You understood I was joking, right? I’m very happy for you
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Yeah, I took it in the spirit you intended!
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Bach - Goldberg Variations/Italian Concerto/Chromatic Fantasy And Fugue, Wanda Landowska 1987 EMI Great Recordings.. CD issue. It has been a while since I heard this but it still pleases!
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Not a rough listen, just different. I was immediately won over by their St Matthew Passion a few years ago and their recording of the Hohe Messe is fantastic, too, so expected a St John’s Passion a bit like these, but it’s very different and it will take me more time to assess. But no cause for alarm, this is nowhere near the oddity that is their recording of Mozart’s requiem.
If you know J. Prégardien’s recording of Schubert’s Schöne Müllerin - the level of invention in his singing on that recording is similar to his approach here.
Cheers
EJ
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This is simply to flag that Presto Music currently has an offer of up to 50% off Chandos downloads (until 20th May). I have absolutely nothing to do with Presto Music (save for buying downloads from them) but I do have a lot of excellent Wilson/Sinfonia of London downloads which are included in the offer. (Of course, I bought them before the offer!)
Stephen
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I’ve been enjoying the tone poems, although my source is a single disc from the Decca Analogue box. I have the Kertesz Dvorak Symphony cycle in a separate box.
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Jacobs’s Johannes-Passion. A hugely entertaining performance, which achieves a more traditional balance between immediacy and beauty of sound than Pichon, while sharing a theatrical approach. Both contrast sharply with Herreweghe (I only know his first recording) and - my absolute favourite - Pierlot. The sound quality of this recording was one of the goals of this project and his Matthäus, and remains super impressive. On SACD.
Cheers
EJ
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For those able to access BBC Radio 3, on this coming Saturday it the start of a major new series - Key Changes. It is a history of classical music from 1026 to the present day. Should be good
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Leif Ove Andsnes, piano; Christian Tetzkaff, violin; Tanja Tetzlaff, cello | Schumann: Complete works for piano trio | EMI / Warner Classics CD (2 discs)
Recordings from Schumann’s Piano Trios from top classical artists are rare and far between, partly because the works themselves have been widely denigrated in the past. This recording is clear evidence that the piano trios deserve a place in Schumann’s catalogue.
“this new one of the complete trios is a landmark in the Schumann discography, comparable in significance to the Zehetmair recording of Quartets Nos 1 and 3 (ECM, 6/03) and Steven Isserlis’s recent chamber disc with Dénes Várjon (Hyperion, 5/09)” [Gramophone]
Claude
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Speaking of Schumann, this week I picked up this set as a DSD download. I’m pretty sure it’s the mastering done by Emil Berliner for Tower Japan.
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That is such a trippy pic of Kubelik.
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Something I have just come across on YouTube - a way to visualize music I have not seen before, kind of mesmerizing:
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Thanks for the recommendation
This is a very special record and I’m delighted to have stumbled across a very acceptable condition copy at Oxfam for what seems (according to Discogs) a bargain £5.
It’s a Penguin guide recommended disc and the only criticism I can offer is that because it’s vinyl, I don’t get time to get my breath back between each very distinctive work and the next.
The Purcell amply illustrates the reasons for Britten’s love for Purcell and his skill in arranging and conducting it.
The Elgar Allegro is considerably slower and more considered than most you’ll hear, but delivers goosebumps aplenty in places you’d never expect them and in my book makes a strong case for best ever performance of this work.
Britten’s own Simple Symphony is obviously definitive, the Delius and Bridge clearly evidence and justify Britten’s love for the works.
It all makes for a transfixing concert and Britten’s skill as a conductor is clearly second only to his ability as a composer. Decca’s recording in Snape Maltings is extremely vivid and real.
I haven’t heard it digitally, but I’d assume that a lot of what I’m hearing will be delivered from digital sources too. Magnificent!
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Thank you for that. I have the same record which I have not listened to for years. You have inspired me to dig it out.
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