Tír Na HiFi

mcq wrote: .... I'm a great admirer of Paul Hindemith..

I, too, like his work. I have the Blomstedt 3 CD set on Decca and it is very good indeed, it's well worth having:

JSB – Two Cantatas BWV17 & BWV25 for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity....

Some wonderful versions of Haydn from Goodman....

The Dettingen Te Deum was a work which I had not heard before and I really enjoyed it.
The Dixit Dominus was a lovely live performance.

Tonight I've been watching an absolutely glorious performance of Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers conducted by John Eliot Gardiner on BBC Four (the real Last Night of the Proms, never mind tomorrow night's shenanigans). In my opinion, this is one of the greatest of all masterpieces and a great performance never fails to communicate an overwhelming sense of spiritual majesty. I've always loved the live performance of Gardiner's which was recorded in 1989 and subsequently released on DVD and it's interesting to compare the two. I believe that the soloists were superior in the 1989 version and there was rather more pungent brass as well (as well as a greater sense of theatrical drama) in the earlier version but the overall sense of communication of a ritual of immense spiritual importance was retained from the earlier version. On a personal level, I found the whole performance immensely touching. Hopefully Gardiner will consent to an official release of this peformance at a later stage.

On a separate note, the more I listen to Monteverdi, the more I truly believe that his artistic achievement is second only to Bach's. Whether you listen to his glorious sacred music such as the 1610 Vespers or his astonishing swansong, Selva Morale E Spirituale, or his beautiful secular music such as his series of madrigals or his groundbreaking series of operas, you get a sense of a man who never wasted a note. Despite the pressures of continually working within the restrictions of a commission, the impression I get is of a man continually creating something new and original and a sense of someone always trying to push the music forward.

Nice one, mcq. I don't have enough Monteverdi, but I've very much enjoyed everything I've heard. Must try to get a recording of Selva Morale e Spirituale at some point. Any recommendations?

Nice post mcq!
I have the DVD you refer to above but it is quite a while since I have viewed it....I must rectify that soon as it is, as you say, quite a good performance.

Haydn String Quartets Op. 64 Nos. 2, 4 & 5....

Wonderful, quirky music.

Diapason wrote:Nice one, mcq. I don't have enough Monteverdi, but I've very much enjoyed everything I've heard. Must try to get a recording of Selva Morale e Spirituale at some point. Any recommendations?

My reference for this wonderful collection of music is the recording by Cantus Colln and Concerto Paladino as conducted by Konrad Junghanel and released on Harmonia Mundi. This conductor is very consistent in this reportoire and this recording was the first complete recording of these works. Recently, there has been a version by La Venexiana (conducted by Claudio Cavina) on Glossa which has been very well received. I have this ensemble's outstanding recordings of the madrigals and I'm looking forward to hearing their take on Selva Morale E Spirituale as well. In my view, this masterpiece stands as the summation of Monteverdi's life and work and contains some of his greatest music. There's a wide variety of music on display, including hymns, motets, psalms and mass settings. It is deeply beautiful, immensely rewarding and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

My other favourite recordings of Monteverdi's music include Jordi Savall's version of the 1610 Vespers (Alia Vox), John Eliot Gardiner's version of L'Orfeo (DG Archiv) and Rene Jacobs' version of the Eighth Book of madrigals (Harmonia Mundi). Desert island recordings, each and every one.