End Of An Odyssey

J. S. Bach Cantatas, Vol 54. Performers Bach Collegium Japan directed by Masaaki Suzuki. soloists Hana Blazikova soprano, Damien Guillon conter-tenor, Gerd Turk tenor, Peter Kooij bass. Another sample from this series as it draws to a close.

Maverick ? Mystic ? Last Symphonist ?

Schnittke : Symphony Mo 2 " St Florian" Performers : Russian State Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Cappella conducted by Valery Polyansky. Marina Katsman contralto, Yaroslav Zdorov countertenor, Oleg Dolgov tenor, Sergei Veprintsev bass, Ludmila Golub organ. Various serendipitous circumstances led to a period of Schnittke investigation including this sample purchase.

Good Natured Classicism

Weber : Symphonies Nos 1 and 2, Bassoon Concerto, Invitation to the Dance ( orchestrated by Berlioz ) Performers : BBC Philharmonic conducted by Juanjo Mena. Soloist, Karen Geoghegan bassoon. Last of the pure classicists and first with German opera ?

Fiendishly Good

Martha Velez : Fiends and Angels. How come Janis Joplin got all that attention while Martha Velez did not ? Oh well, at least Martha got this album from 1969 with an amazing line up of British blues aristocracy. Guitarist alone number Eric Clapton, Stan Webb, Paul Kossof and Spit James while other luminaries feature such as Brian Auger, Christine McVie, Duster Bennett, Mitch Mitchell, Jack Bruce, Blue Weaver and Johnny Almond. And it all works too with a judicious choice of material.

The Anatomy Of Melancholy

John Dowland, Lachrimae or Seaven Teares. Performers : The Parley of Instruments directed by Peter Holman and augmented by Paul O'Dette lute. One of those discs maybe better sampled in a couple of sessions rather than in one go ?

Dog's Breakfast

A dismal offering from the free BBC Music magazine cover disc, reinforcing my decision to cancel my regular subscription. A scratchy version of Bach's partita number 3 for solo violin from Yehudi Menuhin in 1976 followed by Tasmin Little with a routine play through of Bruch's first violin concerto ( yawn ) with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by David Atherton. There is then an encore piece from her of Souvenir d'un lieu cher by Tchaikovsky, followed by vintage Nathan Milstein playing short inconsequential pieces from De Falla and Paganini in 1957.

Hanseatic Baroque

Hoffnung des Wiedersehens : Telemann Arias : Dorothee Mields soprano, L'Orfeo Barockorchester conducted by Michi Gaigg. Insertion arias, secular cantatas and concertos ( featuring Martin Jopp violin and Carin Van Heerden oboe )