Haydn's Haus

[Uncle Connie]

Given what I've heard from some of these releases,  I find "tape recorder under the coat" eminently believable.  I have one issue of Furtwangler's La Scala Ring (Siegfried) in which the orchestra comes through rather clearly, and sometimes very loudly, but you often have to strain to hear the singers.  Apparently whoever did the taping was sitting IN the orchestra pit, or at least very close to it (like first couple of rows).   Most of these releases seem to be taped from back of the audience or something--muffled sound and so forth.  Even if it were taped off the radio,  I think the sound would be better.  (I had a friend in college who taped every performance of the Met's Saturday  afternoon broadcasts.  I have no idea of where he is, if he kept it up after college, or what the state of those recordings are.  I hope he was able to preserve them--they'd be a tremendous archive now.)

Come to think of it, when I was collecting LP 'pirate' operas back in the 60s and 70s, I had several with such excruciating sound as to imply that the tape recorder had been eaten for supper and resided inside the person recording.  On the other hand, I once made a batch of cassette tapes for friends - of Haydn symphonies, no less! - by playing the LPs, many of which had fairly acrid sound to begin with, and then taping by putting the cassette microphone up close to the speakers.  That's more or less what I meant by "off the radio," as I knew people who did that as well the same way.   

[Uncle Connie]

I had some back and forth with Herr Huss through his rep at BIS, and I urged him to do "Le Pescatrici" as his next project. No word ever received on what he thought of the idea....

Does this mean you're not happy with this?   

[asin]B002EYMIPK[/asin]

Granted Huss would do it better, still, for an opera that has so much non-Haydn music in it (essentially faked by Landon), it will do I think....

[Uncle Connie]

Conrad,
Over the years, have you run into some good recordings of dances and/or marches? They are both sadly underrepresented in the current catalog, but I see releases from time to time, like a recent one on Australian Eloquence by the Academy of St Martin etc / Marriner that includes "German Dances", but doesn't say which they are. I have the great "24 Minuets Hob 09:16" disk by Dorati et al, and would be delighted to be able to fill out my collection of orchestral dances with some others of that nature, but don't know if they exist or not. Also, on the subject of marches, someone gave me years ago some MP3's of all the marches, but he had no vague idea who recorded them (they were on the radio, he says). That disk would just thrill me to pieces if it could be had. Of course, I have piano reductions of all those works, but it isn't the same, is it?

As to the marches, I regret I can't help.  Apart from the two on the Huss divertimento set, the only ones I ever came across were on an early 50s LP.  And then there was one, just one, arranged for whatever the Japanese version of a brass band would be and included on a march disc I was once given, and have since passed along.  (I got it for a Bruckner march.  Whatever the disc was, it was more novelty than serious, and in any case Japanese discs tend to be in print for a very short time, and outrageously expensive.)

Dances:  Today, in response to your question, I have ordered these items, without having the slightest idea what I'll be getting (but they were cheap enough):

[asin]B000024NC5[/asin] 


[asin]B000E3J3PG[/asin]

and when they arrive, if they have the slightest interest, do not worry, we will work something out. 

[kishnevi]

Does this mean you're not happy with this?   

Gurn's rule of thumb is that if it's Haydn,  there's always room for another recording.  And another one after that....

[Uncle Connie]

Just realized - the first of those two discs I pictured isn't for sale on amazon.com, I bought it in U.K.  Here's their link:

www.amazon.co.uk/Dances-Worthy-Diabelli-Haydn-Schubert/dp/B000024NC5/ref=sr_1_19?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334279128&sr=1-19

[kishnevi]

Dances:  Today, in response to your question, I have ordered these items, without having the slightest idea what I'll be getting (but they were cheap enough):


[asin]B000E3J3PG[/asin]

and when they arrive, if they have the slightest interest, do not worry, we will work something out.

1 new from $206.25 5 used from $9.99 1 collectible from $10.00

I assume you are referring to the used copies 

($206.25 plus s/h!!!  I would think that would have been the "Collectible".)


ETA--after looking at the "used" prices  that "new" price isn't as bad as it seems.  Apparently  HM used platinum as the material for this CD.    I ordered the collectible copy.  There remains one listing for used at $9.99 from UK vendor Zoverstocks.

[Gurn Blanston]

As to the marches, I regret I can't help.  Apart from the two on the Huss divertimento set, the only ones I ever came across were on an early 50s LP.  And then there was one, just one, arranged for whatever the Japanese version of a brass band would be and included on a march disc I was once given, and have since passed along.  (I got it for a Bruckner march.  Whatever the disc was, it was more novelty than serious, and in any case Japanese discs tend to be in print for a very short time, and outrageously expensive.)

Dances:  Today, in response to your question, I have ordered these items, without having the slightest idea what I'll be getting (but they were cheap enough):

[asin]B000024NC5[/asin] 


[asin]B000E3J3PG[/asin]

and when they arrive, if they have the slightest interest, do not worry, we will work something out.

Ah, pity, those are my total too, except for this one;


which only has 1 Haydn march, the one for the Royal Society of Musicians. It is very good, but I got that same one by Huss so this one has been in storage, so to speak.

Of the 2 dances disk, I have the second one on Harmonia Mundi, I really do like it, despite that they ignored many genuine dances and included several "not by Haydn". Nonetheless, I think you will find it a pleasure to listen to. The other one is new to me, I'll be interested to hear your take on it.

Thanks!



----------------
Now playing:

Manfred Huss - Haydn Sinfonietta Wien - Hob 01a_02 Il Ritorno di Tobia: Overture in c & C

[Gurn Blanston]

Does this mean you're not happy with this?   

[asin]B002EYMIPK[/asin]

Granted Huss would do it better, still, for an opera that has so much non-Haydn music in it (essentially faked by Landon), it will do I think....

Oh no, not at all. But A> I would rather hear Huss do it on PI and B> I would hope that he would mark which parts are by Haydn and which by Landon.

And of course;

Gurn's rule of thumb is that if it's Haydn,  there's always room for another recording.  And another one after that....

[Gurn Blanston]

I assume you are referring to the used copies 

($206.25 plus s/h!!!  I would think that would have been the "Collectible".)


ETA--after looking at the "used" prices  that "new" price isn't as bad as it seems.  Apparently  HM used platinum as the material for this CD.    I ordered the collectible copy.  There remains one listing for used at $9.99 from UK vendor Zoverstocks.

I got the original (not the D'Abord) version on AMP in excellent condition for, like $6. Patience wins out in the used CD game...



----------------
Now playing:

Rachel Heard - Hob 16_28 Sonata #43 in Eb for Keyboard 1st mvmt - Allegro moderato

[Uncle Connie]

I assume you are referring to the used copies 

($206.25 plus s/h!!!  I would think that would have been the "Collectible".)


ETA--after looking at the "used" prices  that "new" price isn't as bad as it seems.  Apparently  HM used platinum as the material for this CD.    I ordered the collectible copy.  There remains one listing for used at $9.99 from UK vendor Zoverstocks.

The copy of this one that I ordered was $4.19 plus S&H, and the copy of the other one that I ordered in Britain was £1 +P&P of £1.26 = not quite $4.  Of course, that UK disc gets delivered to a friend in Gloucester who normally would save it until the next packet of exchange things he sends me, but in this case he'll be able to hand it to me in three weeks when I get to London on vacation.

If ever I am caught by anyone paying $209.25 for a CD, unless perhaps it is personally (and certifiably) autographed by Mr. Haydn, I hereby authorize you to track me down and shoot me for the good of the planet.  Twice in my lifetime, and ONLY twice, have I spent more than $30 for a single CD.  The first was in 2001 when I bid on eBay way up in the stratosphere, because the proceeds were a 9-11 donation.  The second was for a very hard-to-find OOP version of Michael Haydn's c minor Requiem which I had coveted forever and a day. 

You cannot be serious about the platinum bit?  Who cares?  It isn't as if one is going to melt a CD down for the materials value - is one?   

[Karl Henning]

The Gurn Rule. I remember hearing about it in discussions of the Budget . . . .

[kishnevi]

Finished off my first run through of the Beghin keyboard cycle last night with the final two CDs.   Overall,   I was impressed by most of it, except for the square piano (Tafelklavier)--the instrument I described as sounding too tinkly the other night--and the clavichord, which was interesting and important enough to explore, but ultimately not enough to keep returning to for those works. (In other words,  I'm glad I heard them,  but won't run to repeat them.)  The works for which Beghin used harpsichord and various fortepianos, however, are more than worthy of multiple rehearings.

[Gurn Blanston]

Finished off my first run through of the Beghin keyboard cycle last night with the final two CDs.   Overall,   I was impressed by most of it, except for the square piano (Tafelklavier)--the instrument I described as sounding too tinkly the other night--and the clavichord, which was interesting and important enough to explore, but ultimately not enough to keep returning to for those works. (In other words,  I'm glad I heard them,  but won't run to repeat them.)  The works for which Beghin used harpsichord and various fortepianos, however, are more than worthy of multiple rehearings.

Jeffrey, overall a good, positive impression. Pleased to hear that. I have a lot of experience with clavichords and I can tell you that it is an acquired taste. If at some point you get to listen to quite a bit of it, you could come back to Beghin/Haydn and discover an entirely different reactions to it. Anyway, something that I learned (fortunately early on) is that because the clavichord is a very quiet instrument, the natural tendency is to crank it up. This not only spoils the lovely natural tone, but also makes you hear the mechanical noises of the instrument louder than the music. If you refrain from turning it up, you will really enjoy it a lot more.   

[Leo K.]

The copy of this one that I ordered was $4.19 plus S&H, and the copy of the other one that I ordered in Britain was £1 +P&P of £1.26 = not quite $4.  Of course, that UK disc gets delivered to a friend in Gloucester who normally would save it until the next packet of exchange things he sends me, but in this case he'll be able to hand it to me in three weeks when I get to London on vacation.

If ever I am caught by anyone paying $209.25 for a CD, unless perhaps it is personally (and certifiably) autographed by Mr. Haydn, I hereby authorize you to track me down and shoot me for the good of the planet.  Twice in my lifetime, and ONLY twice, have I spent more than $30 for a single CD.  The first was in 2001 when I bid on eBay way up in the stratosphere, because the proceeds were a 9-11 donation.  The second was for a very hard-to-find OOP version of Michael Haydn's c minor Requiem which I had coveted forever and a day. 

You cannot be serious about the platinum bit?  Who cares?  It isn't as if one is going to melt a CD down for the materials value - is one?

Guilty, as charged! I've paid up to $80 for one CD. I can't spend like that anymore though.

[Uncle Connie]

Guilty, as charged! I've paid up to $80 for one CD. I can't spend like that anymore though.

Yeah, see, it isn't as though I don't WANT to.  It's that my wife has opted for affording ridiculous luxuries like food....

[Gurn Blanston]

Yeah, see, it isn't as though I don't WANT to.  It's that my wife has opted for affording ridiculous luxuries like food....

Yes, some women (and men) have no sense of relative values. Where is that food gonna be tomorrow vs listening to that disk at least 7 times before you get tired of it.... 

[Uncle Connie]

Oh, and:  Now Playing:

[asin]B00064N7IW[/asin]


which isn't Haydn - yes, O Ye Who Doubt, I really can read - but it happens to be what's playing and is easily one of the dozen or so very favorite discs in all my collection, which is saying a hell of a lot.  I note there was a smallish thread on him in Gurn's other board, several years ago, but there's not much to say when a composer's life work has thus far generated exactly ten CDs.  The other nine are good or better, but this one is monumental.  Don't wait for Christmas (it's not really very Christmasy anyway).

[Uncle Connie]

Correction:  Nine CDs for Cartellieri.  I seem to have counted the second disc of his other oratorio set twice.

[chasmaniac]

You rock, Unc! Keep on keepin' on! 

[Uncle Connie]

Hey, people, this is off-thread a bit but I just couldn't resist sharing and asking if anybody has any idea what the point is?

Here's a perfectly innocuous little CD, of which two used copies are for sale on Amazon.  Check the prices.


[asin]B0000061KX[/asin]


So I'm guessing I probably don't need to invest in this.  But WHY? 

I do so wish there were a way to follow these CDs and find out what becomes of them in future....