What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

[Larry Kart]

Lovely so far, rather like Marais. Simone Eckert is a fine player of the Diskant-Viola da Gamba, not that there are many of them.

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[Alexander Hawkins]

Ha! I was listening to Anda earlier!

 

[Peter Friedman]

Debussy - Violin Sonata

Enesco - Violin Sonata No.3

[soulpope]

31 minutes ago, Alexander Hawkins said:

Ha! I was listening to Anda earlier!

Which recording .... ?

[Alexander Hawkins]

The 1953 recording of the Schumann Symphonic Etudes (I was looking for the 1955 Edinburgh recording, which I don't have, but caught bits of on the radio recently: I couldn't find it, so ended up listening to this one on Youtube).

(p.s. subsequently found and bought the BBC recording of the Edinburgh recital!)

Edited January 28, 2018 by Alexander Hawkins

[soulpope]

4 minutes ago, Alexander Hawkins said:

The 1953 recording of the Schumann Symphonic Etudes (I was looking for the 1955 Edinburgh recording, which I don't have, but caught bits of on the radio recently: I couldn't find it, so ended up listening to this one on Youtube).

Very good ....

[Alexander Hawkins]

That's the one! I didn't know it, but loved what I heard on the radio. Should arrive soon.

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[Peter Friedman]

Beethoven - Triple Concerto

[soulpope]

9 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

Excellent ....

[Alexander Hawkins]

Lipatti playing the Grieg concerto...genius. (From the anniversary box set.)

[soulpope]

[Peter Friedman]

Brahms - Piano Quartet No.2, Op.26

Edited January 29, 2018 by Peter Friedman

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[mikeweil]

On 25.1.2018 at 3:49 PM, soulpope said:

Could you pls share your impressions ....

Okay, after comparing selected pieces from this new release with about ten other Forqueray recordings in my collection, I must admit that I am slightly disappointed. 

First of all, it is not complete in respect to all members of the Forqueray family: there is one Michel Forqueray, to whom three pieces are attributed (one of them very tentatively) that are not even mentioned. Furthermore, all of these pieces exist in two versions, one for solo harpsichord and one for viol with bass - I would have expected they present all of the pieces in both versions when they need four CDs, but no, they play each piece only once in one version, most of them in the harpsichord version. What's really new is the recording of four pieces from a collection with various composers and three pieces from the "manuscript de Lille", which Michèle Dévérité chose to present in her own transcription for two harpsichords. Again, having them in both versions would have been nice. All this needs three CDs - the newly discovered pieces take only twenty minutes. Other performers playing in roughly the same tempos need only two CDs, including all repeats - they could have distributed the music a bit more economically on the discs and included both versions and the new pieces on five CDs. But the fourth CD is filled with various tribute pieces to the Forquerays, among them many first recordings of rarely heard composers as well as the well known by Couperin and Rameau. The fifth CD is a recital of texts referring to the Forquerays with musical accompaniment. This and several texts in the booklet presented only in French require a thorough understanding of that language. They could have included a translation of these as well, or offer it as a download. It is a pityas the text about a musician's portrait that could be Forqueray, and about Marie Rose Dubois, who may have made the harpsichord transcription or at least had a hand in it, contain important information. Is the label not interested in serving customers outside of France? It is all very nice, and the years of preparation they put into this project shows, but only for francophiles?

Furthermore, I am a bit underwhelmed by Michèle Dévérité's playing, which sounds somewhat tentative, as if she was afraid of the sound of her instruments, a certain sameness creeps in as she understands the tempos from the smaller note values and does not communicate the feel of the dance movements as clearly as other players. She does not spell me with her way of playing, where almost all others project expressive virtuosity and grandeur, where she relies on nobility and dignity. The recorded sound doesn't help her either, the engineers of harmonia mundi France prefer larger rooms and place the harpschord a some distance, as if to avoid mechanical noises under all circumstances. They used differerent microphone placements for the piecs with violin or viol placing the harpsichord in the background making almost inaudible. A smaller room and more intimate sound would have suited the music better. But that's a mistake they often make when recording chamber music with harpsichord.

I would recommend this only for Forqueray completists or diehard collectors of French baroque chamber music. If you want a compelling rendition of the harpsichord version I would recommend Mitzi Meyerson, who has the chops this music needs and is recorded in fantastic sound (watch out to get the newer edition which is a bit cheaper):

For a viol version the Malec/Urbanetz recording has more guts and again, better sound:

It is not quite complete, but communicates the music better. Both together can be bought at the same price or for less than the new box.

Edited January 29, 2018 by mikeweil

[soulpope]

1 minute ago, mikeweil said:

Okay, after comparing selected pieces from this new release with about ten other Forqueray recordings in my collection, I must admit that I am slightly disappointed. 

....

I would recommend this only for Forqueray completists or diehard collectors of French baroque chamber music.Ig you want a compelling rendition of the harpsichord version I would recommend Mitzi Meyerson, who has the chops this music needs and is recorded in fantastic sound:

For a viol version the Malec/Urbanetz recording has more guts and again, better sound:

It is not quite complete, but communicates the music better. Both together can be bought at the same price or for less than the new box.

Vielen Dank ....