Musicophile

I agree with what was said about Ballet (not my favorite art form, but it is clearly also a visual art) and partially for opera. But for a symphonic or soloist performance the visual information is much less relevant at least to me.

I just signed up again to the BPO digital concert hall that I had stopped subscribing to a while ago. Right now I’m just browsing through the back catalog while waiting for Petrenko to start his inaugural concert. While skipping through some of the content I’m just wondering what you think, is the addition of video to the music experience a real added value? The more I’m browsing the more I notice that I find the video stream more distracting than anything else. Particularly given that the DCH video team really loves closeups. What do you think? Is classical music streaming better with video?

Unfortunately not in person, but I didn't want to miss this historic moment, so I renewed my Digital Concert Hall subscription to be watching Petrenko's official debut at the BPO tonight live: https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/52428

Vegetarians are still a very rare breed in France and I doubt many French beyond Brigitte Bardot would be offended by this material. And I agree the photographer is good. Magnum still is a gauge of quality in most instances.

Looks like it. The photo is from a series of pictures from Morocco in the 1980s by Magnum photographer Bruno Barbey. The booklet doesn’t specify why it was selected.

No. 4 & 5 tonight.

Another recent Qobuz sale purchase: Redbook download of year 2000 digital recording. I clearly didn’t need yet another Goldberg recording to add to my long list but I have a great respect for Céline Frisch and at €4 this was a no brainer. On top of the regular Goldberg recording you get on a “2nd CD” Café Zimmermann playing some inprovisations on the Goldbergs. Not 100% my cup of tea but interesting nevertheless.

Igor Levit playing Beethoven sonatas at the Lucerne festival. Should give a good taste of his full Beethoven cycle to be released on record shortly (can’t wait).

Perfect music enjoying a sunny Sunday morning on the terrace with my semi-mobile kit (streaming Qobuz 24/96 on my MacBook, A+ playing via Dragonfly Red to my Beyer T90.)

Another legendary Chopin Classic that I upgraded from redbook to the DG 24/96 (together with Argerich’s recording of no. 1) during the current Qobuz summer sale. €8.99 wasn’t particularly cheap for an album on sale but It’s worth having the best possible version of this classic. And it does sound quite decent for a 1980 DG recording with a DR of 13-16. I keep going back and forth whether I prefer the older Giulini version or the “newer” Polish festival recording of Zimerman, but in the end why choose? Just get both (plus Argerich).

Mahler really seems to be a composer where the concept of an “objectively good” interpretation is even more tricky than for let’s say Mozart or Beethoven. There seems to be quite different things long how Mahler should sound like (as witnessed already by Mahler and Klemperer who both had worked with the composer himself at some point). So the only conclusion can be: YMMV.

Who would have thought I'd one day write such a negative review of a Vänskä / Minnesota recording - a combination I typically really love. But at least, my double feature review proposes a better alternative: https://musicophilesblog.com/2019/08/15/a-review-of-two-recent-recordings-of-mahler-1-by-vanska-and-roth/

In-flight entertainment of the day. Devielhe’s voice is just lovely.

Got this full 8CD box of the recent complete Beethoven cycle from Qobuz sale for €24 in 24/96. A true bargain. Won’ replace the remastered Takacs box as my personal reference but it is of very high quality throughout. And one can never have too many Beethoven quartet recordings.

In A Sentimental Mood is fantastic. I still have the CD rip.