Rachel Podger, Holland Baroque Society – Antonio Vivaldi – La Cetra (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:58:46 minutes | 2,40 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Channel Classics
Podger is a dynamic and unfailingly accurate virtuoso with exceptional interpretive instincts that can turn an unimposing rhythmic accent, a tiny melodic figure, or a seemingly routine harmonic progression into a moment of surprise or sheer wonder not only at the technical facility but also at the unexpected expressive effect. These concertos are full of challenges for the soloist, and Podger, who has considerable experience not only with Vivaldi, but with Mozart, Bach, and Haydn, has no apparent fear of any of them. And she also is a confident leader, bringing her very capable orchestral colleagues perfectly along with her, not only concerning tempos, but more importantly into her personal conception of dynamics, her volatile phrasing and often relentless rhythmic thrust. This is what makes these performances so exciting, invigorating, and so memorably different from the Vivaldi we’ve previously known and loved from performers such as Fabio Biondi, Giuliano Carmignola, and Andrew Manze.
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Rachel Podger – Biber: Rosary Sonatas (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 02:13:22 minutes | 4,07 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Channel Classics Records
Johann Kuhnau, Bach’s predecessor at Leipzig, composed biblical sonatas depicting stories – such as David and Goliath – in abstract, worldless, keyboard pieces. Biber’s Mystery Sonatas are quite different because they form part of a linked meditation on the life of Jesus and therefore present remarkable potential for the interpreter as a kind of ‘Evangelist’. Uniquely, these celebrated works employ fourteen different scordatura tunings where the altered intervals on the four strings create extraordinarily different ‘sound worlds’ to describe each event. Singers aside, performers are rarely presented with such heady subject matter to motivate their interpretations, apart from the usual movement titles indicating tempi, pulse and character.
Some pieces may have meaningful titles with a dedication, perhaps to another composer or friend, and we also come across specific instructions to ‘imitate’ various animals. For instance, Biber’s Battalia – a work which employs fashionable programmatic elements in the best traditions of a sonata rappresentativa) – portrays both the battle and the lament for the dead in a fashion which requires no further explanation. Likewise, in the case of C.P.E. Bach’s trio sonata Sanguineus and Melancholicus, a whole scene is described with meticulous and detailed instructions for expression, ranging from stubbornness and anger to laughter and ridicule, and even irony!
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Georg Philipp Telemann – Twelve Fantasies for Solo Violin – Rachel Podger (2002)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:14:14 minutes | 3,01 GB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: nativeDSDmusic | Digital Booklet | © Channel Classics Records B.V.
Recorded: St. Micahels Church, West Compton, Dorset UK
In November of 2001, one of my first recordings using the DSD technology was in a small unknown church – Dorset England. Rachel Podger had chosen the church as she had played a concert there as some point and thought it would be perfect for the solo Telemann Sonatas. I agreed sight unseen.
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