Fortepiano recordings.

[Bryn]

I agree with you, Verismissimo...the Schornsheim set is well played, recorded and scholarly...it is fascinating to hear the progression of Haydn's sonatas over the years on appropriate contemporary instruments. I was also lucky enough to get the set for under 20 euros when it first appeared!

Not in any way to detract from the wonderful Schornsheim set, an excellent complement is that on Naxos Blu-ray Audio by Tom Beghin. In addition to the 3 Blu-ray Audio discs there is a Blu-ray Video disc with a documentary about the recording project, and several video recordings of individual movements from some of the works.



Don't be put off by the "Virtual" label. The acoustic reconstruction is very tastefully and effectively done.

[Thropplenoggin]

Not in any way to detract from the wonderful Schornsheim set, an excellent complement is that on Naxos Blu-ray Audio by Tom Beghin. In addition to the 3 Blu-ray Audio discs there is a Blu-ray Video disc with a documentary about the recording project, and several video recordings of individual movements from some of the works.

Is it true, Bryn, that your CD/DVD/Blu-Ray/download collection is now so extensive, easily filling the wings of most manor houses, that you are now obliged to bury them in alphabetical order in the garden, using a metal detector to locate the required disc?

[Bryn]

Is it true, Bryn, that your CD/DVD/Blu-Ray/download collection is now so extensive, easily filling the wings of most manor houses, that you are now obliged to bury them in alphabetical order in the garden, using a metal detector to locate the required disc?

Let's just say that it does present certain storage, access and traceability problems.

[David-G]

Is it true, Bryn, that your CD/DVD/Blu-Ray/download collection is now so extensive, easily filling the wings of most manor houses, that you are now obliged to bury them in alphabetical order in the garden, using a metal detector to locate the required disc?

A friend of mine, with the collecting bug and a storage problem, erected a shed in the garden, and dug a full-height cellar beneath it.

[Dave2002]

A friend of mine, with the collecting bug and a storage problem, erected a shed in the garden, and dug a full-height cellar beneath it.

Mmmmm. You're giving me an idea

[verismissimo]

Is it true, Bryn, that your CD/DVD/Blu-Ray/download collection is now so extensive, easily filling the wings of most manor houses, that you are now obliged to bury them in alphabetical order in the garden, using a metal detector to locate the required disc?

For nearly 50 years I've used the same filing system. Basically I organise as the Gramophone magazine does: orchestral, chamber, instrumental, choral and song, opera. And, within each, alphabetically by composer followed by mixtures.

Imagine my distress when the dear departed transfer engineer and collector Roger Beardsley said to me: "But you have to move them all when sections are filled up and you expand. I couldn't stand it."

"What do you do," I asked him.

"It's so simple," he responded, "I keep a running database, the first thing I bought being 000001, recording on the spreadsheet composer, work, main artists, recording date. And go from there, simply adding to the sequence as I acquire. I never have to move anything, and I can find things instantly."

Doh!

It's too late for me I fear. And I'm about to have to spend a morning shifting it all again.

[teamsaint]

I think I could use some of you guys on a telesales database I am working on !!

(any way of going straight to your fortepiano recordings, Verrers?)

[Dave2002]

For nearly 50 years I've used the same filing system. Basically I organise as the Gramophone magazine does: orchestral, chamber, instrumental, choral and song, opera. And, within each, alphabetically by composer followed by mixtures.

Imagine my distress when the dear departed transfer engineer and collector Roger Beardsley said to me: "But you have to move them all when sections are filled up and you expand. I couldn't stand it."

"What do you do," I asked him.

"It's so simple," he responded, "I keep a running database, the first thing I bought being 000001, recording on the spreadsheet composer, work, main artists, recording date. And go from there, simply adding to the sequence as I acquire. I never have to move anything, and I can find things instantly."

Doh!

It's too late for me I fear. And I'm about to have to spend a morning shifting it all again.

That numbering method works if you only want to retrieve one CD or recording at a time, but if you need multiple different recordings quickly it's not so good. It's even worse if the "shelf" space extends over multiple locations/rooms. Also, if things don't get put back in the right place (never happens, does it?) they may get lost for a very long while.

[verismissimo]

... (any way of going straight to your fortepiano recordings, Verrers?)

Nope.

[Bryn]

By the way, this:



is a pretty useful set, which I was fortunate enough to pick up from the Blackwells site for £45 a few years ago, and which employs not only a variety of instruments, but of performers too. In addition to the sonatas with opus numbers, like the Brautigam survey, it includes the early ones without.

[verismissimo]

By the way, this:



is a pretty useful set, which I was fortunate enough to pick up from the Blackwells site for £45 a few years ago, and which employs not only a variety of instruments, but of performers too. In addition to the sonatas with opus numbers, like the Brautigam survey, it includes the early ones without.

Looks great, but £110 currently...

[Bryn]

Looks great, but £110 currently...

That's the sort of price it was everywhere but at Blackwells when I ordered it. It took several months to arrive, after which their price rose to join that asked by other vendors. As I wrote, I was fortunate.

Oh, and ...

[Sir Velo]

A bit of a rising star in the fortepiano world has to be Kristian Bezuidenhout. His recent recordings of Concertos by Mendelssohn and Mozart (both with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra) are wonderful.

Totally agree with this. I've been following his Mozart series since the first instalments were flagged on CD Review 2 years ago by Nick Kenyon, and have been impressed with the sheer Mozartian flair he brings to this repertoire, as well as having a gorgeous sounding instrument.