Tír Na HiFi

Byrd: Mass for Four Voices
Tallis: Mass: 'Puer natus est nobis'

& Other sacred choral works by both...

I've come to the conclusion that some pieces are so sublimely beautiful that they becaome almost indestructible, no matter who sings them... ;-)

in this case it is: BBC Singers/ Bo Holten

Shostakovich - Violin Sonata (Oleg Kagan/Sviatoslav Richter, Regis)

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5 Emperor (Alfred Brendel/James Levine, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philips)

bombasticDarren wrote:Sibelius - Symphony No.4 (Anthony Collins, London Symphony Orchestra, Decca Eloquence)

How did you get on with those performances Darren? I would possibly be interested in that set.

fergus wrote:

bombasticDarren wrote:Sibelius - Symphony No.4 (Anthony Collins, London Symphony Orchestra, Decca Eloquence)

How did you get on with those performances Darren? I would possibly be interested in that set.

Buy it Fergus! The interpretations are well measured, the orchestra sounds light and nimble, and the recording quality is exceptional for it's time. I have many Sibelius cycles but, so far, this one has made me hear these works afresh.

bombasticDarren wrote: Buy it Fergus! The interpretations are well measured, the orchestra sounds light and nimble, and the recording quality is exceptional for it's time. I have many Sibelius cycles but, so far, this one has made me hear these works afresh.

Cheers for that Darren!

fergus wrote:

Jose Echenique wrote:

This year I am listening to the Herreweghe version Pepe....





....the appropriate part on the relevant day of course LOL!!!

The one that you have listed above sounds interesting!

The Herreweghe is very fine too Fergus. Curiously that´s one major Bach work he didn´t rerecord for HM.

The one I´m currently listening (I also play a cantata per day) is a live Munich recording from the Bayerischen Rundfunks. Peter Dijkstra is the chorus director of the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks and he is proving to be a very able conductor. He has recorded before with his choir and the Concerto Köln an imposing Israel in Egypt and next year they will release a Bach Magnificat.

The Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja has been around for some time. He has a nice lyric voice better suited to Donizetti than Verdi. This tribute to Mario Lanza, a cinema tenor (he never sang in a legitimate opera house), has some awful "arrangements" that hardly serve Calleja´s good intentions. Worst of all is the overblown orchestration of Marechiare, a hideous thing that this lovely tarantella doesn´t deserve.
But there is some excellent singing in this cd. The opera arias are mostly well done, I especially loved "Amor ti Vieta" from Fedora, but perhaps the best singing comes in "You´ll never walk alone" from Carrousel.