New daily deal at eclassical!

[Moosbrugger]

 

Don't remember seeing a warning label on a symphony before.

Is this a choral symphony with bawdy lyrics?

[Boris75]

 

Don't remember seeing a warning label on a symphony before.

Is this a choral symphony with bawdy lyrics?

 

Old BIS CDs have this label to warn listeners that the recordings are not dynamically compressed, so that they should be careful not to apply too much gain when playing them back.

[Jud]

Clarinet Concertos played by Martin Fröst

 

For those of you who enjoy the clarinet concertos of Weber and Mozart, I recommend today's half-price special: 3 clarinet concertos by Crusell. Like Weber, Crusell was on the cusp between the Classical and Romantic styles.

 

Op 5 in F Minor is the last composed and generally considered the best of the three; better than Weber in my opinion. Op 1 in E-flat Major is the middle in order of composition and is comparable in quality to Weber. I haven't listened to the earliest, Op 11.

 

Love Fröst, will have to check these out. Thanks.

[Musicophile]

Today they offer vol. 11 of Suzuki's Bach cantata cycle. While I personally slightly prefer Gardiner and Koopman to an extent, the Suzuki cycle is truly playing at very high level and very well recorded typical BIS style.

 

At less than 5 bucks ($4.98!) I don't see any reason not to buy it!

 

eClassical - J.S. Bach - Cantatas, Vol.11 (BWV 136, 138, 95, 46)

 

or to quote Robert von Bahr (owner of BIS) on the site:

 

Haven't got anything interesting to say, so I shut up and let the BCJ do the talking. RvB

[Kelly]

Yup, no reason not to try it. Downloading now.

 

BTW, Sweet new avatar!

[Boris75]

Thanks! Got it too. I too much like the new avatar: nice find!

[Musicophile]

re: Avatar: I always wanted to join the CA Dog avatar club...

 

Unfortunately we have a cat at home so this doesn't work out, so when I discover good old Gromit I just had to take it. It seems to be from a 2007 EMI campaign to market classical music towards children.

[mkrzych]

Today is the deal for Sharon Bezaly "Pine Dreams" with Richard Tognetti and ACO. Some of the works recorded here are dedicated especially to Sharon and one was done in the presence of the composer itself. Superb 24/44 sound with rather modern music for her 24-karat gold flute. I like it.

 

eClassical - Pipe Dreams

[Bob Stern]

If you like Bezaly, you might try:

 

BIS 1729

 

The Busoni, Enescu and Faure pieces on BIS 1239.

 

The Andriessen piece on BIS 1159.

 

The Schulhoff sonata on BIS 959.

[mkrzych]

If you like Bezaly, you might try:

 

BIS 1729

 

The Busoni, Enescu and Faure pieces on BIS 1239.

 

The Andriessen piece on BIS 1159.

 

The Schulhoff sonata on BIS 959.

 

Thanks. I will check it out, but the deal here is also Tognetti, I like his ACO and flute with orchestra. I am not a big fan of flute itself ;-)

[Bob Stern]

Interview with BIS & eClassical founder von Bahr:

 

Checking in with Robert von Bahr | The Absolute Sound

[Musicophile]

Interview with BIS & eClassical founder von Bahr:

 

Checking in with Robert von Bahr | The Absolute Sound

 

Thanks for sharing,

 

Nice quote: at eclassical, if 24 bit is available, 75% choose that version.

[Bob Stern]

Today's half-price special (Schnyder) is unusual for BIS — closer to jazz than classical.

 

(I'm not expressing an opinion, just calling your attention to an unusual offering.)

[Jay-dub]

Today's offering is a good example of what makes BIS unique. Sacred music for soprano and organ by Torsten Nilsson. Here's RvB's blurb. You've gotta like this guy.

 

Ah, finally!!! I have been longing for the moment the computer would land at this one, one of the most disregarded and unjustly neglected small treasures in our collection. OK, truth: this record has sold a total of 5 or so copies in the past 7-8 years - not a single one on eClassical - and I will go to my grave, wondering why. It is music by a Swedish composer, Torsten Nilsson - a great original, perhaps even a little crazy, working in a church in Stockholm, and mostly written for his soprano daughter Kristina. It is music in a (what we would say now) mildly modern style, a bit Messiaenish, and - in my ears - extremely accessible and, yes, beautiful. I myself worked with him on occasions and was there for the first performances of some of these works, which are totally unjustly forgotten. Mona Julsrud and Bjørn Kåre Moe, Norwegian artists, have spent a lot of love and affection on this music, and it shows. The recording was done in the very church and on the very organ, for which the music was conceived. Please do give this a chance. RvB

 

I just listened to part of the album. I enjoyed it, and I think God enjoys listening to this music too, although my wife does not.

[Musicophile]

Wow, five copies sold! I really admire Robert for his courage.

 

I personally have a admittedly rather mainstream (some would call it boring) taste in classical music so I'm not necessarily his main target audience, but it is impressive somebody makes these great efforts.

[Boris75]

Wow, five copies sold! I really admire Robert for his courage.

 

I personally have a admittedly rather mainstream (some would call it boring) taste in classical music so I'm not necessarily his main target audience, but it is impressive somebody makes these great efforts.

 

I admire him and try to support his efforts. However, in this particular case, although his blurb initially made me consider buying this recording, I have to admit that I dropped the idea after listening to the excerpts. Really "hard-core" stuff.

[Bob Stern]

Boris, you said several days ago that you valued BIS for recording lesser-known composers like Aho. Torsten Nilsson strikes me as tamer than Aho — perhaps a Scandinavian Poulenc (admittedly not as good). Maybe the vocal aspect turned you off rather than the music itself being "hard core".

 

p.s. Have you listened to Poulenc's choral or vocal music?

[Boris75]

Boris, you said several days ago that you valued BIS for recording lesser-known composers like Aho. Torsten Nilsson strikes me as tamer than Aho — perhaps a Scandinavian Poulenc (admittedly not as good). Maybe the vocal aspect turned you off rather than the music itself being "hard core".

 

p.s. Have you listened to Poulenc's choral or vocal music?

 

Yes, you are spot on. I probably would have followed RvB's recommendation to buy if the disc had been organ only, as I quite like modern organ music. But I don't have a very developed taste for soprano recitals in general, even less so in modern music.

 

Regarding your question on Poulenc's vocal music: it never really clicked with me; I enjoy his orchestral works much more.

 

Very often, across 20th-century schools of composition, from Alban Berg to John Adams, there is something I don't like in the modern treatment of voices. For instance, a long time ago I bought tickets for Zimmerman's Die Soldaten, and I remember this evening almost like torture. The only musically pleasant part was the ten or fifteen minutes when the music turns jazzy. However, this musical sweetener was offset by what happened on the stage: a rape scene.

[Boris75]

Robert von Bahr is in top form today:

[h=3]Gotta tread carefully here, since we're talking about something akin to a national hero in Norway - Fartein Valen. Thankfully he wrote very sparingly, and we have been able to release his orchestral music in 3 volumes, out of which this is the third, with Symphony 4 and his Piano Concerto. I'm sorry, I can understand the (12-tone) music, but I cannot relate to it. However, I know a lot of people that can, so I must be wrong. RvB[/h]

[Axiom05]

Has anyone tried the new release of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe with Nezet-Seguin? Looking for comments on both performance and SQ. Wondering if it is time to replace my Dutoit CD rip?

[Bob Stern]

I haven't heard the Nezet-Seguin, but the best (complete) Daphnis recoding I know is a high-res download on the Boston Symphony website, Levine conducting. I'm not always a fan of Levine, but I love this performance. Excellent sound, too.

[Musicophile]

I haven't heard the Nezet-Seguin, but the best (complete) Daphnis recoding I know is a high-res download on the Boston Symphony website, Levine conducting. I'm not always a fan of Levine, but I love this performance. Excellent sound, too.

I so far only have Rattle's old Birmingham recording on EMI, so I figured let's give it a try, reading these positive reviews, and being a general fan of Nezet.

 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Ravel, Daphnis et Chloe Suite No 2 Young French-Cana - The Independent

 

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé Suite No 2 | CD review | Music | The Guardian

 

Downloading now, will report back when I have time to properly listen.

[Musicophile]

I so far only have Rattle's old Birmingham recording on EMI, so I figured let's give it a try, reading these positive reviews, and being a general fan of Nezet.

 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Ravel, Daphnis et Chloe Suite No 2 Young French-Cana - The Independent

 

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé Suite No 2 | CD review | Music | The Guardian

 

Downloading now, will report back when I have time to properly listen.

Playing now. It certainly has an impressive dynamic range, in the slow beginning you basically don't hear anything for the first two minutes if you don't crank up the volume. JRiver confirms this with a DR ranging from 13 to 19(!).

[Musicophile]

Just finished listening to this. One word: spectacular!

 

Let me put out a disclaimer first that my musical taste is more 18th and 19th century and I'm not a big Ravel expert, as said before, I only have the Rattle recording.

 

That said, I'm really impressed by this recording, beautifully played, nuanced, very organic. And the sound quality is outstanding to my ears.

 

At less than $10, highly recommended!

[Axiom05]

Just finished listening to this. One word: spectacular!

 

Let me put out a disclaimer first that my musical taste is more 18th and 19th century and I'm not a big Ravel expert, as said before, I only have the Rattle recording.

 

That said, I'm really impressed by this recording, beautifully played, nuanced, very organic. And the sound quality is outstanding to my ears.

 

At less than $10, highly recommended!

 

You convinced me, sold! Thanks for taking a chance on the recording.