The Classical Music Guide Forums

barney

Yes, it seems even he has his limits. Unlike Trump.

barney

This is what happens when you tell the Emperor that he has no clothes. :mrgreen: The Republican Party is self-destructing before our very eyes. Democrats should just get out of the way and let it happen. Thank God for the state-level Republican election officials, governors, etc. They are the true ...

barney

Well you've certainly put the work in. One thing I might do over Christmas is check the Grumiaux/Concertgebouw/Davis with the one that says on the cover Grumiaux/Concertgebouw/Haitink and see if they are identical. That would be powerful proof that you are right. But, looking at discogs, it says Dav...

barney

no end to Trump's grubbiness.

barney

Yes, Henry, even I read it despite my disdain for Christmas compilations. Well done indeed, very thorough. Mind you, I still wouldn't want most of them, but we're all allowed our preferences. :D Nowhere do you see recording artists dialing in performances for cash more apparently than with Christma...

barney

Actually, Brian, it was four recordings for Grumiaux - you overlooked the Van Beinum I mentioned. But yes, it is something of a tribute, I agree.

barney

Some times it needs something like that imaginative leap to get the point across. Morally, they are zombies, as she outlines. We seem to have imported from the US a witless movement called Sovereign Citizens, who owe no one any responsibilities or duties, yet greedily and selfishly grasp to themselv...

barney

Yes, Henry, even I read it despite my disdain for Christmas compilations. Well done indeed, very thorough. Mind you, I still wouldn't want most of them, but we're all allowed our preferences.

barney

PS. Brian, to be sure, I actually went and got the CD off my shelf, and it is definitely the concerto with Haitink. And the two Romances are there too.

barney

There have been lots of excellent recordings in recent years, to the list above I would suggest: Batiashvili (directing as well) Faust/Abbado (or Bĕlohlávek) Jansen/Järvi Kopatchinskaja/Herreweghe (a typically questioning Pat Kop performance) Mullova/Gardiner Tetzlaff/Zinman If I may, Mike, I belie...

barney

Do it. Do it. Do it.
Then, of course, pardon him.

barney

slimeball president, slimeball followers.

barney

Thanks for all that work, both Brian and John

barney

Heard her new Beethoven VC per local FM radio.You may of course disagree, but I found her sound, attack, approach too thin and delicate, almost pre- Beethoven in some respects, for my taste. While I do not enjoy overly Romanticized readings, eg. my Perlman/Giulini/Philhrmonia, my ideal is aristocra...

barney

It was released late last month, so it should be available. Perhaps send an email to Readings, a big Melbourne retailer, which is on that website I linked to.

barney

No, Brian, you are right. Many Americans regard the Australian system as "socialised medicine" - a meaningless epithet, in my view. There's nothing Marxist about it, any more than there is about taxes generally.

barney

I hope you KNOW, Barney, that I was pulling your leg on that post! It is the other side of my usually conservative side! (Some people might heartily disagree with that "conservatism" though!) Great artists, undeniably, Lance. But why would I listen to them doing crossover when I can hear them in th...

barney

I can heartily recommend a CD that just came to me, A Baroque Christmas by the Australian Chamber Choir, a "pick of the pops from the late 1400s to the end of the Baroque period". 17 tracks from live concerts. Starts with des Pres via the likes of Pretorious, Sweelink, Scheidt, Victoria, Gabrieli. I...

barney

Thanks for that Brian - very intrepid of you.

barney

Our Medicare system, like yours, comes from our taxes and comes with some good perks. These include free doctors visits and hospital care though for the latter you go onto a waiting list which can be long. Private health cover significantly speeds up that process. My health cover includes a proport...

barney

John, I wrote to Cyrus Meher-Homji, who heads Eloquence with your suggestion. This was his reply: Hi Barney Thanks for writing. We’re doing American Decca recordings, not American Capitol recordings so the Hollywoods can’t be included. I’m not even sure we own them. All best Cyrus So, for me, a big ...

barney

My private healthcare (top level hospital and rehab, no extras because I just don't think it's worth it) costs about $A350 ($US260) a month. I've spent tens of thousands of dollars over several decades, and never once claimed - but that is a cause for celebration rather than the reverse. It seems yo...

barney

Not that the Times is flawless of course, and I was very disturbed at the sacking of the opinion editor after some staff rebelled about the Cotton oped. That disturbed me as well. The Times' explanation said that the Cotton piece shouldn't have run because it didn't meet their "standards," but they...

barney

Last night, I watched an interview on 60 Minutes of Christopher Krebs, the Homeland Security official who was fired by Trump for saying that the 2020 election was the most secure in history. He is described as a life-long Republican. After watching that interview, I had one reaction--Biden should h...

barney

Very cogently argued.

barney

That's fair enough, Holden, it seems entirely rational. For myself, I connected to NBN three or four years ago (whenever it was first rolled out in Melbourne). The price was a little better and the speed for me tripled, from an average of 17mbs to 55. That's on the internet speed test; of course thi...

barney

Yes indeed, John, I'd love to see a Hollywood Quartet collection.
I will suggest it to Decca Eloquence in Australia.

barney

When I comment on sites like the Spectator, no one but me has a good word for the NYTimes. "Fake news", "they make it up". But when challenged to give an example, no one ever provides one. It's just an ideological mantra to explain away inconvenient truths. Not that the Times is flawless of course, ...

barney

I have bundled all my phone/internet with one provider. I pay (from memory) $80 a month for unlimited cable internet, $5 a month for a landline (but overseas calls, if I made any, would be extra), and $30 a month each for my wife and myself for our mobile phones - unlimited calls and texts within Au...

barney

I find these stories very encouraging, that there are ordinary Americans standing up for what they know is right and for their conscience, sometimes under considerable pressure. None more outstanding than the Georgia secretary of state, who will probably lose as a result in two years. But these peop...

barney

Great stuff. Thanks for copying all that out, most entertaining.

barney

Indeed, it is a delicious irony. Thank you Donald, you corrupt imbecile.

barney

I don't have a landline any more. I have no objections to them, but four years ago the puppy chewed through the wires, and I found I never missed it. I still pay $5 a month for the privilege of having it though.

barney

Understand completely. Each to his own. I well remember the Eileen Farrell Columbia Christmas album and told her I had and enjoyed. Her response: "Oh, THAT thing!" But she was a crossover artist as well, as you know. A very dedicated singer. And then there was Ernestine Schumann-Heink who made thos...

barney

I have only one at present, the Trifonov. But I did have the immense good fortune to be present in Chicago on the opening night of their season when they played the Babi Yar symphony. Simply sensational. The stranger in the seat next to me observed that when Muti had had enough applause he would wag...

barney

Interesting, Lance - I am the opposite. Christmas music, to me - unless it is by the likes of Handel or Bach - is trite and sentimental, especially the Christmas compilations stars like Kaufmann put out. I haven't seen what's on the Kaufmann but I suspect it's similar. Mostly I dislike great voices ...

barney

I tell you, Darwinian evolution will apply here.

barney

That's a fascinating point, Len. And you can be pretty sure Trump never thought of that.

barney

How about, "is there anything I can do to help?"

barney

Good spot, Brian! I certainly didn't know. I'd hate to try to slide a factual error past you when it comes to singers. Thanks for your thanksgiving wishes. Indeed, I give thanks every day - I think gratitude is at the core of religion. But I was remiss not to wish Happy Thanksgiving to all my Americ...

barney

Excellent research, Brian, thank you - especially given the parlous state of my memory.

barney

Who cares? The overeducated SOB will soon be history. Gotta admit I do. As for him becoming history maybe not so fast as you and I would like. Regards, Len [lock him up, lock him up, lock him up] He’s not going to become history while everyone keeps talking about him. What’s that old saying? “Even ...

barney

Kempff is probably one of my all-time top five favourite pianists. I'd be sorely tempted by this if I didn't already have at least 50 of the CDs. As it is, probably not.

barney

I've heard Ohlsson live many times, in concertos and recitals, in Australia and the US. I think he is a superlative player, with wonderful stage presence. I reckon he'd be a great dinner guest - see if you can set that up Lance for the next time I'm in New York.

barney

Nothing like a good laugh, as we all agree (though not all the below is funny). I was going through an old file on my computer and came across this, which I am happy to share. I don't seem to have kept a record of its provenance. If you can't read it all, don't miss the last para. By ANDREW GUMBEL R...

barney

My father, a conductor himself, thought Szell the finest conductor he had heard. I remember him pointing out to me a recording of Szell conducting some Gershwin (I got Rhythm?) and getting some tricky timing/phrasing perfect that he said most conductors didn't even attempt.

barney

I'm planning to take it. I have some comorbidities, which my wife does not, and at this stage she does not plan to take it.

barney

Absolutely right, Brian

barney

Thanks for that Brian. Actually, it's fascinating how much of an official, bureaucratic letter is given to self exculpation and justification. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

barney

What does he mean by Dominion, Joseph? Is this a new conspiracy theory like QAnon that I haven't caught up with?

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