Tír Na HiFi

Easily in my top 5 desert island discs. The performance of the later 2 movements of the 'Fandango' is simply superb. A piece of music to really get the foot tapping.

On this monring's CD Review Andrew played the Walton Piano Quartet and I really liked it, in fact it is gorgeous music, my daughter liked it too and said that it "was better than the usual stuff I listen to", faint praise indeed.

BRIDGE: Phantasy in F sharp minor for piano quartet;
LEKEU: Piano Quartet;
WALTON: Piano Quartet;
Frith Piano Quartet
NIMBUS NI6183 (CD)

Andrew played excerpts from this Barenboim Beethoven set, I don't want to sound unkind but I have to say that I didn't like it at all, he, Barenboim, seemed to suck all of the energy and joy out of this wonderful music:

BEETHOVEN: Symphonies 1-9;
Anja Harteros (soprano), Waltraud Meier (mezzo-soprano), Peter Seiffert (tenor), Rene Pape (bass), West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Vokalensemble Kolner Dom, Daniel Barenboim (conductor) DECCA 478 3511 (Budget, 5CD)

Seán wrote:I had my brother over this afternoon for a music session and he brought this Bartoli CD with him:



It is stunning, I love every single minute of it.

Look at the names of both the orchestra and the conductor and that may well be a good reason for enjoymnet Seán!

fergus wrote:

Seán wrote:I had my brother over this afternoon for a music session and he brought this Bartoli CD with him:



It is stunning, I love every single minute of it.

Look at the names of both the orchestra and the conductor and that may well be a good reason for enjoymnet Seán!

Yeah, I pointed that out to David too, I do like Minkowski but Bartoli and the actual music is, well, to put it mildly: sensational, to my ignorent ears anyway.
I'm not a judge of a good or bad singer, sure I think that Bumo is sh1te and apparently he's a wonderful singer!!!!

'Surprise' Symphony. The second movement is my favorite here.

Seán wrote:I had my brother over this afternoon for a music session and he brought this Bartoli CD with him:



It is stunning, I love every single minute of it.

How can you not with music by the great Alessandro Scarlatti, the equally great Antonio Caldara and the greatest of all Georg Friedrich Handel?
Fortunately many of the gorgeous arias included here can be heard in recordings of the complete works like Handel´s Il Trionfo del Tempo and Scarlatti´s Sedecia, but there are still many mouth watering works still waiting for a complete recording.

And what´s Cecilia´s next project? It´s a secret, but I sincerely hope they change the cover.

DaveF wrote:

A wonderfully restrained and beautiful recording. This was my introduction to this work and it has yet to be beaten for me. It just strikes the right balance between choir and orchestra for my prefered practice of this Requiem. The inner movements, Sanctus, Pie Jesu and Agnus De are a thing of beauty.

Dave: I am interested in that one but I have read on Amazon of a number of issues with the dynamics being a problem on the recording; choir being recorded too low and then the orchestra blasting in when the vol. has been turned up to compensate for the choir. Any comments?

fergus wrote:

DaveF wrote:

A wonderfully restrained and beautiful recording. This was my introduction to this work and it has yet to be beaten for me. It just strikes the right balance between choir and orchestra for my prefered practice of this Requiem. The inner movements, Sanctus, Pie Jesu and Agnus De are a thing of beauty.

Dave: I am interested in that one but I have read on Amazon of a number of issues with the dynamics being a problem on the recording; choir being recorded too low and then the orchestra blasting in when the vol. has been turned up to compensate for the choir. Any comments?

That's interesting Fergus. I certainly had no problems with the overall balance of the recording. The choir is low in places alright but to me this just adds to the beauty of the piece and just works for me. The orchestra does come in strong in one or two occasions but I wouldnt have used the words 'blasting in'.

DaveF wrote:

The Reiner/CSO recording of the Concerto for Orchestra is pure perfection in the art of music-making.