My Essential Classical Albums.

[sphinxsix]

In the last two weeks I've gone maybe not all the way but I believe quite far (for a non streaming music lover) with different versions of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Based on reviews and my ears I've got or ordered about 35 of them which added to the 15 I had earlier will soon make a very nice number. 

I just wanted to share something - I'd say that probably the most original performance among them is this one (accidentally the last one I ordered on CD yesterday from dodax.nl).

If you don't know it, guys, and I believe it's not very popular - I will just say - you definitely haven't heard GV like that. Worth checking out IMO.

 

[sphinxsix]

The post above was the 1000th post on this thread which I expected to end after a couple of pages. Cool!

 

On 3/22/2021 at 12:06 AM, sphinxsix said:

In the last two weeks I've gone maybe not all the way but I believe quite far (for a non streaming music lover) with different versions of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Based on reviews and my ears I've got or ordered about 35 of them which added to the 15 I had earlier will soon make a very nice number. 

 

Now doing the same thing with WTC..

Hope it will be possible to communicate with me when I'm done 

 

Once again - thanks to everyone who contributed 

                                                                                    

[accwai]

On 3/21/2021 at 7:06 PM, sphinxsix said:

If you don't know it, guys, and I believe it's not very popular - I will just say - you definitely haven't heard GV like that. Worth checking out IMO.

 

What's so special about it?

[sphinxsix]

4 hours ago, accwai said:

 

What's so special about it?

 

IMO both his playing and the sound of his instrument are exceptional, which doesn't mean that he gets any close to the piano version by Perahia, which at least for now (I've got a slightly bigger choice now ) is my personal reference for its richness of nuance and depth. The very fact that he plays lautenwerk which was one of the instruments favored by Bach has actually no meaning for me.

And what do you think?

 

[accwai]

23 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

what do you think?

 

Nuance and depth are way over my head, so I'm drawn to frivolous stuff like lautenwerk. Was going ask for opinion on versions by Gwendolyn Toth, Wilhelm Middelschulte Goldberg etc, but never mind.

[sphinxsix]

3 hours ago, accwai said:

 

Nuance and depth are way over my head, so I'm drawn to frivolous stuff like lautenwerk. Was going ask for opinion on versions by Gwendolyn Toth, Wilhelm Middelschulte Goldberg etc, but never mind.

 

Unfortunately I haven't heard or heard of these two versions earlier, they are not among my '50' so I can't say anything about them. Do I understand correctly - you'd recommend checking them out? 

 

[accwai]

On 3/25/2021 at 1:33 PM, sphinxsix said:

[...] they are not among my '50' so I can't say anything about them. Do I understand correctly - you'd recommend checking them out?

 

Well if you check them out, perhaps you could let me know if they're worthy of being recommended in the first place

[sphinxsix]

12 hours ago, accwai said:

 

Well if you check them out, perhaps you could let me know if they're worthy of being recommended in the first place

 

Sorry, but I'm afraid that for now I have hmmm.. slightly overdosed the Goldberg Variations.

OTOH I can recommend some probably less known versions of GV and WTC which are quite new to me and which I (at least) quite like  e.g.

 

 

[sphinxsix]

On 4/17/2019 at 4:07 PM, sphinxsix said:

I have actually come to a different conclusion and I ordered almost a dozen of Wagner instrumental albums (I agree - Solti is very good with Wagner!). Has he composed any interesting instrumental pieces (I was disappointed with his C major symphony).?

 

Meanwhile, I just fell in love with this recording:

 

 

I've checked out some other versions of this composition, out of which the two IMO most interesting ones are:

 

Would anyone have some other suggestions as for The Rosary Sonatas recordings.?

 

On 4/17/2019 at 7:32 PM, Musicophile said:

Are you a Beliber?

 

Bad pun aside, this one is quite good, but I also like Podger for the SQ. 

 

..and the posts after that one..

@AnotherSpin @Musicophile @christopher3393 @Kal Rubinson 

I spent a couple of days again diving into Biber again and I must say that although I personally find his Rosary Sonatas to be the shiniest of his compositions, that's not all..

IMO also his other violin sonatas, Harmonia Artificioso, requiem and masses (as for both latest ones - Savall!) are really interesting.

Some other stuff I would recommend to other beliebers as potentially interesting:

 

Biber - 'Sacred and Profane' 7 CD box (these are really good times for buying used CDs!)

 

 

 

 

 

Also the above mentioned recordings by Jordi Savall.

Think I will stop here, I must say I have become a real fan.

 

[sphinxsix]

 

I won't go into details, I will just say that Andrei Tarkovsky cinema has made me much more open to the post II WW music. I myself am quite surprised but eg Ligeti or Berio music makes much more sense to me now.

Posting this with hope that maybe this could work not only for me..

 

[Bob Stern]

@sphinxsix:  Can you recommend your favorite Tarkovsky movies?  I believe Solaris is his most famous, and I confess I found it too slow even though I usually like slow-paced intellectual movies.

[sphinxsix]

7 minutes ago, Bob Stern said:

@sphinxsix:  Can you recommend your favorite Tarkovsky movies?  I believe Solaris is his most famous, and I confess I found it too slow even though I usually like slow-paced intellectual movies.

I would probably have to choose from among; Stalker, The Mirror and Andrei Rublev.

 

BTW the older I get, the more I become open to slow, minimalist cinema.

 

[sphinxsix]

 

What is your personal opinion about Ivo Pogorelich, guys?

(was Martha Argerich in 1980 right or wrong.?)

 

[sphinxsix]

My essential African composers collection..🙂 Maybe someone will be interested in checking this out, recommended!

I don't know much more about the performer (she recorded earlier for Meridian) and the composers of these pieces than what James Manheim wrote on Allmusic:

 

Quote

The commercial success of this release is perhaps no surprise, for it certainly delivers something different from most anything else listeners are encountering in 2022. The contents are exactly what is promised by pianist Rebeca Omordia, herself of Nigerian-Romanian background: works for piano by African composers. A few of these composers have been heard before on recordings, but for the most part, they will be new to listeners. There is one work by a white South African composer, David Earl, and several by a composer from Morocco, Nabil Benabdeljalil, but most of the music draws on sub-Saharan African traditions. Omordia does well to play her strongest card first; the Egun Variations in G major of Ayo Bankole form an arresting little structure that merges a pentatonic scale, the G major tonality, and the variation form in an entirely original way. One of the Benabdeljalil pieces and one of the cleverly titled Three Yoruba Songs Without Words by Akin Euba is accompanied by a percussionist, Abdelkader Saadoun, and composers Christian Onyeji and J.H. Kwabena Nketia (better known as an ethnomusicologist) both point to the importance of drum patterns in their pieces, but what is likely to strike many listeners is the exploration of musical elements other than rhythms in the music on this album. This is a fresh collection of music, well played by someone who has thought about it, and it seems to open up a new world. The Somm label's Menuhin Hall sound is excellent.

 

 

[orresearch]