Classical Directions...for 'Newbie(s)'

[dhyantyke]

I am delighted that you have asked for recommendations for Vivaldi's Stabat Mater. I have championed the sacred music of Vivaldi for a long time as I think that it is one of the best kept secrets of Classical Music. There is some wonderful music to be discovered there.

I have a number of versions of this work in my collection and I would agree that the Mingardo/Alessandrini is a terrific recording....





Mingardos voice is wonderful and Alessandrini is a superb musician/director who brings a lot of excitement to his music making.



If, as you said above, you liked the Scholl CD then I would certainly not hesitate to recommend this one to you....





You obviously know what Scholl can do and Banchini is another director that is one to be admired.


I will stop at this one as my final recommendation....





David Daniels is an interesting voice but I consider Fabio Biondi to be one of the best exponents of this type of music that is around today. He brings great originality and excitement to everything that he does.


All of the above are readily available at modest prices and are common enough to be sampled as recommended above I would imagine.




Irrespective of which version(s) you ultimately chose I will be very interested to read how you eventually get on with this piece of music. I wish you the best of luck with it!

Thanks for that Fergus. I am indeed following a Vivaldi thread suggested to me by a good (Toulousain) friend who regularly listens while creating wonderful imaginative/colourful canvasses.

Also thanks to other contributions which are all very interesting and informative.
I am a big fan of Zoverstocks and it's great to be able to pick up recordings at great value prices.

I was under the impression that some recordings of CM are definitely 'inferior' to others, outside of matters of taste?

And, while taking the point of 'one man's meat' etc, it is still a tremenduous help to get definite preferences/options. even if only with a short reason for it.

In this case I have ordered the following


which I believe is the same as reccommende by yourself and JE, with a different sleeve.
I have gone for the Female vocal over the Scholl, and also there is quite a bit of duplication in the two Scholl recordings.

[jaybee]

I'd thoroughly recommend this disc.... superb(IMHO)

[fergus]

In this case I have ordered the following


which I believe is the same as reccommende by yourself and JE, with a different sleeve.
I have gone for the Female vocal over the Scholl, and also there is quite a bit of duplication in the two Scholl recordings.

Yes it is the same recording as the one that has been recommended above. It is also a good move in declining the Scholl at this stage due to duplication because, as has been recommended above, what you should do is maximise your exposure at this point in your crusade to the music that you want to listen to rather than having too many versions of the same work. That can come later and when it does you will truly have arrived at your destination!

When you receive your CD and have listened to it please come back here and review it for us. Please do not feel self conscious about doing so as discussing as well as listening to music is a valuable part of the learning process as it can help to demistify it.

[fergus]

I'd thoroughly recommend this disc.... superb(IMHO)

I have a number of that King series and I also enjoy them.

[Diapason]

I was under the impression that some recordings of CM are definitely 'inferior' to others, outside of matters of taste?

And, while taking the point of 'one man's meat' etc, it is still a tremenduous help to get definite preferences/options. even if only with a short reason for it.

You're dead right about the advice offered on the forums, and it's a fantastic resource to have at our disposal. So yep, when advice is offered and available, go for it, these guys know their stuff. There are, as you say, some recordings that are definitely inferior, but I dunno, I just think that sometimes you're browsing somewhere, you see something, it looks interesting, you buy it, and it doesn't really matter whether it's the "best" or not. That's happened to me in sales, or abroad, or in second-hand shops or whatever. I bought a few serious duds, but in general I still enjoyed them, and the frisson of not having a clue what you just bought was always half the fun. Still, you're probably right, there's no need to risk duds when the good stuff is so easily available now. The internet has simultaneously ruined and improved no end the buying of classical CDs!!

[dhyantyke]

I was under the impression that some recordings of CM are definitely 'inferior' to others, outside of matters of taste?

And, while taking the point of 'one man's meat' etc, it is still a tremenduous help to get definite preferences/options. even if only with a short reason for it.

You're dead right about the advice offered on the forums, and it's a fantastic resource to have at our disposal. So yep, when advice is offered and available, go for it, these guys know their stuff. There are, as you say, some recordings that are definitely inferior, but I dunno, I just think that sometimes you're browsing somewhere, you see something, it looks interesting, you buy it, and it doesn't really matter whether it's the "best" or not. That's happened to me in sales, or abroad, or in second-hand shops or whatever. I bought a few serious duds, but in general I still enjoyed them, and the frisson of not having a clue what you just bought was always half the fun. Still, you're probably right, there's no need to risk duds when the good stuff is so easily available now. The internet has simultaneously ruined and improved no end the buying of classical CDs!!

Yes,at this point I am definitely not in a space for 'risking duds',

and, also all comments/opinions are helpful as they fill in another piece of 'the landscape'

[Seán]

I was under the impression that some recordings of CM are definitely 'inferior' to others, outside of matters of taste?

And, while taking the point of 'one man's meat' etc, it is still a tremenduous help to get definite preferences/options. even if only with a short reason for it.

You're dead right about the advice offered on the forums, and it's a fantastic resource to have at our disposal. So yep, when advice is offered and available, go for it, these guys know their stuff. There are, as you say, some recordings that are definitely inferior, but I dunno, I just think that sometimes you're browsing somewhere, you see something, it looks interesting, you buy it, and it doesn't really matter whether it's the "best" or not. That's happened to me in sales, or abroad, or in second-hand shops or whatever. I bought a few serious duds, but in general I still enjoyed them, and the frisson of not having a clue what you just bought was always half the fun. Still, you're probably right, there's no need to risk duds when the good stuff is so easily available now. The internet has simultaneously ruined and improved no end the buying of classical CDs!!

THIS IS A GREAT THREAD!

The world is awash with recorded music, in fact, there is more recorded classical music available today than ever before. When I started buying classical music cds I used to ask for advice. I rarely bought cds that were not recommended and by so doing I learned whose tastes were close to mine and what performers I liked and those I didn't. I think that it is a good idea to ask for opinions and to seek advice, this is a really good site to get it on too.

I will always value member's opinions so when I return to the markets in 2014 I will start asking questions once again.

[Diapason]

when I return to the markets in 2014

You sound like the NTMA!

[Seán]

when I return to the markets in 2014

You sound like the NTMA!

I know!

[dhyantyke]

I was under the impression that some recordings of CM are definitely 'inferior' to others, outside of matters of taste?

And, while taking the point of 'one man's meat' etc, it is still a tremenduous help to get definite preferences/options. even if only with a short reason for it.

You're dead right about the advice offered on the forums, and it's a fantastic resource to have at our disposal. So yep, when advice is offered and available, go for it, these guys know their stuff. There are, as you say, some recordings that are definitely inferior, but I dunno, I just think that sometimes you're browsing somewhere, you see something, it looks interesting, you buy it, and it doesn't really matter whether it's the "best" or not. That's happened to me in sales, or abroad, or in second-hand shops or whatever. I bought a few serious duds, but in general I still enjoyed them, and the frisson of not having a clue what you just bought was always half the fun. Still, you're probably right, there's no need to risk duds when the good stuff is so easily available now. The internet has simultaneously ruined and improved no end the buying of classical CDs!!

THIS IS A GREAT THREAD!

The world is awash with recorded music, in fact, there is more recorded classical music available today than ever before. When I started buying classical music cds I used to ask for advice. I rarely bought cds that were not recommended and by so doing I learned whose tastes were close to mine and what performers I liked and those I didn't. I think that it is a good idea to ask for opinions and to seek advice, this is a really good site to get it on too.

I will always value member's opinions so when I return to the markets in 2014 I will start asking questions once again.

I'm afraid I haven't figured out how to extract a sentence/paragraph to quote..... (will take instruction!)

Re Reccommendations/ proximity of tastes etc. when I decided to get started on this trip I talked to my friend mentioned above: We share a certain sensibility in literature/ideas/history/art and other forms of music too. I felt confident that what he reccommended would be not far off the mark at least. Also of course I have been hearing some of his music while visiting.........