Purchases Today

[DavidW]

Arvo Pärt - Miserere - The Hilliard Ensemble / Orchester Der Beethovenhalle Bonn - ECM

This was cheap. I bought it. 

That is a great recording, I hope you enjoy it!

[Madiel]

Just ordered from a very nice Discogs seller in Normandy.



This is one I thought was going to be tricky to find at any price - I couldn't even spot people asking outrageous amounts for it. So when a new listing turned up at a non-outrageous price it was worth grabbing. I mean, it's not exactly cheap for a single CD, but for a rare CD it's well within the bounds of sanity.

[71 dB]

That is a great recording, I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks! 

[Kalevala]

Just ordered from a very nice Discogs seller in Normandy.



This is one I thought was going to be tricky to find at any price - I couldn't even spot people asking outrageous amounts for it. So when a new listing turned up at a non-outrageous price it was worth grabbing. I mean, it's not exactly cheap for a single CD, but for a rare CD it's well within the bounds of sanity.

I think that you just like them for the artwork!  

In any event, good luck on your quest and I hope that you enjoy them.

Best wishes,

K

[Que]

Just ordered from a very nice Discogs seller in Normandy.



This is one I thought was going to be tricky to find at any price - I couldn't even spot people asking outrageous amounts for it. So when a new listing turned up at a non-outrageous price it was worth grabbing. I mean, it's not exactly cheap for a single CD, but for a rare CD it's well within the bounds of sanity.

I think (like many others) that the bassoon concerto recordings are one of the notable highlights of the series.

Your recent endeavours have rekindled my interest for the Vivaldi Edition, though regular posts by JBS served as regular reminders. I do have some catching up to do...

I caught early on that not all Vivaldi operas are equal(ly interesting). And because of the hefty price tag, I did not quite jump into that part of the edition but still ended up with Atenaide and Orlando Furioso.

Though these day I usually do not buy "blind" anymore, this came along cheap and is reportedly one of the more interesting ones:



It just arrived in excellent condition.

[Madiel]

I think that you just like them for the artwork!  

In any event, good luck on your quest and I hope that you enjoy them.

Best wishes,

K

Not JUST for the artwork, but the artwork is absolutely a significant part of it. And I am trying very hard to find copies still in the original cardboard slipcases (although the slipcases do get a little roughed up on the corners very quickly).

These days more record companies should put the effort into making their products into beautiful objects. Otherwise why buy them when streaming would do?

[Madiel]

I caught early on that not all Vivaldi operas are equal(ly interesting). And because of the hefty price tag, I did not quite jump into that part of the edition but still ended up with Atenaide and Orlando Furioso.

I am not especially a fan of opera in general, never mind Baroque opera. The da capo aria is hardly one of my favourite musical forms. And I wouldn't say that any of ones I've listened to thus far are going to rank as my favourite music (though there is the occasional aria that absolutely grabs me).

And yet... honestly, the education in the genre that I'm getting is one of my favourite things thus far. The liner notes of the operas, and also of the separate "aria" discs that help document alternative versions and fragments from lost works, are an absolute joy to me. They constantly place each opera in the context of Vivaldi's career (including all the operas performed outside Venice), have information about the original singers and productions, and give lots of insight into the practices of the time as to recycling arias from one work to another (including the works of different composers).

I think it's partly because there is more historical information available for the operas than there is for many of the concertos etc. And also because the operas have nice thick books where there is room for this information. But I find it fascinating. And once my collection is complete or close to it, I will most definitely be following up all the pieces of information about how one aria is based on another earlier one, how Vivaldi composed more than one option for a scene and so on. I will sit there popping discs in and out of my CD player to listen to the relevant music and to compare and contrast. And I will be as happy as a clam.

[Kalevala]

I think (like many others) that the bassoon concerto recordings are one of the notable highlights of the series.

Your recent endeavours have rekindled my interest for the Vivaldi Edition, though regular posts by JBS served as regular reminders. I do have some catching up to do...

I caught early on that not all Vivaldi operas are equal(ly interesting). And because of the hefty price tag, I did not quite jump into that part of the edition but still ended up with Atenaide and Orlando Furioso.

Though these day I usually do not buy "blind" anymore, this came along cheap and is reportedly one of the more interesting ones:



It just arrived in excellent condition.

I'm curious as to what you and @Madiel here think of this one (others comments welcome too).  I had purchased it awhile ago and keep meaning to trade it in.  The tempo was way too fast for me alas.

"Concerto Per Violona "La Caccia"

K

[JBS]

Speaking of the Vivaldi Edition, the latest was released today. So from Amazon

[Madiel]

I'm curious as to what you and @Madiel here think of this one (others comments welcome too).  I had purchased it awhile ago and keep meaning to trade it in.  The tempo was way too fast for me alas.

I haven't listened to that one yet. My copy arrived just yesterday.

Mind you... it's Spinosi and Ensemble Matheus. And there is another recording from those forces (La verita in cimento) where they seemed a bit on the hard, fast and aggressive side to me. But in Griselda they seemed perfectly fine to me. So I'm really not sure which way my opinion might go on the one that you have!

EDIT: They've done 4 operas total. So, I've listened to 2 of those 4. But not the one you're asking about.

[Brian]

Regarding that new Beethoven for Three, it is heartening to see cool new cover artwork being created specially for albums these days!

[hopefullytrusting]

Thanks to @Que

[Wanderer]

[Madiel]

Just bought...





An Australian eBay seller with a very large shop, that I'd already used for a couple of Vivaldi volumes, has a healthy discount for buying 6 or more items. These opera sets were a little pricey (without being outrageous), and I don't think they were actually listed when I started this exercise (this is the shop that also has some mangled copies where the former owner threw away the cardboard case and trimmed the edges of the booklet: these are not those copies!!).

But here's the thing: buying them with 4 other second-hand discs actually cost 4 dollars less than just buying the Vivaldi sets. And these were all things of genuine interest. The Macmillan album I heard in 1999. And if nothing else, the final track "Sun Stone" from the work Cantos Sagrados has haunted my memory ever since.

Only 11 old volumes to go. I've got reasonable possibilities for 3 of them, then it definitely gets harder.

[ritter]

From jpc.de:


Pre-ordered, 26^th September is the announced release date.




Hat tip to @Symphonic Addict and @Roasted Swan , who've written laudatory remarks on this release. I would have bought it anyway, of course, for the Fantasia Brasileira IV's connection with George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein.






And used, via Discogs:


Hat tip to @AnotherSpin .

[Madiel]

Just bought, new and sealed.