Classical-Era Chamber Music

[The new erato]

I must confess i'm not a big fan of "classical" music outside of the big three. Explore at your own risk.

Yes, can't understand why nobody have mentioned the third, Boccherini!

[Mark]

I'd recommend Spohr in a heartbeat, along with Dussek, whose harp concerto (Op. 15) is a real charmer.

[FideLeo]

Yes, can't understand why nobody have mentioned the third, Boccherini!

Boccherini used to be known as "Haydn's wife" among the so-called connoisseurs of music from nineteenth-century on.  There are still plenty of such know-it-all "connoisseurs" at this forum alone.  Indeed, what do you expect? 
No worries, HIP to the rescue! - Boccherini's string trios, quartets, quintets and sextets and quintets with fortepiano have been well served by such ensembles as Europa galante, Les Adieux, Quatuor Mosaiques, Smithsonian Quartet, Appónyi Quartet, and, last not least, Ensemble 415.

[(poco) Sforzando]

There are plenty of such know-it-all "connoisseurs" at this forum alone.

And you're not one of them? 

[FideLeo]

And you're not one of them? 

I don't claim to know it all! 

[(poco) Sforzando]

I don't claim to know it all! 

Then why do you assume any others here (conveniently unnamed) claim otherwise? Hopefully we all have something to learn from each other, though obviously we bring different levels of experience to the table.

[FideLeo]

Then why do you assume any others here (conveniently unnamed) claim otherwise? Hopefully we all have something to learn from each other, though obviously we bring different levels of experience to the table.

I as well as you have a right to assume!    But some people don't bother to disclaim or do they?   

[(poco) Sforzando]

I as well as you have a right to assume!    But some people don't bother to disclaim or do they?   

I don't really think they always need to, do they? But if you're put off by some people's manner, remember that can work both ways. Some of the people on Internet forums who have seemed most arrogant to me are the ones who are most quick to hurl the same accusation at others. (Guess it takes one to know one.) And those who are least able to take criticism of their own work (and here I'm thinking of a very specific example) are the ones most eager to be critics themselves.   

[Grazioso]

Yes, can't understand why nobody have mentioned the third, Boccherini!

Well, in my original post I asked specifically to exclude Boccherini, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven to focus on the lesser-knowns

[(poco) Sforzando]

Well, in my original post I asked specifically to exclude Boccherini, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven to focus on the lesser-knowns

And I'm surprised you're including Boccherini in the same mention with M, H, and B. And no, I don't pretend to have heard everything or even a large quantity of Boccherini's enormous output. I have heard some of his work. This past Sunday, when my clock radio awoke me as usual and played an hour's worth of music on WQXR-FM, I heard a classical-era chamber work that struck me as eminently competent and eminently forgettable. This piece of musical wallpaper turned out to be Boccherini's Quintet in G, Op. 60/5. Don't want to step on the toes of any Boccherini fans out there, but I wasn't stimulated to want to hear more from him. 

[The new erato]

Well, in my original post I asked specifically to exclude Boccherini, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven to focus on the lesser-knowns

Oversaw that - since he's usually overlooked. Well, still:



I would like to hear from anybody who have heard this and still think he is dull (which doesn't mean he hasn't produced his fair share of clunkers!).

[(poco) Sforzando]

I would like to hear from anybody who have heard this and still think he is dull (which doesn't mean he hasn't produced his fair share of clunkers!).

Since this is one CD you're especially singling out, I just ordered a used copy from Amazon. Thanks very much for the recommendation.

[The new erato]

Since this is one CD you're especially singling out, I just ordered a used copy from Amazon. Thanks very much for the recommendation.

Please report! You won't regret.

[Grazioso]

Since this is one CD you're especially singling out, I just ordered a used copy from Amazon. Thanks very much for the recommendation.

A delightful disc. There's a companion on the same label, also performed by Europa Galante. I mentioned Boccherini in the same breath as the "Big Three" because he's relatively well known and recorded and was highly regarded in his day. I was looking for Classical-era chamber music off the beaten path. (Of course, there's still much recording to be done of Boccherini's chamber music--and Haydn's too, e.g., the 100+ chamber works for baryton.)

[BorisG]

Oversaw that - since he's usually overlooked. Well, still:



I would like to hear from anybody who have heard this and still think he is dull (which doesn't mean he hasn't produced his fair share of clunkers!).

I did not care for this one, nor the Scarlatti. I acquired both shortly after their issuings. I won't say dull, but they weren't inspiring enough to escape culling. 

[The new erato]

Iloved it - as did a number of reviewers; Stanley Sadie in Gramophone "A very enjoyable CD" or Christopher Fifield on musicweb "this disc should do much to widen the appeal of this extraordinary music. "

Well, let's see.