New releases

[Dave2002]

Do you have a favourite?

The Tafelmusik version is very good. I didn't know Perahia had done one!

Memory may be fading, but I'm referring to Brandenburg 5. I don't normally like pianos in Bach, but for Perahia I make an exception. I feel at least 50% sure he has done one. I also have Philip Pckett's, with the odd musings on symbols etc. i really don't like versions in old fashioned style e.g. Karajan, and I fear probably Boult also. In my list above 2-5 inclusive are very good - I agree about Tafelmusik.

[gurnemanz]

The excellent Cafe Zimmermann Brandenburgs are on 6 separate discs. I got them when they first came out as a box two years ago. This is clearly better value - still not that cheap but well worth getting. Thanks to someone very vigilant on the Bargains Board here I grabbed them for only 28 Euros at Amazon.de, which must have been an error.

[Bryn]

I don't think you will regret your purchase. I listened to the first 3 in their mp3 format while driving into work this morning. Very fine indeed. Up there with Cafe Zim. et al.

Listened to 4, 5 and the start of 6 during the drive home. What joyous delights this set has to offer! No hair shirt worn by Butt and co.

I see the amazon.co.uk price has gone up £1.02 since yesterday, and it costs 96p less to buy the SACDs with free mp3s thrown in than it does to buy just the mp3s! This is tax dodging gone mad.

[Alison]

Did you ever acquire the Sir Roger CD of Stravinsky, nethersage ?

[Bryn]

Not as yet, no. Is it any good?

Must check out the current going rate.

[£20.88 including p&p. Well overpriced, to my mind.]

[[Presto Classical have it for £14.25 plus p&p. Still more than I am willing to pay for it unheard.]]

[Dave2002]

The excellent Cafe Zimmermann Brandenburgs are on 6 separate discs. I got them when they first came out as a box two years ago. This is clearly better value - still not that cheap but well worth getting. Thanks to someone very vigilant on the Bargains Board here I grabbed them for only 28 Euros at Amazon.de, which must have been an error.

I quite like the Cafe Z's performances, though not in fact more than some of the others I mentioned. I recall obtaining my set from amazon.es.

[Alison]

Not heard it, Bryn. We'll wait a bit longer I think.

[Bryn]

My introduction to the Brandenburgs was via Harry Newstone's Saga LPs which I was prompted into buying after much enjoying his recording of Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto with similar forces (it had Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire as its 'fill-up'). More recently I have added a veritable legion of other recordings, including most of those mentioned in this thread. I'm not seeking perfection in them, just further musical experiences. I got such in spades via this recent Butt set.

[I still have the Newstone LPs, and unlike the vast majority of my LPs, they reside not in the loft but shelved close to my entirely serviceable Thorens/Linn/AT vinyl spinner. I might just spin them onto HD and thence to polycarbonate disc in the not too distant future.]

Oh, and somebody mentioned Savall. Sorry, to me his (I have the SACD re-masters) are pretty much run-of-the-mill. Too polite and 'safe' for my taste.

[PJPJ]

Listened to 4, 5 and the start of 6 during the drive home. What joyous delights this set has to offer! No hair shirt worn by Butt and co.

I had ignored this release until now; your enthusiasm provoked a listen to the excerpts on the net and I agree with your description of "joyous delights".

[Barbirollians]

I still love the old 1980s EC/Pinnocks and his later accounts are very good too.

Others of which I am fond - the Britten and Boult accounts .

[MickyD]

Have you got Savall's?

No, I don't have those. My first LP set was Harnoncourt's 1960s recording, which I have never got on CD reissue...I wonder how they sound now, compared to all the recent takes on these pieces?

[Ruhevoll]

Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano's horns in No. 1 provoked a lot of antipathy from some of the Amazon commentariat. PARP!

[amateur51]

Not as yet, no. Is it any good?

Must check out the current going rate.

[£20.88 including p&p. Well overpriced, to my mind.]

[[Presto Classical have it for £14.25 plus p&p. Still more than I am willing to pay for it unheard.]]

Available here for £7.99 as a download and plenty of clips to listen to

http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Download-Album/4-/49334966/0/J-S-Bach-Six-Brandenburg-Concertos/ListingDetails.html?searchstring=Bach+Dunedin&searchsource=0&searchtype=allproducts&urlrefer=search

[MickyD]

Re the 1960s Harnoncourt set, I have just found them on YouTube and they sound remarkably good. They certainly don't go at such a lick as today's performances, but after awhile, I found my ear adjusting to this. Concerto No.2 does sound a little plodding to begin with, but at least you can hear all the notes. It's no wonder these discs caused such a stir so far back, they were certainly revolutionary.

[Bryn]

Quote Originally Posted by Bryn:

Not as yet, no. Is it any good?

Must check out the current going rate.

[£20.88 including p&p. Well overpriced, to my mind.]

[[Presto Classical have it for £14.25 plus p&p. Still more than I am willing to pay for it unheard.]]

Available here for £7.99 as a download and plenty of clips to listen to

http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Downlo...rlrefer=search

Um, Alison and I were discussing the Stravinsky/Norrington Sony CD there, a51, not the Bach. Still reckon the tax dodgers' deal of the SACDs and mp3 (now around £12, though £11.00 when I ordered) for the Butt Bach.