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December 12, 2004
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Bach's Christmas Oratorio is not actually a single work but a set of 6 cantatas for Christmas Day and the days following Christmas, but has moved from the realm of church music to concerted music and is now typically played in its entirety. Along with Messiah and L'Enfance du Christ it forms the ... more |
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December 6, 2004
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Handel's Messiah is one of the great monuments of Western art, ranking with Beethoven's Ninth, Bach St. Matthew's Passion, The Marriage of Figaro, etc. as an absolute cornerstone of our musical culture. At this time of year (December) performances of Messiah are commonplace, even though the text is ... more |
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October 24, 2004
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Here I thought I was going to be original by nominating this recording as a desert island must have only to find thepilot has beaten me to it. I have owned and loved this recording for about 30 years, first as a Barclay Crocker reel to reel tape, then, when my tape deck's heads wore out in the early ... more |
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October 9, 2004
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Of the Living Stereo series I've hear so far, this is an optional rather than mandatory or essential disc (the othe Reiners are essential). The reading of "Pictures", the major work on this disc, has some interesting details but isn't likely to be your first choice. However, you will be blown away ... more |
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October 2, 2004
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This performance was dissed in The Absolute Sound's overview of the Living Stereo releases, both for performance and to a lesser extent, sound. He even indicated that the BSO sounded like "a bad French orchestra". Monteux is a conductor I admire, so I was not sure what to expect when I put this disc ... more |
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