I’ve reached disk 7 (43 to go…). And my favourite so far
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Wonderful group of recordings by an extraordinary label and great artists. Picked up the complete set in original format a while back. Some are spellbinding, such as the Marc-André Hamelin recordings. Nice that they’re re-releasing these in a less space-occupying format (no jewel boxes). Love well done RBCD piano concerto recordings.
Tonight get to hear Bojan Čičić perform some Heinrich Ignaz von Biber, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Giovanni Valentini, Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky and Antonio Bertali. Original instruments rarely stay in tune for an entire half of a performance, so looking forward to the imperfections that the Habsburgs must also have heard.
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Enjoy the concert!
Today in the mood for something genuinely baroque:
Christoph Graupner was a German baroque era composer, mainly known for his countless cantatas, and the historical anecdote, that is employer forced him to turn down the job of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, that was instead of him given to Johann Sebastian Bach.
His compositions are less refined and unique than JS Bach´s ones, and at times they rely on repeating harmonic patterns. His sense for melodies, on the other hand, shows the genius, and the concertos on this album sound genuinely like baroque mood in the best sense. Same is true to the instrumentation, in this case particularly the concertos for chalumeaux as solo instrument. These are the only recordings I am aware of, and the instrument, oftentimes referred to as both the predecessor and the lower-tuned brother of the clarinet, sounds really interesting.
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It’s amazing that Mendelssohn composed these 13 string symphonies between the incredibly young ages of 11 and 15.
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Thumbs up for Le Voyage Magnifique, one of my favorite albums.
As mentioned previously, had the opportunity to hear Bojan Čičić lead smaller Lyra Baroque musical forces, (two violins, a violone, two viola da gambas, a theorbo, an organ and a baroque trumpet) in performing mid-baroque pieces. Mr. Čičić was again wondrous, as were Kris Kwapis (valveless baroque trumpet with holes as stops on the lower fold) and Kevin Payne on 14-string theorbo, although the latter was scarcely heard above the other continuo instruments, particularly the violone, with its characteristic graceful growl. A retuning was required between every piece, with the baroque violins falling most out of tune, often during a performance. I wonder if 17th century listeners ever heard entirely in tune pieces? This is the third time I’ve heard a live baroque performance and retuning is the name of the game with original instruments and must take place many times on the amazing recorded performances we have access to. I recall reading about Viktoria Mullova’s frustration with the frequent (almost every 20 min) retuning Kristian Bezuidenhout required on his period and restored forte piano during their Beethoven sonatas recording, which is well worth hearing.
She went on to record the remaining Beethoven sonatas with another artist and Kristian eventually moved on to modern builds based upon period forte pianos.
To me, the highlight of the night was not the Biber performances, rather it was the Giovanni Valentini Sonata à 5, which has not been recorded before. Some impressive tempo changes and movement between different keys. Also enjoyed Antonio Bertali’s Sonata à 5 and Ciaconna. Mr. Čičić has a decided taste for less well-known baroque composers (perhaps to justify recording in the niche), although they were all celebrated in Habsburg Vienna.
A wonderful baroque recorded work featuring Mr. Čičić (as a member of Rachel Podger’s Brecon Baroque all using Baroque instruments) is Bach: Double and Triple Concertos, recorded in 2012 on Channel Classics. Of course, the wonderful Biber Complete violin sonatas recording with the Illyria Consort released last year is also not to be missed. An amazing set of performances by one of my favorite mid-Baroque composers.
Back to the out of doors in a wonderful MN spring morning amid birdsong with wind through newly beleafed tree as continuo.
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It’s rather mind-blowing that he composed the concertos for 2 pianos by the age of 15, and the other works before he was 30.
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Nice! 
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An assortment of my favourite works by English composers (with different performances of some of the same works) and some Dvorak works.
Symphony No. 2
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Have to admit that I rarely listen to a full album of English baroque music, as I perceive it either as too much of a good thing, or overly cliché-laden. This is an exception which I tremendously enjoy over and over again:
Mostly compositions by Henry Purcell, and some of his contemporaries, a pretty unique selection, as they all fall into the meditative and rather elegic category which one would rather associate with some of J.S. Bach´s most spiritual cantata or oratorio arias. No upspeed coloratura here, just slow, beautiful baroque music.
Helen Charlston´s mezzo-soprano is breathtaking in my perception, as she manages to combine a very natural singing, well-integrated coloratura, almost no vibrato, with a truly baroque theatrical expression of affection, if that makes sense. Her mezzo voice can sound dramatic, only when needed, tends to be on the darker side of timbral spectrum, with excellently solid lower registers, which supports the impression of natural singing.
A very unusual album, highly recommended!
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Herbert Blomstedt. Gosh, I’ve been a fan since the first time I attended a performance he was conducting in the very late 1990s; he’s going to be 99 this summer!
Yesterday, 11 May, I viewed the live stream of Blomstedt conducting the Detroit Symphony playing Mahler’s 9th symphony.
Anyway, I just listened to requiem he recorded in 1995 with San Francisco. So so good.
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An enjoyable concert with an audience misadventure. This immediate past weekend (2026.05.10) my beloved and I went to hear Paul Lewis at the Frederic Chopin Society of MN, Mairs Concert Hall, Macalaster College on a beautiful spring day. Having listened to recordings by and knowing he was mentored by Alfred Brendel, I looked forward to some wonderful Mozart piano sonatas. Mr. Lewis, the first non-American pianist to chair the Van Cliburn competition, was performing one of his Mozart + 1 concerts, in this concert + 2 with Mozart followed by Francis Poulenc (Improvisations), then Debussy (L’isle joyous), then, after Intermission, back to Poulenc (Improvisations) and finishing with Mozart’s K. 457 in C minor (one of Beethoven’s favorites). The first was K. 330 in C Major (no. 10), which he performed in a manner distinct from Mr. Brendel and highly gratifying.
There was, during listening, a quiet, but odd intermittent whistling sound throughout the hall. I had initially thought it was a gentleman behind us snoring asthmatically. The audience responded enthusiastically to the Mozart and then Mr. Lewis began playing the first Poulenc Improvisation and had just reached an exquisite passage when he stopped, having heard the odd sound again. He left the stage and explained to the stage manager that he could not go on until this was addressed. 15 min later, someone discretely and without informing anyone, turned their hearing aid off and the show went on. This was a first for us, but it pointed to the senior nature of the audience. I asked my beloved after intermission with a sense of schadenfreude, what’s next, someone’s implanted defibrillator going off? The rest of the concert, though, came off without further audio disturbance and the Poulenc pieces were simply marvelous.
The Debussy fit perfectly with the Poulenc wondrous amuse bouche, as they were heavily influenced by both Liszt and Debussy. I particularly enjoyed Mr. Lewis’ renditions of Poulenc’s “Homage à Édith Piaf” and “Homage à Schubert”, but all 15 were wonderful on their own and had a virtuosic sense of humor. Like seeing/hearing a warbler. Short and sweet bursts. The Mozart no. 14 was superb (I had previewed by listening to versions by Alfred Brendel, Maria Joao Pires, Andras Schiff, Ronald Brautigam and Klara Wurtz). This listening did nothing to dampen by appreciation for Mr. Lewis’ performance, actually enhancing my appreciation of his live performance. He played all the repeats, which I found happily enriching. The encore was, appropriately, given the Poulenc Homage à Schubert and the C minor Mozart sonata, Schubert’s Impromptu in C minor.
Despite the audio misadventure and poignant reminder of the audience’s extensive solar orbiting experience, it was a wonderful listening experience. I so enjoy seeing and hearing musicians making music.
I found that my preview listening significantly deepened my appreciation of Maria João Pires’ DG traversal of these works, recorded at a variety of locations.
For some of the Poulenc Improvisations, can’t go wrong with Pasal Rogé.
For the complete set, have a listen to
BTW, moderator or anyone else, have we lost the ability to reduce the size of posted album cover art images? I seem unable to reduce.
Thank you
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