First listen to CD1 of this set: JS Bach - The Six Partitas - Trevor Pinnock Slightly more reverberant acoustic on this in comparison to the Goldberg Variations on Disc 3. The notes say it was recorded at Clearwell Castle in my home county, Gloucestershire. Wikipedia says the recording studio there was also used by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Queen, so some august company there! Interestingly this is one of the few things that Pinnock had a second crack at, with a more recent recording on Hanssler - I'm not sure how they compare.
Another broken case... Schubert: String Quartets No.14 (Death and the Maiden) & No.9 Chiaroscuro Quartet 2018 Bis 2268 stereo/multichannel sacd After a wait of ten days it arrives toothless but thankfully not scratched so it's been Slim Disc'd but this is an enjoyable recording. Btw on Amazon UK the database seems to have issues like type Mozart in the search bar and only one sponsored item shows up and ditto the same for the Four Liverpudlian guitar combo called the Beatles.
My problem with those older Supraphon recordings is I don’t think much of Bohumil Gregor’s conducting. Not really an exciting presence on the podium. Mackerras is certainly more in-tune with Janáček’s musical language and all of its’ underpinnings. Speaking of Supraphon, I do like the Neumann performances of The Cunning Little Vixen and From the House of the Dead. Check those out, too!
This first volume tape has Nos. 101 & 102. 1994, originally issued by Nimbus in 1989. 101 recorded 6/1-2/87 and 102 6/21/88, Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt, Austria.
It's more often the singers than the conductor I like in these, Bednar, Horacek and Jindrak are about as good as it gets in The House of the Dead, and who is that Libruse Prylova the Emilia in The Makropulos Case, great.
If you say so, Brahms has never been a composer that has done much for me. Although I do recall enjoying some of his chamber music, especially the Horn Trio in E♭ major, Op. 40. I guess I’m more aligned with the Wagnerians than the Brahmsians.
Skull & Roses. These EMI/Capitol tapes have often turned out to be duds, but this one from 1986 is OK. Recorded 9/10/71 and 10/18-19/71, Salle Wagram, Paris. Producer: René Challan. Engineer: Paul Vavasseur. Issued on HMV in 1972 and on Angel in 1973.
This is like chamber music, a reduction by Brahms for the first performance in London.,with Boris Berezovsky and Brigitte Engerer on piano, then you get Sandrine Piau and Stephane Degout and that great band Accentus. Try it.
Vernon Handley conducts the Ulster Orchestra on Chandos, and the theme is sea. The original 1986 release had Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia, from the opera Peter Grimes; Frank Bridge's suite The Sea; and Arnold Bax's On the Sea-Shore. The 2007 reissue I listen to adds Charles Villiers Stanford's Irish Rhapsody, No. 4. I like the sea, I like the CD. It's something I can pick up at any time, any place, and feel enthralled for an hour.
I received both sets of this wonderful WTC from Tower Records today. It's not quite the same experience as actually shopping there back in the day ("Let's go to Tower" was a common expression in my household and circle of friends), but at least they are still in business. They seem to have a good selection, decent prices, and very reasonable shipping.
I've been listening this afternoon to Luciano Berio's wonderful Sequenzas, performed by Ensemble InterContemporain from 1994 to 1997 No. III for woman's voice and No. IX(a) for clarinet are my favorites. No. IX(b) replaces the clarinet with an alto saxophone, but for me the clarinet wins.
On Spotify, "Jacobus de Kerle - Da Pachem Domine" performed by the Huelgas Ensemble led by Paul Van Nevel on Harmonia Mundi.
An update on my moving preparations: I have now boxed 2,946 classical CDs. When this is over I will for the first time know how many I have. Recently I have been boxing CDs I have filed by series. For instance: Mercury Living Presence (112), RCA Victor Living Stereo (79), Columbia Masterworks Heritage (35), Capitol FDS (48), EMI Great Recordings of the Century (28), DG Originals (90), London Classic Sound (24) & Decca Legends (33). I also have sections for Everest (48), Vanguard (175), Seraphim (42) & MCA/Universal (104).
On the turntable: Waltzes, polkas, and marches--complete with a zither or two. Johann Strauss, Josef Strauss, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan – Walzer · Polkas · Märsche Deutsche Grammophon – 2530 027
