What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? IV

[Mario]

Comparing

W A MOZART

Fl & Harp Con in C Maj K 299

Orch of the Old Fairfield Academy – S Miller – V Drake – T Crawford
BBC NOW – E Beynon – C Beynon – T Fischer
Les Violons du Roy – M Grauwels – G Herbert – N Labadie

Quite incredible how with one performance the work sounds rather pedestrian, and then under different performers, wow!

[richardfinegold]

If the critic is who I think it is then I’d completely ignore him! His opinion is no more or less valid than yours.

Well I know that but this was so over the top critically that it stays with me…

[richardfinegold]

Brahms. Symphony No.4.

Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra conducted by David Zinman.

Lovely playing and convincing conducting.

Zinman is interesting. He studied under Monteux. I usually either really enjoy or dislike his records but at least he has a strong interpretive profile

[vinteuil]

Beethoven's Ninth - Philippe Herreweghe, Collegium Vocale Gent and La Chapelle Royale (in the "Lumieres: Music Of The Enlightenment" boxset)

... that 30 CD box set such a treasure trove : when I got it back in 2012 I (almost) felt guilty at having acquired all those goodies for just £16

[AuntDaisy]

... that 30 CD box set such a treasure trove : when I got it back in 2012 I (almost) felt guilty at having acquired all those goodies for just £16

You did better than me...

Rameau's "Castor & Pollux" is playing now, Les Arts Florisants & William Christie; (glad HM included texts). A minor lull in the roadworks.

[vinteuil]

You did better than me...

... so you probably didn't need to feel guilty!

[AuntDaisy]

... so you probably didn't need to feel guilty!

I try not to.

The only downside with some of those compilation box sets, is the lack of the original booklets.
The Trevor Pinnock / ECO one has a lovely TP book (inc. CD track info) & the original sleeve images, but not the booklets (which would easily fit on a CD as PDFs).

[smittims]

I agree. I often lament the disappearance of original sleeve notes. It's the price you pay for getting the recordings cheaper. Another loss is the origiinal cover art. I treasure the Munch paintings on the Philips LPs of Colin Davis' Boston recordings of Sibelius.

[oliver sudden]

The tricky thing is, it’s not as though the old versions with booklets are still out there but more expensive—you have to find the original release on the second-hand market if you want any sort of documentation, which if it’s an old LP or even 78 can all get a bit involved!

[Stanfordian]

Puccini – 'Messa di Gloria'
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunk,
Tomislav Mužek (tenor) & George Petean (baritone)
Münchner Rundfunkorchester / Ivan Repušić
Recorded Live, 2024 Herz-Jesu-Kirche, Munich
BR Klassik, new CD

Mozart – Hagen Quartet
String Quartet No. 16, K428
String Quartet No. 17, K458 'The Hunt'
String Quartet No. 21, K575 'Prussian No. 1'
Hagen Quartet
Recorded: K428 (Palatin, Minnesängersaal, Wiesloch, 1999);
K458 (Kirche St. Konrad, Abersee, 1998);
K575 (Mozarteum, Grosser Saal, Salzburg, 1995)
Deutsche Grammophon (CD 5 of 7 from the complete Mozart String Quartets)

[richardfinegold]

Beethoven's Ninth - Philippe Herreweghe, Collegium Vocale Gent and La Chapelle Royale (in the "Lumieres: Music Of The Enlightenment" boxset)

Poor LvB is being mistreated (by me) in the hope that he'll drown out the incessant racket from the roadworks outside.

Herreweghe released all 9 LvB symphonies on the Pentatone label years back in SACD . Are all 9 included here or just the Ninth?

[pastoralguy]

I purchased the Brilliant Classics box set of the complete works of J.S. Bach for £20. (Free p&p!) I’m trying to steel myself to listen from beginning to end. Wish me luck!

[Pulcinella]

I purchased the Brilliant Classics box set of the complete works of J.S. Bach for £20. (Free p&p!) I’m trying to steel myself to listen from beginning to end. Wish me luck!

That'll see you through quite a few night shifts, pg!
Any decent 'names' included? Who does the cantatas, for example? One group, or mix and match?
(I'm too lazy to find out from Presto or Brilliant's own site, but it may well not be very detailed there anyway.)

Actually, Presto does give some info, and there are indeed 'names':

142 CDs representing the entirety of Johann Sebastian Bach’s oeuvre in historically informed performances.

This includes all 200 sacred cantatas recorded for Brilliant Classics on period instruments and sung by the Holland Boys Choir.

Big name artists include Thomas Zehetmair, Pieter‐Jan Belder Bob van Asperen, René Jacobs, Arleen Auger, Lucia Popp, Edith Mathis, Peter Schreier and Matthias Goerne.

For reasons of completeness, pure musical enjoyment, scholarly research, attractive, space saving design and price, you cannot afford to be without Brilliant Classics’ improved Complete Bach Edition.

[smittims]

That's fine for Bach fans and I hope they enjoy it. Me, I've come to prefer Haydn and especially Handel to Bach. That said, I've just been listening to one Bach recording that won't be in that Brilliant box: the S. John Passion with David Willcocks and King's College choir, and the Philomusica of London with Thurston Dart. The singers include Helen Watts, Alexander Young and Hervey Alan. I find it deeply moving.

[Pulcinella]

That's fine for Bach fans and I hope they enjoy it. Me, I've come to prefer Haydn and especially Handel to Bach. That said, I've just been listening to one Bach recording that won't be in that Brilliant box: the S. John Passion with David Willcocks and King's College choir, and the Philomusica of London with Thurston Dart. The singers include Helen Watts, Alexander Young and Hervey Alan. I find it deeply moving.

With Hurston Dart (sic) as the harpsichord player in the incarnation I have!