Neither of the 4 Gielen sets have any. He did record a lot of Mahler for that label, so maybe a Volume 5 is forthcoming.
Intriguing, but give it to me for twenty bucks or something, not what Amazon wants. Steep price for archival material.
First listen to CD 3 from "Gustav Leonhardt Edition" on Das Alte Werk. Bach - Harpsichord Concertos 1061 - 1065.
Now listening to "Khatia Buniatishvili - Chopin" performed with the Orchestre De Paris led by Paavo Jarvi on Sony. Waltz in C-sharp minor, op. 64/2 Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, op. 35 Ballade No.4 in F minor, op.52 Piano Concerto No. 2 for in F minor, op. 21 Mazurka in A minor, op.17/4
On the TT... Haydn symphonies 88 and 99. Colin Davis and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam. I have a number of Haydn symphonies with Davis/Concertgebouw and the performances are a consistent delight. This is another impeccable Philips LP; label marked "Made in Holland" with copyright "1976." And in case you are wondering about the cover art, it is by Dutch landscape painter Barend Koekoek, "Town on a river seen from a heighth" (detail), 1840 (Fodor collection, Amsterdam).
Question for Rudolf Firkušný connoisseurs: which of his Janáček recordings is preferable, the DG or the RCA - I am mainly interested in the solo piano works:
I'm guessing Saint-Saens must be out of fashion at the moment. Saturday I went to a local used CD/record/book outlet that I hadn't visited in years; I was on a mission to find a copy of the Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah to cut down for a prospective skating program. I went through three of four cases of CDs, I guess 7 feet tall and three wide, shelves spaced properly to hold CDs with only about an inch of space between the top of the CD cases and the bottom of the shelf above--in short, a LOT of CDs. In all that, I found only two or three with any music by Saint-Saens. One was a collection by Ormandy that included the Bacchanale, the Danse Macabre, and the "Organ" Sym.; the other was the 2d pno. cto. coupled with a cto. by some other composer. The local radio station will give the occasional outing to one of the vln. cti. or the first cello cto., maybe occasionally the "Organ" sym., and that's about it. Pretty slim pickin's for a composer as prolific as Saint-Saens. In my own collection, Saint-Saens is by no means one of the most heavily represented composers, but he puts in a respectable showing. I've not gone out of my way to collect his music, but I have a fairly wide array of music, some fairly common and some fairly obscure, on CD, LP, and 78s. So I'm surprised at how little he was in evidence on Saturday.
I love ' French composers' as much or as little as any other....depends on who and what. Saint Saens specifically I like very much and have always loved his Concertos and Symphonic oeuvre. I have several different renditions of various compositions on CD and now on LPs as well. I think his music - just like Lalo's, Bizet's, Ravel's or Debussy's - has a very unique quality, interesting harmonies and something simply very appealing and aesthetic to me. Before I go to bed tonight....on the TT....
First listen to "Dunstable - Sweet Harmony" performed by Tonus Peregrinus on Naxos. Masses and Motets
Now on the turntable, record 3 from "The Flowering Of Renaissance Polyphony" performed by Pro Cantione Antiqua, London led by Bruno Turner on Archiv. Desprez - Missa 'L'homme arme'/Le Deploration sur la mort de Johan Okeghem/Huc me sydereo-Plangent eum
I own the RCA recording (reissued by Newton Classics in 2011, now it seems to be OOP). Though I haven't had the chance to listen to the DG album, I think you can't go wrong with either of the recordings, as both have been praised by its playing and interpretation.