Tír Na HiFi

Welcome back Dave and more importantly it is good to see that you are listening to music again.


Your choices of listening were coincidental as I have been considering re-listening to the Solti Mahler set as I have not done so this year.

I have also been on a recent Boccherini odyssey but this time with his Symphonies and I listened to the penultimate CD in the set earlier this evening....

worth checking out that disc Fergus? Volume 7? I didnt think he wrote that many symphonies.

I have not imposed any Telemann on you guys for some time so......





.....Telemann's Paris Quartets played (wonderfully) by the Freiburger Barockconsort. It is also a superb recording.

fergus wrote:I have not imposed any Telemann on you guys for some time so......

oh do keep it coming :-). I have some Telemann recordings too and they always impress me.

fergus wrote:I have not imposed any Telemann on you guys for some time so......





.....Telemann's Paris Quartets played (wonderfully) by the Freiburger Barockconsort. It is also a superb recording.

The Paris Quartets are some of Telemann´s finest chamber music. Unfortunately the Freiburgers only recorded a selection, but Gustav Leonhardt and the Kuijken Brothers have it complete on SONY. Absolutely worth having.

This is much less expensive than the SONY but is excellent too.

We are celebrating Verdi´s and Wagner´s Bicentenaries when great large voices suitable for their operas are almost extinct. So I am very excited to report that Barenboim´s new (and second) recording of the great Messa da Requiem is a total success, with a glorious vocal quartet fully equipped to meet the daunting demands put on it.
Barenboim is not a natural Verdian like Abbado or Muti, but he has interesting things to say, and helped by the inestimable La Scala forces he conducts a fervent and highly charged performance worthy of comparison with the best versions available. In the digital era his main rivals are 2 Brits: Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Antonio Pappano, both throughly excellent versions. Gardiner has probably the finest choir ever, a choir trained in the Baroque who suddenly finds itself sounding like the chorus of La Scala. Barenboim HAS the great chorus of La Scala, who have like no other the Verdi pedigree in their blood, and it shows, every word sung goes as if their lives depended on it.
Anja Harteros and Rene Pape who also sing in the Pappano version greatly improve their previous performances. Harteros is turning into one of the few great dramatic sopranos of our time, equally at home in Verdi and Wagner, she recently sang Il Trovatore in Munich and it was a resounding success, I hope it also makes it to cd. The gorgeous Czech mezzo Elina Garanca is a newcomer to the work, and she is formidable, a regal, Italianate performance that if anything, increases my admiration for her, but even more thrilling is Jonas Kaufmann´s glorious singing. This is his very first Verdi recording, and we are treated to true dramatic Verdi tenor singing not heard since Jon Vickers (Domingo and Pavarotti had lighter, brighter voices, Kaufmann´s is very dark and baritonal, an awesome sound).
The unanimity and seriousness of the whole performance is prove enough of the stature of Daniel Barenboim as a conductor, the Teatro La Scala is lucky to have him as music director.
This performance will be also available on Blu Ray and DVD.

DaveF wrote:Some Mahler once again graces my living room....

Good man Dave and welcome back.

I have always associated you with both Savall and Boccherini so it's no surprise to discover that you are listening to that one again:

and an old favorite....

Jose Echenique wrote:

fergus wrote:I have not imposed any Telemann on you guys for some time so......





.....Telemann's Paris Quartets played (wonderfully) by the Freiburger Barockconsort. It is also a superb recording.

The Paris Quartets are some of Telemann´s finest chamber music. Unfortunately the Freiburgers only recorded a selection, but Gustav Leonhardt and the Kuijken Brothers have it complete on SONY. Absolutely worth having.

Therein lies another gap in my collection.

fergus wrote:
I have also been on a recent Boccherini odyssey but this time with his Symphonies and I listened to the penultimate CD in the set earlier this evening....

You have inspired me to do the same Fergus, with Volume 1 of this set. Not heard Boccherini in a while so it is refreshing change of pace!