Early Music on Record Review

[Thropplenoggin]

I really enjoyed the Gesualdo! What amazing care and attention to detail went into this. The singers are all of soloists-in-their-own-right calibre (including, from the UK, the excellent Tom Hobbs) and yet the ensemble lived and breathed as one. I had no idea Herreweghe inhabited this world, but he brought as much life and clarity to it as to the Baroque.

He has also recorded the 1611 Tenebrae Responsories on his PHI label: http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/PHI/LPH010

[doversoul1]

26 November

9.00am
La bella piu bella
CACCINI, CARISSIMI, CASTALDI, BENEDETTO FERRARI, INDIA, KAPSBERGER, MERULA, MONTEVERDI, PICCININI, G. ROMANO, LUIGI ROSSI, STROZZI:
(Wow!!)
Roberta Invernizzi (soprano), Craig Marchitelli (archlute, theorbo)

The Mirror of Claudio Monteverdi
MONTEVERDI, VINCENTINO, TUDINO, DE WERT, MARENZIO
Huelgas Ensemble, Paul Van Nevel (conductor)

..and don’t forget BaL
9.30
ardcarp

Reminder about Barbara Strozzi....
...she is the subject of BAL this Saturday. Many will remember this amazing person from a past edition of Composer of the Week.

"the most prolific composer – man or woman – of printed secular vocal music in Venice in the Middle of the [17th] century."

11.45am - Disc of the Week
Cherubini & Plantade: Requiems pour Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette
CHERUBINI: Requiem in C minor
PLANTADE: Messe des morts in D minor
Le Concert Spirituel, Herve Niquet (conductor)
ALPHA ALPHA251 (CD)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083qmvk

Host: Please can you correct the thread title?

[MickyD]

And don't forget the Mozart piano concerto section in today's programme either, with Brautigam and Bezeidenhout on the list.

[Nick Armstrong]

Host: Please can you correct the thread title?

I have to say the Plantade Requiem left me cold this morning. Haven't heard the Strozzi survey yet.

But this

And don't forget the Mozart piano concerto section in today's programme either, with Brautigam and Bezeidenhout on the list.

is much more up my street, and will probably be the part of the programme I'll get most out of.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I have to say the Plantade Requiem left me cold this morning.

Well - I was cool, certainly, but I could hear its importance precisely the link between Mozza and Hector that was mentioned several times. I thought that the orchestral Music showed a much higher level of imagination and excitement than the rather staid vocal writing. A pity, then, that (from the admittedly limited sound offered by my kitchen radio) the choir sounded significantly further forward in the recorded balance than the orchestra. I shall save my pennies for the Strozzi CDs I want to buy.

[MickyD]

Yes, as Andrew said, the Plantade isn't great music, but fascinating to hear.

Which Strozzi discs did you go for, ferney? I immediately bought the Cappella Mediterranean one, I thought it sounded divine.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Which Strozzi discs did you go for, ferney? I immediately bought the Cappella Mediterranean one, I thought it sounded divine.

I was captivated by so much of the Music that I'm going to need to listen again to the review to make notes of the ones that most attracted me. On first(ish) hearing, none of the performances seemed unattractive - not even the singer whose vibrato Ms French didn't care for - so I think that I shall just get everything available (at sensible prices, that is - I nearly "Wish-listed" a disc that I thought was priced at £5.79 before I noticed the decimal point wasn't where I thought it was!) over the next few months. Cappella Mediterranean certainly high on the list. I wouldn't mind if Catherine Bott's recital (not mentioned today, unless I missed it) came back into circulation, either.

[doversoul1]

Thank you, Host (re: the thread title)

I thought Plantade Requiem was a great fun. I know it’s a requiem and not meant to be fun but all the same, I found it most enjoyable to hear it. Remind me of Christie’s performance of Mondoville*. They may not be great works but I enjoyed them all the same.

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8aM9BxgQ5g
20.30 -

[ardcarp]

I thought Plantade Requiem was a great fun

The tradition was for a 'Kappellmeister' (for want of a better word) to write music for the choir in the Kappell he was Meister of. Therefore much of the music sung (unless you happened to have a Palastrina or a Bach on the payroll) was probably not first rate, but nevertheless fulfilled a liturgical function in the prevailing style of its day. It is a relatively recent thing for the works of 'great composers' to be venerated in a church setting. Giving these 'lesser' works a stonking good performance can indeed be fun. I have a friend who is besotted with Zelenka, and as a consequence I have probably sung more of Zelenka's stuff than most people would ever want to. On the day (and with a nice little EM band) everything goes with a buzz. OTOH, one appreciates Mozart or (especially) Haydn all the more when they are next on the menu.

[Nick Armstrong]

Just caught up with the segment on 8 October reviewing early/baroque releases*. An engrossing hour

Kate Bolton-Porciatti is one of the very best I've ever heard on R3 - authoritative in a relaxed way, a great broadcasting voice, expertise and opinions ideally pitched I think

And some terrific music. Currently listening to the Murcia guitar record (thanks to Qobuz). And I'm certainly going to follow up the CPE Bach performances, of which I caught another engaging excerpt on In Tune last night (by coincidence).

The discussion is still available in a special extended form (AMcG said they went on talking longer than it was possible to broadcast) on the R3 website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04bdjh6


*10.45am Kate Bolton-Porciatti on Early and Baroque New Releases
Kate Bolton-Porciatti joins Andrew to discuss an eclectic array of recent Early Music releases including Cello concertos by CPE Bach, Caldara Cervantes operas, and Telemann Fantasies

CPE Bach: Cello Concertos
BACH, C P E: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Wq. 170 (H432); Cello Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Wq. 171 (H436); Cello Concerto No. 3 in A major, Wq. 172 (H439)
Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen (conductor)
HYPERION CDA68112 (CD)

TELEMANN: 4-25
Fabio Biondi (Ferdinando Gagliano violin from the 18th century)
GLOSSA GCD923406 (CD)

Caldara: The Cervantes Operas
Maria Espada (soprano), Emiliano Gonzalez Toro (tenor), Joao Fernandes (bass), La Ritirata, Josetxu Obregon (artistic direction)
GLOSSA GCD923104 (CD)

Cifras Selectas de Guitarra
MURCIA: Canarios; Zarambeques; Marsellas; Preludio por la E; Passacalles por la E; La Azucena por la E; Los Impossibles; Baylad Caraoles; Passacalles por la B, a compassillo; Jacaras de el Torneo; Preludio por la cruz; Pasacalles por la cruz; Menuet; Zarabanda; La Jota; Marionas
SANZ: Jacaras; Canarios
Pierre Pitzl (guitar/direction), Private Musicke
ACCENT ACC24316 (CD)

Pierre de La Rue: Missa Nuncqua fue pena mayor & Missa Inviolata
RUE, P: Missa Nuncqua fue pena mayor; Salve Regina VI; Missa Inviolata; Magnificat Tone VI
The Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice
HYPERION CDA68150 (CD)

New to me!

Santiago de Murcia (1682-1732) and Gaspar Sanz (1640-1710) are both standards of the guitar repertoire. Canarios is ubiquitous - settings of it from absolutely everybody, most famously Sanz - it is one of the Sanz pieces used by Rodrigo in his Fantasía Para Un Gentilhombre, dedicated to Segovia. Here it is danced. Every guitarist there is plays this

I hope the version played tomorrow is as good as this.

[MickyD]

Am I right in thinking that Kate Bolton once edited Early Music Review, a short-lived (but excellent) offshoot of Gramophone back in the 90s? She is certainly a very good authority on the subject, that I do know.

[Nick Armstrong]

Am I right in thinking that Kate Bolton once edited Early Music Review, a short-lived (but excellent) offshoot of Gramophone back in the 90s? She is certainly a very good authority on the subject, that I do know.

No, it wasn't Kate Bolton. I have all 4 issues (inc. a note from the publisher in No. 4 saying it was to be the last ) and have just checked - the editor of all of them was Meredith Mcfarlane. Kate Bolton doesn't appear in the credits of any of the issues.

A quick search reveals that Kate Bolton is on the editorial board of the Oxford Journal of Early Music (not sure if that's what you were thinking of, MickyD?)

(My search sadly also reveals a reference, in the writings of Simon McVeigh who worked on a number of early music articles with Meredith Mcfarlane, to the latter's untimely death in 2008 - judging by her photograph in the Early Music Review, still a young woman )

[MickyD]

Thanks for the correction, Cali - I knew Ms Bolton had been associated with one early music magazine.

Oh yes, that really is sad about Meredith Mcfarlane. I too have those 4 issues somewhere and I was so disappointed when the mag came to an end, it was so well produced. A delight to read and its A5 size made it perfect to hold.

[Nick Armstrong]

Well worth a listen: http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...080#post603080

The extract from the familiar Corelli concerto played on RR had me listening with new ears, and it's a great set of performances imo.

[doversoul1]

18 February

10.20am – Choral music

Biber: Missa Alleluja
Erich Traxler (organ), Gerd Kenda (bass), Hubert Hoffmann (theorbo), Jan Krigovsky (violone), Gunar Letzbor (violin), St. Florianer Sangerknaben, Ars Antiqua Austria, Gunar Letzbor (conductor)

Queen Mary's Big Belly
LASSO, MUNDY, NEWMAN, SHEPPARD, ANTHONY, TALLIS, TYE, WILDER
Gallicantus, Gabriel Crouch

Virgin and Child: Music from the Baldwin Partbooks, Vol. 2
FAYRFAX, SHEPPARD,TALLIS: TAVERNER: WHITE
Contrapunctus, Owen Rees

The Sun Most Radiant: Music from the Eton Choirbook, Vol. 4
BROWNE, HORWOOD, STRATFORD
The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, Stephen Darlington (conductor)

The Sixteen sings Poulenc

11.45am – Disc of the Week
Monteverdi Madrigali Volume 3: Venezia
MONTEVERDI: Tempro la cetra (Symphonia); Al lume delle stelle; Con che soavita (Book 7); Chiome d'oro (Book 7); Interrotte speranze; Lettera amorosa; Tirsi e Clori, ballo concertato (Book 7); Altri canti d'Amor (Book 8); Dolcissimo uscignolo; Lamento della Ninfa (Book 8); Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda

Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew (conductor)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08f4fzr