing too far back or too recently historically, and usually not far from the beaten path (at least, again, from what I have seen).

He's covered a lot of obscure composers in his YT videos. 

Brian

DH is conservative in the sense that he hates the music of Boulez and Stockhausen, but not in the sense of promoting famous artists over obscure ones. If you watch a lot of his "the best recording of X" videos, yes, sometimes it's Szell, but quite frequently he makes a point to choose a recent recording by living artists just to make a point. A good example of this backfiring is Rachmaninov Symphony 2, where he chose Ivan Fischer over Previn to make a statement about the persistence of great conducting today...in my opinion, that's one of Ivan's worst and not a great Rach 2.

The dude literally just uploaded a half hour of praise for Neeme Järvi.

Gosh, we have to update the rules of the internet. Every thread eventually becomes about Hurwitz??

Mirror Image

Quote from: Brian on April 27, 2021, 04:41:22 AMGosh, we have to update the rules of the internet. Every thread eventually becomes about Hurwitz??

Which is exactly how I felt during the 'Trump Years' here on GMG. A dark chapter in this forum's history that has thankfully been closed.

Brian

Considering this set:



A lot of it is new to CD, so may be unknown to GMGers. It's an interesting cross-section of two piano repertoire; only one disc of Schubert and more 20th century stuff than usual.

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

T. D.


Artem


Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

T. D.

From the latest Berkshire e-mailing:
 
 
The Gielen has some interesting pieces, but overall is probably too much of a mixed bag.
The e-mail featured just the French disc from the Creed Chamber Music of the World, but the whole box looks worthwhile.

Mandryka

Quote from: T. D. on May 05, 2021, 11:06:27 AM
From the latest Berkshire e-mailing:
 
 
The Gielen has some interesting pieces, but overall is probably too much of a mixed bag.
The e-mail featured just the French disc from the Creed Chamber Music of the World, but the whole box looks worthwhile.

The Josquin has some unusual repertoire but I haven't managed to get into the performances yet myself.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mirror Image

Up for consideration at the moment is more of Schreker's music, particularly the operas.

Roy Bland

this box has both strengths and weaknesses, on the one hand it presents interesting and partly unpublished works. on the other hand the realization is sloppy, some discs are short-duration and the audio quality is not optimal (quite expensive)

with Ding Shande's Piano concerto and Wang Junjie 's Symphony 2.


T. D.



Not likely to be a big winner, but so offbeat that I may have to hear it...for instance, the Prelude from Bach's Second English Suite, BWV 807 played on Fender Rhodes!
Review here: https://www.lafolia.com/piano-factory-28/