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Totally unintentionally, I assure you! Thanks but no thanks, I’ll leave such niceties as feature on your last link to others to comment on. As an (old) piano player, my expertise/ understanding FWIW is limited to that. My great or otherwise expertise on strings is simply listening to (and observing) others such as Hilary. In the flesh, so to speak, I am now limited to Nicola Benedetti, in Glasgow.

Garth

Thanks for both those links, they are superb performances! Hope they stay.

On the Dvorak, I saw one of the comments (from one Gustav Mahler[!] apparently a current professional musician) which read “The fingered octaves at the end — I’m literally dying.” Someone no doubt good at music but def needs a lesson or three in the use of English! RIP surely.

I had already come to the conclusion that some of the disappearing links you mention were likely due to commercial considerations, unfortunately.

Garth

Oscar,

You appear to be saying that Hilary Hahn  playing Vieuxtemps concerto No 4. is not available. Surely not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tctk3Uy1w5s

And with Paarvo Järvi in charge! However, I note in some links this is only classed as a Preview and cuts off short at 19mins.

Garth

Oscar,

In following up your Irish theme, I want to bring to attention an Irishman, one of the greatest ever tenor singers, famed for his purity of tone and breath control. John McCormack was born in 1884 and died in 1945, so many will never have heard of him, but he was a well-known opera and lieder singer. Indeed, at the time of his death, he was given the accolade of “the greatest living tenor”.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-McCormack

“Most popular with recital audiences were the Irish folk songs he invariably included in his programs”, and here are three examples. The first is from a 1930 film showing him performing in front of an audience with “I Hear You Calling Me“, which was the song most associated with him; the second example is Kathleen Mavourneen, sung (and recorded) with exceptional clarity. However, the third, dating from 1940, is the exquisite I’ll Walk Beside You which as performed by him is one of my personal top three pieces of music of all time. Sentimental undoubtedly, but none the worse for that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra0kNnhPFSI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7XZAJexbIY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp5iZdWKaA8

There are several other recordings available on YouTube which are well worth exploring for anyone with the time. The later examples are best, as his earlier ones suffer technically from being acoustic recordings. There are also a couple of reminiscences from later broadcasts.

Garth

 

Here is a longer selection of Rita Streich's singing, which I thoroughly admire. This shows her in a number of different performances and roles, including lieder and operatic songs with an orchestra; it includes another version of Rusalka, also a beautiful version of the Brahms Cradle Song. It has video throughout, so listen watch and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKtrNiSGlJc

Just beautiful singing from a beautiful performer! A great shame it is not more known now. She was performing in the same era as Elizabeth Schwartzkopf, (another of my favourites) and possibly slightly overshadowed, but I believe she was her equal.

Garth

 

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OscarCP

Here is the Rita Streich version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOuKYGJPb6I

von Stade is good, certainly with a rich tone, but a little slow and too ‘operatic’ for my taste. I’ll stick with the one I have preferred for over 50 years!

Garth

Song to the Moon, one of my all-time favourites! Lucia Popp is excellent, but having just compared that recording with my own absolute favourite, that of Rita Streich, I still prefer the latter, as I mentioned in Part 1.

Oscar, some others of us have had hiccups with links or the moderating process in our time, no need to apologise. Rather, just celebrate the success and accept thanks for this long-lasting thread (Parts 1 and 2 ….) which has led us to experience more wonderful music!

Garth

Oscar, I just noticed your ‘helpful’ but not quite correct note about the nearest town to the Glastonbury Festival. Pilton is just a village, nice but small, less than 1000 people. The nearest town is Shepton Mallet, about 3 miles north-east, which has nearly 11,000. You got the county right, though, after a false start.

Nice part of the country, and I used to live not far away, but never a fan of the Festival.

Garth

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OscarCP

What a wonderful Requiem. It’s a long time since I listened to a complete performance, and I had rather forgotten just how impressive it is. Not just the ‘best’ bits, but the piece as a whole – 90 minutes of wonderful music, and some magnificent singers who I did not know at all.

Garth

Oscar, indeed, all of them thanks.

I have to admit though, that all of the versions of Elizabeth Serenade, the one I like best is the choral version by the Gunter Kallmann singers, a very long-standing absolute favourite ever since the 1960s!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoE87Iw5xUY

Garth

Here is a scan of that website with (presumably) all compositions by Ronald Binge listed.

Garth

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OscarCP

Here is another, longer, Binge composition, proving he is not just a small piece man. Saturday Symphony has three movements, about a half hour long, but the sense of humour is never far away.

https://youtu.be/G3IvKVh3s3E

Garth

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OscarCP

Oscar, most of them were composed by Binge! A few are arrangements for Mantovani, in which he was a member of the orchestra, and then responsible for most of the Mantovani arrangements.

Here is a list of his compositions:

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ronald-binge-mn0001258366/compositions?1629490687544

He was born in the railway town of Derby, where I first started work, so I have a particular ‘soft spot’ for him. He was a remarkable musician!

Garth

 

Oscar, so be it! Here is an opener, in a relaxed fashion.

Light music as a genre has not had all that much of a following in recent years, but there is much that is excellent. I enjoy the music of English light music composer Ronald Binge, and here is a typical group of melodies, in traditional form.

https://youtu.be/KkZ2Ooz2gtI

On the other hand, I have a vinyl record of numerous songs sung in German by the Gunter Kallmann choir. Unfortunately I cannot find a compilation on YT but here is a single recording from that same record to show what a different and beautiful sound can be created.

https://youtu.be/EoE87Iw5xUY

Garth

I think that would be sensible.

As well, sometime it might be appropriate to consider a list or index. Or maybe that’s overkill?

 

Garth