#morninglistening to @tonkuenstler in #Bernstein’s desperately easy-going music:
under #YutakaSado
Glitter and be gay! It’s the #7thDayofChristmas & #newyearseve!
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection
#classicalcdcollection #americanclassicalmusic #orchestralmusic #candideoverture #tonkünstlerorchester #leonardbernstein #20thCenturyMusic
#ChristmasDay 7.
#morninglistening to the musical drolleries of the #hoffnungmusicfestival on EMI/ @warnerclassicsus
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/5MJAMrf
#ChristmasDay 7. #HappyNewYear
#humor & #classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #GerardHoffnung #DennisBrain #NormanDelMar
#7thDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to #Monteverdi #madrigals w/@lesartsflo on @HarmoniaMundi / @PIASclassicsUSA
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/45ByxmI
#ChristmasDay 7: #HappyNewYear
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #Renaissance #vocalmusic #noFilter #acapella ##italianmusic #LesArtsFlorissants
#7thDayOfChristmas
At the end of every year, usually and conveniently before the Amazon shopping deadline to get deliveries in on the 24th (by which I mean the high holidays of contemplation, reflection and thoughtfulness, Advent and Christmastide with a dedicated dash of Hanukkah thrown in), newspapers, magazines, radio stations, blogs and the like – this column included – publish “Best of the Year” lists.
“Best of the Year” doesn’t really connote the hubris that one might think. No writer or even team of writers and editors that put together such a list would ever seriously entertain that the process of making such lists is either comprehensive enough of objective enough to have come up with the ten or dozen or 50 “Best” releases of any style of music. The phrase acts as a symbol, well understood by every adult reader, that this is a list of what rocked the list-making person’s or persons’ boat. It’s not an ideal title, perhaps, but it works well and it gets eyeballs – and in doing so it brings more attention to a diverse bunch of good releases than a more appropriate title might. The one year (since 2004) I didn’t make a “Best of” list, I called it “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…” – a title I actually quite liked. But it’s too much of a mouth full, I suppose. Others go for “X Notable Recordings” or the like; all perfectly fine.
Now, there are plenty of scam-actions going on in the universe of “Best of”-type awards. The Grammys, certainly in classical music, are a matter of voting-strengths among certain blocks of voters… fairly predictable, but not necessarily of quality. In Germany the ECHO prize, which still barely clings on to being a televised event, is the equivalent, but beholden to the labels. On top of that its classical music part is increasingly ghettoized and the voting process is an industry-led, prorated sham. I’ve written about it before:
Ask anyone who hasn’t been nominated: The Grammys for Classical Music are a joke. But a potentially important joke; the increase in sales based on inclusion on that list of winners is real, even if the rest is fake. (“Daft Awards We Embrace”, ionarts, 2010)
But the best of these lists, like that of Alex Ross, are insightful and intent to broaden the mind and the ears. Tom Huizenga does something similar with a similar-ish list for NPR. Some lists have a strong nationalist bent; American lists often want to champion American music on principle; desperately trying to make those recommendations look organic. Some individuals want to get just the right touch of hipness, off-beatness and eclecticism… yet with a nod to populism. The result may come across as calculating – but so what. Other lists are more reflective of broad, rather than pioneering, tastes. The choices from Boston suggest that the ECM’s public relations department did an excellent job. (It’s such a fabulous label, admittedly.) The venerable Gramophone has a notorious British/Anglo bent when it comes to labels and performers. There are lists that look like they were more easily swayed by the big ticket items, big names, or robust marketing campaigns… others have a knack for squirreling out small-label rarities. At best, one merely has to content with the personal bias and limited exposure of a curator of such a list.
That said, all these lists have merit – and some of their flaws can be cancelled out by coming up with a meta-list. This is such an attempt and these are the ingredients:
Charles Downey at the Classical Review: Top Ten Recordings of 2017
Alex Ross: Ten Notable Recordings (and Ten More)
BBC Music Magazine’s 13 Recordings of the Month
Gramophone Magazine’s “Gramophone Awards 2017”, “Critics' Choice 2017” and “The Best Reissues & Archive Releases of 2017”
Gramophone’s “Critics’ Choice” list is unique among these in that one recording can get multiple nominations – which are reflected in my overlap list.
John von Rhein/Chicago Tribune’s “10 classical recordings that made 2017 a very good listening year”
The Guardian’s “2017 in review: Andrew Clement’s top 10 classical CDs”
KUSC’s “Svejda Plays Santa: Jim’s 2017 Favorite Things”
New York Times’ “The 25 Best Classical Music Recordings of 2017” (put together by Anthony Tommasini, James R. Oestreich, David Allen, Seth Colter Walls and Joshua Baron)
WQXR’s “The Best Classical Recordings of 2017”
The Guardian: “2017 in review: Andrew Clements' top 10 classical CDs”
Tom Huizenga: “NPR Music's Top 10 Classical Albums Of 2017”
Boston Globe: “Zoë Madonna’s picks for 2017’s best classical albums” and “Jeremy Eichler’s picks for 2017’s best classical albums”
Forbes’ “Best Classical Recordings of 2017” and “Best Classical Recordings of 2017 (Re-Issues)”
#morninglistening to #Mantovani w/@accentus on @naiverecords. Not THAT Mantovani.
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/3hh80me
#7thDayofChristmas
#classicalmusic #classicalcdcollection #classicalmusiccollection #BrunoMantovani #contemporarymusic #21stCenturyMusic #frenchmusic #choralmusic #acapella
#ChristmasDay 7.
#morninglistening to #enriquebagaria on @eudorarecords #pianosonatas of beloved #Haydn. ♡
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/2GVkHhc
Terrific stuff for #ChristmasDay 6
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #solokeyboard #pianosonatas #classicalcdcollection #WienerKlassik #pianosonata
#20thCenturyMusic
#noFilter #JosephHaydn
with musical love from Spain.
#6thDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to #ArabellaSteinbacher w/@rsb_orchester in #Hindemith & #Britten #violinconcertos
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/4LUEXaq
Great @SurprisedBeauty music…
under #VladimirJurowski
#surprisedbybeauty #classicalmusic
#classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #violinconcerto #orchestralmusic #repertoireexplorer #BenjaminBritten #PaulHindemith #20thCenturyMusic
#6thDayOfChristmas / #ChristmasDay 6.
#morninglistening to @operzuerich’s #FrankMartin recording w/@OkkavdD & #FabioLuisi:
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/36uQnAU
♡ this @SurprisedBeauty music!
Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke w/#OkkaVonDerDamerau, #FabioLuisi (and why was his Twitter account closed?) and the #Zurich Philharmonia.
#surprisedbybeauty #classicalmusic
#classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #orchestralmusic #alto-music #repertoireexplorer #20thCenturyMusic
After enjoying the first book by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me, I was glad to receive his new book of essays for Christmas. These are long reads published over the course of the last decade, most of which I had already read, but with some context from the author about his circumstances as he wrote them. One of the stories he tells in the book, which was news to me, is in this excerpt, that his father "paid" him to write the blog that eventually brought him to The Atlantic. That original blog, sadly, appears to have been deleted when it was transferred to The Atlantic. The memoir component of the book is by far its most compelling material.In January of 2008, six months before I took the trip to Aspen, I logged into BlogSpot and set up an account. I had so many ideas back then and nowhere to put them. At that time, outlets were still limited, and pitching was often laborious. I would post four or five times to the blog each day. They were loose threads that would sometimes come to nothing and other times become the basis for grander artistic pursuits. In the header I scrawled a couplet from the rapper MF Doom:
He wears the mask just to cover the raw flesh.
A rather ugly brother with flows that's gorgeous.
At first, only two people read this blog, and those two people were my dad and me. We'd come up with the idea together. He paid me a stipend -- small in amount, huge in impact. It was steady money, which is to say a lifesaver for a family that turned "in over one's head" into a creed. More, it was an investment -- the time spent on the blog was time to practice my craft in public while also garnering enough money for groceries. The blog offered limitless space to write, and then publish at whim. And slowly, with some links from other bloggers thrown my way, more and more people cem to read it, until, by that summer I had attracted a backing chorus -- a steady group of commenters who read and offered their thoughts. The blog also drew the attention of The Atlantic, which offered to take it on and pay me a regular, less small salary.
-- Ta-Nehisi Coates, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, pp. 41-42
#morninglistening to @AdeSerenissima /@LaSerenissimaUK on @AvieRec:
#ChristmasDay 5: #merrychristmas 🎄
Ranks high on my upcoming Meta Best-of-Best-of list.
#Vivaldi #Tartini #Torelli #Albinoni #Caldera #Corelli
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #choralmusic #vocalmusic #noFilter #italianmusic
#5thDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to the #MozartPianoQuartet on #mDg in #GeorgHendrikWitte
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/7fyTMyY
Obscure stuff for #ChristmasDay 4
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #chambermusic #classicalcdcollection #romanticism #repertoireexplorer #pianoquartet #hornquintet #SACD
#noFilter
#4thDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to #LucasDebargue on @sony_classical in #Szymanowski & #Schubert #pianosonatas.
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/2a4D2N9
Terrific stuff for #ChristmasDay 4
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #solokeyboard #pianosonatas #classicalcdcollection #romanticism #repertoireexplorer #pianosonata
#20thCenturyMusic #surprisedbybeauty
#noFilter #sonyclassical
#4thDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to #AndreaZani #celloconcertos w/#MartinRummel & @koelnerAkademie on @capricciorec:
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/5ic3CWF
#ChristmasDay 4.
#classicalmusic #repertoireexplorer #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #celloconcerto #concertos #historicalinstruments #historicallyinformedperformance #KoelnerAkademie #4thDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to #Bach’s #christmasoratorio w/@BachChor under #KarlRichter on @dgclassics:
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/1l1OvdX
#ChristmasDay 4
My Christmas classic and emotional favorite. Not HIP, just full of love.
(♡)♡♡♡
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #MünchnerBachchor #baroquemusic
#choralmusic #cantatas
Bought this as a cut-out at Tower, if I remember correctly.
#4thDayOfChristmas #Weihnachtsoratorium #CarusVerlag #Bachedition
#morninglistening to #Bach #cantatas w/#CollegiumVocaleGent & #Herreweghe:
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/59W4ZjC
#ChristmasDay 3.
volume 21: #BWV101 #BWV115 #BWV103
>Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott
>Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit
>Ihr werdet weinen und heulen
♡♡♡♡ #classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #choralmusic #JohannSebastianBach #historicalinstruments #historicallyinformedperformance #CollegiumVocale #3rdDayOfChristmas #PhilippeHerreweghe #CarusVerlag Bachedition
#morninglistening to @crozhlas under #TomášNepotil on @supraphonCZ
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/4EhEApx
#ChristmasDay 3
100% @SurprisedBeauty-music!
#Bouquet of Flowers - a gorgeous ‘Czech Carmina Burana’ if you wish, coupled with the equally marvelous #PhilharmonicDances of #JanNovák’s.
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #choralmusic #czechmusic #vocalmusic #noFilter #TomasNepotil #orchestralmusic #PragueRadioSymphonyOrchestra #JanNovak #20thCenturyMusic #surprisedbybeauty
#3rdDayOfChristmas: #merrychristmas 🎄
#morninglistening to #Mozart w/ @giardinoarmonico & #IsabelleFaust on @harmoniamundi / @PIASclassicalUSA
Amazon: https://t.co/kICyaUWPZh
#ChristmasDay 2 - #merrychristmas 🎅
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #WienerKlassik #violinconcertos #WolfgangAmadeusMozart #violinconcerto #historicalinstruments #originalinstruments
#HIP
#2ndDayOfChristmas: #merrychristmas 🎄
#morninglistening to #deWert: sacred #motets w/@stileantico on @HarmoniaMundi / @PIASclassicsUSA
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/5XI2Wcz
#ChristmasDay 2: #merrychristmas
#GiachesDeWert, the missing link between renaissance #polyphony & Monteverdi.
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #choralmusic #vocalmusic #noFilter #acapella #flemishmusic #italianmusic
#2ndDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to #Charpentier: #Pastorale de #Noël w/#EnsembleCorrespindances & Sébastien Daucé
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/7xyInWX
#ChristmasDay 2: #merrychristmas
Wonderful, occ. lulling works by good old #MarcAntoineCharpentier
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #choralmusic #vocalmusic #historicalinstruments #historicallyinformedperformance #noFilter #HIP #frenchmusic
#2ndDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to #Bach #cantatas w/#LaPetiteBande & #SigiswaldKuijken
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/61fn0bh
#ChristmasDay 1: #merrychristmas
♡♡♡♡
Early in the year and already a candidate for the #BestOf2018 list!
One of the great Bach cycles - one cantata for each Sunday of the liturgical year.
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #choralmusic #JohannSebastianBach #historicalinstruments #historicallyinformedperformance #noFilter #HIP #OVPP
#1stDayOfChristmas
#morninglistening to #Telemann Paris #Quartets on @Alpha_classics w/#Nevermind:
#merrychristmas
(@outheremusic)
#georgphilipptelemann #classicalcdcollection
#classicalmusiccollection
#classicalmusic #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #chambermusic
#morninglistening
to @LiseDeLaSalle in #Bach & others:
#Adventskalender Day 24
#franzliszt + #ferrucioBusoni #francisPoulenc + #AlbertRoussel + #ThomasEnhco
#classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #classicalmusic #JohannSebastianBach #solokeyboard #EarlyMusic #contemporarymusic #liseDeLaSalle
#morninglistening to #Langgaard w/#GunvorSihm & BJ Tamge on @DacapoRecords
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/5tUqF9c
#Adventskalender Day 24!
@SurprisedBeauty Music! ♡☆♡
#chambermusic #classicalmusic #surprisedbybeauty #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #orchestralmusic #danishmusic
#morninglistening to #Telemann #Quartets w/#ensembleventusiucundus on #Gramola:
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/5CzRuQf
#Adventskalender Day 23
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #choralmusic #JohannSebastianBach #historicalinstruments #historicallyinformedperformance
#recordermusic #flutemusic
#morninglistening to #Bach # w/@bach_collegiumE & @MSuzukiBCJ
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/6nyG7iI
#Adventskalender Day 23
The #ArtoftheFugue in as lovely and lively a rendition for orchestral forces as Jordi Savall’s last was. Picture of Masaaki Suzuki and his players may not conform 100% to reality.
♡♡♡
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #choralmusic #JohannSebastianBach #historicalinstruments #historicallyinformedperformance #noFilter #DieKunstDerFuge
The @philorch doubles down on its previous statement re: Dutoit.
— Jens F. Laurson (@ClassicalCritic) December 23, 2017
Meanwhile @zwoolfe reports Charles Dutoit's response here:https://t.co/gtaVEzE6JS#presumptionofinnocence schminnocence. pic.twitter.com/bsE7FDM1MY
#morninglistening to #Bach #cantatas w/@bachstiftung:
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/6nyG7iI
#Adventskalender Day 23
volume 21: #BWV80 #BWV24 #BWV79
>Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott
>Ein Ungefärbt Gemüte
>Herr der Gott ist Sohn und Schild
♡♡♡
#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #EarlyMusic #baroquemusic #choralmusic #JohannSebastianBach #historicalinstruments #historicallyinformedperformance #noFilter
#morninglistening to Elizabeth #JacquetDeLaGuerre’s #violinsonatas w/#LisaTurBonet on #Pan Classics
Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/19U3hRk
#classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #classicalmusic #violinsonata #womencomposers #FrenchMusic #baroquemusic #EarlyMusic #chambermusic
New York Times | The New Yorker | Washington Post | The Atlantic David Edelstein | NPR | Christian Science Monitor |
 Franz Schubert, Die Schöne Müllerin, Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber Sony Classical  |
 Ludwig van Beethoven, The String Quartets +, Takács Quartet, Decca |
#morninglistening to @permopera/#MusicAetetna w/#TeodorCurrentzis in #Tchaikovsky’s 6th #Symphony:
Anazon: http://a-fwd.to/3K2hOKv
#Adventskalender Day 21
@sony_classical ☆☆☆☆☆
Woha! If I must listen to this work, that’s how I want it to be like. Half of the time.
#classicalmusic
#classicalmusiccollection #opera #orchestralmusic #Tchaik6 #RussianClassicalMusic #Pathetique
