Baroque recommendations

Instruments of the Elizabethan period or the Nick Drake period? (insert emoticon here)

Ain't music a strange cove? I often enjoy cover versions of great songs.

By the time I got to the sample of 'Place to Be' I wanted to shoot the guy.

An abomination.

John.

John,  Its a good job we don't all like the same things.

Oh Fred, you little scallywag.

I bought the Alan Pasqua album you recommended a few weeks back.  Very enjoyable, as most of your recommendations are.  Do try and get hold of the von Otter Handel.  Its really a bit special (IMHO).

How true, but if you wanted to destroy the inner most soul of Nick Drake's songs then Mr Frederiksen has been successful.

I've loved Nick Drakes music for 30 plus years.  Hearing a new interpretation, done in an interesting way(quite faithfully to the originals), is refreshing.  The Frederiksen has a fine bass voice, not a range I generally like, but in this case I really enjoy his singing.  Maybe his voice contrasts to starkly, to some, with Nicks tenor, breathy tones. 

For me Nick's music always had an ancient and other-worldly feel to it, and the comparison between them, and the Elizabethan songs, brings this out.  

Feel free to not like the interpretations, but "destroying the inner most soul of the songs" sounds a bit precious don't you think.

Hi Colin,

Maybe it's the relatively confident sounding bass voice of Joel Frederiksen which principally destroys the soul of the music for me. There is a fragile vulnerability to Nick Drake's vocal delivery which I find so emotive and touching.

And of course that unique and apparently simple sounding guitar style which nobody, then or since, has been able to replicate convincingly.

But hey; logic doesn't apply. Music is all about personal connection and passion. It's the reason those nice people at Naim keep making us part with our money.

Good listening.

John.

John,

I understand its sometimes hard to accept when someone takes music you've loved for a long time, and changes it.  If someone took Nick's songs and added a back-beat and up-tempo'd them ...that I couldnt stand.

Nick's guitar style was singular and defined the feel of so many of his songs.  I thought the period instruments captured much of that.

Each to their own.  I guess I'm lucky as I enjoy the original, and the tribute.

Regards

Baroque forms the largest part of my music collection, and this album always seem to find its way to the top :

Hélène Plouffe : Viola d'amore : works by Telemann, Biber, Graupner, Bach, Milandre and Petzold.

From the artist :

Why record an album on viola d’amore?

Within the specialty of performing early music on violin and viola, the viola d’amore is yet another sub-specialty. I do not get the chance to play this magnificent instrument professionally nearly as often as I would like, so I was thrilled when Analekta gave me the opportunity to share my love of this repertoire with you. When I hear the harmonic splendour of the viola d’amore resonating beside my ear, I am transported into a whole other soundscape.)

The performances are inspired and the recording of very good quality. The hi-res FLAC (88,2/24 bit) version can be downloaded from the Analekta site, for a reasonable CDN $ 14.99.

http://www.analekta.com/en/alb...re-petzold.1587.html

(CD on Amazon)

Enjoy !

Jan

@Jan,

You sold it well, so downloaded, thanks.  Funny, I've just bought Bach's Six Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin by James Ehnes from Analekta. Wonderful.

@Colin,

Thanks for the Anne-Sofie von Otter suggestion. I'll try to find the original '94 CD, or else there's the reissue from ArkivMusic.

ATB

Maurice

I can endorse at least one of the recommendations (haven't heard the other): Marian Cantatas is one of Anne Sofie von Otter's finest discs. She was vocally at her absolute best in the early 90s.

Cheers,

EJ

James Ehnes' playing is indeed wonderful, as is the recording.

Another favourite here is Anne Gastinel's Bach's Cello Suites. She plays on a Testore cello from 1690 ; the tone of the instrument and her symbiosis with it is soul moving.  I can't say it any better than the review on the All Music site (link below) - the recording quality is good too :

http://www.allmusic.com/album/...-suites-mw0001574494

Baroque recommendation: Try Simone Kermes. Great voice and interpretation style.

Thank you Jan, I'll check that. I had hoped to find it as a hi-res download on Qobuz, but no luck.

Being no classical music specialist at all, I don't know if I'm entitled to any kind of recommendation whatsoever, but I've discovered this album by chance while listening to the public radio and I find it absolutely marvelous:

Philipp Einrich Erlebach, Süsse Freundschaft, edles Band

Capricornus Consort Basel, Miriam Feuersinger (soprano), Franz Vitzthum (countertenor)

Christophorus 2012

Christophorus is a german classical label and this album seems not readily available except from amazon.de, where you can listen to some extracts.

It might come later to amazon.ca or Archambault as I've noticed other Christophorus releases on these sites.

Thanks Maurice, that's a new one for me, as I know neither the composer, the performers, or the label ! I would buy it just for the cover art alone. Will give it a listen shortly.

Jan

@Jan,

Nice photo, isn't it ? Hope you'll like the music as well. And that's going to be a hard job for the Serve, as the album has very few information on AMG (but at least does it show up).

@Bert,

Ha ! Now that's my main problem with classical music: not only does one have to choose amongst the myriad of works, but one also has to choose among the numerous interpretations ! (And now one must carefully review the sound quality of the various pressings too, as the remastering fave has come to this genre, with the sometimes dreadful consequences that we've learned to know form pop/rock/etc., then jazz.)

I'll stick to James Ehnes for now, if you don't mind. I've only listened to it once !

To Colin : Thanks for starting this thread ! A great idea.

To Maurice : Just in case you missed it, the PDF of the CD booklet for Viola d'amore is available on the Analekta website ; they're one of the few labels to provide the full booklets.

Jan

Yes, I got it Jan, thank you. (I was a bit surprised to have no cover picture included in the download, so I went back to the site to look for one and found the booklet instead.)

Well, for The Four Seasons, long before the HIPP nonsense got going, the Loveday/ASMF/Marriner (Decca/Argo) takes some beating. (Apparently, this recording was made in virtually single takes following an unsuccessful morning session, after which the players went out for a liquid lunch!)

Some good stuff to catch up on.  Thanks guys.  And another Bach Cello Suites too to go with the three I already have 

Thanks Graham, that sounds enticing. My reference for the Four Seasons is this one by the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble. It's a little unusual, but highly evocative of the seasons. Their take on Winter in particular is stunning in its sparseness. The playing always captivates despite repeated listening and the BIS recording is up to their usual high standard :

@Graham,

Err... HIPP ? Would you mind explain ?

As for the Four Seasons, I'd like to hear the version by Il Giardino Harmonico, because I quite like what Luca Pianca does.

Speaking of whom, I like this one, which was recorded in a small church not far from where I live:

Francesco Geminiani, Sonates pour violoncelle avec la basse continue

Bruno Cocset, Luca Pianca & Les Basses Réunies

Alpha, 2008

Looks interesting Maurice. I discovered Bruno Cocset's work in Barrière's cello sonatas (this was playing in a record store in Lyon and stopped me in my tracks... I miss France )

This one I feel confident to recommend:

Handel, Organ Concertos op. IV

Lorenzo Ghielmi & La Divina Armonia

Passacaille, Musica Vera, 2007

Lorenzo Ghielmi is a keyboardist from Milan (I think). He plays all sorts of old keyboard instruments, among them organ and harpsichord. He's the brother of Vittorio Ghielmi, a very talented viola da gamba player.

I came to know about this album when I met Jean-Daniel Noir, a sound engineer I visited to listen to some Totem speakers a few years ago. The man is very interesting and is gifted with many talents. Not only does he play violin, but he's also a musical director and a music teacher, and a very good sound engineer.

His approach to baroque music is apparently different from a general accepted view, although I'm not erudite enough on this matter to repeat accurately what he explained to me. His musical direction is oriented towards a very good articulation, and this makes for a very pleasant and dynamic playing. Vittorio Ghelmi and Luca Pianca use to repeat with him. His recordings reflect this philosophy, are at the same time natural and dynamic, and I think if you like the Naim sound you'll probably like his recordings.

There are 5 organ concertos in this album, and a 6th one which is a concerto for harp and lute, featuring Margrett Köll and Luca Pianca. For this last piece alone, this record is a must.

I'd be glad if people who are classical musicians (George ? Max ?), or very fine connoisseurs of baroque music could listen to this album. I'd be curious to know what they think about the playing and the recording.