Tír Na HiFi

Symphony No.6

Glass – Piano Concerto No. 2 & Harpsichord Concerto...




I find the music of Philip Glass not very deep or challenging yet somehow very appealing and intriguing and these two works are no different. I bought the disc for the harpsichord concerto which I really like but the piano concerto no. 2 is also quite attractive.

Symphony No.2



A thrilling performance from my favorite of all the Mahler boxsets.

fergus wrote:Glass – Piano Concerto No. 2 & Harpsichord Concerto...




I find the music of Philip Glass not very deep or challenging........

Well we can agree on that bit. I might go on to add words like....but nah, I won't [wink]

fergus wrote:

DaveF wrote:There was a Koopman set of Bach's Organ works in Tower recently but it was expensive.
Buxtehude might be a good option to look at next. I've a few of those recordings and I think they are pretty good. Hopefully our resident expert will be along to offer some advice. :-)

Hopefully so Dave as I am unsure which way to turn next. I would like to get some more versions of the JS Bach Organ Works played by various other organists and played on various instruments for comparison but, as you say, these tend to be expensive.
Buxtehude would seem to be a natural follow on all right but after that I am totally ignorant!!

Morning troops! Sorry for the delay in responding, I'm just back from two very pleasant weeks in Sorrento.

To be honest, if you've consumed the complete Bach organ works, I should probably come to you for advice at this stage! Koopman would be a very good idea for further exploration, and I think I'm right in saying he has recorded full cycles a few times and lots of collections as well. He can be a little eccentric at times, and has a tendency to over-ornament for my taste, but he's always interesting and always has something to say. I'm growing to admire his playing more and more as times goes on. So yep, good choice. Some others love Hans Fagius' set (originally recorded on BIS but now available at knock-down rates on Brilliant) and while I'm not always a fan, it's cheap enough that it's definitely worth having. I've been collecting Oortmerssen's set (www.oortmerssen.com) and sometimes it's very enlightening, sometimes it just comes across as boring and ponderous. Mainstream sets by Christopher Herrick and Simon Preston are pretty good and recorded on beautiful instruments (modern, built using Baroque ideals), but played in quite an "English" way that's a bit different to the Koopmans of this world.

For Buxtehude, I'd recommend the Bryndorf recordings that Ciaran has posted before, and I also really like the Hans Davidsson recordings on organs tuned in Meantone. They're very interesting in a sonic sense, but the performances themselves are also top-drawer. Harold Vogel has recorded a well-regarded complete set of Buxtehude, but I've never heard any of them. In any case, I'd go slowly here: even organists find Buxtehude hard-going to listen to at times!!

Apart from that, I don't have many specific recommendations, as I'm inclined to buy single discs of organs or organists I'm interested in rather than following a composer.

An interesting take on this famous work. Savall opts to recreate this music with instrumentation based on an essemble of viola a gamba and wind instruments of the period which according to the highly informative CD booklet has never been done before. This is well worth checking out if you are looking for something different from the usual organ or harpsichord versions.

(btw, I picked this up in Tower records and I was well impressed to see a whole section dedicated to Jordi Savall and a few other recordings from the ALIVOX label.)

fergus wrote:

I dont have any recordings of those Quintets. How did you find them Fergus?

DaveF wrote:

.... my favorite of all the Mahler boxsets.

Dave is that the re-issue of the original and earlier Sony cycle?
I have no Mahler performed by Bernstein and that situation will be rectified in due course but the question, as always, is which one to get? The early Sony cycle seems to be the one that is most commented on.....

Diapason wrote:For Buxtehude, I'd recommend the Bryndorf recordings that Ciaran has posted before, and I also really like the Hans Davidsson recordings on organs tuned in Meantone. They're very interesting in a sonic sense, but the performances themselves are also top-drawer.

I have a few of these recordings you mention here and I've always enjoyed them particulary the Hans Davidsson ones. Thanks for the other recommendations Simon.