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[Bob Stern]

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Nothing of interest to me today, but the selection changes daily.

[Bob Stern]

Weinberg's chamber symphony 4 is very interesting, although somber.  (It's his final completed work.)

[Bob Stern]

Today's Bach Brandenburg concertos by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin is excellent.  The fast movements are almost relentlessly fast, but that doesn’t bother me as much as it normally would because the playing is exceptionally precise and the phrasing does "breathe" despite the speed.  The slow movements relax quite a bit and provide nice contrast.

 

The listing of Faust and Tamestit on the cover is slightly misleading because she appears only in concertos 3 and 4 and he in 3 and 6.  They do a stunning job at breakneck speed in concerto 3.  In 4 the two recorders are much more important than Faust's violin.  In 6 Tamestit does not stand out; I prefer Jordi Savall.  

 

In 2, the (presumably valveless) trumpet is precise with no hint of the intonation problems in most competing performances.  In 5 the flute is superb and the harpsichordist substantially slows down the tempo for his cadenza so you can digest every note.  He indulges in much greater flexibility of phrasing than the other performers, which I enjoy.