Author Archives: Jim

Wassenaer’s 6 concerti were originally attributed to Pergolesi, but since the early 1980′s they were in fact confirmed to be composed by Wassenaer. These are delightful baroque compositions, rather relaxed music, with a similarity to Vivaldi without sounding like a second-rate copy. Any fan of the baroque should check these out. The Marriner – ASMF recording is excellent and most enjoyable.

http://world.ultramaroon.net/amz-wassenaer

Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unico_Wilhelm_van_Wassenaer

From BasicRep Blog:
http://www.basicrep.com/wassenaer-concerti-armonici/

Ted Libbey, author of ‘The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection’ has a feature on NPR called ‘The NPR Classical 50′. Libbey and host Fred Child discuss popular classical works and have recommendations of recordings. These are short reviews with some interesting antedotes and sound clips from 2009. 
http://www.npr.org/series/99866406/the-npr-classical-50

I have had Libbey’s book for years, and found it overall to be a good primer for those looking to explore the classics. The writing is casual, with a discussion of the works, then various recording recommendations. While I do not always agree with the choices Libbey picks as the best performances, they are all very good recordings, and you will not be steered wrong following his suggestions. Of course many of the listings are out of date, but it is fairly easy to locate the CDs with a little bit of searching.

The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection at Amazon:
http://world.ultramaroon.net/amz-npr-libbey

There are a lot of places that you can get free classical music, so I am going to try and find a new recording every day for the month of May. Many of them are from archive.org, so they could be old 78′s or live performances, but to have the chance to hear some new works or a conductor that is unfamiliar is always a good thing.

I will be posting these at my blog at http://www.basicrep.com if you want to follow along.

Leopold Stokowski conducts Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. From 1934, with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Download file:
http://world.ultramaroon.net/amz-rk-scher-stok

More info:
http://archive.org/details/Rimsky-korsakovScheherazade

Jan Dismus Zelenka [1679-1745] is a Bohemian Baroque composer that really should be better well known. I recently ran across a 5 disc set from DG-Archive of Zelenka’s orchestral works. These are recordings from the 1970′s, and at the time were the only real recordings of Zelenka’s works that were readily available. The set of 6 Sonatas by Heinz Holliger on oboe were especially well-received at the time, and he has remade them for ECM [a great set] but for about the price of the ECM set you get the Sonatas plus 3 discs of other works on DG with the Camerata Bern. Zelenka’s works are not Baroque background music but charming and sometimes very creative compositions. There are nods to Bach and Vivaldi and even Telemann in some of the movements, but on the whole an individual set, well worth checking out if you are a fan of Baroque.

http://world.ultramaroon.net/amz-zelenka

The Bach Guild is hot on the heels of their last release the Handel Box with a 7 hour set of Vivaldi recordings. While not all of them may be of the ‘original instrument’ school, there is still a lot to like here. And as usual, it is only 99 cents for 138 tracks, but the price will rise shortly. The Handel is a bargain too right now.

Link to current Big Box sets at Amazon:
http://world.ultramaroon.net/amz-bach-guild-box

The Bach Guild has released their latest super download set of old Vanguard recordings. This time we get over 13 hours of Mozart. As usual, the price is just 99 cents, although it will go up to about $10 eventually. So time to go grab it while you can.

Included are a few symphonies, a lot of chamber music and other sundry works. Overall, the performances and sound are good, but as with all these sets there are a few that may not be so great, but for the price this is an excellent way to hear a lot of Mozart.

Amazon: http://world.ultramaroon.net/amz-mozart-box