Tír Na HiFi

I thought it would be a good idea to highlight new releases of interest.  I'll start with the following box sets which are on my Christmas shopping list.

The recordings by the Festetics Quartet of the Haydn quartets are considered by many to be the greatest on period instruments, eclipsing even those by the Mosaiques Quartet.  These recordings have been unavailable for far too long and Arcana is performing a great service by restoring them to the catalogue.




The first box set devoted to the back catalogue of Deutsche Harmonia Mundi was very well chosen and has given me many hours of happy listening.  Here is the second volume.




Koopman's complete Buxtehude recordings.  I have a handful of recordings from this exceptional series and am looking forward to completing my collection with this box.

A very good idea for a thread! I fear however that I will not be a great contributor in the sense of posting new releases as I am always behind the rest of you guys in this regard. However the thread will hopefully produce lots of food for thought and ideas on which to spend my money. Look forward to lots of new CDs in 2015!

mcq wrote: The recordings by the Festetics Quartet of the Haydn quartets are considered by many to be the greatest on period instruments, eclipsing even those by the Mosaiques Quartet.  These recordings have been unavailable for far too long and Arcana is performing a great service by restoring them to the catalogue.

That is some claim and if it even comes close to the truth then that set would certainly be of interest to me. I really like the Haydn String Quartets and would have no hesitation in buying this one if it comes up to standard. I will definitely watch out for your review if you do eventually buy it Paul.

mcq wrote:
Koopman's complete Buxtehude recordings.  I have a handful of recordings from this exceptional series and am looking forward to completing my collection with this box.

Pepe has also been a strong advocate of these recordings so perhaps that is another that I should invest in.

fergus wrote:

mcq wrote: The recordings by the Festetics Quartet of the Haydn quartets are considered by many to be the greatest on period instruments, eclipsing even those by the Mosaiques Quartet.  These recordings have been unavailable for far too long and Arcana is performing a great service by restoring them to the catalogue.

That is some claim and if it even comes close to the truth then that set would certainly be of interest to me. I really like the Haydn String Quartets and would have no hesitation in buying this one if it comes up to standard. I will definitely watch out for your review if you do eventually buy it Paul.

Very interesting indeed.

I have some of the Festetics recordings, but with the best will in the World I could´t possibly place them next to the Mosaïques, let alone above them.

The final box set of 5 collecting all of Suzuki's Bach cantatas for BIS.  All of these cantatas are being released in a single box in Japan but I'm very happy to see BIS looking after its European customers who  -  like myself  -  have already bought the first 4 boxes.  I adore Suzuki's reserved, austere approach to Bach which only serves to accentuate the surfeit of emotion that Bach inscribed into these masterpieces.  




I'm looking forward to hearing this.  Suzuki's take on Mozart's Requiem using his own performing edition and taking into consideration earlier completions by Eybler and Sussmayr.




Mirare have combined Pierre Hantaï's recordings of the sublime Scarlatti sonatas into a single box.  Self-recommending in my opinion.  Incredible music performed by one of the great harpsichordists of our time.

mcq wrote:The final box set of 5 collecting all of Suzuki's Bach cantatas for BIS.  All of these cantatas are being released in a single box in Japan but I'm very happy to see BIS looking after its European customers who  -  like myself  -  have already bought the first 4 boxes.  I adore Suzuki's reserved, austere approach to Bach which only serves to accentuate the surfeit of emotion that Bach inscribed into these masterpieces.  

I too have bought the first four boxes so for completion this one will also be bought. I am much obliged for the notification Paul.

The Bach Suzuki set is available on jpc.de but it is expensive.

I'll keep an eye out for that Suzuki box. I think I have 2 (or is it 3?) of the first 4, and I was always raging that I didn't buy the others when I had the chance.