New daily deal at eclassical!

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[...] To why they are not in the 25% window, beats me. So either I'm on drugs (although only a glass of Hine Cognac) or maybe I ended up seeing an early trial version of the page.

 

Probably. The 25% windows are supposed to be for the sale items for the day before. Dec 1 is the first day of the sale event--there is no previous day items yet.

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Today eClassical is selling a disc of music for harp and horn at half price:

 

As I was intrigued, I listened to the snippets, but I am not convinced: the horn is just too loud compared with the harp.

 

Still, if you are after something truly original...

 

Thanks for pointing this out. The pieces are from the much neglected transition period from natural horn to French horn. So they are quite interesting from the historical standpoint.

 

On the SQ side, the perspective is a little distant and instruments do not sound very detailed. But the overall balance is very nice. The horn doesn't seem to be overpowering the harp. I think most of the time, the composers have written the pieces so that they don't compete with each other. And they do not come from the same location on the soundstage. It is possible to hear into each instrument easily.

 

Now the not so good part: To my ear, the instrument on this album is probably not natural horn--it's totally smooth and doesn't crack like a nature horn. We're dealing with compositions of some of the greatest proponents of natural horn here. It's kind of a pity not to have the pieces played with natural horn.

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Suzuki Bach Cantatas Vol. 10 is 50% off today. RvB says:

 

Sometimes people ask me which is the best Bach Cantata disc out of the 55. Of course there is really no answer, but, if one were to ask me which is the best track, the 3rd track here comes close to the top, or, indeed, maybe is the top. What the soprano and oboe do together in "Wie zittern und wanken" is as close to any divinity of your choice one can come on this earth, actually, I get goosebumps only thinking about it. So no more text here, I need to put it on. Bach Vol 10.

 

I always felt this version of Person singing Wie zittern und wanken to be very, very special. Highly recommended.

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Sharon Bezaly's Solo Flute from A to Z - Vol.1 is 50% off today. The J.S.Bach flute partita in there is probably the best version around. Her mastery of circular breathing allows her to shape these flowing long phrases perfectly. And the recording allows you to hear how it's done. Amazing.

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I'd be interested to know how they compare to the Christophers/Sixteen series, which I've started collecting. I don't think I can justify buying this first volume of Suzuki as there is a fair amount of duplication of the selections so far by Christophers.

 

All of the Bach's Missae Breves would fit on 2 CDs. It would be quite impossible to avoid duplications...

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[...] ClassicsToday made this recording their reference one for the overtures.

 

I personally like the textual clarity and unity of the Suzuki's performances. The parts feel like they are related and belong together, rather than free for all everybody doing their own thing. Same goes for his Brandenburg Concertos. By the way, Suzuki's second recording of Brandenburg Concertos was only available with this exact version of Orchestral Suites as a 3 disc package. These days with eclassical selling by the minute, it's a moot point. But back in the old days, you're forced to buy the suites again when the concertos first came out. Still mad about it...

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[...] Collected hist entire first 50 CDs of Bach cantatas and they are lovely...

 

What's wrong with the last 5?

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4 hours ago, Boris75 said:

Suzuki's Bach Christmas Oratorio is also a favourite of mine. Today, Bach's Gamba sonatas are on offer. Is someone aware of this recording? Is it a recommended one?

 

I have it now. Thanks for pointing out.

 

Just did a quick comparison between it and Bylsma/van Aperen as well as Perl/Behringer. Overall this version is on the slow and deliberate side. This works very well on the slow movements, e.g. the Adagio in BWV 1029. Doesn't work quite as well on the faster movements though, e.g. the Vivace in BWV 1029 doesn't sound very vivacious comparing to the other two versions.

 

But regardless, at this price it's worth getting just for the tangent piano alone.

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Today's Boccherini La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid is really good:

 

Four of Boccherini's quartets in this album. G.324, a.k.a La musica notturna delle strade di, is my favorite Boccherini piece overall. And the minuet in G.275 is so well known that anybody brought up in the west should be familiar with it. Pretty essential Boccherini stuff...