What are you listening to now?

[Octave]

That is sage advice, Gordo; it is crazy that I have put off getting that set. I see that the old Sony edition was 4cd, the Brilliant reissue is 5cd, and this even newer Sony/Vivarte reissue is 6cd.  I am assuming the new Sony has the most stuff, but I have not cross-checked the contents:

[asin]B009EJSV18[/asin]



Even perpetually going overboard with purchases (I am ashamed of my posts tonight in the Purchases thread...I still have another to do...) there are still at least several of these little Sony boxes that I feel I need to have.  Two of those Vivarte Beethoven sets that have been getting praise here; a 3cd of Mozart, likewise...the list goes on.  #firstworldproblems

[Geo Dude]

Re: Haydn symphonies by Weil/Tafelmusik (Sony, 7cd):
...but only two discs of the Weil 7cd were included in the big Vivarte box.  So you probably still got a good deal on the 7cd box!  Of course, I am relying on the contents listing at Presto; I am not 100% about this. 
I love those Weil recordings.  I'll be digging into Hogwood's set/series in about a week, hopefully listening to a disc a day of that set.

Yes, you're right; I just took a look at a site that has a full listing.  The one thing I dislike about that box is that it seems to intentionally act as a teaser, often giving a couple of discs from a given set but then leaving you to buy the box set to get the rest (sometimes one disc worth).  Oh well; I guess with sixty discs for that price there had to be some catch.

I hope to get into Hogwood's set at some point, but collecting those things is a bit of a frustrating procedure.

[Wakefield]

I see that the old Sony edition was 4cd, the Brilliant reissue is 5cd, and this even newer Sony/Vivarte reissue is 6cd.  I am assuming the new Sony has the most stuff, but I have not cross-checked the contents.

The last Sony/Vivarte set has two extra discs because of the inclusion of The Creation (1st Weil's version), a valuable addition, indeed. 

[Wakefield]

The last Sony/Vivarte set has two extra discs because of the inclusion of The Creation (1st Weil's version), a valuable addition, indeed.

I have cross-checked the contents and this is apparently the situation:

- the Sony/Vivarte 6-CD set is not simply the Sony/Vivarte 4-CD set, plus The Creation because 3 CDs are identical, but one of them is different.

- therefore, if you have both Sony/Vivarte sets, you will have exactly the content of the Brilliant Classics set, plus The Creation and three duplicated CDs.

These Sony/Vivarte guys are evil.

[Octave]

As for the big Vivarte box as a teaser masquerading as a sampler: I feel ya.  I am having that experience with the HM LUMIERE box, which is beautifully produced but maddeningly incomplete.  So be it!  If you go wild and buy all the constituent Vivarte issues (insofar as they are even available, or become available), you will have a lot more music than that big box, and you can change some lucky friend's life with an amazing gift.  And they will still have the nicer product!  (Assuming the production quality is like some of the other cheap but kind of nice Sony big boxes, like LIVING STEREO and SECRET LABYRINTH).

As for this:

I have cross-checked the contents and this is apparently the situation:

- the Sony/Vivarte 6-CD set is not simply the Sony/Vivarte 4-CD set, plus The Creation because 3 CDs are identical, but one of them is different.

- therefore, if you have both Sony/Vivarte sets, you will have exactly the content of the Brilliant Classics set, plus The Creation and three duplicated CDs.

These Sony/Vivarte guys are evil.

Good grief!       Thanks for doing that work.  Maddening.  I hereby totally abjure completism, bye-bye.  That way lies total madness and destitution.
What a shame the Sony suits could not tack on a disc (or two?) to that little Vivarte box, to sop up all the differences.  There seems to be some indecision on who these boxes might be aimed at.  Indecision or indifference: I've noticed that these Vivarte/Sony/RCA reissue boxes have often been so badly tagged at Amazon, they've been difficult to find in the past.

[Parsifal]

Wish there were more recordings of works by this composer

[asin]B00AQS86JI[/asin]

[Octave]

And, um, thread duty!


Stuck in the Bach rut, as one is.  Decided to revisit a few more discs of the keyboard music, since I have warmed up to the sound of the harpsichord quite a bit even since going through this box the first time.
1. SUITES, FANTASIAS, PRELUDES & FUGUES (Pieter-Jan Belder)
2. INVENTIONS & SINFONIAS (Belder)
3. SONATAS, SUITES & FANTASIAS (Belder)

[asin]B00004WMWW[/asin]
Enrico Caruso: COMPLETE RECORDINGS VOL. 2 (from the Naxos Historical 'rush box')
I have not pored over all these discs very carefully, nor A/B compared overlapping repertoire; but I find myself already wishing that there wasn't quite so much repetition of certain arias, that Caruso had recorded more/different musics, or maybe that Naxos hadn't been quite so completist in their approach.  But such is the feeling of the newcomer!  The voice is a joy, and I actually have no problems hearing through the cheesecloth and crackle of the ancient recordings.  Even the accompaniment seems clear enough to enjoy.

[asin]B0009X6ZS4[/asin]
Mozart: VIOLIN SONATAS 1781 (Manze/Egarr - HM)
With Egarr playing an 1800 Johann Zahler fortepiano.  I think most of my previous exposure to these pieces has been Grumiaux, playing with Walter Klien and with Clara Haskil.  This recording is noticeably different.
There also seems to be an SACD of this one.

[The new erato]

Wish there were more recordings of works by this composer

[asin]B00AQS86JI[/asin]

So do I, and that the string quartets (on Acte Praeleable I think) weren't so darn expensive. Fine disc that, though short.

[The new erato]

That is sage advice, Gordo; it is crazy that I have put off getting that set. I see that the old Sony edition was 4cd, the Brilliant reissue is 5cd, and this even newer Sony/Vivarte reissue is 6cd.  I am assuming the new Sony has the most stuff, but I have not cross-checked the contents:

[asin]B009EJSV18[/asin]

After 15 minutes of searching, I have concluded I have that. This is getting out of hand.

[Wakefield]

And, um, thread duty!


Stuck in the Bach rut, as one is.  Decided to revisit a few more discs of the keyboard music, since I have warmed up to the sound of the harpsichord quite a bit even since going through this box the first time.
1. SUITES, FANTASIAS, PRELUDES & FUGUES (Pieter-Jan Belder)
2. INVENTIONS & SINFONIAS (Belder)
3. SONATAS, SUITES & FANTASIAS (Belder)

Belder is an excellent and very reliable harpsichordist. I think his recordings have replaced a lot of material included in the older incarnation that I have (jewel cases). I particularly loved his Clavier-Übungs parts I (Partitas) and II (Italian Concerto & French Overture). Particularly, the Italian Concerto and the French Overture are, IMO, some of the best versions on any label. 

[Octave]

Re: some Belder Bach in the big Brilliant box:

Belder is an excellent and very reliable harpsichordist. I think his recordings have replaced a lot of material included in the older incarnation that I have (jewel cases). I particularly loved his Clavier-Übungs parts I (Partitas) and II (Italian Concerto & French Overture). Particularly, the Italian Concerto and the French Overture are, IMO, some of the best versions on any label. 

I am glad to hear that you think of Belder that way; there is always the creepy feeling that I am getting the wrong stuff because it is cheap and/or sold by the pound.  For me, the Brilliant megalith was mainly for (very roughly) getting the measure [sic!] of Bach's work and deciding where to go next, and I think it was good for that.  Actually, I still really like many of the cantatas discs, the Leusink cycle.  I am sure there's already been a lot of debate about those recordings at GMG, but I have gone back to at least a dozen cantatas from that set, this past winter, and I still liked the sound of the group, very much.  I understand some complaints I've heard about the choir. ('Hooting' was one pejorative that I heard....I find the term at once accurate and no dissuasion from my enjoyment...apparently I like hooting!  I prefer 'keening'.) None of this is to say that those are my favorite recordings of those works, period.  However, I haven't run across a better 'Ein feste Burg' to play to a psychdelic-rock-loving young hipster.  Sacred Bach as Pärson Sound!

On the other hand, I concur with a comment Jens once made about the problem with the new bog boxes being quantity of quality, quite frequently; lots of good performances sucked down like a supersized ventilated 'big mouth' can of beer...it defeats the purpose of good beer to be consumed that way!  Alas, it's the mire I'm in. 

[Octave]

And I do hope I get another chance to get Kenneth Gilbert's WTC on real CDs (not Arkiv CDRs).  As much as I like the idea of getting the Telarc/Warner budget complete Bach, the overlap with the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt cantatas set makes that other huge Bach set less attractive to me.

[jlaurson]

J.S. Bach
Organ Works v.VI
Margaret Phillips
St.Bavo, Haarlem (C.Mueller, 1738)
St.Louis-en-I'Ile, Paris (B.Aubertin, 2004)
Regent
German link - UK link

I'm liking this a good deal better than volume VIII... At least the first disc, so far.

Whether it's the organ, or the more concise, pointed playing... or the works is hard to say, as of yet. But disc VIII tended towards Weinbergerishness, interpretatively.

[Wakefield]

And I do hope I get another chance to get Kenneth Gilbert's WTC on real CDs (not Arkiv CDRs).  As much as I like the idea of getting the Telarc/Warner budget complete Bach, the overlap with the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt cantatas set makes that other huge Bach set less attractive to me.

Duplications are almost inevitable. When I purchased the complete edition, it meant the duplication of approximately 90 CDs. 

[Papy Oli]

Good afternoon 

Mahler - 1st symphony
Leinsdorf / Boston SO



That's a LP my dad found in a car boot sale in France. He knows I like Mahler so he is always on the lookout for some more LPs (over time, he found the Abbado M4, Berstein NYPO M5, the Haitink/Baker/King DVLDE, and now this one... bless him, feeding his son's addiction like that  0:) )

[Papy Oli]

Another LP :

Mozart - Piano Concerto K.467 and K.503.
LSO / Colin Davis / Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich

[jlaurson]

Richard Strauss
Die Liebe der Danae
Clemens Krauss / WPh
Orfeo D'Or
German link - UK link

Strauss' penultimate opera, in its premiere performance. Just decent enough sound.

[DavidRoss]

This:



'nuff said.

[Opus106]

First Listens

Paul Hindemith

Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Weber
Violin Concerto

Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 4 (as good as a first listen, anyway)

Gotō Midori
NDR Symphony Orchestra | Christoph Eschenbach

Laeizhalle, Hamburg
26 October 2012

[jlaurson]

Finally, someone thought it worthy enough to perform and record the long lost opera by the late Thomaskantor.

Technically it's a wedding oratorio, written for Countess Danaë Christine zu Arnstadt Schwarzburg-Sondershausen