digitalphono2

mediaeval baebes

There has been a general rediscovery of Mediaeval music and one group of women who were doing it as amateurs managed to rise ot the level where their first recording was the fastest selling debut album on Virgin Classics.

They aren't held to strict interpretations (although they are capable of it) as their name, the Mediaeval Baebes, suggests. Their technique is to take a piece of text and, undetured by the fact that no music exists, create music based on what they feel is the mood. Some of it works well, some of it not as well, but all of it is generally fun.

Check out their album Salva Nos (iTunes 4 required).

They have also been touring quite a bit and their concerts are highly recommended - they can be very funny.

jacqueline du pré and the beethoven Sonatas

While browsing Apple's iTunes music store, I came across a recording of Jacqueline du Pré; and David Barenboim performing the Beethoven Cello Sonatas. (iTunes 4 required).

Du Pré was an amazing cellist - at equivalent experience levels I prefer her Beethoven and Brahms to Yo-Yo's, but he continues to develop and she was deprived of that chance.

There are other interesting cellists to hunt - one of my favorites is Emanuel Feuermann. Very few recordings exist, but they are stunning. He died from infection following a minor operation in the early 1940s. He had just formed a trio with Heifetz and Fubenstein and it was their intention to record much of the piano trio literature.

An LP I have of Feuermann performances notes the pall-bears at the funeral were Ormandy, Serkin, Elman, Humberman, Schnabel, Szell and Toscanini. Toscanini broke down sobbing shouting "this is murder" and had to be replaced. He had just formed a trio with Heifetz and Rubenstein and it was their intention to record much of the piano trio literature.

scarlatti by igor kipnis

The classical CD market did well in the late 1980s as people replaced their LP libraries with CDs. The labels have large back libraries and much of this came from great recording sessions years or even decades ago.

Seraphim Classics offers budget CDs, some of which are surprisingly good. I've been listing to some of Scarlatti's Keyboard Sonatas (iTunes 4 required) with Igor Kipnis at the harpsichord and would recommend it to anyone who is building their library.

beethoven piano trios

Beethoven's piano trios cover a large segment of his life and are entirely different creatures. Compound this with many performances by world class players and it is hard (delightfully hard) to make recommendations.

I was lucky enough to be a graduate student at Stony Brook where the Beaux Arts Trio was resident. I got to know Bernard Greenhouse, the Trio's cellist, and managed to attend more than a few of his master classes as well as performances of the Trio. I love the tone of his cello (a Strad) - perhaps more than any other cello I've heard. One wonderful master class had Yo Yo Ma visiting (he was the hot young thing back then). Yo Yo sounded wonderful on Bernard's cello - of course he didn't know it well to take it to the limits, but he tried some of the Bach 6th Suite on it. Bernard then played the same measures and then Yo Yo responded. I wish I had known enough music to appreciate their conversation at the time - I wish I had a recording.... but back to Beethoven.

My favorite set of performances is the 1965 recording by the then young Beux Arts Trio (Daniel Guilet, Bernard Greenhouse and Menahem Pressler). The BAT is noted for their freshness and total commitment to the performance (Pressler was amazing to watch - almost appearing mad with a mixture of delight and intensity).

When compared to many other performances (especially those in the past two decades), the early trios are fresh. The slower tempos are almost percussive at times and the finales are dazzling - every note is there in the right place, but the pace is much faster than you will find elsewhere.

The centerpiece of most collections is the Archduke and I've never heard a better performance than this one. In listening to my old LP set (in preparation for digitizing it) I found that the Archduke is badly worn, while the rest of the set is only moderately worn.

You need this set .

A bit of searching reveals that Philips reissued the set on CD about ten years ago. Try hunting for Philips 438 948-2PM3. You also may be able to score a copy of the LPs at a good used record store - there is the risk that the previous owner has played it too many times.

vivaldi op 3

Today (March 4, 2003) happens to be Antonio Vivaldi's 325th birthday, so it seems reasonable to make a recommendation.

L'estro armonico was Vivaldi's first collection of published concertos an are, compared with later pieces, unrefined. The lack of refinement is completely overshadowed by sheer variety and exuberance.

The Concerto Grosso Op. 3 Number 11 in D minor was my first introduction to Vivaldi in a concerthall (the concert was on his birthday) and is still one of my favorite pieces of music. It turns out that I was plowing through Volume 1 of The Norton Scores at the same time and this was one of the first pieces of classical music where I had spent serious time with the score. (this was a long time ago - the $4.95 price tag on volume 1 is still on the book).

Thanks to the Vivaldi revival of a few decades back there is an excellent selection of recordings and I will admit to owning a half dozen. So what to recommend?

At first I am tempted to recommend the I Musici or Virtuosi di Roma versions (probably favoring I Musici) and will go with those recommendations if you are unfamiliar with the music.

If this is a familiar path I suggest a two CD set with Babio Biondi and Europa Galante. It isn't perfect (this is clearly a poor selection of you are looking for a historical performance on period instruments and Biondi's playing seems wrong at times), but it is one of those performances that builds on your experience with the music and gives terrific pleasure. The tempos seem perfect and the continuo group is remarkable. It makes you wish that I Musici had heard them in concert.

One of the great joys of classical music in in the discovery of interpretations.

st paul sunday morning

Minnesota Public Radio has a few gems - Prairie Home Companion and Saint Paul Sunday Morning.

While SPSM isn't a streaming station, it is an important program on many webstations and I count it here as there are rich program notes and real audio archives of shows. Recent guests are a who's who of classical music as well as some interesting folks who are a bit more obscure...

Eugenia Zukerman, The Prague Wind Quartet, Kronos Quartet, The King's Noyse, The Emerson String Quartet, Chanticleer, Anonymous 4 (one of my favorite groups), The Guarneri String Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, etc. etc.

The only downside is that the stream from the SPSM site is a slow and non-musical 20kbps. The best place to listen is on FM radio or a high bit rate webcasting station.

Despite the low bitrate, if you want something that goes beyond the Music 101 course you took in college this is the place to visit regularly.

red priest

Red Priest is a hyper energetic baroque group from the UK. Live performances are remarkable for a classical audience (at least since LIzst) with candles, capes and not a small amount of acting) but the group is very musical despite some liberties taken with the music.

Stunning fiery and outrageous stuff and highly recommended - catch a live performance if you can or buy their CD.

The CD is Dorian 93208

Oh yes -- they do have some Vivaldi on the CD as their name and the name of the CD would indicate. The Concerto in D RV92 ( Priest on the Run )

a nice sampler of 17th century cello music

I came across a lovely Harmonia Mundi CD (D-7800) Das Violoncello Im 17. Jahrhundert that is exactly what it says.. Anner Bylsma is one of the authorities, perhaps the authority on antique cello technique and it shows.

There is so much good stuff in by obscure 17th century Italian composers. Somehow they can't be accused of being comme it faut as the masters of the next century were. Perhaps some of the excitement was from the innovation that was taking place. String instruments were still under development in this period and the cellos were markedly different from what we usually hear. Instrument makers, composers and musicians were all charting new territory.

Lovely items include three Canzone by Girolamo Frescobaldi, several works by Domenico Gabrielli, Giuseppe Maria Jaccini and Giovanni Battista Degli Antonii. I'm not expert enough to give a detailed review, but I have listened to thousands of hours of cello playing and this combines a few delightful old friends with some fascinating obscure pieces I've never heard.

A cellist friend from college told me that the Ricercar from Antonii as well as Gabrielli's solo pieces presaged the Bach Suites for Cello (some of the finest music ever written imho:-) That said there is one magical little piece on the album -- check out the Canon for two cellos by Gavrielli. So small and so wonderful!

Enough said -- if you love the cello, you need this one!