# Your 2017 Musical Year in Review



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I know there is still some time left in 2017, but I thought a thread like this could be started now and would be fun and illuminating.

What music really colored your year? Perhaps new discoveries, or re-discovered old favorites. 

What realizations or insights did you have this year? 

Any books related to music that you read? Performances you attended? Concerts or recitals you performed in?

How has your experience been on Talk Classical?

:tiphat:


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Well done sir, you beat me to this. I was considering starting a similar thread.

In the listening sphere... Among other things I discovered the piano music of Louis Andriessen, which I'd never heard before. Also I learned to enjoy three composers whose work previously never held any particular interest for me: Arnold Bax, Vaughan-Williams and Schubert.

A couple of music-related books I read: French Cultural Politics and Music - Jane Fulcher (it was okay, some interesting detail). The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss (essays). Took me ages between reading other things. Hindemith's book on traditional harmony (I was reading this from the beginning of the year...so ages).

Attended a few performances; including many from the Festival of Old Music (Festival Oud Muziek). Some premières of up-and-coming composers at the conservatory. My last of the year will be on the 14th of this month when I see a performance of Bartók's _Kossuth_, and Shostakovich's 4th symphony.

I've played in two performances this year. A performance of Mozart's Salzburger minuets for flute and piano (from an old edition when the K number was 65). Also a not-very-good performance of the _Andante_ from Harald Genzmer's sonata for two flutes. I should have worn a disguise for that performance.

On Talk Classical, I have come across lots of well-informed people, rather passionate about music. It has helped me accrue many infractions.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Spotify sums it up for me, with most played artists and tracks. Winner 2016 was Richard Egarr, haven't seen this years list and I don't remember much, except for hearing way too much music. Maybe I'll get a medal for hearing most styles of music...All the historic classical styles, metal, world music, soul and disco...I played my first recital in a pub in November so I heard myself a bit (not enough though...) in Spanish and Latin-American guitarmusic. It was a success and I'll play there again, hopefully a "heavier" program, meaning Bach and contemporary.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Highlights of my musical year
Concerts
Mahler 5 Petrenko RLPO
Beethoven Emperor Concerto Perahia ASMF
The Mahler showed the RLPO off to great effect. Petrenko has them playing at the top of their game, with tears streaming down my wife's face in the adagietto. (She is no great Mahler fan, but confessed to loving the whole symphony)
Perahia gave us a typical unshowy performance of the Beethoven. He let the piano do the talking with the ASMF responding to his lead.
Music
It has been a mixture of American and Russian for me in 2017 with a little help from suggestions by the folks here at TC
Samuel Barber has given me most pleasure in particular the Violin Concerto, Cello Concerto and orchestral pieces such as Knoxville summer of 1915
The Russian stuff includes a stunning cycle of Tchaikovsky Symphonies from Petrenko and Borodin Sympnies
Work has taken too much of my time this past year and I have not explored half of what I planned so may run my American/Russian project into next year. However I have this feeling I might give Scandinavia a go instead.
So much great music


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Great thread. This year has been incredibly fertile. There are many and many fabulous pieces I discovered, and others I revisited, which I didn't know well.

The most significant ones in terms of new discovered music:

Bantock - A Celtic Symphony, A Hebridean Symphony
Alwyn - Lyra Angelica, Odd Man Out Suite
Tubin - Symphonies, especially the 2-6 ones
Pettersson - All the symphonies
Arnold - All the symphonies
Langgaard - All the symphonies, string quartets
Holmboe - Symphonies, especially the 1-8 ones and Sinfonia In Memoriam
Howells - Hymnus Paradisi
Tippett - A Child of Our Time
Martinu - Bouquet of Flowers, chamber music
Vaughan Williams - Dona nobis pacem, Sancta Civitas
Cras - Chamber music, especially the Piano quintet, Quintet for flute, harp and string trio and the String trio
Prokofiev - Cantata for the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution; Seven, they are seven
Lutoslawski - Cello concerto, Mi-parti
Glière - String octet
Svendsen - String octet
Novák - The Storm, tone poems
Madetoja - Symphonies
Braga Santos - Symphonies
Lyapunov - Hashish
Taneyev - String quartets, other chamber music
Malipiero - String quartets
Kabalevsky - String quartets
Norgard - Symphony No. 3


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Other than banging heads on modern, postmodern and who is not the greatest composers and stuff, I started composing this summer, and commenting other other compositions here. Real quite an experience. I’m currently writing minimalist pieces.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

My highlights:

I facilitated and finished the TC recommended list of piano trios. I heard some wonderful music.
I performed one movement of an early Haydn string quartet.
I performed one movement of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings 
I performed as part of the orchestra the Mozart Requiem
I managed to play through the first movement of the Bruch Gm Concerto. (For an audience of zero)
Seven friends and I played through three movements of the Mendelssohn Octet. (No audience, only for ourselves)
I read a book about rock music of 1971, claiming that year was the best year of rock, confirming my long held opinion, which lead to a 20 album listening project 
I listened to 40 albums as part of an American music listening project 
I listened to 75 albums as part of an English music listening project 
I saw Dame Evelyn Glennie perform the Higdon percussion Concerto, and the orchestra then performed the Shostakovich tenth symphony 
I played the guitar in an ensemble, the first time in many years, and I learned some African music for guitar.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I almost forgot one of the major highlights of my musical week, that is the Saturday Symphony posted each week by realdealblues 
I try to support this every week and it continues to introduce me to works I am unfamiliar with. I would urge more members to join in with this
Thanks to realdealblues for his continued work on this


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

The year 2017 really started for me not on January 1st like every other year, but on January 11th. It was a day that began with a phone call: "This is the Embassy of Germany, your immigration paperwork is ready..." and ended with the conductor Thomas Hengelbrock singing "_Alle Menschen werden Brüder!..._" as he led his orchestra through the grand opening concert of the Elbphilharmonie.

The fact that both of these events - the call and the grand opening - happened on the same day has proved to be somewhat symbolic: 2017 has been by far the most musical year of my life. I have attended more live performances than ever before. The particular highlights among them were:

1. The three Mahler symphonies I got to hear live: the 8th, the 9th and the 6th, the latter performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, the other two by Hamburg's home NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. I loved Mahler's music before, but hearing these "musical worlds" in close-up immediacy made me appreciate them more than ever. Now I am just as much a Mahler fan as a Wagner fan 

2. Parsifal in Bayreuth - a realization of my biggest classical dream of all. By another happy coincidence the staging of this one was just about the only one out of the entire festival that was not only watchable, but actually enjoyable, with moments of breath-taking beauty - the Transformation Music of Act I resounding over the entire universe... And the singers, particularly Georg Zeppenfeld and Andreas Schager, have done a wonderful job. Now I can count myself to the privileged and happy ones who "_have been there_". It was a one-of-a-kind experience.

3. The abovementioned Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with Murray Perahia and Academy of St.Martin-in-the-Fields. A brilliant performance of one of my favorite pieces.

4. And finally, two musical works that I have discovered pretty much only because they were on the Elbphilharmonie program and that left a deep impression on me: Arnold Schoenberg's Gurrelieder and Ralph Vaughan Williams' London Symphony.

As regards books, my most important purchase has been "The Rest is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century" by Alex Ross. I am going to use it as my guide to better understanding of modern music. German and Austrian Romanticism remains my great love as always, but I am willing to explore other horizons.

As for the TC experience, well, I used to think after moving to Germany I would not have that much time for it at all. As it turned out, I have more to write about than ever 

Before this year is done I have another concert date and another "first time experience": the Artemis Quartett performing Schumann, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'll list the works and recordings that were new or re-discovered for me this year and that made a big impact:

1. Bruckner 5 (How have I not known about this piece for soooo long? I'm not a Brucknerite, but this piece is lovely. I like the Herreweghe Champs-Elysees recording)
2. Franck - Symphony in D-minor (the first piece I ever played with an orchestra at the age of about 13. I revisited it and it brought back a lot of nostalgia. Beautiful themes and music.)
3. Abrahamsen: let me tell you (2013), for soprano and orchestra (an instant classic from the 21st century) 
4. Van der Aa: Hysteresis (2013) for solo clarinet, ensemble and soundtrack (addictive music coupling electric sounds with clarinet and small ensemble. The music is like silly putty that gets pulled apart and jammed back together in odd increments and ways.)
5. Furrer: Piano Concerto (2007) - (stellar new music)
6. Burhans: Magnificat (2013), for chorus and organ - (renaissance fans might really love this historic sounding new composition of religious music)
7. Golijov: La Pasión según San Marcos (2000) for soloists, chorus and orchestra - (I thought I would hate this but towards the end he pulls it all together in ways that are very surprising and gratifying)
8. Dennehy: Crane (2009) - (cool minimalism)
9. Billone: Sgorgo Y, N, oO - (electric guitar soundscape exploration. weird and good.)
10. Bresnick: Prayers Remain Forever - (prayer-like new music)
11. Arnold: Symphony No.5 - (an under-rated composer)
12. Cleare: I should live in wires for leaving you behind (2014) for two pianists (1 piano) and two percussionists 
13. Romitelli - Professor Bad Trip, Lesson 1. Gnarly, hang-over, bad acid, electro-acoustic exploration that I really love)
14. Ades - Exterminating Angel (The music is good, but the premise (horror?) and staging -- (a cast that stays on stage during the bulk of the opera) just might push the opera world in some fun new ways. I think we might see a new trend.)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Besides the very good Metropolitan opera transmissions, two out-standers:


March 2017: Renée Fleming in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
December 2017 : Daniil Trifonov also in Amsterdam.

very fond memories of both.


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## Interference (Dec 7, 2017)

how about Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do?


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

2017 in a nutshell:
A continued journey through symphonic music. Appreciation increased for, most notably, Sibelius and Bruckner and some lesser known romantics.
Undiminished appreciation for all things Scriabin, (late) romantic solo piano music and outside of classical music: electronic ambient music.
Some careful steps into largely unknown territory: baroque and modern music.
One concert: Bruckner 8; enough to last a year with.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

So I finally got my spotify review of 2017. Top artists: Living Colour, Paolo Pandolfo, Chiaroscuro quartet, Werner Güra & Tom Waits. Here is my 100 tracks:


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

Musically, 2017 for me was the year of Baroque. I listened to more of it this year than ever before, and my appreciation just keeps going up and up. I discovered several composers that I either wasn't familiar with or was only vaguely aware of thanks to a box set of Italian Baroque composers by Brilliant Classics.

Also just this week I discovered Nino Rota. I had heard of him but had probably only heard his music in movies and had no idea. I am enjoying his music very much, both film and non-film.

A realization I had this year is that I have gotten to a point where I enjoy older music more than the Romantic and post-Romantic music that I always considered my favorite.

I read the book Testimony about Shostakovich. I know there are issues about how accurate it is, but I really enjoyed it.

My experience on TC has been wonderful. I joined a couple years ago, but hardly participated until this past summer. It was daunting at first, which is why it took me so long to really get into it. It took the threat of that other forum closing down to get me particpating, and I'm glad I finally did. This is an incredible set of forums (fora?), and I consider this my new online home. I may not post every day, but it is the first place I check in every morning as I drink my coffee, and I often come back throughout the day.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Interference said:


> how about Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do?


That's #1 on my New Year's resolution to listen to.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Phil loves classical said:


> Other than banging heads on modern, postmodern and who is not the greatest composers and stuff, I started composing this summer, and commenting other other compositions here. Real quite an experience. I'm currently writing minimalist pieces.


Huge discovery. I'm very happy for you!


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

My most listened-to artist was Eric Clapton.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Not too much different from last year. I think my listening has become a little bit more conservative in general. I'm most happy about the fact I played more piano in the past year than I ever have previously, (not as much as I'd like but increasing) I'm still trying to learn all of Bach's 2 part inventions.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Deeper exploration of 18th century music, in particular opera. And of course Romantic opera.


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

I took a class on post-tonal theory that exposed me to a wide variety of modern pieces and explored the processes involved in composing them. I still don't care for it. The fact that the class was unreasonably difficult didn't help improve my taste for it either. 
I gained a newer appreciation for Renaissance music. I also rediscovered J.S. Bach and was really struck by his brilliance. 
Focal dystonia continues to ruin my ability to play the trumpet. I won't be playing it much longer. 
I gained an appreciation for Debussy that put him in my top 2 favorite composers. 
And, I conducted my first concert. Definitely the most rewarding part of the year for me.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

My TC activity this year was dominated by my composer polls, which produced plenty of interesting if not necessarily surprising results.

In terms of listening to music, unfortunately my time for that has been cut back this year (but for good reasons). I've still heard a lot of good new music (new chronologically, and older music that's new to me) but haven't had as much time to absorb it. Maybe because of this, not much has really stood out for me, though overall it's been a good year.

I've also been making some forays into recent film music.


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## LP collector (Aug 6, 2016)

The discovery this year Gerald Finzi's Dies Natalis has left a far greater impression then any other which is a surprise being a vocal work and vocal works are not what I normally listen to. The final movement "The Salutation" 



 depicting a newly born baby entering the world - words by Thomas Traherne - never fails to hit the spot.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

This was a good year for me. Health is good. I'm about to complete my conversion from Windows to Linux, cut the TV cable, and save a lot of $$$ on connections and gadgets...

Concert highlights included Les Arts Florissants and the Mariinsky Orchestra with Gergiev and Matsuev, both at Weill Hall. It was a good year for live jazz, with Indian performers like Iyer, Rudresh, and Zakir in SF, plus two tributes to Ornette Coleman, with Joshua Redman reviving the classic quartet and Denardo going Prime Time at HSB. And on one weekend in August, George Clinton's Mothership and the Sun Ra Arkestra both made stops in my solar system...

On CD, my love for string quartets and French music in general, both went wild... the Italiano box, the Cluytens box, plus a lot of Couperin even the harpsichord music, historic recordings of Debussy, organ music by Franck, songs by Faure... seeking other gateways into music I know but don't always like, such as Bach and Shostakovich... 

When I want something different, I've lately indulged in recent releases by New Order, Wire, and Arcade Fire, plus old stuff by Queens of the Stone Age and Frank Zappa...

Favorite CDs of 2017... eh, maybe later...


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I believe I have run about 70 musical games here on TC in the past few months. Concerning musical acquisitions, I didn't buy anything; austerity is a bitch. On the plus side, I've had plenty of time to dig deeper into my existing collection.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

philoctetes said:


> I'm about to complete my conversion from Windows to Linux...


Great to hear. What are you using? I've been on Debian for about 10 years. On Saturday I installed _Chapeau_, which is based on Fedora, but more extended.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Bulldog said:


> I believe I have run about 70 musical games here on TC in the past few months. Concerning musical acquisitions, I didn't buy anything; austerity is a bitch. On the plus side, I've had plenty of time to dig deeper into my existing collection.


CDs are another habit I abhor, for the way they abhor the vacuum in my time and space. So while Cable TV is going out, streaming services are coming in. I see nothing wrong with Spotify except for early morning or late nighttime listening, otherwise it's great for discovering new stuff.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

I used Unix at work 20-30 years ago, but became a passive Windows user when my options reduced to one PC. But now it's another commercial arms race and I'm sick of all the worries, hazards, and costs of keeping up with it, and I've now got a couple old PCs to play with, plus a Raspberry Pi.

So I've had Mint on a 10yo 32bit HP for a few months, and it proves good enough to meet most of my needs but no HDMI so I'm about to install it on newer 64bit system... replacing Win10... though I may try Mate instead... was posting about this on the computer talk thread a month ago.. will update my progress over there... it's generally slow, since I am my own admin, but seems well worth it to take matters into my own hands... aka the command line...

Maybe I will wear a red hat when I'm ready for the big time.


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## Janspe (Nov 10, 2012)

Three composers defined my year: Lutosławski, Dutilleux and Ligeti. I listened to _everything _they wrote, and a lot of it many times. I can't get enough of them now!

The biggest new discovery was Abrahamsen's _let me tell you_, a true relevation! Some of the most stunning music ever written.

Generally it could be said that I listened to a lot of music, and on a much wider spectrum than usually. I feel like I've grown as a listener a lot.

Loads of great live experiences too: I heard quite a bit of Mahler (2nd, 5th and 6th symphonies + _Das Lied von der Erde_), Messiaen's _Turangalîla_ (a true highlight!), Tchaikovsky's _Eugene Onegin_, Bartók's violin concertos and _Bluebeard's Castle_... Also, five premieres! Seeing Crhstian Tetzlaff and Isabelle Faust live certainly made me happy too.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I "discovered" a Baroque composer named Johann Georg Pisendel late this year, a fellow more talented than Telemann but basically unknown. He wrote a number of good concertos including this one, perhaps his most "famous":


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I think I collected another 20 Beethoven cycles this year (how many do I really need?) in the hope of finally putting together my own perfect Beethoven symphony cycle. Alas I doubt I'll ever achieve it. Otherwise, I have been decorating, training my kitten to use the litter tray (don't ask) and getting my sarcastic comments removed from TC threads for being off-topic. In 2018 I suspect that something will come along to replace the litter training and decorating. I may even try to learn a whole song on my guitar, rather than the fractured strums I do now. Bout time I took in some more concerts too.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I saw Richard Strauss´s Elektra live this year.

I discovered how great Verdi´s requiem is.

I heard two great Swedish operas Ivar Hallström´s Vikingarna from 1877 and Gösta Nystroem´s Herr Arnes Penningar from 1958.


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## agoukass (Dec 1, 2008)

This year, I discovered the music of Medtner through recordings he made for the HMV label and that EMI included in its Composers in Persons set. I've really enjoyed everything I have heard by him from piano sonatas to songs.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

philoctetes said:


> I used Unix at work 20-30 years ago, but became a passive Windows user when my options reduced to one PC. But now it's another commercial arms race and I'm sick of all the worries, hazards, and costs of keeping up with it, and I've now got a couple old PCs to play with, plus a Raspberry Pi.
> 
> So I've had Mint on a 10yo 32bit HP for a few months, and it proves good enough to meet most of my needs but no HDMI so I'm about to install it on newer 64bit system... replacing Win10... though I may try Mate instead... was posting about this on the computer talk thread a month ago.. will update my progress over there... it's generally slow, since I am my own admin, but seems well worth it to take matters into my own hands... aka the command line...
> 
> Maybe I will wear a red hat when I'm ready for the big time.


Mate is a desktop environment, not a distribution such as Mint, and is available on many distributions ... personal I prefer Xfce4


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Probably the key for this year was discovering the many excellent live concert recordings from the past which have been made available. Examples of note include Klemperer Mahler 2nd from Munich, Havergal Brian's Gothic symphony with Boult, and a whole slew of Barbirolli performances from Prague, Stuttgart, Munich, etc., including Berlioz, Mahler, Vaughan-Williams et.al.


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

This past year I've been listening to new (to me) recordings of old warhorses to see what comes of it … as you'd expect, the vast majority of my long-established favorite recordings remain my long-established favorite recordings, but a few new/potentially new favorites and a few interesting alternatives have come of it:

G. F. HANDEL: _Water Music_ (1717)
:: Cummings/FestspielOrchester Göttingen [Accent, live '16]
This live performance from the 2016 Internationale Händel Festspiele Göttingen features thoroughly up-to-date HIP playing in service of an exceptionally well-conceived middle-of-the-road (in the best sense) interpretation. Solos are as stylish and characterful as they could be, and the orchestra plays with infectious vitality and _joie de vivre_ throughout, always having a glint in its eye and a spring in its step while still conveying an underlying sense of ceremony and gravitas. While there are variously more incisive accounts, more driven accounts, more stately accounts, more grandiose accounts, more whatever accounts, it would be difficult to imagine a more well-rounded and broadly appealing account, one that better balances the many and varied aspects of the music than this one.

J. S. BACH: Mass in B minor, BWV 232 (1749)
:: Mortensen/Concerto Copenhagen [cpo '13]
Vocally, this is a one-voice-per-part (ovpp) performance except when concertinists are bolstered by ripienists (to achieve two voices per part) in the bigger choruses-following the example of Andrew Parrott in his 1985 EMI recording with the Taverner Consort & Singers-and it has all of the expected pluses (improved clarity/transparency and intimacy, etc) and minuses (reduced gravitas/"oomph" in big choruses and reduced contrast between arias and choruses, soloists and choir, etc.) of such an approach. Orchestrally, Mortensen uses "an orchestra corresponding to Bach's own in size," which is similar to the one that Parrott uses but with a few more strings: 4-4-2-2-1 (Mortensen) vs. 3-3-2-1-1 (Parrott). Mortensen pares down the orchestra to ovpp for the Laudamus te, I believe, and he may pare it down for some other movements as well, but I'm not sure which and to what extent. A=415 Hz, which seems to be something of a norm for HIP Bach these days.

Voices-per-part matters aside, the interpretation is quite straightforward and matter-of-fact on the face of it, and the performance is not very dynamic or dramatic or overtly attention-grabbing in any other way, but it's behind the face of it where the action is taking place: more than in any other account of the Mass that I've heard, this one is about the inner voices, the inner dialog of singers and instrumentalists. This highly involved inner dialog is facilitated in large part by the beautifully judged balancing of forces, allowing soloists to remain an integral part of the musical texture-firsts among equals-rather than being all too conspicuously in front of the orchestra. It's clear also that much effort went into voice/style matching, which not only sounds good in and of itself but helps make the most of the superb rapport that the players/singers exhibit throughout. Solos are beautifully phrased and well characterized but not boldly characterized; they may come across as undercharacterized at first, but that impression fades once the ears adjust to the subtlety of it all-though some listeners may find them undercharacterized even after their ears have adjusted. The tenor sings well but sometimes under projects, undermining, however slightly, some movements as a result. In keeping with Mortensen's unaffected view of the Mass, tempos tend to be flowing and unlingering and unremarkable, although a few movements verge on being taken too fast according to my internal timekeeper.

This, then, is not a performance that will reach out and grab classical music couch potatoes by the collar and compel them to listen, want to or not; rather, this is a performance that requires focus and stick-to-itiveness on the part of the listener in order to get "hooked." But once hooked, the listener is repaid in kind for his efforts, as the more intently one listens to the performance, the more one gets out of it. It's worth repeating, however, that the performance doesn't transcend the inherent limitations of such a pared-down approach to the Mass, as the big, boisterous choruses simply don't have enough gravitas/"oomph" and there's not always enough contrast between movements, or between soloists and choir, to realize the full dynamic or dramatic potential of the music.

W. A. MOZART: Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K. 364 (1779)
:: Zimmermann, Tamestit, Szulc/BRSO [Hänssler '15]
This performance is undermined by a vibrato mismatch between violinist, violist, and orchestra strings that is not only distracting in and of itself but that leads to some balance problems, but the performance is on all other counts the most compelling that I've heard of Sinfonia concertante, and I've heard a lot of them-I'm not a big Mozart fan in general, but Sinfonia concertante has always been a big favorite of mine, the Mozart work that I've listened to most over the years. The interpretation is beautifully conceived in an eminently straightforward and balanced/transparent manner that allows every contribution to come through in proper context, without undue emphasis or de-emphasis: flaws and flawlessness, mediocrity and greatest-all are given the same stage. Happily, the playing here is as close to flawless and great across the board as one could hope for. Indeed, vibrato-related matters aside, I'd be hard pressed to cite anything that I don't like about the playing, and the deftly classical style and slightly aristocratic mien of it all is ideal for the work-anyone familiar with Frank Peter Zimmermann will know what to expect here. The only potentially controversial aspect of the performance is the uncommonly fast tempo of the final movement, but as it turns out, the playing is so good that the pace sounds just right, not too fast at all … and now other accounts tend to sound too slow and lacking in vitality.

Felix MENDELSSOHN: String Quartet in A minor, Op. 13 (1827)
:: Minguet Quartett [cpo '09]
Everything here is so poised and precise and refined and deftly balanced and beautifully phrased that there's no way in Hell that it can be energetic and dramatic, yet it's energetic and dramatic … in its poised and precise and refined and deftly balanced and beautifully phrased sort of way, that is. Still, part of me wants to say that the performance is more flawless than great, so I'll keep listening to see how things pan out.

Hector BERLIOZ: _Symphonie fantastique_ (1830)
:: Munch/BSO [RCA '62]
This is the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride of _Symphonie fantastique_ performances, and it's captured in vivid stereo sound. I never cottoned to Munch's much more popular 1954 RCA recording of the work, which sounds constricted (in both sound and attitude) in comparison, but this one really strikes a chord with me. Munch goes too far in his later live recordings in France and loses control of tension and drama, so 1962 represents that crucial moment in Munch's march to the asylum when control and wildness, sanity and insanity, achieve a sort of magical balance/equilibrium and his interpretation jells for me.

Arnold SCHÖNBERG: Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire" (1912)
:: Rado, Angius/Ensemble Prometeo [Stradivarius '11]
This production presents _Pierrot lunaire_ from the instrumental ensemble's perspective, with the ensemble front and center and the vocalist off to the side of the soundstage. I would have preferred the vocalist to be centered and first among equals with the ensemble, but the performance is so good that I put up with the odd staging-and it does make you listen to the work differently. Rado's vocals are as proficient as they could be, with excellent clarity and diction, and she has a very smooth and polished tone, but her characterization is too youthful and innocent for my taste; I prefer something more hardened by age and distressed and angst-ridden. For me, then, this recording is a fascinating alternative rather than a true favorite.

Gustav HOLST: _The Planets_ (1916)
:: Boult/Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra & London Philharmonic Choir [Nixa '53]
:: Sargent/BBC SO & BBC Women's Chorus [EMI '57]
Boult's elusive 1953 Nixa recording eluded me until this year, but it's now my favorite of Boult's many recordings of the work and perhaps my favorite overall. The gritty, highly wrought performance isn't the most polished on record, but it has a good deal more pace and energy and raw intensity than Boult's later EMI accounts and a more pointed and rigorous rhythmic underpinning to boot; indeed, the performance's strongly defined and punctuated rhythmic profile sets it apart it from the herd as much as anything else. Characterization is strong throughout, and I've never heard the big tune in "Jupiter" sound better or more noble. The recording is a bit primitive, with some blatant balances here and there, but the private transfer from The Music Parlour Web site makes the best of it.

Sargent's 1957 EMI recording isn't really new to me, but I never gave it a fair listen until this past year. The music flows smoothly with a certain continuity/sweep about it without the playing itself being smoothed over or underinflected or undercharacterized. The playing is polished and proficient, tension is well maintained, and moments of raw power and refined delicacy are handled with equal aplomb. It's a well-rounded performance to be sure, but the wonderfully fleet and nimble and capricious account of "Mercury" and the magically atmospheric account of "Neptune" stand out as highlights even so. The stereo sound is excellent (especially by EMI standards of the time), with a surprisingly vast and open/airy sense of space. Of all the stereo recordings of _The Planets_ that I've heard, I probably like this one best in terms of characterization and all-around interpretation.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Dirge, you write incredibly well, and that may just be the post of 2017. I put a few of your choices on my to-listen list, and I hope that I agree with you about their merits.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Bought a few dozen bargain CD's, mainly from JPC (thanks again for the heads-up, Pugg!).

Continued my 5+ year mission to play (and catalogue) all my CD's, alphabetically per composer. I am now in the middle of H, looking forward to some quicker letters (I,J,K) the coming months.

Continued to collect unusual concertos (beyond violin and piano), now reaching over 110 different concertante instruments/groups.


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