Okay, so after some Amazon'ing with my wife, I decided what the heck...lets try a few different versions...some of my favourite music, and so why not have several different versions so if we are working at home one day or one night, we can play music we love without exactly hitting the infinite repeat button.
So far, we gotten what we think are a nice selection of the 20 or so we listened to [very briefly]. Our listening notes. Very interested in what others have found they really liked. Thanks for any 'must have' recommendations!
Trevor Pinnock - The English Concert (1983)
- sprightly, feels like an 'antiqued' version
- recording a bit thin
Trevor Pinnock - European Brandenburg Ensemble (2008)
- lively but more weighty with almost more consideration into the expression of each bar...like he took even more time on how to conduct the pieces
- much better recording quality
- a good mix of interpretation which your intellectual side can enjoy with the different phrases he has interpreted...but with the speed, sprightly and lively but old fashioned/antique sound that really kind of 'does it all'
Sir Neville Marriner Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
- slower, more measured
- my wife prefers the more measured interpretations
- clean delivery, more modern a bit fuller in sound (not recording but almost like there were more people, as is often the case in more modern orchestrations)
Benjamin Britten, English Chamber Orchestra
- Also slower, more measured pace
- My wife likes parts of it, but I am only just getting to know it, and feel like perhaps nice but neither here nor there?
Jordi Savall, Le Concert des Nations (including Fabio Biondi)
- super old-fashioned...makes you feel like you went back in a time chamber
- like you should have a wig and stockings on like JS Bach
- in that regard, quite cool
- he is a little heavy handed in his interpretation and this music is usually so fast and sprightly, I am still trying to figure out if its one for me
- but the atmospherics of the seriously old, antique sound is quite cool and fun to listen to for something different
Sir Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music
- I have always enjoyed his work...Handel's Messiah is brilliant and remains one of my favourite versions
- one of the leaders in the ancient/original instrument movements, and well deserved
- With a system like mine, the sound recording remains quite full and I prefer it because you get both the roisin and vibration of the older feeling instrument (which has a gritty taste and texture that modern instruments tend to smooth over)...I kinda like that but totally person. I will say, in the wrong system, that grittiness of the older instrument just gets pushed thru as stridency and high pitched noise which is really irritating.
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Solists (2009)
- I have always enjoyed his take on music, particularly things like Beethovens Missa Solemnis where many prefer the ultra-huge orchestration...I liked his very intellectual smaller scale approach which brought out different themes
- I think he has managed to do something similar here...I enjoy his personal approach
- Medium pace, quicker than the slower ones, and sprightly but in a way that feels more academic and (like Glenn Gould) he has left his intellectual stamp on the interpretation...since I like his take on music that for me is a good thing
So far, we gotten what we think are a nice selection of the 20 or so we listened to [very briefly]. Our listening notes. Very interested in what others have found they really liked. Thanks for any 'must have' recommendations!
Trevor Pinnock - The English Concert (1983)
- sprightly, feels like an 'antiqued' version
- recording a bit thin
Trevor Pinnock - European Brandenburg Ensemble (2008)
- lively but more weighty with almost more consideration into the expression of each bar...like he took even more time on how to conduct the pieces
- much better recording quality
- a good mix of interpretation which your intellectual side can enjoy with the different phrases he has interpreted...but with the speed, sprightly and lively but old fashioned/antique sound that really kind of 'does it all'
Sir Neville Marriner Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
- slower, more measured
- my wife prefers the more measured interpretations
- clean delivery, more modern a bit fuller in sound (not recording but almost like there were more people, as is often the case in more modern orchestrations)
Benjamin Britten, English Chamber Orchestra
- Also slower, more measured pace
- My wife likes parts of it, but I am only just getting to know it, and feel like perhaps nice but neither here nor there?
Jordi Savall, Le Concert des Nations (including Fabio Biondi)
- super old-fashioned...makes you feel like you went back in a time chamber
- like you should have a wig and stockings on like JS Bach
- in that regard, quite cool
- he is a little heavy handed in his interpretation and this music is usually so fast and sprightly, I am still trying to figure out if its one for me
- but the atmospherics of the seriously old, antique sound is quite cool and fun to listen to for something different
Sir Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music
- I have always enjoyed his work...Handel's Messiah is brilliant and remains one of my favourite versions
- one of the leaders in the ancient/original instrument movements, and well deserved
- With a system like mine, the sound recording remains quite full and I prefer it because you get both the roisin and vibration of the older feeling instrument (which has a gritty taste and texture that modern instruments tend to smooth over)...I kinda like that but totally person. I will say, in the wrong system, that grittiness of the older instrument just gets pushed thru as stridency and high pitched noise which is really irritating.
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Solists (2009)
- I have always enjoyed his take on music, particularly things like Beethovens Missa Solemnis where many prefer the ultra-huge orchestration...I liked his very intellectual smaller scale approach which brought out different themes
- I think he has managed to do something similar here...I enjoy his personal approach
- Medium pace, quicker than the slower ones, and sprightly but in a way that feels more academic and (like Glenn Gould) he has left his intellectual stamp on the interpretation...since I like his take on music that for me is a good thing
Several good ones out there.
