What are you listening to?

[Seán]

What is that Fergus?

[Seán]

Edvard Grieg
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 50
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Ole Kristian Ruud - conducting.

These are lovely performances.

[fergus]

What is that Fergus?

That, Seán, is I think the ultimate in Baroque. It is exactly what it says on the label; a set of sonatas for two Violas da Gamba. Schenck was apparently quite a famous gamba virtuoso in his time. I would take it down for a listen about once a year or so as I really like it. I can't see it being top of other peoples playlist though. It is a very good recording which does great justice to the instruments.

It was followed this morning by its sibling....

[fergus]

Today, JS Bach and Vivaldi sacred music....

[Jose Echenique]

I have quite a few recordings of Beethoven´s Missa Solemnis:

1. Eugen Jochum. Philips.
2. Georg Solti. DECCA.
3. Otto Klemperer. EMI.
4. Nikolaus Harnoncourt. TELDEC.
5. John Eliot Gardiner. Archiv.
6. Herbert von Karajan. DG I / II, EMI.
7. David Zinman. Arte Nova.
8. Philippe Herreweghe. Alpha & HM.
9. Leonard Bernstein. DG.
10. Rafael Kubelik. ORFEO.
11. Antal Dorati. BIS.
12. Carlo Maria Giulini. EMI.
13. Colin Davis. Philips & RCA.
14. James Levine. DG.
15. Karl Böhm. DG.
16. Daniel Barenboim. ERATO.
17. Kurt Masur. Berlin Classics.
18. Arturo Toscanini. RCA.

What´s wrong with this list? That surprisingly, besides Giulini and Toscanini, no other Italian conductor has recorded the work. Not Abbado, not Muti, not Chailly nor Sinopoli. Strange!

But of course being a big fan of Herbert Blomstedt I just had to add his new recording to the list. An admirable, old fashioned, big band performance, but very moving and superbly executed. The Gewandhaus orchestra play their hearts out, and the choir does very well, if inevitably sounding less than state-of-the-art compared with the Monteverdi Choir or the Collegium Vocale.
Still, make no mistake, this is a great performance.

[Seán]

I have quite a few recordings of Beethoven´s Missa Solemnis:

1. Eugen Jochum. Philips.
2. Georg Solti. DECCA.
3. Otto Klemperer. EMI.
4. Nikolaus Harnoncourt. TELDEC.
5. John Eliot Gardiner. Archiv.
6. Herbert von Karajan. DG I / II, EMI.
7. David Zinman. Arte Nova.
8. Philippe Herreweghe. Alpha & HM.
9. Leonard Bernstein. DG.
10. Rafael Kubelik. ORFEO.
11. Antal Dorati. BIS.
12. Carlo Maria Giulini. EMI.
13. Colin Davis. Philips & RCA.
14. James Levine. DG.
15. Karl Böhm. DG.
16. Daniel Barenboim. ERATO.
17. Kurt Masur. Berlin Classics.
18. Arturo Toscanini. RCA.

What´s wrong with this list? That surprisingly, besides Giulini and Toscanini, no other Italian conductor has recorded the work. Not Abbado, not Muti, not Chailly nor Sinopoli. Strange!

But of course being a big fan of Herbert Blomstedt I just had to add his new recording to the list. An admirable, old fashioned, big band performance, but very moving and superbly executed. The Gewandhaus orchestra play their hearts out, and the choir does very well, if inevitably sounding less than state-of-the-art compared with the Monteverdi Choir or the Collegium Vocale.
Still, make no mistake, this is a great performance.

Count me in as another fan of Herbie's; his Nielsen and Sibelius cycles with the SFSO are marvellous as are his Hindemith recordings on EMI with the Gewandhaus and I am particularly fond of his Beethoven symphony cycle on Brilliant Classics with the Dresden Staatskappelle, his output is consistently good.

[Jose Echenique]

There was a time dear Seán when conductors didn´t need to be handsome nor move like go-go girls.
They didn´t need be charismatic on a personal level nor tell jokes. They just needed to know the music.
Furtwängler, Klemperer, Walter, Knappertsbusch, and yes, Herbert Blomstedt were some of those.

Now we have Gustavo Dudamel. Lord, help us.

[Jared]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Humperdinck-Kon ... 11&sr=1-44

watched another opera this afternoon... certainly darker and more complex than Hansel & Gretel, but excellently performed.

now:

Nicholas Maw: Odyssey
Rattle/ CBSO

[Seán]

I listened to the First Act and really enjoyed it, particularly Di Stefano's singing, what do you make of it Pepe?

[Seán]

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 2
Staatskapelle Dresden
Herbert Blomstedt - conducting.

After our earlier exchange about Blomstedt I just had to listen to this big band interpretation of Beethoven's masterpiece, what a gorgeous sound the orchestra makes, particularly the string section, wonderful stuff.