papsrus

Beethoven String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 Tokyo String Quartet

David Daniels, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris Berlioz -- Les Nuits D'ete Ravel -- Cinq Melodies popularies grecquies Faure -- Trois Melodies ... plus a couple of instrumental numbers thrown in for good measure. Very pleasant

Alessandro Scarlatti -- Opera Overtures & Concertos Concerto de' Cavaliere, Marcello Di Lisa Tight -- Di Lisa and his Concerto de' Cavalieri focus on 17th and 18th Century Italian music, particularly Scarlatti. So these boys and girls are at minimum heavily studied in this stuff. This disc is part of a broader baroque project, as is indicated in the lower left of the image. Polished, for sure, but there's a lightness and joy that permeates this music. Very nice.

Thanks yeah, it's a ride all right. ... Hence the title, yes? Have that Hahn recording squirreled away on my watch list. Criticisms range all over the place on various recordings of those -- from too fast tempi that obliterates counterpoint, to ... whatever -- but from what little I've gleaned from samples, this one sounds lovely. NP: Bach Violin Concertos Collegium Musicum 90, Simon Standage ... which is quite lovely also ...

From one of those reviews: "So here, out of a blue, comes the Dover Quartet’s debut album, titled Tribute, in recognition and appreciation of the players’ teachers and coaches, the members of the Guarneri Quartet." I guess I'd start with the Guarneri Quartet, if looking for comparison or similarities. The quintet piece on "Tribute" includes a founding member of the Guarneri, violinist Michael Tree, so I'm sure there's some degree of influence there. As far as looking for similarities, I guess I'd start here.

I have zero insights, but glad you pointed this out. I'm sure you've seen the universally glowing assessments over in the jungle, which certainly piques my interest. But I've just ordered Quartetto Italiano's complete survey of Mozart's string quartets on Decca.

Schubert: The Late String Quartets, String Quintet -- Emerson String Quartet From this set, listening to "String Quintet in C with Rostropovich"

^ Yes, that is an excellent listen. Really enjoyed it. Following on Mikeweil's enthusiasm for for Jean Rondeau, I'm taking this for a spin now: Really nice. Crystal clear sonics. I'm loving this!

George Onslow, complete chamber music for wind instruments Ensemble Initium, Ensemble Contraste Boy, for me these wind pieces are not nearly as satisfying as his string quartets. An almost Looney Tunes/vaudvillian quality to some of this. Nothing really jumps out. It's me, I'm sure, but I didn't even make it all the way through the first disc of this 2-disc set. Fortunately, I'd also ordered another disc of Onslow's late string quartets, which arrived today, Op. 54, 55, 56, performed by Quatuor Diotima. These are excellent -- passionate, filled with virtuosity and flair. The music ebbs and flows and soars and pauses for quiet (if brief) reflection. Good stuff.

Beethoven String Quartet No. 15 Op. 132 from above set.

Beethoven String Quartet No. 14 Op 131, No. 16 Op 135 Alexander String Quartet From:

Jean Barriere, Sonatas pour le violoncelle avec la basse continue Bruno Cocset & Les Basses Reunies Gorgeous.

George Onslow, Quartets Opus 8 Nos. 1 & 3; Opus 10 No. 3 Quatuor Ruggieri Quatuor Ruggieri perform these pieces on period instruments -- the period being late classical / early romantic. Onslow was a French fellow who composed chamber music in a French style that features the first violinist as soloist. So plenty of joie de vivre! The music itself is influenced by Vienna and Beethoven (hence Onslow's moniker, the "French Beethoven"). Really interesting music I'm just getting to know.

Yes, Celibidache's Bruckner is quite dramatic. I love it. This Barenboim, though, seems to me to be quite sensitive, performed as it is by an orchestra steeped in both Wagner and an operatic tradition. The quiet parts are delicate, the louder parts are strident, etc. I'll revisit Celi to try to flesh that out. I really enjoyed this one though.

Bruckner Symphony No. 7 Barenboim, Staatskapelle Berlin Beautifully rendered here (recorded live in Berlin in 2010) ... The orchestra really breathes life into this one, or allows the music to breathe and undulate in a Wagnerian sort of way, with great grace and elegance. Really nice.

Hindemith -- Orchestral Works Symphonia Serena Symphonie 'Dei Harmonie der Welt' Blomstedt, Gewandhausorchestrer Leipzig

Sometimes described as the French Beethoven (perhaps more by contemporaries than in hindsight), Onslow's compositions are more chromatic than LVB and written (in the quartets at least) with an eye toward featuring the fist violinist as a soloist. There's an almost jazz-like feel to the approach. I was listening to a disc of his early quartets (Nos. 9, 10 and 21) performed by Quatour Ruggieri earlier tonight and it prompted me to look around to see what else was available. Not a whole lot in the jungle, but some later quartets, piano trios, quintets and the like. He also composed four symphonies and three operas. The music from one of the operas -- "Guise Ou Les Etates De Blois" -- is available arranged for string quartet. There's also some violin sonatas and wind pieces. But the bulk of what seems to be available is the string quartets. So, not knowing a whole lot beyond that, I'm kind of intrigued by this guy. I've had the Quatour Ruggieri disc above for sometime, but never really "heard" it until today. Just hadn't listened to it enough prior to tonight. Or wasn't paying attention, or something. So I scooped up a couple more discs today, the opera arranged for string quartet among them.

Bruckner, Symphony No. 9 Barenboim, Staatskapelle Berlin Recorded live in Berlin, 2010. Don't know if they recorded the recent cycle at Carnegie; be a treat if they did. I only saw a couple of reviews of that cycle in the NYT -- one of the opening concert, I believe, that was quite enthusiastic, and another that surveyed several (but not all) of the performances in a somewhat scattershot manner. Kind of along the lines of, 'well, he's an acquired taste.' ... Anyways, I'm just diving into this set now, beginning at with the last.

George Onslow, String Quartets Quatour Ruggieri Specifically, three of his early quartets. I really enjoy these and would like to hear more Onslow. He apparently composed for quartet (and I'd guess quintet) so that the first violinist would be a featured soloist above the others, more so than was typical of the period at least. Almost like mini-concertos. Other than that, I'm unfamiliar with his broader output (which was ample, 30-odd quartets and a similar number of quintets).

Yeah, that's a killer ... beautiful recording. NP: Hector Berlioz, Les nuits d'ete Susan Graham; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Enjoy this well enough, although I wouldn't mind finding a recording where the voice and orchestra are a little more well balanced. As in, if you're going to do this with orchestra, let's hear it! ... Or perhaps simply piano accompaniment.

After weighing the Horowitz, Pogorelich and the mid-80s Schiff against the Babayan on Pro-Piano Records mentioned above, I felt like the latter was the best of the bunch, both in terms of flair and musicality. ... Weighing Moms' harpsichord recs next, but with admittedly less confidence (not in the players, but in myself).

Bumping this cause, well ... Larry may still be looking

JS Bach Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord Paolo Pandolfo, viola da gamba, Markus Hunninger, harpsichord A beautiful conversation, virtuosity spilling all over the place (maybe in contrast to the previous disc above) recorded in absolutely sparkling sound.