I’m not often a great fan of English music, after Purcell, but the passing of Sir Andrew Davis reminded me of his lovely account of the Tallis Fantasia.
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As you’ve mentioned Schubert, after a very long and wet winter, we seem to be getting some sunshine.
Is there any better ‘sunshine’ music than this, in a sparkling, period instruments account? There are plenty of excellent ‘Trouts’, but I like the freshness here.
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my Mahler 4’s, plus Kubelik in the complete set. Agree about the Maazel, although I often turn to Tennstedt these days. I have this recording in several different couplings, with the 3rd, 5th, and 8th, depending on how EMI/Warner released them.
the Mehta/Israel Phil is an interesting bit of recording history: the first all digital classical recording to be released, on LP in 1979, if memory serves. I was working at Poplar Tunes in Memphis at the time, and it caused quite a stir when it came out. The performance holds up well.
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I truly love the entire Vaughan Williams cycle with Davis and the BBC SO (originally on Teldec). Critics debate about other cycles but this is fantastic in every way.
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without having heard either one, I would imagine those would be two very different sounding pieces, stylistically.
I am finding myself much of the time on the lookout for new and promising young ensembles, so I was delighted to find under today’s new releases the second album by a wonderful French Piano Trio, the Trio Zeliha, whose first release from 2020 was enthusiastically reviewed by Gramophone…
As a follow-up on the recent discussion on Schubert trio recordings, I wanted to introduce these three young musicians, as on today’s release the Schubert E flat major trio is included. I am greatly enjoying what I am listening…
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We were in the grip of intense auroral activity yesterevening, with the main proton front from the coronal mass ejection earlier this week arriving last night and continuing through the next day or so.
Thank you Andreas for pointing this trio out. This recording is very enjoyable/vivifying. The Brahms pieces are recorded in a piano forward manner (or maybe he’s just that powerful) and thus a bit off balance, but when the pianist is this good, that isn’t a bad thing. The Schubert 100 is a pleasure to hear. I’ll definitely have a listen to the Arensky, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich recording.
I’d be interested in your (and other baroque music lovers) take on the recently released La Serenissima Giuseppe Tartini violin sonatas. I greatly enjoyed the variable use of continuo and found I enjoyed the “other” violin sonatas quite as much as their Devil’s Trill performance.
Thank you @woodford for the pointer (note 2115) to the Sony Eugene Istomin, Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schubert trios. Very easy on the ear. They are superbly balanced, if not most flatteringly recorded. Wonderful to listen to Leonard Rose perform with such august musicians. In reading about Mr. Rose, I found his critical comments/impatience towards wide vibrato as a cover for poor initial fingering/note finding applicable to several well-reviewed contemporary cellists. OTOH, who am I, who relied upon frets for note finding and that not particularly cleanly, to criticize?
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As there aren’t really so many good recordings of Tartini’s sonatas, I welcome new releases. When this recent release came out, I briefly sampled it and didn’t care for the somewhat hollow sound… but this detail of course shouldn’t detract from the playing as such… My favorite of the accompanied Tartini sonatas is Didone Abbandonata, by the way, and this sadly has not been included…
One violinist who can be considered a Tartini specialist is Ćrtomir Šišković from Trieste, Italia… He has recorded several albums with Tartini sonatas, both accompanied and selections from the ‘25 piccole sonate per violino e violoncello e per violino solo’, which apparently have been intended by Tartini to be played solo rather than with b.c.
Šišković is maybe not a musician who cares too much for historically informed playing, but he produces a beautiful violin tone and has his vibrato mostly under control. I think his may be my most favorite Tartini sonata interpretations…
I’ll post just one album, the 2020 release with the second volume of unaccompanied sonatas…
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Thank you for the pointer to this Tartini specialist. Greatly looking forward to hearing his work.
Found a wonderfully singing, if incomplete, Tartini G minor Didone Abbadonata performed by David Oistrakh accompanied by Frieda Bauer. Nothing period instrument about it. Just superb playing. I hadn’t known that Tartini was the first renowned performer to use a Stradivarius violin (now the Lipinski violin). This from a Listeners’ Club article by Timothy Judd.
From there to the Palladians period ensemble performance. Quite distinct from the David Oistrakh version, but again superb. Toss up on which I prefer. Definitely curious about which ensemble Dido recording you favor. Love a good Carthaginian-themed piece.
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This album sadly isn’t available to me…
Here’s a beautifully singing if somewhat romanticized rendition with Fabio Biondi as soloist; in fact, the entire album is a very worthwhile listen…
Love the Palladians!!
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Giuseppe Tartini’s “Didone abbandonata” presto on this recording with Mr. Biondi playing the ‘Tuscan’ Stradivari is outstanding. The whole recording does indeed sing and beautifully.
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Today I mentioned the violinist Črtomir Šišković, who was born in Trieste, but clearly into a Slovenian family. For many years, he was the first violin of the Slovenian Tartini string quartet, who on this album come together with the violinist Franco Gulli (also born in Trieste, 1926–2001) and his wife Enrica Cavallo (1921–207). Franco Gulli made himself known as the first modern interpreter of Paganini’s violin concerto no. 5, after it had been rediscovered in the 1950s…
Here you can find a splendid interpretation of Ernest Chausson’s piano sextet, which because of its important virtuoso solo parts for one violin and piano is more like a concerto or concerto grosso even, with the string quartet assuming the ripieno part. I find the music lovely, sensual, quite intense… I remember having read somewhere that Ysaÿe took on the violin solo part for the work’s premiere…
I would love to know when this was recorded; the album was released in 2001, the year of Gulli’s passing…
Edit: Through the very kind help of a friend I have been able to learn that the Chausson concerto on this album was recorded 16-18/06/1997 at Radio Slovenia in Ljubljana. The string quartet was recorded some months later at the same place, 23-25/02/1998.
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Thank you @Andreas_Philipp1. I enjoyed Trio Zeliha very much this Sunday morning. The Mirare website unfortunately displays the bio of Trio Wanderer at Trio Zeliha - Mirare but found a bio at Trio Zeliha - BeauSoir Productions (en français).
It is really a delightful recording.
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Great you enjoyed the album Nathan! Have a nice Sunday!
I just looked this up… what a sad error… a disservice to these young musicians… Thanks for the link of their French agents… managed by Renaud Capuçon…
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Thanks so much for introducing us to this phenomenal trio. The Schubert is up with Beaux Arts and Wanderer while everything else on both of their recordings to date is also delightful.
I can’t wait for them to record the other Schubert piano trio (Opus 99).
Please keep us up to date with other discoveries of this quality.
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If you like that you might like this one…
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Thank you, I’ll give it a listen later on tonight.