Purchases Today

Started by Dungeon Master, February 24, 2013, 01:39:50 PM

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Mirror Image

Quote from: Florestan on January 19, 2022, 08:29:11 AM
What? No L'amico Fritz?



Very good, John.  You've finally seen the light.  :laugh:

Hah! ;D Not hardly. Don't get too comfortable with the idea of me exploring Italian opera. Between Puccini, Verdi, Mascagni and Respighi, I think I'm good now.

Florestan

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 19, 2022, 08:54:45 AM
Hah! ;D Not hardly. Don't get too comfortable with the idea of me exploring Italian opera. Between Puccini, Verdi, Mascagni and Respighi, I think I'm good now.

Oh, I don't. Actually, I expect you to cancel the order within the next 24 hrs.  ;)
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Mirror Image

Quote from: Florestan on January 19, 2022, 08:55:53 AM
Oh, I don't. Actually, I expect you to cancel the order within the next 24 hrs.  ;)

I'm not cancelling anything. I want to hear more Mascagni.

Florestan

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 19, 2022, 10:27:59 AM
I'm not cancelling anything. I want to hear more Mascagni.

Then you need L'amico Fritz too. Just ask ritter if in doubt.  ;)
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Mirror Image

Quote from: Florestan on January 19, 2022, 10:37:47 AM
Then you need L'amico Fritz too. Just ask ritter if in doubt.  ;)

Oh, I definitely intend on purchasing it, Andrei. Just not right now.

Mirror Image

Just pre-ordered:



It's a shame that Sony didn't do something special for this box set in terms of presentation since this is the first-time that Craft's Webern on Columbia has been issued on CD. :-\

Florestan

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 19, 2022, 10:51:17 AM
Oh, I definitely intend on purchasing it, Andrei. Just not right now.

8)
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Artem

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 19, 2022, 10:53:44 AM
Just pre-ordered:



It's a shame that Sony didn't do something special for this box set in terms of presentation since this is the first-time that Craft's Webern on Columbia has been issued on CD. :-\
That's basically what keeps me from ordering it. That kind of presentation does not do justice to such great music at all.

ritter

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 19, 2022, 10:53:44 AM
Just pre-ordered:



It's a shame that Sony didn't do something special for this box set in terms of presentation since this is the first-time that Craft's Webern on Columbia has been issued on CD. :-\
I got this set, and have listened to CD1 so far. The performances are not as polished as later recordings of these works, but I enjoyed them very much. I hope you like them, John!

Quote from: Artem on January 19, 2022, 11:22:47 AM
That's basically what keeps me from ordering it. That kind of presentation does not do justice to such great music at all.
Yep, but I'm afraid it'll be this, or not having this pioneering set at all. I would love a Craft "Complete Original Jackets" box, but would not expect it anytime soon.  :(

ritter

#30849
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 19, 2022, 07:56:46 AM
Just bought (and clearly in ritter territory now):



Being quite the fan of Cavalleria rusticana, I wanted to dive a bit more into Mascagni's oeuvre. Wolf-Ferrari is next I imagine.
Yes, Mascagni is a guilty pleasure if mine.  ;) :-[

I have that recording of Silvano, but think I only listened  to it once (it's a work in which the composer tried to emulate the formula of Cavalleria, with all the "crude" passions, but transposing it to a marine setting. I think it's a minor work.

Zanetto is quaint, melancholic quasi-love story in a medieval setting, and is rather charming (I don't know that particular recording).

But Iris, oh Iris! It's so OTT, so bizarre (music and story), that it's a blast! I return to it rather often. I suppose it's one of those things you either love or hate...I love it!

Good evening you, John!

Mirror Image

Quote from: Artem on January 19, 2022, 11:22:47 AM
That's basically what keeps me from ordering it. That kind of presentation does not do justice to such great music at all.

Yeah, I was rather undecided, but I wanted hard copies, so I just went for it. I have the Boulez Complete on DG, which is a gorgeous set plus Boulez's earlier Columbia recordings (in the Boulez Complete Sony box).

Mirror Image

Quote from: ritter on January 19, 2022, 11:51:18 AM
Yes, Mascagni is a guilty pleasure if mine.  ;) :-[

I have that recording of Silvano, but think I only listened  to it once (it's a work in which the composer tried to emulate the formula of Cavalleria, with all the "crude" passions, but transposing it to a marine setting. I think it's a minor work.

Zanetto is quaint, melancholic quasi-love story in a medieval setting, and is rather charming (I don't know that particular recording).

But Iris, oh Iris! It's so OTT, so bizarre (music and story), that it's a blast! I return to it rather often. I suppose it's one of those things you either love or hate...I love it!

Good evening you, John!

A good evening to you as well, Rafael. Thanks for the feedback. I look forward to Iris, but I'm certainly curious about Silvano and Zanetto.

Mirror Image


Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 19, 2022, 03:03:28 PM
Bought via eBay:



A perfect coupling of works for these Saint-Saëns-and-Respighi days, isn't it?
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Mirror Image

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on January 19, 2022, 04:24:03 PM
A perfect coupling of works for these Saint-Saëns-and-Respighi days, isn't it?

It should lovely, indeed. :) Love all the works featured on this recording.

André

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 19, 2022, 08:31:59 AM
Also bought three rare Respighi opera recordings:



Maria Egiziaca is a very fine work. It's more an 'operatorio' than a real opera, though. The orchestral interludes are gorgeous.

Mirror Image

Quote from: André on January 19, 2022, 05:56:13 PM
Maria Egiziaca is a very fine work. It's more an 'operatorio' than a real opera, though. The orchestral interludes are gorgeous.

Nice. Looking forward to hearing it. 8)

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

ritter

#30858
This could be had for next to nothing (shipping included) from Amazon.es, so I went for it:


Hans Henkemans' pioneering, quasi-integral Debussy recordings have received rave reviews (even in some French newspapers), and have also received praise (but not unanimously) here on GMG. A random (well, perhaps not so random, as I chose pieces very close to my heart ;))  sampling of what's available on YouTube yields a fascinating La Puerta del vino, with at times very interesting and unexpected sonorities coming from the piano, a quick, lean, beautifully played Reflets dans l'eau, a well-shaped L'Isle Joyeuse, but also a wayward, poorly executed Pour les tièrces from the Études, and a Jardins sous la pluie that gave the impression of sloppiness  ::).

If it hadn't been so cheap, I probably wouldn't have got this, but at this price, adding this "historic" set to my collection seemed reasonable, to see what all the fuss is (or was) about. With all due respect to Mr. Henkemans (form what I've read, he was an interesting and multi-faceted man), I put historic in quotation marks because, quite frankly, very few had heard of him until these recordings were reissued in 2018 (most reviews highlight this fact). The recordings as such were AFAIK made by Philips when it was starting in the recorded music industry, and seem not to have enjoyed a wide circulation in the days of LP. So, in terms of "importance", we don't seem to be talking of, e.g., the rediscovery of Marcelle Meyer's Préludes recordings, or of Giesenking's complete traversal (even if I'm not a fan of the  latter). That, of course, does not detract (or add) to the set's merits or lack thereof. In any case, I look forward to listening to this in detail.

EDIT:

Decided to cancel my order of the Henkemans Debussy set, as further sampling dampened my enthusiasm, and I saw that it is widely available very cheaply in most online sellers (in case I change my mind again  ;)).

Went for two releases I think will be more useful and interesting to me:


This is an ultra-complete set of Debussy's songs (it presents 42 songs more than any previous such set, and 14 world première recordings). Of the 5 singers involved, I know Magali Léger, Marie-Ánge Todorovich, and François Le Roux, and they should be very good in this repertoire. The pianist Jean-Louis Haguenauer is a faculty member of the Jacobs School at Indiana University, and plays a Blüthner piano that belonged to Debussy.


I've found prior Debussy releases by Philippe Bianconi truly excellent, so getting his recent recording of the Études (coupled with the Caplet transcription for solo piano of Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien) seems a natural complement.

Symphonic Addict

Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky