What are you listening to?

[fergus]

Despite considering Bach as the greatest composer ever to walk the earth, and despite admiring fugue more than virtually any other form, I find the Art of Fugue to be hard going in one sitting.

It undoubtedly is Simon and if a musician like yourself has difficulty with it then what hope have the rest of us mere mortals got! However, sometimes it is just nice to listen to it and let it flow and tonight was such an occasion. The performance above was very good but very straightforward and the recording captured a lovely sounding instrument very well. To use that word which I dislike, it was very "nice".

[fergus]

More easy listening....

[Diapason]

Good stuff Fergus!

[Jose Echenique]

I haven't yet heard Bernius' reading of the Missa Omnium Sanctorum, Jose. Is it still in print?

By the way, I forgot to mention the superb performance of the Lamentations on Hyperion as well in my earlier post.



You also mentioned Herreweghe's break with Harmonia Mundi. At the time, I found this very surprising and I thought it was a big loss for Harmonia Mundi. They also parted ways with Konrad Junghanel (an artist with a smaller discography than Herreweghe's, but of similar stature artistically). Do you know whether HM ever gave a reason for not renewing their contracts or did Herreweghe and Junghanel simply want to move on?

I´m afraid the Missa Omnium Sanctorum is currently out of print, at least according to Amazon.de

I don´t know exactly why Herreweghe and HM parted company, but I do know why William Christie left HM many years ago. William Christie wanted to record the major Mozart operas, at the time HM thought the project too expensive for their budget, so William Christie left for ERATO. It was his bad luck that 3 years later Warner shut ERATO and he only got to record 2 Mozart operas.
Maybe Herreweghe got jealous of René Jacobs because HM did record him the Mozart operas.
It must be a nightmare for a record company when all your star conductors want to record the same things: The Bach Passions, Messiah, Haydn´s The Creation, the Beethoven symphonies, etc.

[bombasticDarren]

Copland - Appalachian Spring (Aaron Copland, Boston Symphony Orchestra, RCA)

[mcq]

I haven't yet heard Bernius' reading of the Missa Omnium Sanctorum, Jose. Is it still in print?

By the way, I forgot to mention the superb performance of the Lamentations on Hyperion as well in my earlier post.

I also have and enjoy that CD Paul. Another Hyperion disc that is very enjoyable is this one which you may also have....





However the best Zelenka that I have ever heard is this one (courtesy of my good friend Jose)....





If you can manage to get your hands on it (out of print now I think) it is an absolute delight!

I don't think I've heard Robert King's Zelenka disc for Hyperion, Fergus. I'm a big fan of his Purcell and Vivaldi recordings, so I must pick it up (I believe it was recently reissued at a budget price). That Ensemble Zefiro disc looks very interesting. Hopefully, some enterprising label like Naive will reissue it at some stage. I'm very fond of the complete orchestral works on CPO (Jürgen Sonnentheil and Neu-Eröffnete Orchestre):

[Jared]

I'm very sorry for my non-appearance recently folks; things have been very busy indeed with work. However when I have had time to play some music, it has been the Haydn Piano Sonata box (Sonatas 1-41) by John McCabe I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, and this:



Music from the period of Henry VIII, Mary I and the Reformation... really a very high quality set of performances, and a bargain for £10.

that said, disk 5 contains a 12(ish) minute organ voluntary which I find really hard work.. (sorry Simon).. which reminds me, did you find a reasonably priced set? it would be very well worth it.

[Jared]

Despite considering Bach as the greatest composer ever to walk the earth, and despite admiring fugue more than virtually any other form, I find the Art of Fugue to be hard going in one sitting.

yes, it's comments like this which have been putting me off a purchase... ;-)

[Jared]

Delius - Violin Concerto (Tasmin Little/Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chandos) & Cello Concerto (Paul Watkins/Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chandos)

Darren, I'm sure the performances speak for themselves, but what do you think of the quality of the works?

[Diapason]

that said, disk 5 contains a 12(ish) minute organ voluntary which I find really hard work.. (sorry Simon).. which reminds me, did you find a reasonably priced set? it would be very well worth it.

Nope, it's much more expensive now, I just dithered too long.

I think I play a few movements from Tallis voluntaries. Possibly more fun for player than listener.