J.S.Bach: Concerto in C major, BWV.1064 for 3 Harpsichords
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in A minor for 4 Harpsichords
Antonio Vivaldi arr. Thurston Dart: Concerto in D minor for 4 Harpsichords
George Malcolm: Variations on a Theme of W.A.Mozart for 4 Harpsichords
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Eileen Joyce, Thurston Dart, George Malcolm, Denis Vaughan, harpsichords
Pro Arte Orchestra conducted by Boris Ord
HMV CLP 1120 c.1964 LP/matrices: XEA1097/8 -2N/-1N. Recorded: 12/13 June 1956. CD-RW transfer - Original surface / No auto declick +1.5dB treble. Re-cut side 1. Boxy-sounding orchestra.. Sleeve-note / EMG review / 4x "Thomas Goff" Harpsichords @ RFH "Jamboree" in 1961 >>> No idea if on CD -recent purchase.
Merci pour le partage de ce disque assez rare je crois.
ReplyDeleteNote sure this is actually "an oldie but goodie" (the middle movements come off best, IMO) but notice I've the 1968 Vox Turnabout (+ vastly more on that label) of J.S.Bach 3 Concerti for 3or4 Harpsichords -TV 34106S Mainz/Kehr - so possibly superior - as EMG weren't too keen, the previous decade, regarding the interpretations on this LP. Did this as little editing required - and not an LP I recalled seeing previously.
DeleteThe first thing that assaults the ears is the anacronistic sound of harpsichords with iron frames . . . Pleyels, one wonders. Baroque performance practice has come a long way since this recording was made.
ReplyDeleteHa!! If the sleeve-front is to believed it might've been Thomas Goff's..
DeleteCould be down to the playing-style, generally, as recall Valda Eveling (Thomas Goff's) on 2 (NOT ON CD?) HMV's - HQS 1298 (with Lady Barbirolli) + HQS1365 - Scarlatti - is somewhat 'old-style'...the older-generation, eh?
Mr.Ord was anyway Famous for his Harpsichord Jamborees..so there!
Yes, likely the instruments were by Goff which used metal frames similar to those developed by Pleyel in Paris. Having played a Pleyel and more historical-informed instruments without metal frames, I can attest that the difference in sound is significant and not dependant upon playing style.
DeleteHarpsichord-recital LP's rarely identified the type used. (L'Oiseau-Lyre/Hogwood do - but not Tilney/Argo).
DeleteRaymond Leppard appears to be conducting in that 1961 pic - and he used a Goff for the 1966 Dido & Aeneas/Barbirolli.
I'd hesitate to identify them by sound - at least as recorded - though Landowska's are clearly different!
George Malcolm's 1959/60 Decca J.S.Bach etc is on this blog (mentioned this 'unheard' CLP there in 2013) - otherwise they don't get much of a look-in hereabouts..
“Baroque performance practice has come a long way since this recording was made.”
ReplyDeleteIt certainly has! Violins with whiny sounding gut strings. Every note played detached from each other. No portamenti. Every stroke made with the lightest possible touch. No long bow strokes. No nuance or dynamic shading. Phrases ludicrously clipped-off. No legato. Nowhere near enough sweetening or enlivenment of the tone. A split-second “worm-wriggle” hint of vibrato at the end of a “long” note. Out of tune woodwinds, played with odd gargling effects. Trumpets and horns that sound more like run-away elephants. Harpsichords (nearly all of them patterned after Franco-Flemish models), admittedly with plenty of projection, but that clank and jangle away—with a monotonous lack of tonal variation—like worn bed springs. There’s no real historical veracity in any of this, dogmatic, “thou shalt not” approach, that now seems to be carved in stone—and is even beginning to infect performances of the music of later eras. It’s a sham. A style deliberately contrived to appeal to modern taste.
Whether you like these old recordings, or no, they’re good honest music making. That, to me, is authentic!
Happy days, Thos Hewn
A Bloodless / Ascetic return to assumed (ramshackle?) baroque-playing ..not that I've recorded evidence of those times!
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