Here’s one to test your cans with. Check out how they’ve mic’ed the viola. Viola da Gamba Sonata BWV 1029. Adagio. - YouTube
Wow, mic right ON the instrument! It sounds like the gamba is right. There. But the composite layer with the harpsichord (along with the visuals) create the illusion of being in the room. I had to pull my “reference” disc, a 1969 recording with Marçal Cervera and Rafael Puyana,off the shelf and give it a listen.
On the CD, the gamba is unmistakably on the right, with the harpsichord on the left. Stylistically, a lot has changed in 50 years! In both performances, vibrato is almost totally absent (completely appropriate); the ornaments do a lot of the expressive work. Cervera’s version, however, tends to be more straightforward, the music is more at its face value (which I gravitate more towards, likely because I’m used to hearing it that way), while Rose, like many modern players, aims for something profound and mystical. She did a lot with timbre, and I liked her ornamentation. Really excellent - an intriguing presentation.
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I just adore that instrument, with all its rich tones and resonances. It’s a pity there isn’t more music written for it. What might Beethoven have done with it? Brahms?
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For tonight.
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That’s an amazing piece of music, isn’t it.
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Powerful. And I like this recording.
All things being equal I prefer the Jacqueline du Pré recording, but perhaps the downside to having good audio gear is that I end up avoiding older, lower fidelity recordings.
Here’s du Pré.
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Tonight’s selection
Very, very nice.
AMHD > Douk Audio U2 Pro > Schiit Bifrost 2 > XDuoo TA-20 > HiFiman Sundara
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A bit heavy for the morning, but I’m enjoying putting my 660s through its paces with this. The aria “Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit” at 42:26 is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard. Brahms at his most profound. And heartfelt. The story is that his mother died while he was writing the Requiem. He then wrote the Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit for her and inserted it into the Requiem.
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I will ck this later today, lol. Mariss Janssons conducted there and the recordings I have
heard are well recorded and very good. PS, I love a good backstory, thanks!
Check this out: The Requiem paired down to a 4-handed piano and chorus.
Oh, man. Or should I say, “Mentsch!”
What to do when you can’t afford an orchestra, eh? 
Soloist is good.
That is one of my favorite works, but I never heard That version!
Our local music conservatory did it 3 years ago and I got teary at the first choral
entrance. Quite a piece of music.
I have just discovered Telemann’s Paris Quartet because I’m going to a concert on October that will play some of it.
This is so beautiful. Now I am going to dig deeper into Telemann’s music.
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One of my favourite pieces. It is so intense, my heart rate goes up to like 200 bpm when I’m listening to this lol
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Wow. What a beautiful performance. What a beautiful Piano! I know this is gonna sound stupid, but I honestly don’t know… That is the house Piano he is playing, correct? 99% of musicians travel and play with their own instruments, but I guess pianists don’t have that luxury? Do different Pianos feel and sound different? How does that affect the artist’s performance?
Whatever the case, that is one impressive Piano.
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Man, that is some CLOSE mic placement! Really shows off the piano rather than any
room acoustics. And yes, some bring their own piano…at that level the sound and importantly the touch (due to how the technician regulates them) is very important to
the artist. But they can play on anything! 
This one also shows the immense variety
of colors a great piano can produce. Very sensitive performance as well. Linked YT, but
I would find a better quality stream on whichever service you use.
Debussy: Préludes / Book 1, L. 117 - 10. La cathédrale engloutie - YouTube
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