king ubu

Very interesting, Larry, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I've long loved the Monterose/Gordon combination (picked up the West Coast Classics disc back in the 90s from Trueblue without having ever heard either of them before, needed the Koch/Atlantic after that, too!). The Giuffre connection makes sense to me ... can't say anything about Donahue though. Are there any recommended discs where he can be heard? I'm familiar with his name but can't really place him. I see there are several Hep releases ...

Becky Friend Bobbi Humphrey Booby Hutcherson

DOH! I totally forgot a more recent recording I really like: Frank Peter Zimmermann/Alexander Lonquich - there was a box on EMI, goes for insane prices, too, but a friend made me a copy a few months ago. Very good playing, no-bullshit approach as always with Zimmermann.

Of all things, there's a Quadromania set with the Pauk/Frankl recordings - never heard of these two. Seems all of Frankl's music is out on either Membran (and sub-labels/series) or ASV ... but there's a lot, including some interesting looking Bartók! Here's the Beeb disc: Actually, I don't think I *need* anything beyond Szigeti here - but I'm always on the lookout, so ... I will definitely pursue a few of the recordings mentioned here (Goldberg/Lupu should be on its way by tomorrow, and that tangent piano thingie I want to hear, too!)

Thanks a lot, Mike! Those claviersonaten on tangent piano sound interesting. I'll check out the samples tomorrow, it's getting too late now, and I'm being lullabied by Kathleen Baker ...

Complete editions of those are going at those silly fantasy prices on amazon, it seems ... I love Grumiaux/Haskil, would you know how Grumiaux/Klien compares?

Thanks Larry, but I don't subscribe to any such streaming services. However I see the Mozart box on London/Decca is around for a very good price on amazon.de - I'll order it. Not sure if Hartnack's book on violinists is out in english, but I've found it very useful (although old and sometimes very far away in style and language) and his mere page and a bit on Goldberg (summed up in a later chapter together with Odnoposoff and Gitlis) do make me want to check out Goldberg (though he only does mention Mozart's a major concerto and the Brahms sonatas as far as repertoire goes).

Had to look up what a tangent piano is ... interesting, I guess, and rather different (less smooth) in sound than a fortepiano? Do you know either of the two releases I pictured? @Larry: not familiar with Goldberg at all yet ... got Lupu's Decca solo recorings here, but haven't yet started exploring them (need to dig into Schnabel's Schubert first, and that needs both time and the right moment).

I'm deeply in love with Szgeti and Grumiaux' recordings of Mozart's violin sonatas (Szigeti on Vangaurd Classics, with Horszowski mostly, some with Szell, Grumiaux of course with Clara Haskil, alas noth complete). Then I also think Kagan/Richter are mighty good, but there I've only got four plus a fragmentary one (in the Richter ICON box) - is there more around? But now ... I spent time with the Lumières box again yesterday, also playing the disc with two sonatas played by Chiara Banchini and Temenuschka Vesselinova (rec. 1993). Their discs (three releases, five CDs) are OOP, around on iTunes for ridiculous prices ... not sure I want to hunt these, but I am interested in these pieces, actually in love with a few of them, and it is a bit weird that there are comparatively few recordings around --- and no, I don't need Perlman or Mutter here, possibly Szeryng/Haebler one day, as I like Szeryng's Mozart concertos quite some, but really, Szigeti and Grumiaux are so good, if I buy other recordings, they rather ought to be different and HIP, I guess. So far, what I have is this disc: I've not played it often yet, stumbled over it by accident ... but my impression so far is pretty darn good! They play K 454, K 379/373a and K 296, as well as the variations on "Au bord d'une fontaine" K 360/374b. Just now I was in a store which had the usual suspects there, but also this one, which I bought and plan to play today or tomorrow: This set, rec. 1989 (disc two) and 1990 (disc one) contains on the first CD K 301-305 and on the second K 454, 481 and 526. First impression while perusing the player in the shop was pretty good, too. Anyone has any opinions, favourites, other (including but not necessarily HIP) recordings to recommend?

Deforrest Most Jimmy Forrest Marie Laforêt

Gregory Peck Dick Gregory Moby Dick

Jeffrey Archer Eero Saarinen and Hannskarl Bandel (who built the Gateway Arch) Karl Hans Berger

Ludwig Kirchner Thomas Mann Manneken Pis

The Brubeck is much cheaper on amazon.it (81€ at this time): http://www.amazon.it/Complete-Columbia-Studio-Albums-Collection/dp/B0077PPQGO/ But these boxes aren't even listed on all amazon sites yet ... @crisp: Do you think these are indeed reissues? I'd rather assume that after selling them exclusively via popmarket, they're now being sold with wider distribution ...

Ah naw, bugger off! I thought I was the only one!

Wednesday, shortly after ('round about) midnight.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks guys!

Alas no! I started, but don't have time for such endeavours right now, I'm afraid. Thanks for the wishes, Vic!

Here's the latest one that came to light: http://www.tcb.ch/news.cgi?list=month%7Cid&param=January+2013&sort=r And in the description here, you'll get what I assume are the commonly circulated dates (not that I'm having doubts, but I wouldn't really know, either): [link removed] Edit: that description is botched, sorry - and it goes to a boot, so no link, sorry. Go to www.jazzmessengers.com and look up the Quincy European 4CD set to get this info: Plus disc four of the Mosaic box - Zurich, March 10 (big band album) and March 11 (jam w/members of the big band): http://www.mosaicrecords.com/discography.asp?number=237-MD-CD&price=$85.00&copies=5%20CDs

Well, actually it's been dormant for a couple of years by now, that's not exactly news no more... but thanks for the wishes!

Thanks guys! Thanks! The blog stopped to be fun, I am afraid (deleted links, trolls, constant re-up requests)... and too time consuming, too.

merci and thanks and danke and dōmo arigatō doesn't feel special this year ... just a normal day, working (though not in the office at least).

Wasn't aware of that forum, will have a look, thanks! I gather you've posted your faves there? And yes, I'd love to discuss this all in person with you over a beer or a glass of wine or whatever ... we'll make it some day!

Thanks for the explanations, Mike! I'm at a point where what matters to me isn't concepts (or ideology) but whether or not I like what I hear. That may change or it may not. Anyway, HIP is always just an attempt to recreate something unknown and unheard and as such remains speculation. As with all historical research, what matters is how good the arguments (and questions asked) are, and how valid the drawn conclusions. Seems HIP performance has evolved quite a bit over the past fifty of so years, too. But as I said, at this point I don't care that much. But it sounds like you reached a point where there's hardly a way "back" (to non-HIP performances, that is), at least in some areas? Not sure I want to ever go there, as it would mean giving up too many things I fell dearly in love with in the past eight or nine months. But then if you're there, of course it doesn't feel like a loss, it's just the way things go ... When you say though: "There are many factors in performance practice to be considered - even HIp players miss on several of them in many cases!" - in light of such (certainly true) evaluations, I'm really hard-pressed to go with anything else by my personal likes and dislikes as a guide through the huge jungle of recordings out there. Or rather: I'm willing to try many things and travel many places, but I won't trust but the music in the end, and I'll always be questioning anything beyond that, trying to put things into perspective (which is historical and evolving, hence there are no truths). Guess that's just how I work, after all. Sorry for this excourse, folks