What are you listening two?

[fergus]

Concerti Italiani performed by Concerto Italiano/Alessandrini





This is an attractive CD.

[markof]

[fergus]

El Maestro Farinelli [Heras-Casado]





This is a terrific, superb CD! All of the music and particularly the performances on this CD are very exciting and engaging for me. The music is always assertively played but the music making is never forced. It is always controlled but very well driven and the performances are filled with great energy, drive and excitement. Some of them are quite thrilling.

[markof]

[fergus]

Les Maîtres de la Vielle Baroque:





There is terrific music and music making on this CD. This is wonderful music from a terrific sound world. The hurdy gurdies are accompanied by a Bassoon, a Viola da Gamba and a Harpsichord which makes for a very interesting and engaging sonic experience. The hurdy gurdy playing can be quite virtuosic in places which is very exciting to hear. This is not rustic, peasant music by any means.

[Seán]

Les Maîtres de la Vielle Baroque:

There is terrific music and music making on this CD. This is wonderful music from a terrific sound world. The hurdy gurdies are accompanied by a Bassoon, a Viola da Gamba and a Harpsichord which makes for a very interesting and engaging sonic experience. The hurdy gurdy playing can be quite virtuosic in places which is very exciting to hear. This is not rustic, peasant music by any means.

That's another new one on me Fergus. The CPO label does have some great stuff.

[Seán]

These images are huge



Bernhard Henrik Crusell
Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major for Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon
Dieter Klöcker, Nikolaus Gruger, Karl-Otto Hartmann
Consortium Classicum,
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Iona Brown conducting

Georg Abraham Schneider
Sinfonia Concertante op. 19 in D major for violin and viola
Werner Grobholz, Jurgen Kussmaul
Consortium Classicum,
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Iona Brown conducting

I love this music

[Seán]

On last Saturday's Building a Library Katy Hamilton had the near impossible task of selecting the recommended recording of Schubert's Ninth Symphony. I was surprised that Katy never even mentioned the Georg Szell Cleveland Orchestra's recording which for me is the pick of the lot. I love several recordings in fact.

At the end of her review she recommended two wonderful offerings, both feature performances by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and were recorded within a couple of years of each other. The first was the Abbado/COE but Katy's first choice was the Harnoncourt/COE live performance:



And then along comes David Hurwitz earlier this week with
Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell (cond.)
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch (cond.)

[Seán]

Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 9
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Claudio abbado conducting.

The 'Great C' is aptly named. It's a wonderful symphony and Abbado has used the original manuscripts for all of the performances on this set. This is a gorgeous performance and is so different from Harnoncourt's slightly later performance with the COE. I love both of them.

Abbado's international career was launched with Schubert, when he won the Koussevitsky conducting competition in 1958 with a performance of the Unfinished Symphony, and the composer remained an important part of Abbado’s repertoire until his death. His performances of the complete symphonies with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe have been among the finest on disc since they were recorded for Deutsche Grammophone more than 30 years ago.

[markof]