Yet more classical music!

I could call this the 'Tracy' post cos I'm sure she digs some of this stuff going by what she's talked about listening to at GT since the last time I talked about classical music which was May last year
Since then I've been working slowly on my collection which goes back to the early days of the compact disc after a childhood of vinyl and cassettes both looking at replacements as well as new recordings to me. 


We'll start with Handel where having last year replaced one cd of the Water Music I was looking at replacing a single cd with one of his Opus 3 and three  of his Opus 6 Grand Concertos on Naxos I bought in 1989. The recording quality was good the players very good but somehow the conductor doesn't really bring the compositions to life.
I recently bought the recordings made in 1964 and 1968 by the Academy of St Martins in the Field who play with modern instruments (I don't like 'original' as a rule) conducted by Sir Neville Marriner that have the complete set of compositions on three cds.
Originally made for Argo the sound is very well balanced and these a lovely performances well worth the modest price of this set in the Decca Originals series (475 867-2)


Haydn is a near contemporary who was under represented in my collection with a cd of cello Concertos and one of series of discs put out by the HMV stores in the early 1990's with his 94th Symphony and the Trumpet Concerto.
Starting with the Trumpet Concerto, I got used the recording by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Stephen Kovacevich made for Classics for pleasure in 1991 (CD CFP 4589).
It's played slightly faster than some giving it a bit more 'pep' as well as being very well recorded.
I had the 94th Symphony recorded by the English Chamber Orchestra with Jeffery Tate conducting but didn't get the whole set originally issues as seperate full price cds between 1987 and 1992.
I bought the 2008 re issues on Classics for pleasure as a set of two double cds at 'bargain price' of the London symphonies so-called cos he wrote them while performing in England as I liked the version of the 94th I had (Classics for pleasure 5 21855 -2  &  2 28369 -2)
While in the mood I added a set of his String Quartets part of  series by DG where older discs are packed in a small box with notes at 'bargain price' performed by the Amadeus Quartet that I used to borrow a lot from the local library but never got around to owning (DG 477514-2) so knew I'd like these performances.


Schubert's symphonies were something I grew up with and I had a series of recordings on cd conducted by Michael Halasz with 5 &8 by the Slovak Phiharmonic and the others by the Failini from Hungary. The 9th by the Failini just failed to bring much of the character out of it being a disappointment and the 5 &8 could of been better. 
I could of just replaced the 9th but looking into to it it would of cost almost as much as buying a replacement set and as I wasn't too happy with the 5&8th  I bought the older Berlin Philharmonic performances conducted by Karl Boehm whose work I loved for just under a tenner used.
Having listened to the set I feel he finds that much more detail in the score it's much more sorted overall.(DG 471 307-2 4 cds)
Lacking a set of his String Quartets on cd I added the Melos set from the 60's and 70's whose playing is gorgeous on DG (463 151-2 6 cds) and I was able to get for about £15 new.


Debussy is the kind of French music I like very much inspired by the Impressionists and I had picked up the HMV store compilation in 1992.
That contained some recordings by the French National Radio Orchestra (O.R.T.F.) conducted by Jean Martinon from 1974/5 I liked.
It happened that in EMI's Gemini series there are two double cd sets entitled "Ochestral Works -1/ and -2" of all their recordings which could be had for a darn cheap 4.93 each care of Amazon taking in La Mer, Prelude á l'aprés-midi d'un faune, the Petite suite, Children's corner (with the irresistible Golliwogs cakewalk) plus less performed works ,. with each disc contining over 70 minutes worth of music something a of a bargain I thought.


Finally to English music.
 I have a lot of music by Elgar and while being familiar with other British composers  thanks to a decent music education  at my high school (we didn't just learn about making music and composers, we actually performed!), I got a complete set of Ralph Vaughan Williams symphonies.
The acclaimed British conductor Sir Adrian Boult was going through an 'Indian summer' late in his life and by good fortune EMI/Angel got him to make stereo recordings of works he'd previously recorded. This set with either the London Philharmonic or the New Philharmonia Orchestras remains one of the finest ever of these works.
And what works from A Sea symphony with its glorious singing through to Sinfornia antartica inspired by Scott's 1912 South Pole adventures these symphonies are amongst the finest of the last century. Originally reissued from the early 1990's onward they have placed in a boxed set for an inexpensive price -cost me £15.99  new - representing a bargain. (EMI 8  7484 2 5cds)