http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41aAvJT6QgL.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mRR6RvpWL.jpg
Printable View
Beethoven 9th symphony, Cluytens, Berlin philharmonic... LP .. Quite slow but wonderfully powerful and rhythmic first movement , fast and exciting 2nd, smoothly flowing slow mvt, quite a frisky finale. I really enjoyed this.
Beethoven 6th symphony, Karajan 1977, Berlin philharmonic.... LP... This has fairly poor reputation as a performance but I think it is excellent, quite fast but very exciting!
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...0003512780.jpg
Wagner - Organ Fireworks - Hansjörg Albrecht
Surround sound SACD. You can surely imagine how this could be quite tasteless, but Albrecht is remarkably restrained in these Wagner lollipop transcriptions. The Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde being marvellously ethereal.
Gilbert and Sullivan, Patience DVD
Joly Braga Santos 2nd symphony
LP - superb!
http://c3.cduniverse.ws/resized/250x...42/6696842.jpg
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
-- 2nd symphony etc. Really good! Just stumbled across this on Tidal.
See Amazon reviews http://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Colin-...eywords=mcphee
Which led on to ...
http://www.classicalarchives.com/ima...181206_300.jpg
Also good. :)
Nabbed this lot, all minty and for £1 each:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/aHk0jv.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/jtmRRY.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/4mNUfa.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/905/bxcC9s.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/qXQEnO.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/9mP86I.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/3xQOMK.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/8Aacpp.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/FRInzh.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/1rpftE.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/sVHpQH.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/LGeK1O.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/TYwXHk.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/8zYWpi.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/909/juAcIx.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/oqNhKN.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/QU5JHf.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/905/Z01oV7.jpg
Reasonable haul, Jerry? :)
Marco.
Beautiful choral music...
http://www.gimell.com/img/album/x175/CDGIM-036.jpg
^^ Very nice haul, there, Marco!
A bit of a Beethoven 9th symphony binge for me yesterday ....
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTMxN1gxNj...CT!~~60_35.JPG
-- superb first 3 movements, but the choral finale got a bit squally and raucous with somewhat distorted sound. But the finale is a bit of a rumpty-tump crowd-pleaser when played with Stokowski's over-exuberance, anyway.
Then ....
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...yL._SY300_.jpg
Wow, wonderful performance and recording.
My favorite composer for the lute...
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-17XR5wgnbX.../NA%2B0774.jpg
This recording might be a little old, an it's definitely not hi-fi, but it has such a good feeling to it. This was also my intro to Francesco, so I'll always think of it fondly.
Having a great day...
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oOuIL1RSL.jpg
Inspired by Doug's choice of lute music, currently playing this ...
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...gL._SY355_.jpg
Lovely! :thumbsup:
Have you tried the Weiss lute series on Naxos, Doug? -- it's also excellent.
I'm having a review of my LP collection at the moment with a view to kicking out the less than stellar condition ones and the ones I just don't want to play. Quite a few are getting cleaned as I go. Hopefully this will result in a slimline collection that I can confidently dip into without having any worries or hassle. :)
Currently playing - and staying! - is a marvellously clean copy of this ...
http://www.rixrecords.com/IMG/3140371.jpeg
And now this, ahhh perfection ...
http://www.thevicioussquirrel.co.uk/...0sixth_enl.jpg
I have tried it -- I have four or five CDs of Barto playing Weiss; it is, as you say, excellent. I haven't heard too much of the Volta; how is the recording?Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Volta's sound quality is A1 Excellent (as is Barto, imo) - you can seemingly hear every detail, in a slightly reverberant space.Quote:
Originally Posted by dougmon
The instrument itself sounds rather more fragile than those typically used by Barto in his recordings; Barto's lutes always sound solid and forthright, Volta's sounds a bit frayed in comparison! Interestingly frayed, though. :)
I would guess the difference in sound is Barto's enormous Baroque lute as opposed to Volta's smaller Renaissance lute. I could be wrong, of course...a lot of it could just be the ambience of the recording space, right hand technique, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
To get back on the thread, though, here's what I'm listening to:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...S.01_SL75_.jpg
North's recordings of Dowland are my favorites; even more than the Hopkinson Smith recordings.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...xL._SY355_.jpg
-- exquisite!
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTU4NFgxNj...UM5JZ/$_35.JPG
-- LP -- a bit of a curiosity. Quite a small scale performance of this mighty work - sounds more like a chamber ensemble - less impact but you can really hear what is going on in the orchestration, more than I ever realised!
I think this is why I tend to like small scale works. Somehow, with a huge orchestra, the sound becomes overwhelming and the details lost. Perhaps this is where the greatest conductors can shine.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Small scale works best on my favourite genre anyway. Things like The Water Music with only one instrument per part, really show you what is going on.
I have found the same with both live and recorded work so it's not just a hi-fi thing.
Yes, it's fascinating to hear Ansermet's 9th, so much going on in the different musical parts that (not being a score reader) I hadn't realised before!
But I wouldn't want to be without large scale performances that raise the roof and sweep the listener away! :)
Based on recent listening, if I had to restrain myself to two 9ths they would probably be Ansermet and Abbado.
Agh......score reading!!! As we have just got a piano, trying to remember all those lessons from my childhood is straining the old brain. I used to be able to sight read and happily follow a score. Now it's all just a jumble of notes again. Back to scales and slomo for a while:(Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Now that we are into the Prom season (courtesy of the BBC and Quad (FM4)), I haven't been playing much classical music but I have been listening to a lot of it. :)
Perhaps my favorite harpsichord recording. The Japanese import is very fine-sounding.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410ISCfN2TL.jpg
LP -
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg
Wonderful performances of the 3 standard violin concertos, the 3 transcriptions are interesting, too.
Cassette -
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg
Superb, in its rather old fashioned way.
Cassette -
http://c3.cduniverse.ws/resized/250x...67/3848367.jpg
Excellent, too. Anton Nanut, one of my favourite conductors.
http://snvinyl.co.uk/WebRoot/Daily/S...es_2_and_3.jpg
Borodin Symphonies 2 & 3 by Ernest Ansermet & L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
ORG 45rpm - Wow !!
http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/...er170x170.jpeg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...ZL._SY355_.jpg
and Bliss continues his seemingly inexorable rise in my estimation ...
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...lL._SY300_.jpg
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
-- very good.
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
--- Coo, I loved this. Quirky but interesting. :)
http://assets.rootsvinylguide.com/pi...ncerto_9449919
--- Wow, this is Heifetz when in his youth (1941) - a zillion miles from the way he played later in life, for his stereo recordings.
I find his stereo works cold, aloof, emotionless, bored.
But this Elgar from 1941 is just brimming with emotion and obvious affection for the work. Stunning. Not a bad recording, either, mine is on LP -- also available remastered on Naxos.
Inspired by a certain current thread ....
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTMwM1gxNj...TFFtO/$_35.JPG
-- cassette :eyebrows:
http://cdn.discogs.com/pCc0dXOwKZjDC...-6706.jpeg.jpg
-- also on cassette. :thumbsup:
Don't try telling me these aren't hifi quality! :nono: :eyebrows:
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
-- totally yummy romantic chamber music. :)
Very much a neglected master, Paul Juon, imo.
Another hit from Ansermet.
This from TIDAL ....
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...ZVg~~60_35.JPG
I don't know why it is, but for the last 45 years I have been under the misapprehension that Ansermet and his Suisse Romande Orchestra were 2nd or 3rd rate and I have ignored them accordingly.
Bloody hell, how wrong I was!
A week or so back I was blown away by their Beethoven 9th symphony, last night the same happened with the 4th.
And then this Sibelius 4th ....
http://www.popsike.com/pix/20110610/170653282540.jpg
and then this ....
http://cdn.discogs.com/TRQ45S1Un5pL2...-8983.jpeg.jpg
All are amazingly good, and excellent sq, too.
Precision, articulation, delicacy, power ... but I still get swept away by the sheer emotional power of Ansermet's music making. :)
All courtesy of Tidal streaming.
More Ansermet, please! :)
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
-- after learning the piece from Andrew Penny's Naxos recording this is a bit of a revelation.
It doesn't have the raw energy of Penny, but has a romantic sweep and passion that he rather misses.
Takes the works from excellent 2nd tier to very definitely knocking on the door of greatness. :)
The recording quality, too, is very different. The Naxos coolly transparent and incisive, compared to the luxuriant glow and huge surging power of the Chandos.
I look forward to exploring the rest of Hickox's cycle.
http://snvinyl.co.uk/WebRoot/Daily/S...28/ASD1095.JPG
Puccini - Tosca - Maria Callas : Opera in Three Acts : Victor De Sabata on Vinyl
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...-40_OU11__.jpg
- excellent, really enjoyed this.
Love the title of one of the pieces - ODTAA - One Damn Thing After Another :)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WNJoAqLUL.jpg
Ah bliss - this may well be a perfect rendition of Mozart's K563 masterpiece.
Played by this Hungarian trio with complete simplicity, no point making, no ugly emphasis, just pure sublime musical perfection. :thumbsup:
Then onto this with the same violinist ...
http://i43.tower.com/images/mm121697...-cover-art.jpg
-- once again, sublime perfection. :)
After Part's Stabat Mater, this seemed appropriate.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...0L._SY300_.jpg
Must be time to go and look for shooting stars now.
Yet more loveliness from violinist Kovacs. Can he do no wrong? :scratch:
Tidal
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_SX355_.jpg
Tidal
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg
An interesting comparison to the Danubius Quartet on Marco Polo (which I love). A bit livelier, and lighter sounding. More transparent recording, too.
LP
http://cdn.discogs.com/RdYZz-t1CHoVP...-4367.jpeg.jpg
Cor. Nice recording. Awesome performance! :thumbsup:
Mendelssohn's second Symphony
A purely vinyl listening session yesterday eve --
One of the treasures of my LP collection ....
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxNT...SljzG/$_35.JPG
- including a superb transcription of the 2nd keyboard partita (one of my favourite works)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg
Another of my favourite works, but I don't much like the way Horowitz plays it. It all sounds staccato to me. :scratch:
On my 'for sale' pile now.
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDcwWDUwMA...+Pg~~60_35.JPG
- beautiful transcriptions of some Shostakovich preludes. :)
http://rymimg.com/lk/f/l/7263d7504af...d/3289892.jpeg
- quite good, I could wish for performances a bit lighter on their feet, I think.
http://cdn.discogs.com/ThfYj8Mqtfl0p...45851.jpeg.jpg
Wow. :eek:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAyNFgxMD...!Dg~~60_35.JPG
Excellent!
Another LP evening ....
Several concertos from this box set ...
http://s18.postimg.org/3n22cco61/Barenboim_Moz_Conc.jpg
I do like Barenboim's Mozart. :)
This box set was one of a fair sized classical LP donation at a charity shop where I volunteer. I'll be putting quite a few up for sale once I have checked condition -- and decided which ones I am buying myself. ;) Not sure if this Mozart set will be among them.
And some more from the same charity donation ...
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj..._id=8800005007[img]
-- a 6 LP set. Played some Chopin, Liszt and Saint Saens last night. :thumbsup:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...xL._SY355_.jpg
-- mine is a DMM pressing, and I'm a-keepin' it! :D
I don't usually like Perlman, but the VC2 was good. I may try him again on other works. :)
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMj...!Bg~~60_35.JPG
Wow - magnificent. Another keeper. :)
http://a1.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/...er170x170.jpeg
I do like Leifs' music.
Frank Martin's piano trio from this ...
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
Nice, so I moved on to this ...
http://www.musicweb-international.co...in_Jecklin.jpg
And rounded off the evening with ...
http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...1uQKcfLFaQ.jpg
:)
http://www.musicweb-international.co...tas_1C1214.jpg
WOW !
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
and Double WOW !!
A major new discovery for me -- thanks to Paul / slinger (from another forum) for tipping the wink on Guy Ropartz. :)
Gli Orazi e I Curiazi by Domenico Curazi. Fairly unknown opera from the end of the 18th Century. Performed by the orchestra sinfonica e coro della RAI de Milano conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini. Recorded in Milan in April 1952. Sounds a little thin, as you might expect of such a historic performance, but very enjoyable nonetheless.
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
Excellent. If the opening piece doesn't melt your heart then you probably haven't got one. :)
http://cdn.naxos.com/SharedFiles/ima...s/8.570987.gif
Good for cleansing the musical palette.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg
Beautiful.
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P...8.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Yum.
An LP day yesterday ...
http://cdn.discogs.com/vEUaXKLrxedrM...-1845.jpeg.jpg
- ye gods, what a cover! :doh: :lol: - great performance and recording, though.
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODAwWDgwMA...q0!~~60_35.JPG
- very lively!
http://store.acousticsounds.com/imag...01235-7912.jpg
http://cdn.discogs.com/IhtEl9SPIHLg2...-1493.jpeg.jpg
- I find Alkan quite difficult to appreciate, but I enjoyed this a fair bit.
While searching for a recording of Haydn violin concertos on TIDAL, I stumbled across this concerto by Haydn Wood ....
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
It's really quite good, well worth a listen.
But the real discovery was the concerto by Lionel Sainsbury. (Must be a relation!)
Coo - lovely stuff indeed.
Which led me on to this ...
http://www.musicweb-international.co...ano_NV5951.jpg
Yum!!
and then a gorgeous solo violin piece on this ...
http://i.prs.to/t_200/emrecordsemrcd011.jpg
Very, very impressed by this grocerial chappie. :thumbsup:
La Spagna - Paniagua XV-XVI-XVII Centuries : Atrium Musica De Madrid
by the late great Stan Ricker - simply stunning slab of vinyl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2Au6fC6O-k
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
German's 1st symphony ... :thumbsup:
http://catalogv3.nmusic.sapo.pt/albums/539904/300
-- excellent, and a very slammy audiophile percussion section! :eek:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg
-- I do like Leclair's music - a very pure sound. Simple, but not simplistic. :)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515k9MHwDsL.jpg
-- a lovely way to end the evening. :)