Antonini has left his recorder at home with the Il Giardino Armonico, and this is the result:
(http://www.jpc.de/image/w600/front/0/0886971925227.jpg)
ALL HAIL ANTONINI!
Howard
YES!!
Some listening samples here: http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Ludwig-van-Beethoven-Symphonien-Nr-3-4/hnum/8812631
There is also a disc with No.s 1 & 2. http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Ludwig-van-Beethoven-Symphonien-Nr-1-2/hnum/8951986
Both are available also e.g. through amazon, but amazon has no listening samples.
If I may: What's the big deal?
Have you heard it? You will understand once you have!
Howard
He looks like a moron in those pictures. I don't get why non-photogenic artists insist on sticking their ugly mutt on the cover. Samples sound interesting, but they are too short to form an opinion.
Quote from: hautbois on May 12, 2009, 11:19:22 AM
Have you heard it? You will understand once you have!
Howard
No, I haven't. I was just wondering about all the hailing around for a fellow who has recorded a pair of Beethoven's symphonies.
Thanks for the rec, anyway. :) It's HIP, I presume?
That's 79 minutes 32 seconds of music - it could have easily been placed on a single disc. Why waste their money, and more importantly, why waste ours by making it a 2CD set? I'm not going to spend US $28 on one CD's worth of music that doesn't seem to offer anything that has not been done already. The first two chords of "Eroica" were awesomely ferocious, pretty much ideal, but the rest of the samples weren't special...
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on May 12, 2009, 11:25:39 AM
He looks like a moron in those pictures. I don't get why non-photogenic artists insist on sticking their ugly mutt on the cover.
I'm speechless.
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on May 12, 2009, 11:25:39 AM
He looks like a moron in those pictures. I don't get why non-photogenic artists insist on sticking their ugly mutt on the cover. Samples sound interesting, but they are too short to form an opinion.
It's the record label that decides to subject Antonini to a ridiculous photo session, and the record label that decided to print his name bigger than Beethoven's on the cover.
I've never heard of this guy. ???
Recorder player and founding member of Il Giardino Armonico.
The clips sound good, nearly as vibrant as Bruggen. We're beginning to get a surfeit of fine HIP Beethoven symphony recordings, it seems. Reviews here (http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Beethoven-Symphonies-Nos-3-4/Giovanni-Antonini/e/886971925227), here (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/reviews/album-beethoven-symphonies-3-and-4--kammerorchester-baselantonini-sony-classical-921479.html) and here (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article4531968.ece)
Quote from: DavidRoss on May 12, 2009, 11:43:59 AM
I'm speechless.
Too bad you can still type, hurrr hurrrr durrr durrrpp
(http://www.whataboutbeppy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/derp-derp-dog.jpg)
weeeeee
If you buy Sony you listen with the terrorists.
APOPLEXY:
Quote from: DavidRoss on May 12, 2009, 12:02:48 PM
Recorder player and founding member of Il Giardino Armonico.
The clips sound good, nearly as vibrant as Bruggen.
The comparison to Bruggen is uncanny, as Bruggen also started on flute/traverso/recorder. Antonini's recent Handel concerti grossi is
very vibrant.
I'm very fond of Antonini's (and Il Giardino Armonico's) recording of the Brandenburg concertos. It is a sparkling, living performance.
Quote from: Gabriel on May 13, 2009, 11:57:41 AM
I'm very fond of Antonini's (and Il Giardino Armonico's) recording of the Brandenburg concertos. It is a sparkling, living performance.
Ditto. It's my favorite. Also their recordings of the Vivaldi Concerti da camera as well as their lovely "Un viaggio musicale" disc of Italian music of the 1600s.
The price and length of the separate cds is understandable. Hybrid SACDs they are. The opening of the 4th symphony alone is worth the price of this twofer. Get it!
Howard
Quote from: hautbois on May 13, 2009, 09:46:02 PM
The price and length of the separate cds is understandable. Hybrid SACDs they are. The opening of the 4th symphony alone is worth the price of this twofer. Get it!
Howard
The Basel orchestra doesn't play on period instruments though - not that that should deter anyone who's interested but it is worth knowing anyway.
Quote from: traverso on May 13, 2009, 09:58:01 PM
The Basel orchestra doesn't play on period instruments though - not that that should deter anyone who's interested but it is worth knowing anyway.
Being historically informed improves a performance (Being informed doesn't really mean doing what you are informed with), but being authentic doesn't always do so, that was Nikolaus Harnoncourt's saying. It was never about sounding old, it was about learning what was done back then that might help performance in today's context. In my opinion Antonini achieves exactly that, especially in the 4th symphony, it is a roller coaster ride that he creates. My point being, Traverso is right, nothing should deter anyone from being interested in it just because it's an unknown "HIP" guy conducting, whatever HIP may mean...
Howard
p.s. and no, Antonini is not an unknown. According to a recent article i read, the music scene is having trouble finding people to conduct the big orchestras in early music repertoire. People like Harnoncourt, Norrington, and Gardiner are slowly "growing old" from the scene, and apparently Antonini has been a recent favourite with orchestras such as the Concertgebouw and the Berlin Phil. A 'successor' of sorts i guess. Plus, the Il Giardino Armonico was nothing short of a revolution.
Quote from: hautbois on May 14, 2009, 09:15:20 AM
Being historically informed improves a performance (Being informed doesn't really mean doing what you are informed with), but being authentic doesn't always do so, that was Nikolaus Harnoncourt's saying. It was never about sounding old, it was about learning what was done back then that might help performance in today's context. In my opinion Antonini achieves exactly that, especially in the 4th symphony, it is a roller coaster ride that he creates. My point being, Traverso is right, nothing should deter anyone from being interested in it just because it's an unknown "HIP" guy conducting, whatever HIP may mean...
Howard
I was wrong about the orchestra NOT playing historical instruments - they actually do, at least in baroque repertoire (see their recent Fasch recording on DHM). But not sure about this being the case in their Beethoven. I personally want period instruments in Beethoven though - the sound itself can be revelatory to the right kind of audience.
Quote from: traverso on May 14, 2009, 10:20:39 AM
I was wrong about the orchestra NOT playing historical instruments - they actually do, at least in baroque repertoire (see their recent Fasch recording on DHM). But not sure about this being the case in their Beethoven. I personally want period instruments in Beethoven though - the sound itself can be revelatory to the right kind of audience.
Absolutely, i totally understand what you mean. Although, to me what usually matters more is really the fine detail giving the score life. Take Gardiner's Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique for example with the Romantique Revolutionaire. What is so extraordinary about that recording is not so much the use of period instruments (which is actually quite spectacular to watch on that dvd they made), but the fine detail in making the score alive. E.g. the revival of the cornet solo in the ball scene, the clear and consistently fresh phrasing ideas of the melodies, utmost detail in orchestral colors (dynamics). This one find also in Antonini's Beethoven, with the amazing sforzatos that Beethoven consistently emphasized to be different, contrasts in dynamics that are absolutely stunning, and the controlled rubati, which is some of the most organic i have heard on recording (Jochum Bruckner 5th RCO?), take for instance the opening of the 4th symphony. This recording actually has natural horns and valveless trumpets. I don't understand why he chosed to use natural horns (Harnoncourt chose not to in his cycle), as the inconsistent stopping for the correct pitch meant different colors in one melody line, but one wonders, perhaps Beethoven used this to an advantage, and one can hear how interesting that is when it is revived in the eroica.
Howard
Quote from: hautbois on May 14, 2009, 11:16:40 AM
Absolutely, i totally understand what you mean. Although, to me what usually matters more is really the fine detail giving the score life.
In my experience most period-instrument interpretations of Beethoven give this, although always in their own ways.
Quote from: traverso on May 15, 2009, 01:44:22 AM
In my experience most period-instrument interpretations of Beethoven give this, although always in their own ways.
Reason being, they would only go to such extremes in the first place because they care about the music.
Howard
Quote from: hautbois on May 15, 2009, 02:22:23 AM
Reason being, they would only go to such extremes in the first place because they care about the music.
Howard
That is well said, although I imagine not every listener has a radical taste.