I believe in letting an invader in and then setting a good example. That is the reply Benjamin Britten gave to a tribunal for the registration of conscientious objectors in 1942 when asked "What would you do if Britain was invaded?" I was reminded of it when researching my recent article on Marco Pallis , who was an authority on both Tibetan Buddhism and early music, and, together with Britten, a champion of Purcell . In his best-selling book Peaks and Lamas , which was written in 1939, Pallis tells this story about the Sakyas , the ethnic group of which Gautama Buddha was a member which inhabited the foothills of the Himalayas. News was brought to them of an impending attack by a hostile tribe and it was debated anxiously whether resistance should be offered or not. Eventually they decided that, as followers of [Buddhist] Doctrine, they were debarred from offering armed resistance, but must welcome the invaders as friends, so they threw down their arms... The Tibetans, how...
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First, I noticed the rather as to be expected pairing of Vivaldi's the 'Seasons' with Astor Piazzolla'a 'The Seasons in Beunos Aires'. (I can't recall whether this concept is available commercially, and whether you have already mentioned it.)
And then, last night, I noticed that Vivaldi was going to be enlisted (I believe at the University of Maryland) for a multi-cultural 'event' in which the Vivaldi 'Seasons' strings collaborate with a pipa player from China, a saranga player from India, and an Innuit throat singer....
Next decade, the Missa Solemnis or Mahler's 9 with guests?... (Actually, I suddenly recall that someone is already doing Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with guest non-Western musicians...)
As examples of what I judge to be serious musical intent (and I know that is a real judgement call) I have recently derived great pleasure, and musical insight, from two 'experimental' approaches to core repertoire.
The Bach Cello Suites played by Jean-Marc Apap on a viola (Zig-Zag Territoires T051103) are excellent, and even better are the three Leipzig Chorales which separate the suites, played by a string quintet. And staying with Bach chorales Fretwork's CD (Harmonia Mundi 907395) of his keyboard works transcribed for viols is highly recommended, particularly for their transcription of the great five voice Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552.2 from the Clavier Ubung lll, a fugue which is becoming something of an obsession for me personally.
I also can't remember where you came down on Christoph Poppen and the Hilliard Ensemble's analytical version on ECM New of the Bach 2nd Violin Partita and the chorale tunes (on the theme of death) that apparently were behind it. I remember that I found it tremendously exciting and worthwhile.
I'll keep my eyes out for the Fretwork Bach transcriptions for viol concert that you mention -- on
Harmonia Mundi. (I used to love an old Archiv LP recording of Purcell's viol concert works...
Fantasias which were quite chromatically complex.)
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As to transcriptions, I had an unfortunate experience on Sunday of attending a National Gallery free evening recital, at the last minute, because it featured, as a closing work, a cello and piano transcription of Bartok's uncompleted Viola Concerto (1945). The fine soloist was having problems, and I didn't really enjoy the transcription --- nor the transcriptions earlier on the program of Marais's La Folio and the Franck Sonata in A major. I was less bothered by the violoncello and piano fragment from Messiaen's Quartet for the end of time -- but it was not a thrilling evening, especially as the garden court's acoustics are quite poor.
I loved the Christoph Poppen/Hilliard Ensemble Bach both because it has serious musical intent, and because it is simply beautiful music.
But something else I must share with you - the Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma playing Bach's E major violin Partita and two of the violin sonatas on an 1825 'cello piccolo. Serious musical intent combined with wonderfully passionate playing give a really fresh take on these works. You simply can't miss it, particularly as it on Harmonia Mundi 778432 at budget price.