J.A.W.

Maybe it's the European Universal set without a limited edition number. More info would indeed be nice.

Just got this e-mail from Mosaic:

No problem here. The most recent message in that thread was posted at 2 AM this morning, Eastern Time. I think your computers might both be infected. I scanned mine and it's malware-free.

Same here

I was wondering about that too. According tot AMG he was indeed born in 1937 (= 75), but wikipedia says that the year was 1930 (= 82).

Correct.

As I said earlier I'm also looking for non-piano versions of Bach's English and French Suites - any recommendations?

I've clearly waited too long with my interest in baroque solo works: some of the recommendations are OOP, very hard to find and ridiculously expensive, like for instance Book II of Blandine Verlet's Well-Tempered Clavier. If anybody knows where to get a relatively cheap copy (CD only), you know where to find me

Only one Anderson AlSut CD on Amazon

I think so, that's the only Hantaï WTC recording I could find. ---------- Thanks Moms. No, I ditched the Hewitt WTC, no more piano versions for me.

I'd like to concentrate on a few Bach solo keyboard pieces for a moment, like the French and English Suites, the Partitas and the Well-Tempered Clavier. I have Christophe Rousset in the Suites and the Partitas and Kenneth Gilbert in the WTC. Any other recommendations? Again, no piano. I re-read the WTC thread, but that doesn't have recent posts. Thanks.

Any recommendations of more recent CD releases, especially HIP ones?

Whatever Brian. Your opinion is duly noted. I can't share it. It's years ago that I heard Starker's interpretation and I can't say I liked it, though I think it's fair to add that I don't like "romantic" interpretations of baroque music at all.

Hans, I'll be out of town for a week, until then you can have a look at my German language Ancient Music forum: Prospero Thanks Mike.

Thanks Moms. Fortunately I know most of the composers you've mentioned. As far as instruments go I have my preferences - no lute and flute and the like, for instance. I'm certainly going to try a few of the discs you recommended. By the way, I do have one Leonhardt, a Virgin 2CD-set with Bach's English Suites, but never play it - I always listen to the other version of the ES in my collection, Christophe Rousset's set on Ambroisie. Like I said in the Bach Suites for solo cello thread I am interested in Rousset's interpretations of François Couperin's Livres de clavecin on Harmonia Mundi, but unfortunately the CDs are OOP and insanely expensive.

I must admit that I've neglected CDs with baroque pieces for solo instruments. Any recommendations anyone, HIP interpretations included? Absolutely no piano, please The Bach solo violin and suites for solo cello threads inspired me and I'm looking forward to several CDs that were recommended there.

I'll post a new, dedicated topic.

Mike, Could you recommend a few? I know they released a 2CD-set with François Couperin harpsichord works by Blandine Verlet and also a 2CD-set with Louis Couperin harpsichord works by Christophe Rousset, but I've never heard them. Rousset's interpretations of François Couperin's Livres de clavecin on Harmonia Mundi are interesting, but the CDs are OOP and insanely expensive. I must admit that I've neglected CDs with solo harpsichord baroque pieces in general. Any recommendations anyone? Absolutely no piano, please

That's very sad news. Way too young at 33. Never heard her play, but I'm told she was very talented.

Are you sure he didn't have valves?

Correct. According to the Mosaic booklet some of the tracks were also released on a Storyville CD (STCD-4109) under different titles.

They're not losing it, just an approach in search for a different one. The music always is more than the notes, it also encompasses the sound, and that is linked to instruments. Cellos or violins in Bach's time sounded different, that's a fact. The introduction of steel strings and higher tension and modern tunings changes the sound a lot. Like Skip Sempé stated: "In most fine music written before the 1950s, the sound and the composition were linked by the composer. Some performers do not care about this, and some listeners don't care either, but that was clearly the method behind the tradition in question. Without any doubt, this is the manner in which harpsichord music was conceived." I appreciate the approach of a lot of these players, but I just can't get around to like their sound. "These players" being the non-HIP, what some would call "romantic" performers, I assume, or am I misunderstanding what you're saying? I tend to agree with that, though for me it's not a "black and white" case.

I don't download, but I do want to hear samples (at least of really unfamiliar stuff), including samples of things not available other than on CD. So this is a bummer for me. Same here.

Why not turn up the volume? They don't sound bad. You know, I hadn't thought of that. Seriously, I really have to crank it up to hear these. It shouldn't be necessary. The low price makes up for it though. What I meant is that having to turn the volume up is better than a (serious) loss of dynamics that is the result of loud, "modern" mastering with lots of added digital compression/limiting/what have you. In those cases turning the volume down isn't going to help, that doesn't make up for lost dynamics, what's gone is gone.