Album of the Evening

[master]

Starting mellow and letting the wine settle in:

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Going to be spending some time with Mick Hucknall and Simply Red, thanks for the reminder.

 

 

 

[accwai]

One critic's comparison of the 2 recordings: "Both recordings were made in the chapel of Merton College, Oxford, with a bare minimum of singers: 15 in 1984, 13 this time around. The acoustic on the new CD sounds marginally closer and less reverberant. But what’s really different is the timing: 34 minutes in 1984, 41 in 2013. The 1984 recording was a comet, with one ardent rush in the “Filius Patris” section of the Gloria and another at the end of the “miserere nobis” in the first Agnus Dei. The new version, austere and meditative, is more of a star. It’s transposed up a minor third, and the two trebles, Janet Coxwell and Amy Haworth, are sensationally bright and clear at the top. They tend to overwhelm the rest of the choir, which may not be to every taste."

 

I have the new version as well. Will have to take a listen when I have a chance. But then again, just got the Missa Corona spinea (thanks ). Will probably listen to that one first.

 

In any case, there are program differences between the two versions as well. The old version has Leroy Kyrie in front, making a complete Mass ordinary, and added the motet Dum Transisset Sabbatum after. The new version leaves out the Kyrie but has 3 Magnificat settings after.

[christopher3393]

christopher3393,

 

Just want to say a 'big thank you' for all these suggestions. You're on my "following' list - I'm getting many of the recordings you have posted. The Stile Antico is good (already have it). Will be getting the Taverner/Western Wind and Byrd.

 

Thank you. It's helpful to know that a few others are interested in this music. Please feel free to post your impressions.

 

I have the new version as well. Will have to take a listen when I have a chance. But then again, just got the Missa Corona spinea (thanks ). Will probably listen to that one first.

 

In any case, there are program differences between the two versions as well. The old version has Leroy Kyrie in front, making a complete Mass ordinary, and added the motet Dum Transisset Sabbatum after. The new version leaves out the Kyrie but has 3 Magnificat settings after.

 

The Leroy Kyrie is impressive too, isn't it? Looking forward to your impressions of the Missa Corona Spinea when you get around to it.

 

Taking a little break from the grand masses. Floating along with these lute fantasies performed very well

 

 

Here is an oft-quoted contemporary account from an occasion when Francesco da Milano was the hired entertainment at a noble banquet:

 

“The tables being cleared, he chose one, and as if tuning his strings, sat on the end of the table seeking out a fantasia. He had barely disturbed the air with three strummed chords when he interrupted the conversation that had started among the guests. Having constrained them to face him, he continued with such ravishing skill that little by little, making the strings languish under his fingers in his sublime way, he transported all those who were listening into so pleasurable a melancholy that—one leaning his head on his hand supported by his elbow, and another sprawling with his limbs in careless deportment, with gaping mouth and more than half-closed eyes, glued (one would judge) to the strings of the lute, and his chin fallen on his breast, concealing his countenance with the saddest taciturnity ever seen—they remained deprived of all senses save that of hearing, as if the spirit, having abandoned all the seats of the senses, had retired to the ears in order to enjoy the more at its ease so ravishing a harmony; and I believe that we would be there still, had he not himself—I know not how—changing his style of playing with a gentle force, returned the spirit and the senses to the place from which he had stolen them, not without leaving as much astonishment in each of us as if we had been elevated by an ecstatic transport of some divine frenzy.”

[Guidof]

 

Bach: Cello Suites. Masterfully played by Pierre Fournier. Now joins my preferred versions of these works, alongside Starker's.

 

Excellent sound from a remastered 24/192 Qobuz download.

[davidbeinct]

[accwai]

[...] The Leroy Kyrie is impressive too, isn't it?

 

Yes, but Dum Transisset Sabbatum is even more so.

 

Looking forward to your impressions of the Missa Corona Spinea when you get around to it.

 

Of course.

 

Taking a little break from the grand masses. Floating along with these lute fantasies performed very well [...] Here is an oft-quoted contemporary account from an occasion when Francesco da Milano was the hired entertainment at a noble banquet: [...]

 

This reminds me, have had Hopkinson Smith's da Milano album for a while. Got to find it in the pile... For now, this will do:

 

Les Baricades Mistérieuses Miguel Yisrael

 

 

The title is from the famous François Couperin keyboard piece, transcribed to lute here:

 

[Kelly]

Groovy.

 

[master]

 

Going back to the roots country album that will make you want to listen to more country music...

 

The vocals are a huge plus and only add to the overall excellence of the album.

[accwai]

Autumn Yearning Fantasia

Li Wei, Song Fei, Lucas Wong

 

 

FIM UDC Ultimate Disc gold CD-R

[christopher3393]

Les Baricades Mistérieuses Miguel Yisrael

 

 

Thanks. Listening now.

 

Francesco Da Milano: Lute Works / Hopkinson Smith

 

Mostly different selections than the Paul O'Dette recording of "Il Divino". Smith has a more delicate, unhurried approach.

 

 

Best description of these compositions I could find:

 

"Francesco’s music still speaks to us after 500 years. Though it can be lively and witty, more than anything it is the serenity and air of contemplation which draws the listener in and creates a unique atmosphere. Apart from intabulations of vocal music and the one “tochata”, all his surviving pieces are designated “Recercar” or “Fantasia”, two terms which were largely interchangeable in the first half of the 16th century, and which are hard to translate into modern musical terminology. Most pieces start with a melodic fragment which is imitated by various voice parts in succession, and may be transformed in the course of the piece. It may be treated in strict canon, or free counterpoint, it may appear in augmentation or diminution. Some pieces are essentially monothematic, crowded with entries of the same subject, often in stretto; others are less densely populated. Pairs of voices often sing duets (see 2, 3, 28) a technique popular with admired composers of the previous generation such as Josquin Desprez. Francesco excels in making vocal counterpoint clear on the lute: he achieves this largely by avoiding dense textures while often implying more parts than are actually present." ---Martin Shepherd

[mkrzych]

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Very good album, but unfortunately very bad mastering and loud on CD - pita!

[davidovada]

Rainy Sunday here in northern Italy. What do do? How about leftover tandoori chicken and this:

 

 

Manu Chao does calypso...really? Great fun.

[davidbeinct]

Very good album, but unfortunately very bad mastering and loud on CD - pita!

I have the vinyl as well as the HDtracks 24/96 download. The record sounds best but unfortunately my turntable is currently out of service. The download, to me, sounds much better than the numbers at the DR database indicate. It's also simply a phenomenal album. Of all classic rockers, Robert Plant has, IMO, aged the most gracefully.

[jiminlogansquare]

Very good album, but unfortunately very bad mastering and loud on CD - pita!

 

I have to agree. This was the very first hi-resolution (24/96 PCM) album I ever purchased or heard, and I was appalled. It sounded like congealed gravy. It made me seriously wonder what the bother was all about. But the songs and the performances are of course outstanding.

[Jud]

I have the vinyl as well as the HDtracks 24/96 download. The record sounds best but unfortunately my turntable is currently out of service. The download, to me, sounds much better than the numbers at the DR database indicate. It's also simply a phenomenal album. Of all classic rockers, Robert Plant has, IMO, aged the most gracefully.

 

I agree with you about the sound of the download. In fact I was listening to Fortune Teller from that album last night thinking how good it sounded.

[master]

All the talk of Robert Plant got me humming Big Log...

 

 

And the album...

 

[davidbeinct]

 

Listening right now now on Tidal. Sounds great. Wonderful set.

[BacHolz]

A well played and artfully recorded release of some uncommon Baroque concerti. Monica Huggett and the Irish Baroque Orchestra on Linn Records.

[davidbeinct]

Another great one from the vault.

[davidbeinct]

My stepdaughter used to call her "the lady with the pretty voice" when she was little.

[master]

 

Reminds you of the Santana of old. One of the best albums in recent times.

[jiminlogansquare]

I agree with you about the sound of the download. In fact I was listening to Fortune Teller from that album last night thinking how good it sounded.

 

After reading this, I started to doubt myself, so I went back and listened to the HDTracks 24/96 download again. I am not afraid to admit I was wrong. I think it was my old equipment that was the problem, that muddied up the sound of this recording for me. I hadn't listened to it in a long time, long enough that, in the interim, I had replaced my DAC with the Bifrost Multibit and added a Regen, and also implemented Dirac DSP. Those changes have enhanced resolving power in my system, and by golly, that's what I heard just now. Much more detail, none of the cloudy funky fuzz that turned me off originally. So, I retract my prior negative evaluation of the sound. It was me, not you, Robert Plant.

[BacHolz]

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My stepdaughter used to call her "the lady with the pretty voice" when she was little.

 

A phenomenal voice indeed and a loving tribute to the artistry of the Canadian songwriters.

[cjf]

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Reminds you of the Santana of old. One of the best albums in recent times.

 

Been meaning to give this one a listen but haven’t done so yet. I'm a big fan of his stuff, especially the Abraxas album on DSD64.

 

Will have to go shopping for "IV" now

[davidbeinct]