What are you listening to now?

[HIPster]

I love his Brandenburg Concertos but can't help but recommend them with some reservation given that you're stuck with buying two full-priced discs to get the set.  I'd suggest doing some sampling before taking the plunge, but both are in print so you may want to try one disc and see what you think of it before grabbing the other; they seem to have a decent resale value so you may not be out much.

Thanks so much for your thoughts Geo Dude.  Yeah, the 2 discs at full price thing is a drag, but I am passionate about the Brandenburg's, so at some point I will probably get them both.  I do like your plan of trying one and going from there.  Probably start the first disc with nos.1 - 4.

That cd has been on my radar for some time.  How is it at your end, Dave?

"Buy with confidence!" is applicable here, Bill!  I give this CD high marks in every regard.  The 'Oxford' Water Music is excellent - really, the whole thing is very fine.

And North Star, all 3 of those discs look splendid.

[North Star]

And North Star, all 3 of those discs look splendid.

And they are!

[Mirror Image]

Now:

[asin]B0012CJ772[/asin]

Listening to Flagello's Missa Sinfonica. Absolutely gorgeous work. Definitely will be revisiting this work again soon.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Yet another new acquisition. Listening to the Piano Concerto. Great performance so far. Not that there are many recorded performances available.

[Geo Dude]

This is an interesting interpretation alternating between tradition and newer HIP ideas.  It is a quite lush performance, swimming with vibrato, but doesn't become bogged down in sentimentality or slow, romantic tempos.  One reviewer on Amazon even (bizarrely) claimed that they merely play the notes!  It's not to my taste--too much vibrato--but I have to admit that this is great stuff that would be appreciated by people who like a more lush sound and point out their recording of the six Haydn Quartets since there is a copy on the marketplace going for $25 shipped.

I followed with the first disc in this set:



Wonderful stuff, though it does leave me wondering about what other period recordings (or at least lean modern recordings) would be like.  The Mosaiques is interesting pretty much by default, but it may take some time to find that pair of discs at a reasonable price.

[Wakefield]

This is an interesting interpretation alternating between tradition and newer HIP ideas.  It is a quite lush performance, swimming with vibrato, but doesn't become bogged down in sentimentality or slow, romantic tempos.  One reviewer on Amazon even (bizarrely) claimed that they merely play the notes!  It's not to my taste--too much vibrato--but I have to admit that this is great stuff that would be appreciated by people who like a more lush sound and point out their recording of the six Haydn Quartets since there is a copy on the marketplace going for $25 shipped.

I followed with the first disc in this set:



Wonderful stuff, though it does leave me wondering about what other period recordings (or at least lean modern recordings) would be like.  The Mosaiques is interesting pretty much by default, but it may take some time to find that pair of discs at a reasonable price.

I don't know if you have noticed this, but more radical PI fans of this board prefer the Festetics over the Mosaïques in Haydn. Anyway, those radicals aren't more than three or four.   

[Octave]

That Manze/Egarr/HM disc of Mozart violin sonatas (I pictured it on p. 244 of this thread) was so good I had to listen to it a second time on a proper stereo, right away.  I made the mistake of hearing it first on a small, inadequate set of speakers I use at work, mainly for old mono recordings and some modern piano recordings.  The fortepiano Egarr was using, and maybe Manze as well, kept making me think I was hearing other instruments, maybe briefly an orchestra.  It was disorienting and unsettling, in the way that Surrealists valued the effect of mannequins on one's peripheral vision.  On good speakers it was just marvelously rich, spirited, vibrant musicmaking.   

I see Gordo just mentioned Schroeder/Immerseel's recording with a couple overlapping pieces, including in that DHM/Sony Mozart EDITION box that I still haven't opened.  That will be for next week, as an intermission to the Hogwood Haydn.

Today and tonight:


Dinu Lipatti ICON box (EMI, 7cd)
Everyone should hear the three little Bach chorale transcriptions from disc one.  I think maybe there are actually better (sic?) and better-sounding (and different) performances of a couple of these, by Lipatti, on APR and Opus Kura discs; but for the moment I am not in the mood to check my discoggery and I haven't my personal computer anyway.
Actually, I heard two of those other recordings via Youtube, some time back.  The ones on the ICON set are:
1. BWV599: Nun komm', der Heiland (chorale prelude, transc. Busoni)
2. BWV639: Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (chorale prelude, transc. Busoni)
3. BWV1031: Jesu bleibet meine Freude (Cantata chorale transc. Hess)
The ICON box recordings are from Abbey Road, July 1950.  I think the others I mentioned are from a bit earlier, ~1948?  I think I have waited to get one of the other disc because of my neurosis re: overlap and single-disc expense, or something.

I guess these are all shibboleths/warponies, right?  I have heard them little enough to know whether it's the Bach, the transcription, or Lipatti, or what mix of the three.  Enjoyable to hear two recordings of one of these little miracles and have the differences clearly present themselves even to my slag ears.  That melody BWV142 is just one I imagine I know inside and out, but here it is, *ta-da* brand new.

And of course, more anguished warbling:

[asin]B00004YYQN[/asin]
Enrico Caruso complete recordings vol. 3 (from the Naxos Historical 'rush box')
Almost by accident, I saw a short, climactic sequence from Woody Allen's MATCH POINT on TV very recently, and recognized one of these Caruso recordings in it, used to good effect.  Not a favorite movie, but a favorite Recent Woody Allen movie.

[asin]B0031B7EQ8[/asin]
J.S. Bach: ART OF FUGUE by Fretwork consort of viols (HM)
original (identical?) edition: ASIN B00006YYBR
I got mine even cheaper, like ~$5 from BRO, including a thick HM catalog booklet.
Smoothy and silky and gradually monumental, like getting lost in a butter labyrinth.
Mmmmmm, butter labyrinth.
I'm going to listen to this again back to back with Phantasm's shorter version, probably next week.

[Parsifal]

I don't know if you have noticed this, but more radical PI fans of this board prefer the Festetics over the Mosaïques in Haydn. Anyway, those radicals aren't more than three or four.   

The most mysterious feature of both ensembles is that fact that almost all of their recordings are out-of-print, despite the fact that they seem to be the most popular ensembles in the world, based on their followings on this board.  Oh well, I suppose that if judged by this board Brian would be pronounced the most highly regarded composer in the world...

[Wakefield]

Joseph Haydn pour cors de basset

[asin]B003JIQEF0[/asin]

The contents of this curious and speculative but not unpleasant release aren't apparent from the artwork, and listeners may wonder whether Haydn might in fact have written some forgotten trios for basset horns. He did not; what's heard here is a selection of the trios for baryton, viola, and string bass (the baryton is an odd remnant of the viol family with sympathetic strings like a hurdy-gury), composed in the late 1760s and early 1770s for Haydn's employer, Prince Esterházy. They are in three or more short movements, with slightly expanded binary forms. Haydn was less likely than Bach or Vivaldi to arrange music for new instruments, although he did so occasionally, and wind ensembles involving basset horns were not unkown. These little trios work reasonably well in their new setting. The odd tonal quality of the baryton, set against the viola and bass, is lost, but some of the strangeness is restored by the Trio di Bassetto's method of rendering the sound of the sympathetic strings: they strike the edges of a set of musical glasses, and one movement of one trio is arranged for the glasses alone (they are arrayed on a table, not rigged up into Benjamin Franklin's glass harmonica). This configuration, suggesting rather than clearly outlining the forms of the music, offers the players chances to elaborate the music in repeats, and they do so with gusto. It's not quite Haydn you're hearing here, or even music that Haydn might have created, but it does carry a good deal of charm.

[Octave]

Re: Festetics/Mosaïques:

The most mysterious feature of both ensembles is that fact that almost all of their recordings are out-of-print, despite the fact that they seem to be the most popular ensembles in the world, based on their followings on this board.  Oh well, I suppose that if judged by this board Brian would be pronounced the most highly regarded composer in the world...

Let's talk conspiracy!  I semi-know a little Festetics, and only now am I realizing István Kertész is in that group. 
Oh wait: nope, different István.  And here I am thinking he came back from the dead to get into the HIP scene.  Kertész was cool, but not that cool.

[Wakefield]

The most mysterious feature of both ensembles is that fact that almost all of their recordings are out-of-print, despite the fact that they seem to be the most popular ensembles in the world, based on their followings on this board.  Oh well, I suppose that if judged by this board Brian would be pronounced the most highly regarded composer in the world...

Yes, apparently the Festetics have gone OOP again. Three years ago their cycle was completed with its last volume; then the complete cycle was re-released after many years OOP. Currently is OOP again. Anyway, I'm sure the Festetics aren't remotely so popular like the Mosaïques in this board.

[Parsifal]

Re: Festetics/Mosaïques:
Let's talk conspiracy! 

Well, when a performer or ensembles recordings are out-of-print, it creates a certain mystique.  People will claim that "I have this rare CD and it is the best recording of K.590 ever made" and how can you argue with them if it is impossible to get a copy.  Actually I had a box set of all of the last Mozart Quartets by the Mosaïques and sold it because I thought it was boring.  Now even I am starting to think that the mysterious Mosaïques quartets is superior and I need those recordings! 

[Geo Dude]

I don't know if you have noticed this, but more radical PI fans of this board prefer the Festetics over the Mosaïques in Haydn. Anyway, those radicals aren't more than three or four.   

Do they post often?

I like both in Haydn and plan to keep it that way, personally.

Well, when a performer or ensembles recordings are out-of-print, it creates a certain mystique.  People will claim that "I have this rare CD and it is the best recording of K.590 ever made" and how can you argue with them if it is impossible to get a copy.

Well, with the internet being what it is you can demand that they put up or shut up by ripping the disc and sending out lossless files of the work in question for review...your point is well taken, though.  I realize your comment wasn't directed at me, but just for the record, I'm personally interested because my experience with the Mosaiques in both Mozart and Haydn (some of which is still easily available) has been quite positive up to this point.

Actually I had a box set of all of the last Mozart Quartets by the Mosaïques and sold it because I thought it was boring.  Now even I am starting to think that the mysterious Mosaïques quartets is superior and I need those recordings! 

Well, if you ever buy those recordings again and again find them boring, you know who to sell 'em to.

[Sadko]

Spanish music for this fine, sunny morning:

Marcelo Kayath

plays Spanish music (guitar arrangements)



followed by:

Manuel Blasco de Nebra

Piano Works

Pedro Piquero

[asin]B002CAOW9G[/asin]

[Mandryka]

I would like to listen to Moroney II. 

Robert Hill is also very good.

This is an interesting exchange. What Moroney i, Van Delft and Leonhardt ii all have in common is a sort of unrushed  noble quality. Messori too, despite the expressive rhythms.  They all move forward, but they do so very calmly and securely. Hill isn't like that in the Haenssler recording.

I too may make the effort to hear Moroney ii, which I didn't know existed. He uses a mix of instruments Ithink, piano, harpsichord, clavichord, which makes it sound all the more interesting. I know people who find his first recording too inexpressive, but in fact I think it's extremely moving, precisely because of this calm quality which he exudes.

For the thread, I too am listening to Bach, but not BWV 1086

[Sadko]

Transcriptions for 2 pianos

by Debussy

Blumenthal/Groslot

[asin]B0000045X2[/asin]

[BobsterLobster]

Transcriptions for 2 pianos

by Debussy

Blumenthal/Groslot

[asin]B0000045X2[/asin]

Listening now on Spotify- I'm really loving the arrangement of the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

I'm a sucker for unusual transcriptions, any more CD recommendations along these lines?

[Sadko]

Listening now on Spotify- I'm really loving the arrangement of the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

I'm a sucker for unusual transcriptions, any more CD recommendations along these lines?

I like this CD a lot, Debussy's transcriptions are nicely transparent but capturing the music well, and the playing is nice too.

I'm also very interested in piano transcriptions, but I need a while till I can look through my collection before  I can come up with recommendations.

Edit: The following came to my mind:

Mahler - 1st symphony - Chitose Okashiro
Bruckner - Piano works, incl. Adagio from the 7th symphony (Fumiko Shiraga)
Prokofiev, Ravel - Cinderella, Ma Mère l'Oye (Argerich, Pletnev)
Beethoven/Liszt - Piano concertos (Katsaris)
Shostakovich - Complete Works for Two Pianos (Laul, Sandler) [no transcriptions, but good]
Khachaturyan, Cherepnin, Arutyunian, Babadjanjan - on 2 pianos (Duo Reine Elisabeth: Plagge, Manz)
Fauré - Requiem, piano transcription (Emile Naoumoff)

plus:

Bernstein - West Side Story Suite (Dag Achatz)

[Sergeant Rock]

Havergal Brian Symphonies 22, 23, 24, all composed in 1965. Walker conducting the New Russia State SO




Sarge

[BobsterLobster]

I like this CD a lot, Debussy's transcriptions are nicely transparent but capturing the music well, and the playing is nice too.

I'm also very interested in piano transcriptions, but I need a while till I can look through my collection before  I can come up with recommendations.

Edit: The following came to my mind:

Mahler - 1st symphony - Chitose Okashiro
Bruckner - Piano works, incl. Adagio from the 7th symphony (Fumiko Shiraga)
Prokofiev, Ravel - Cinderella, Ma Mère l'Oye (Argerich, Pletnev)
Beethoven/Liszt - Piano concertos (Katsaris)
Shostakovich - Complete Works for Two Pianos (Laul, Sandler) [no transcriptions, but good]
Khachaturyan, Cherepnin, Arutyunian, Babadjanjan - on 2 pianos (Duo Reine Elisabeth: Plagge, Manz)
Fauré - Requiem, piano transcription (Emile Naoumoff)

plus:

Bernstein - West Side Story Suite (Dag Achatz)

Yes, I've already come across most of those with the exception of the Russian and Armenican CD of duets which I'm listening to now on Spotify.
I assume you meant Symphonies rather than Concertos by Katsaris?
Thanks