The Classical Music Guide Forums

Ted Quanrud

Robert Mann, the founding and for more than a half-century the lead violinist of the Julliard String Quartet, died Monday at his Manhattan home at 97;. Here's the NYT obituary: Robert Mann, a Founder of the Juilliard Quartet, Dies at 97 By MARGALIT FOX Robert Mann, the founding first violinist of th...

Ted Quanrud

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61UD4jpZWcL._SS500.jpg The earlier version of Bach's well-known Magnificat in D. It includes four Christmas interpolations, known as "laudes" and has been recorded before, most notably last year by John Butt's Dunedin Consort. This new CD, IMO, is pr...

Ted Quanrud

Hi Belle -- Agree completely with jbuck and I too thank you for that link -- a splendid presentation. Monteverdi's operas have been among my favorites since Nikolaus Harnoncourt recorded themon the old Telefunken label back in the 70s. Tomorrow, I leave for Chicago to hear John Eliot Gardiner and hi...

Ted Quanrud

Hi Dulcinea -- It depends on one's understanding of "mythology." Many believe the Judeo-Christian scriptures to be as mythological as the Bhagavad-Gita or the Elder Edda. Certainly classical mythology has long played a role in classical music --the French baroque composers has a field day with the c...

Ted Quanrud

The renowned New Zealand soprano, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, has announced that she is through singing in public.

Here is a fine account from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/ ... ade-career

Ted Quanrud

Sony has issued a deluxe set of Glenn Gould's 1955 recording of the Goldbergs. Five CDs are devoted to every single session take of each variation (18 takes of Variation 12). One CD is devoted to the final result and another CD to an interview of Gould with critic Tim Page.The original LP is reprodu...

Ted Quanrud

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/712yng7R5vL._SL1417_.jpg Vol. 72 of the Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto Series is devoted to works of Cipriani Potter, a now-largely forgotten figure, but once a leading light in British music in the first half of the 19th Century. A renowned pianis...

Ted Quanrud

Nelson Freire made his recording debut in 1967 with Brahms' F minor sonata. Now--50 years later--he has returned to it with this beautifully performed and recorded CD. The accompanying shorter pieces are also very fine.

Ted Quanrud

Recently issued to commemorate the completion of Suzuki and the BCJ's recording of the Bach cantatas. Predictably excellent performances of three cantatas, plus interviews with Suzuki and other participating musicians.

Ted Quanrud

My sympathies, Belle, and my thanks to you for providing this sad information. I am re-programming my radio show for tonight to include a recording by Ernst Ottensamer.

Ted Quanrud

Thanks for the alert, Len. I would have missed it otherwise, but instead had an enjoyable Sunday afternoon watching and listening to it.

Ted Quanrud

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81O5jqg0ggL._SL1400_.jpg The entire Karajan Ring on a single Blu-ray disc. It will never be my favorite Ring, but it certainly has its moments. The accompanying hardcover book is well done, although some of the included photos are unintentionally fun...

Ted Quanrud

Hi David --

Keeping in mind my preference for period instruments, I also recommend the Hogwood set, aswell as this fine set from Pinnock.

Ted Quanrud

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61a6m98nG0L._SL1207_.jpg I was in the audience when this live recording was made, so it is a nice souvenir of a wonderful week in Chicago. Beyond that, it is a fine Bruckner 9th. Not my favorite (Haitink, Abbado, Karajan take the palm for me) but ver...

Ted Quanrud

There are some things about the great conductor I would rather not know.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/book ... ries-below

Ted Quanrud

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91xTdUByFDL._SL1500_.jpg This 2-CD set marks the completion of cpo's effort to record all of Johannes Brahms 200-plus lieder. Like the preceding 9 volumes it is a worthy effort. Soprano Juliane Banse won't erase memories of Ameling, Schwarzkopf and L...

Ted Quanrud

Happy (belated) Birthday, Lance. May you have many more filled with music.

Ted Quanrud

Thanks, Lance; I will keep my eye out for it. I see it runs about $42 on Amazon UK.

Ted Quanrud

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71JCl5qwJLL._SL1200_.jpg I have assiduously collected Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series since it began in 1991, and for the most part enjoyed the individual releases. Volume 71 is an exception. Despite Howard Shelley's ardent and skillful adv...

Ted Quanrud

I already have my tickets for Oct. 12-15 when Sir John Eliot Gardiner brings his Monteverdi Choir and other forces to the Harris Theater in Chicago for all three Monteverdi operas. As a sort of counterbalance, I will be back in Chicago the following month for two performances of Die Walkure at the L...

Ted Quanrud

I sincerely hope this performance was recorded and will be available on DVD or for broadcast. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/14/arts/music/rosenkavalier-renee-fleming-met.html?&target=comments&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&modref=HPCommentsRefer&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-regi...

Ted Quanrud

Composer Du Yun has won the Pulitzer Prize for music for her opera "Angel's Bone."

http://wbaa.org/post/du-yuns-angels-bon ... c#stream/0

Ted Quanrud

Hi Maestro -- There are several fine Sibelius symphony cycles in modern sound. For reasons I don't understand the British have proven to be champions of the Finnish composer. Colin Davis has recorded the cycle at least three times (all very fine). Then there are Beecham and Barbirolli. For me, as I ...

Ted Quanrud

The Berlin Philharmonic has announced the death of its former and long-time concertmaster,Thomas Brandis: The violinist Thomas Brandis earned the highest of reputations as 1st concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker, a soloist and as a chamber musician. On 30 March, he died at the age of 81. Bo...

Ted Quanrud

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71AFWXePzqL._SL1200_.jpg Volume 70 of Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series. No Beethoven 4th or Brahms 1st here, but three previously unknown works, enjoyable in beautifully played and recorded performances. Volume 71, devoted to concertos by Ca...

Ted Quanrud

Hi Len --

Hyperion has served Bortkiewicz rather well. Stephen Coombs has recorded a double album (2 for the price of 1) of solo piano music, as well as the composer's piano concerto. Martyn Brabbins has recorded the Symphonies 1 & 2. I recommend all of them.

Ted Quanrud

Vision problems have somewhat curtailed my piano practice lately but upcoming cataract surgery might help. Once the weather warms up (this is the Mid-Hudson Valley) I will resume work on my harpsichord project (I do the spray painting out in the garage). Hope and prayers the surgery goes well. Woul...

Ted Quanrud

Vision problems have somewhat curtailed my piano practice lately but upcoming cataract surgery might help. Once the weather warms up (this is the Mid-Hudson Valley) I will resume work on my harpsichord project (I do the spray painting out in the garage). Hope and prayers the surgery goes well. Woul...

Ted Quanrud

Hi Lance -- Opportunities for live classical music in the middle of North Dakota are exceedingly rare. I just returned from L.A. where I heard the Philharmonic with Helene Grimaud in the Brahms 1st Concerto and then the following night the Venice Baroque in a program of Vivaldi, Geminiani, Galuppi a...

Ted Quanrud

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is bringing his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists to the US in October for performances of Monteverdi's Orfeo, Il Ritorno di Ulisse and Incoronazione di Poppaea. The tour opens at Chicago's Harris Theater and then moves to Lincoln Center. I just scored good ticket...

Ted Quanrud

Good news, I think, for New York; less so for Los Angeles:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/arts ... v=top-news

Ted Quanrud

Hi Lance -- I think people in more southern climes don't understand the joy of "snow days." Earlier this year, I was snow-blocked in my house for four days, but I had a well-stocked larder, liquor cabinet and wine cellar, thousands of CDs and books, a happy little cat and a comfy chair. I almost res...

Ted Quanrud

Dutch fortepianist Ronald Brautigam has completed his survey of the complete piano works of Beethoven. Devoted mostly to the Diabelli Variations, this new CD upholds the excellence of previous volumes.

Ted Quanrud

If I had to live with just two recordings of "Parsifal," Karajan's would be one of them - the most beautiful "Parsifal" I've ever heard. The other would be the Philips recording from Bayreuth 1962 conducted by Knappertsbusch, the most profound. This not just in the conducting but the singing, in bo...

Ted Quanrud

Here is Kurt Moll in one of his finest roles -- the Commendatore -- in what has to be one of the finest opera stagings ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK1_vm0FMAU

Ted Quanrud

Henry-Louis de la Grange, whose obsession with Gustav Mahler led him to write a 3,600-page biography of the composer, has died at the age of 92. Here's a link to the NYT obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/books/henry-louis-de-la-grange-dead-mahler-biographer.html?hpw&rref=obituaries&action...

Ted Quanrud

Thanks for posting this, Belle. It is indeed "slightly disturbing."

Ted Quanrud

The conclusion of The Cardinall's Musick survey of the complete sacred music of Thomas Tallis. Of special interest is the motet "Sing and Glory," with an English test set to the Tallis's magnificent 40-part "Spem in alium."

Ted Quanrud

I too support Lance's recommendation. I've usually found Leinsdorf to be a dependably pedestrian conductor, but somehow this particular work really lit his fire. Also on Testment is a wonderful recording by Rafael Kubelik. Then there is the 7-CD set of Schubert sacred works by Wolfgang Sawallisch. S...

Ted Quanrud

Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), a leading composer and keyboard performer of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras.

Ted Quanrud

A well-written obituary in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/arts ... ottom-well

Ted Quanrud

Happy Birthday, Donald, with best wishes for many, many more!

Ted Quanrud

Hi Garrett --

Agree completely with maestrob's recommendations and would add this superb performance by Minoru Kojima which has long been highly regarded by critics and audiophiles.

Ted Quanrud

A happy and music-filled New Year to all!

Ted Quanrud

Maestrob asked "(...and what's that American eagle doing on the cover......?)"

The beak is the wrong color, but otherwise the coloration is close to that of the European version of the Golden Eagle which is found in the Alps

Ted Quanrud

It's that time of year again when we look on the past 12 months and recall those who have died and have contributed to our enthusiasm for classical music. This is a much-pruned list from Wikipedia. Please feel free to add to it. January 1: Gilbert Kaplan, American businessman and amateur conductor o...

Ted Quanrud

My first Barbirolli recording, a superb 1967 Eroica, recommended by Stereo Review, made me an admirer of Sir.John. Several years later, I bought his unsurpassed 1962 Tallis Fantasia (a desert island choice if there ever was one). It confirmed for me that he was a truly great conductor. This Dec. 19,...

Ted Quanrud

Our local library holds two used book/record sales every year to raise money for various special projects, most especially our splendid children's library. The Friends of the Library, who unbox and sort the books and who man the cash register, are given a three-hour pre-sale opportunity to stock up....

Ted Quanrud

Leave for Chicago in three days with tickets for Rheingold on the 9th and again on the 13th. Will report when I get back.

Ted Quanrud

I have many of the Romantic Piano Concerto series, but it runs to dozens and dozens, and I'm not sure I'll embark on this series. Ted and Lance, what are the Mozart fils concertos like? Worth hearing? I have one work by him, a Diabelli variations entry on the marvellous double CD set by Demus. Hi B...

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