You're quite welcome, Wes! I am listening to more of Francois Nocturnes today. Normally, I save these works for the evening, but today I am making an exception for this gorgeous playing.
You certainly have more experience than me. I did enjoy it though. More so than the Ma. I’m now trying an Archiv version by Pierre Fournier.
For the cello suites this is the one I find myself reaching for over and over again, although there's no shortage of great recordings (Bylsma, Schiff, Wispelwey, Ma): Bach: Cello Suites. Thomas Demenga, ECM.
Taking a glance at today's paper, I see that several major US ballet companies have cancelled their annual Nutcracker performances or contemplate doing so on account of circumstances surrounding the caronavirus pandemic. We don't talk much about ballet here in the CMC, but suffice it to say, Nutcracker is the lifeblood of most companies--they finance their entire, typically money-losing remaining seasons with the proceeds of their Christmastime Nutcrackers. This news is an unmitigated disaster for the world of classical dance, not only the dancers but also the orchestral musicians, the stagehands, the technical crews, and on and on. I hadn't thought of this angle, but also for advanced ballet students, who are missing out on opportunities to perform with seasoned professionals and to establish connections with directors and recruiters. Not to minimize the similar effects on the worlds of opera and concert music, of course, but note that because of the physical demands a ballet dancer's performing lifetime, like the career of a professional athlete, often is distinctly limited; loss of a season is not something easily made up later, less so than for an instrumentalist or probably even for a singer.
Fournier is my favorite in the Cello Suites as well. I own the older DG CD release and it sounds excellent.
I really enjoyed it. Only streamed it from Spotify. But there seemed to be a big step up in sound quality. Also with regards to his interpretation, he has the subtlety and nuances of the others but at times seems to ‘attack’ the strings quite aggressively. That was something that stood out for me. I’d definitely be interested in buying this one
Every time I go into a new record shop that specialises in classical LPs, I ask if they have this Pierre Fournier Bach recordings on vinyl. And every time they look at me sympathetically and then tell me some variation of: “sorry, those always go out as fast as they come in”. Except maybe for discs of Bach solo violin sonatas by the likes of Szeryng or Milstein, these Fournier discs seem to be one of the rarest items of the core catalogue on the used LP market. It seems that they're so popular that they never really turn up anywhere. Thankfully, the Fournier is not a rare set when it comes to CDs and can be had for pennies on the used market.
For those of you with the right equipment, the best-sounding version of these recordings is the recent Blu-ray version.
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Yes I noticed that the vinyl version doesn’t seem to be available anywhere at present. I can buy the cd option for £19.
I believe there was a vinyl reissue a few years ago from Deutsche Grammophon. Although I feel that usually the cover reproductions on those are pretty dismal when compared to the original copies. 19 pounds? Seems like a bit excessive. Unless you are buying new. Used copies of the “Originals” or the “Al Fresco” versions (which both contain the same transfer) should be much less than that.
£19 is for a NM copy of the Al Fresco version from Music Magpie. Can‘t find it cheaper anywhere else. Am I right in thinking that the other one you mentioned is exactly the same as the Al Freco, but in different packaging please? Asking as I can get that one new for £10.59!
I don't have a lot of room to store LPs, so I have to be aggressive about getting rid of them when space starts to run out. The Fournier set is in my "take to the record shop" pile, but you've convinced me to give it one more spin to decide if I might want to keep it. I have three single LPs, two with the light cover, orange text, and a picture, and one in the standard manila Archiv jacket. When I first started listening to classical, I loved the Milstein Sonatas & Partitas (still do) so I was hoping to find them on LP. I finally found the set one day in a shop -- for $650 . I got the CDs after that.
