This is a valuable submission. Thank you.
HIP Early Music on SACD
I don't know how many Audiogoners will be interested in this, but I thought I'd put it together anyway. Maybe I'll even win a few converts to Early Music!
There has been pitifully little good classical music appear on SACD. There has been even less Early Music (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, early Classical). And there has been even less Historically Informed Performances of Early Music. My hope is that this is changing, and there are some indications it is. The following information includes most of the HIP Early Music available on SACD. It does NOT include modern performances of Baroque music ("Berlin Philharmonic plays Bach Brandenburg Concertos," etc.). A number of these titles are forthcoming. I do not list all the performers and other details, since this would quickly get out of hand if I did.
Channel Classics:
Channel Classics is the SACD frontrunner. They have many SACDs, and they are all true DSD recordings. The highlight so far is the recent
-Vivaldi: La Stravaganza (19503)
just reviewed in Stereophile. Check out their website for the rest: http://www.channelclassics.com
Sony Classical:
Not much here. However, a SACD you don't want to miss is the spectacular:
-Late Vivaldi Concertos (87733)
Also note:
-Bach Arias (89924)
Alia Vox:
Early Music guru Jordi Savall is now releasing SACDs. The first two especially are priceless.
La Folia (9805)
Carlos V (9814)
Jean-Baptiste Lully (9807)
Jose Marin (9802)
Lope De Vega (9831)
Decca/Philips:
Megastar mezzo Cecilia Bartoli:
-Gluck: Italian Arias (470 611-2)
-Salieri Album (forthcoming)
Not quite Early Music, but a good bet, based on John Eliot Gardiner's wonderful HIP Beethoven recordings with the Orchestre Revolutionnairre et Romantique:
-Beethoven & Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos (470 629-2)
DG/Archiv:
Not much here so far.
-Biber: Missa Salisburgensis (471 632-2)
Harmonia Mundi:
English Concert is now directed by the great Andrew Manze:
-Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (807280)
Ravishing Hildegard von Bingen chants from Anonymous 4:
-11,000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula (807200)
Something quite different from the Harp Consort:
-Missa Mexicana: 17th Century Mass (807293)
Marc Aurel Edition:
Fascinating and inspired blend of scholarship and imagination from Sequentia:
-Rheingold Curse: A German Saga of Greed and Revenge from the Medieval Icelandic Edda (20016)
Delos:
Something bizarre about a harpsichord recorded at Lucas' Skywalker Sound. . .
-Bach: Goldberg Variations (3279)
Hyperion:
-Coronation of King George II (Handel, Purcell, Blow, Tallis, Gibbons) (67286)
-Stabat Mater (Boccherini, D'Astorga) (67108)
Dorian:
A very well received recording featuring the recent Robert Levin completion:
-Mozart: Requiem (70310)
I'm probably missing some things (I hope I'm missing some things), but this is a pretty complete tally at this time. Should you have any questions about Early Music generally, by all means ask.
There has been pitifully little good classical music appear on SACD. There has been even less Early Music (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, early Classical). And there has been even less Historically Informed Performances of Early Music. My hope is that this is changing, and there are some indications it is. The following information includes most of the HIP Early Music available on SACD. It does NOT include modern performances of Baroque music ("Berlin Philharmonic plays Bach Brandenburg Concertos," etc.). A number of these titles are forthcoming. I do not list all the performers and other details, since this would quickly get out of hand if I did.
Channel Classics:
Channel Classics is the SACD frontrunner. They have many SACDs, and they are all true DSD recordings. The highlight so far is the recent
-Vivaldi: La Stravaganza (19503)
just reviewed in Stereophile. Check out their website for the rest: http://www.channelclassics.com
Sony Classical:
Not much here. However, a SACD you don't want to miss is the spectacular:
-Late Vivaldi Concertos (87733)
Also note:
-Bach Arias (89924)
Alia Vox:
Early Music guru Jordi Savall is now releasing SACDs. The first two especially are priceless.
La Folia (9805)
Carlos V (9814)
Jean-Baptiste Lully (9807)
Jose Marin (9802)
Lope De Vega (9831)
Decca/Philips:
Megastar mezzo Cecilia Bartoli:
-Gluck: Italian Arias (470 611-2)
-Salieri Album (forthcoming)
Not quite Early Music, but a good bet, based on John Eliot Gardiner's wonderful HIP Beethoven recordings with the Orchestre Revolutionnairre et Romantique:
-Beethoven & Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos (470 629-2)
DG/Archiv:
Not much here so far.
-Biber: Missa Salisburgensis (471 632-2)
Harmonia Mundi:
English Concert is now directed by the great Andrew Manze:
-Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (807280)
Ravishing Hildegard von Bingen chants from Anonymous 4:
-11,000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula (807200)
Something quite different from the Harp Consort:
-Missa Mexicana: 17th Century Mass (807293)
Marc Aurel Edition:
Fascinating and inspired blend of scholarship and imagination from Sequentia:
-Rheingold Curse: A German Saga of Greed and Revenge from the Medieval Icelandic Edda (20016)
Delos:
Something bizarre about a harpsichord recorded at Lucas' Skywalker Sound. . .
-Bach: Goldberg Variations (3279)
Hyperion:
-Coronation of King George II (Handel, Purcell, Blow, Tallis, Gibbons) (67286)
-Stabat Mater (Boccherini, D'Astorga) (67108)
Dorian:
A very well received recording featuring the recent Robert Levin completion:
-Mozart: Requiem (70310)
I'm probably missing some things (I hope I'm missing some things), but this is a pretty complete tally at this time. Should you have any questions about Early Music generally, by all means ask.