Tír Na HiFi

Thanks all.

Sibelius - Violin Concerto & Karelia Suite (Miriam Fried/Okko Kamu, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finlandia)

DaveF wrote:

how are you finding the piece Dave? I think the finale is utterly sumptutous, but have always found the overall structure to be a little too linear. I know Pappano's Verdi Requiem was very highly thought of, but critics didn't feel that his Rossini, although very good, was *quite* of the same standard... any thoughts?

Jared wrote:

DaveF wrote:

how are you finding the piece Dave? I think the finale is utterly sumptutous, but have always found the overall structure to be a little too linear. I know Pappano's Verdi Requiem was very highly thought of, but critics didn't feel that his Rossini, although very good, was *quite* of the same standard... any thoughts?

Sumptutous is the perfect word to sum up that finale alright. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm coming to this piece for the first time as you can see from my other thread. It'll get repeated playback over the coming weeks for sure.

On vinyl....

Listened to all the songs with words by Verlaine on this beautiful CD



of Susan Graham singing Reynaldo Hahn accompanied by Roger Vignoles. Delightful! What did that start? Debussy set some of the same poems, so naturally next I listened to all the settings of Verlaine on this wonderful CD



with Gérard Souzay accompanied by Dalton Baldwin. Charming and beautiful as a song by Hahn might be, a Debussy song is something larger, wider, more ambitious. I've had this CD a very long time but never really got into it, so I'm glad my Verlaine theme has helped me get to grips with it. It was recorded in 1962, fifty years ago, but the sound is good and Souzay is in beautiful voice. DFD once said that he would like to achieve in German lieder what Souzay did in French mélodie.

Then on to another CD of Debussy songs (and again listening to all the Verlaine settings)



here Sandrine Piau accompanied by Jos van Immerseel on a late nineteenth century Érard. Very nice sound! This is another CD I've had for a good while but not listened to very much. It might get more exposure now!

Naturally then on to Shostakovich:



the 8th Symphony with the USSR Ministry of Culture Orchestra conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky. There's no depth at all in the sound, but otherwise it's good, and Rozhdestvensky rules! The orchestral sound is distinctive. This is part of a complete cycle on Melodiya which has been OOP for a long time: I'm hoping it will be rereleased in a big cheap box so I can get the rest. And finally



the first piano concerto.

Pepe, I have one recording of Cosi Fan Tutte. It is a live perfomance and was recorded in Hungary in October 1992. Do you have a copy of this recording? If you do, what do you make of it? I really like it.

Hubert Claessens, Markus Schafer, Monica Groop, Nancy Argenta, Soile Isokoski, Markus Schäfer, Andreas Glatt
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken - conducting. [/quote]

Overall it´s very good Seán. The best thing in it is Soile Isokoski´s Fiordiligi, very well sung. Monica Groop and Nancy Argenta are fine too. I´m not too happy about the gentlemen though, the 2 baritones need more wit and Mediterranean charm. La Petite Bande plays extremely well of course, and it´s obvious that Kuijken adores the score, but René Jacobs has more operatic experience and dramatic flair. His recording is studio made, and every care was lavished on it, so it´s a more finished product. But the Accent recording (it was originally released in Accent and later licensed to Brilliant) is certainly worth having.

Jose Echenique wrote:

Seán wrote:, I have one recording of Cosi Fan Tutte. It is a live perfomance and was recorded in Hungary in October 1992. Do you have a copy of this recording? If you do, what do you make of it? I really like it.

Hubert Claessens, Markus Schafer, Monica Groop, Nancy Argenta, Soile Isokoski, Markus Schäfer, Andreas Glatt
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken - conducting.

Overall it´s very good Seán. The best thing in it is Soile Isokoski´s Fiordiligi, very well sung. Monica Groop and Nancy Argenta are fine too. I´m not too happy about the gentlemen though, the 2 baritones need more wit and Mediterranean charm. La Petite Bande plays extremely well of course, and it´s obvious that Kuijken adores the score, but René Jacobs has more operatic experience and dramatic flair. His recording is studio made, and every care was lavished on it, so it´s a more finished product. But the Accent recording (it was originally released in Accent and later licensed to Brilliant) is certainly worth having.

Thanks Pepe, yes I have the Brilliant recording and it is on license from Accent. I love the sumptuous sound of the period instruments on this performance. I am hopeless though when it comes to judging the singers, I do enjoy these discs. I may get a second recording of Cosi Fan Tutte and if I do it will definitely be the René Jacobs.

Seán wrote:

Jose Echenique wrote:

Seán wrote:, I have one recording of Cosi Fan Tutte. It is a live perfomance and was recorded in Hungary in October 1992. Do you have a copy of this recording? If you do, what do you make of it? I really like it.

Hubert Claessens, Markus Schafer, Monica Groop, Nancy Argenta, Soile Isokoski, Markus Schäfer, Andreas Glatt
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken - conducting.

Overall it´s very good Seán. The best thing in it is Soile Isokoski´s Fiordiligi, very well sung. Monica Groop and Nancy Argenta are fine too. I´m not too happy about the gentlemen though, the 2 baritones need more wit and Mediterranean charm. La Petite Bande plays extremely well of course, and it´s obvious that Kuijken adores the score, but René Jacobs has more operatic experience and dramatic flair. His recording is studio made, and every care was lavished on it, so it´s a more finished product. But the Accent recording (it was originally released in Accent and later licensed to Brilliant) is certainly worth having.

Thanks Pepe, yes I have the Brilliant recording and it is on license from Accent. I love the sumptuous sound of the period instruments on this performance. I am hopeless though when it comes to judging the singers, I do enjoy these discs. I may get a second recording of Cosi Fan Tutte and if I do it will definitely be the René Jacobs.

You can either invest on the Jacobs or even try some big band version like the Baremboim with the Berlin Philharmonic. Though I´m always for XVIII Century music with period instruments and manners, the Baremboim is one of the best sung ever, the women especially are just heavenly: soprano Lella Cuberli and a young, unmannered, vibrant Cecilia Bartoli make a pair of sisters to die for. The guys too are even better than in the Jacobs, young American tenor Kurt Streit is a model of Mozartian elegance and bass Ferruccio Furlanetto is both witty and very musical. Baremboim conducts a more leisure and romantic reading than Jacobs, but the care and love for the score compensate his disregard for period manners.
Lella Cuberli was a drop dead gorgeous Texas soprano with a voice to kill for. She was also a Karajan favourite, and even though Rossini was her specialty she sings a glorious Fiordiligi that not even Veronique Gens or Solie Isokoski can match. I saw her in the Salzburg Festival singing the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Levine and Lord, she stopped my heart!
Tenor Kurt Streit was in huge demand in the 1990´s and there is a funny story about his ardent Ferrando. He was singing the role in the Glyndebourne Festival with a young and pretty Fiordiligi. During the rehearsal of the duet "Fra gli´amplessi" he put his hand in the girl´s bosom, and her boyfriend who was watching close by because he sang in the chorus kicked him in the face and broke his nose.
Mozart would have enjoyed that :-)