Д.Д.

...seems pretty damning to me (with or without the IMHO). If it's that bad it should be possible to say clearly why. Otherwise 'Perahia doesn't really move or engage me' gets the same point across. I know neither Perahia's version or Gould's; I'm making a more general point about the way we amateurs discuss music, largely aping the approach we've picked up from more combative critics. Some of them have the technical insight (and have devoted some intensive study into the music they are reviewing) to at least partially excuse their disdain. I'm not convinced most armchair critics do. Bev, I respectfully disagree. We tend to respond emotionally to music and use subjective loaded terms to describe it. I don't think professional critics have a monopoly on use of the terms "deep", "shallow" or whatever. I heard both Gould and Perrahia versions many times, and I don't need to refer to a critical consensus to make (and state) my opinion. If it sounds shallow to me I think I have every reason to say so, and so does anybody for whom it sounds deep.

How are qualities/deficiencies like 'depth', 'shallowness', 'substance' calibrated? They are not - these are relative, not absolute terms - although we do use standard English (myself, however, with questionable success), so deviation can't be that dramatic. At the same time, when listening to different interpretations of the same work I am fairly comfortable making comparisons in these admittedly fuzzy terms, and I am not sure I need to be an expert to do so.

Have you heard Gould's versions of Goldberg's? Perrahia's recordings was my first exposure to Goldberg's, and I liked them, but once I heard Gould '55 (and subsequently, any other "major" version of Goldberg's), I grew to regard Perrahia as a pretty but shallow salon version, Goldber's-lite, if you will (IMHO, of course).

I'll go for the Naxos one, I guess - it's cheap. Will report here on the quality. To quote the post press "Reply" under the post you'd like to quote .

Any particular recommendation for available editions of the Besancon recital? There are new Naxos and Opus Kura editions (I am not considering the 90s EMI).

The Art of the Fugue, ensemble version performed by Solists of Berliner Bach Akademie (with vibraphone and organ!), Herbert Breuer conducting, - listened today for nth time, and I feel I can't appreciate it. The music is intricate and clever, but sounds mathematical and mechanical to an extreme, cold and devoid of any emotion. Quite boring, frankly. Could it be the performance / interpretation? Any thoughts, perhaps recommendations of other performances?

Thanks! Is it this BBC release you're talking about: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00001W07K ? I am not a fan of Chopin, but I like how Richter plays him.

Got the box and listened to a few CDs. The recordings are from Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Vivarte, SEON, Arte Nova catalogs, and just a few of RCAs and Sonys. Most of the stuff I heard is excellent - Telemann, Bach's St Jonh, Bach's solo violin (played with curved bow!), Bach's lute music, Lully... I was not too hot on Leonhardt's Goldberg Variations (on harpsichord) - in general there is probably too much Leonhardt here (around 10 CDs out of 60) - but they are definitely more than tolerable. There is a even an electronic booklet with short but well written essays for every disc.

Looks like a good bargain. I just placed an order. http://www.amazon.com/Baroque-Masterpieces-Various-Box/dp/B001CBX2RO/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1303890831&sr=1-2

I got interested in Roussel. There are a few cheapo sets of his orchestral works out there - anybody can recommend any in aprticualr? In general, any Roussel recommendations would be appreciated.

One more recommendation for solo works - The Bach Harpsichord Album by Robert Aldwinckle on budget Regis label (includes French Suite, Italian Concerto, Chromatic Fantasy and other works) . Now, I am not the biggest harpsichord fan, but here it sounds great - lively, energetic and dynamically diverse. The CD is OOP but can be easily obtained for cheap from market sellers. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bach-Harpsichord-Album-Robert-Aldwinckle/dp/B00005V436/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303466996&sr=8-2

Some recommendations for solo instruments. Glenn Gould solo piano, particularly 1955 Golbergs (I don't really like his 1981 version), one of my most favorite CDs. Sviatoslav Richter - Well-Tempered Clavier set on RCA. Violin Sonatas & Partitas BWV 1001-1006 performed by Oleg Kagan - reissued by Warner in their budget Apex series. There are many celebrated recordings of these works that I have not heard, but I just can't imagine them performed any better than this. These might be not the most clean or exact performances out there, but they are truly profound. Suites for Theorbo. Theorbo is a low pitch lute, sounds somewhat like bass guitar, really beautiful. As for orchestral works, you can't miss Branderburg Concertos. I love the Cortot / Orchestre de l'Ecole Normale de Musique recordings from the 1920s (with corresponding sound quality) on EMI. I have a couple of more recent versions, but somehow keep returning to these Cortots - there's unique energy and warmth there.

"Hotta Lotta", a '73 quartet recording with Kowald, Vesala and Aaltonen has been reissued: http://www.rocket-records.com/hot_lotta

I am cautiously optimistic about the upcoming KC ProjeKct release with Mel Collins & Co. Was disappointed by the last few KC releases, but this one has me intrigued.

Anybody can recommend any Richter's recording of Debussy? I have a DG compilation "In Memoriam" with Estampes and three preludes, and they are excellent, some of the my favorite Richter. Russian Melodia released all-Debussy Richter CD recently: http://www.melody.su/eng/work/catalog/classic/637 - anybody heard it, by chance?

Just got this super-cheap EMI (yes, EMI is desperate) 2CD set of Britten quartets performed by Belcea Quartet: http://www.amazon.co...00798204&sr=8-1 This is my first experience both with the music and the performer, sounds excellent.

The man just turned 70! Hard to believe. Still doing his thing, touring very actively. http://www.peterbroetzmann.com/

6-CD box, cheap. Judging from the track list, these are full-size CDs (no jubilee edition 35-minute ones). Might be a good way to get these works for those who don't have them yet. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glenn-Gould-plays-Bach-Classical/dp/B004H6P2N8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1300288787&sr=1-1

listen here. Thanks for this. Excellent stuff.

Man, just forget about the Emersons, they are robots. Prokofiev (together with Stravinsky) is probably my favorite 20th century classical composer. Not all of his stuff is good, but what is good is phenomenal.

I greatly enjoy Prokofiev's two string quartets. I remember being transfixed by the live performance of the 2nd quartet by the Shostakovich String Quartet back in Moscow 15 years ago. The opening movement with its dance punch.. amazing. I still have to find a performance of it I would be completely satisfied with, but this one is good, and has an excellent ethereal quartet by Nadarejshvili as a bonus: http://www.amazon.com/Nadarejshvili-Prokofiev-String-Quartets-Sergey/dp/B00000JHLN/ref=pd_krex_fa_img Also, I think Ravel's beautiful sole quartet has not been mentioned. I have the Quartetto Italiano performance on EMI (paired with Debussy's and Mihaud's quartets), and it is excellent.

One More Time

Burton Greene Milford Graves John Tchicai Reggie Workman Alan Silva Sunny Murray Archie Shepp Anthony Braxton, perhaps Peter Broetzmann Fred Van Hove Gato Barbieri Carlos Ward a lot of people

I think The Music Resource buys from Cadence.

The best prices for FMP stuff in the US are at The Music Resource: http://www.themusicresource.com It will take them weeks (or months) to fill the order, and half the stuff will turn out to be not available, but you will get something. Also, please note that some of the FMP CDs have been reissued by the new (or to be exact, "real old") FMP: http://www.fmp-label.de and jazzwerkstatt: http://www.records-cd.com/index.php/cat/c1000_jazzwerkstatt-----------------.html/XTCsid/cf2e54d8764bc139567341249696acd4