Brandenburg Concertos - Alessandrini - Presto (FLAC)

[Musicophile]

Not sure these qualify for this section, as they are redbook only and the sound quality is good, but not outstanding.

 

 

I wanted to share my experience nevertheless, as it is a great piece of music. I'd been looking for quite a while for a new Brandenburg cycle. However, there's not a lot available to download right now that I really fancied.

 

In the end, I discovered more or less by chance that Presto Classical has moved from only shipping CDs to offering FLAC (redbook only, no hires I'm aware of), so I finally went for this Gramophone highlight.

 

In the beginning, suite number 1, I was a bit disappointed, as there's the occasional bumpy playing (ok, period instruments at this speed are not easy to manage), and the overall impression good, but not outstanding. But as of number 2 I really got what I wanted: light, speedy but not rushed, very delicate, but "swinging" playing.

 

Sound quality is ok, the dark acoustics of Roma's Palazzo Farnese doesn't really help.

 

Nevertheless, if you like Bach, and like me, never get tired of listening to this "standard" of the baroque repertorire, absolutely worth getting!

 

2 words about Presto classical downloads: pricing was ok, the process was rather painless, it offers to either download individual files or to get the entire thing as a zip. In 7 minutes I had the redbook on my computer (in flac). But then the disappointment: no cover art, no booklet... I wrote an e-mail to Presto to check if I missed something, but if this is the case, I'm pretty disappointed. Overall they have a good redbook catalogue and some very decent special offers.

[Musicophile]

After an inquiry to Prest I got a fast and friendly email back that Naive didn't supply any booklet with the files. Apparently they are in the process of making all their recordings available for FLAC downloads and just don't have the manpower to also scan all the booklets in parallel.

 

While I applaud Naive (by the way, Gramophine's label of the year 2012) for the effort of making the entire catalogue available im lossless, I regret that booklets and cover art aren't part of the standard package.

[Russell_L]

Thanks for the info. Haven't heard this set, but my current fave for these works is the recording by Diego Fasolis and I Barocchisti on the ARTS label. I downloaded them via The Classical Shop, where you can listen to samples:

 

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-4 BWV 1046-1049

 

The performances are, shall we say, extremely lively and energetic--almost too much so at times. They are available as SACDs, but for some reason the downloads are in standard-res only. The sound quality is very good nonetheless.

 

Russell

[Musicophile]

Thanks for the info. Haven't heard this set, but my current fave for these works is the recording by Diego Fasolis and I Barocchisti on the ARTS label. I downloaded them via The Classical Shop, where you can listen to samples:

 

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-4 BWV 1046-1049

 

The performances are, shall we say, extremely lively and energetic--almost too much so at times. They are available as SACDs, but for some reason the downloads are in standard-res only. The sound quality is very good nonetheless.

 

Russell

 

Have to check this out. My references so far were Richard Egarr (rather moderate tempi), and the good old Giardino Armonico.

 

And by the way, the old Karl Richter recordings from the 60s are better (and much faster) than you'd think, if not really HIP.

[Musicophile]

I had a look at Fasolis, but have to say as much as I like energetic performances, these sound just rushed, especially number 3.

[Russell_L]

I had a look at Fasolis, but have to say as much as I like energetic performances, these sound just rushed, especially number 3.

 

Can't say that I disagree with you, but there's still something about them that is refreshing--even dazzling--to my ears, even if a lot of it is over the top. I certainly wouldn't have these as my only performances, though.

 

Russell

[Musicophile]

Can't say that I disagree with you, but there's still something about them that is refreshing--even dazzling--to my ears, even if a lot of it is over the top. I certainly wouldn't have these as my only performances, though.

 

Russell

 

I'm still considering getting it given how much I love the works. Maybe the performance needs getting used to.