Classical Music Mayhem!!

After giving the chap a few tries I've given up bothering to purchase his recordings if there's something else available (which is, sadly, not always the case). I find Hogwood also has a tendency to put out dry performances, such as his set of the Mozart wind concerti, the Mozart violin concerti, and the Beethoven symphonies. Then again, Hogwood also has a few recordings out there that are quite excellent.

Listening to this following the Bach cello suites. Absolutely phenomenal stuff.

You should be letting your eyes feast on this one Sorin, not merely watching it.

Purist.

Huh. I was planning on investing in some of his recordings of Bach's cantatas but think I shall pass up on them now.

Well, for HIP cantatas I am only aware of Koopman, Suzuki and Gardiner. Only Koopman's set is already completed, and by listening to them, I find his the best of the three. Which doesn't speak well of these "professionals" of today.

Suzuki can get really really heavy, like it's not even HIP but sounds like Karajan, the heavy, dragging and soggy and dark kind of tone. Gardiner is even more dry than Koopman, absolutely no sentiment or emotions in his music.


Hogwood is highly mannered in his tempo yes, but if we are talking about tone color here I wouldn't say that he is the most dry out there. He tends to mike his harpsichord in his orchesta really loud so that you can hear his harpsichord clearly. That's his uniqueness, because in most recordings the keyboard is almost drowned out by the strings and orchestra, but in his the harpsichord is very clear and stands out above the rest.

That's a shame, I know Suzuki's Bach has been highly lauded in some circles.

There's also the complete cycle from Brilliant Classics, conducted by Pieter Jan Leusink with the Netherlands Bach Collegium and Holland Boys Choir. I'm quite enjoying it, though am not terribly familiar with the Bach cantatas in the first place. We're using it for samples in our ongoing cantata series (this week's cantata thread).

I have not heard the Brilliant recording, I don't know how it is. I'm not familiar with most of the cantatas, and I use around 5 pieces that I am familiar with as "test pieces". But they are not listed on that page, so I don't know how they compare.

Suzuki's cantatas are kind of weird, because Suzuki is kind of light and mild with all his other recordings, some even call him "lame". But his cantata cycle has all recordings really heavy and romantic, sounds like it's recorded by Karajan rather than some HIP recording.

But the Brilliant's Bach complete box set is tempting because of it's great price.

Don't forget the old Harnoncourt recordings, which started it all.

Personally, for cantatas with boys in the choir, I prefer Leusink to Harnoncourt. Leusink is less polished, because they were recorded at breakneck speed, and sometimes the choir teeters on the brink of disaster, and occasionally Sytse Buwalda's alto sounds like he just came from the dentist full of novocaine, but as a whole, in comparison to Harnoncourt, they have more life in them.

Regarding the Suzuki cantata recordings, I've also found that the four CDs I have, while technically flawless, leave me cold. I haven't listened much, either, to Herreweghe's "Les Plus Belles Cantatas" set for probably the same reason.

Well there's an entire set of Bach cantata threads going on in the Religious forum right now, many of which are using the samples from the Brilliant edition. Feel free to hop in at any time.

Now watching "Note by Note" a documentary on the making of a Steinway Grand. Interesting documentary.


IMDB Link

Ah, yes, the Steinway. No doubt they point out all the little tidbits that make the modern grand piano superior to all others...

Actually no. Their are interviews with the craftsmen who make the piano, interviews with performers. It's actually very low-key and I think very fascinating.

I found this at Big Lots for $3.


I've been trying to get into opera for the last couple of years. Aside from a few of them, this genre hasn't clicked with me yet. Oh, well, at least I'm making attempts.

You should try some of the stuff in my Handel opera topics. that's for free!

Nay, he should try the Mozart opera topics!!!