What are you listening to?

[Seán]

giving JSB a second chance!!

Enjoy. I have the Herreweghe & Collegium Vocale Gent set of 27 Bach cds and I really like them, I even prefer the Herreweghe to the Suzuki performances.

[fergus]

giving JSB a second chance!!

I would consider Herreweghe to be a more spiritual interpreter of JS Bach than others so I will be interested to see how you get on there.

[jaybee]

it's certainly a lot more accessible sonically than the HvK version, that was a bit of a Phil Spector doused in Vaseline affair....

still think that Mozart and Vivaldi do more for me from a mass/sacred choral perspective

[Seán]

giving JSB a second chance!!

I would consider Herreweghe to be a more spiritual interpreter of JS Bach than others so I will be interested to see how you get on there.

That's it Fergus, Collegium Vocal Gent and the soloists sing with great feeling as if they really mean it.

[Jared]

giving JSB a second chance!!

I would consider Herreweghe to be a more spiritual interpreter of JS Bach than others so I will be interested to see how you get on there.

That's it Fergus, Collegium Vocal Gent and the soloists sing with great feeling as if they really mean it.

I know exactly what Fergus means here... their Brahms Eine Deutsche Requiem is exactly the same; it has a subtle, almost mystical, spiritual quality to it, in almost complete contrast to the (equally excellent but) more full bodied version by Gardiner.

[fergus]

it's certainly a lot more accessible sonically than the HvK version, that was a bit of a Phil Spector doused in Vaseline affair....

That is a very good way of putting it LOL!!!

still think that Mozart and Vivaldi do more for me from a mass/sacred choral perspective

So be it if that is the way for you JB. For most people JS Bach takes time so do not give up on it but perhaps temporarily park it in the shadows for the moment to be revisited at a later date.

In the meantime continue to enjoy your Mozart and Vivaldi sacred works.

[jaybee]

in a related vein, I'm revisiting the symphonic end of the classical spectrum, I think perhaps, given the style of system I've been stuck with for so long (teeny weeny standmounters) the sheer scale of much of this areas sonics left the soundstage dense and muddled which to a large extent left me cold...

Now I'm back en route to something approaching a listening environment, I'm getting more out of a good deal of my collection...

tonight I shall be mostly listening to...

[fergus]

I would be interested to know how the Funeral March is treated in that version.

[fergus]

Vinyl....





It took me quite a long time to fully appreciate the symphonic works of Brahms but when I eventually did his first symphony quickly became one of my favourite symphonies.

[jaybee]

I would be interested to know how the Funeral March is treated in that version.

I can't offer any comparisons in anything approaching technical terms, but compared to Bernsteins version with the VPO, it's a more delicate less mellifluous affair, that's not to say its in any way "light" it's a wonderfully full bodied and deep chested performance, perhaps considered would be a more appropriate description, the phrasing seems more definite : I'd certainly prefer the Manze version...