Discussion:
Raymond Leppard RIP
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drh8h
2019-10-22 17:56:46 UTC
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His death was just announced. Had the pleasure of speaking to him once. Was bold enough to give him some ideas of pieces to play and he actually took one of my suggestions in Indianapolis. A fine conductor in a much wider repertory than he is usually associated. Well done, Maestro.

Dennis
j***@yahoo.com
2019-10-22 21:22:03 UTC
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Leppard’s Philips recording of the Holberg Suite is still one of my choice discs. ....Farewell.
Oscar
2019-10-24 00:05:44 UTC
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First man to record complete Brandenburgs one-to-a-part. Excellent RVW Symphony Antartica on KOSS Classics, c.1990. R.I.P.
Raymond Hall
2019-10-24 01:15:14 UTC
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Post by Oscar
First man to record complete Brandenburgs one-to-a-part. Excellent RVW Symphony Antartica on KOSS Classics, c.1990. R.I.P.
I have many sets of Brandenburgs, and Leppard's is easily one of my favourites. On two Philips Solo cds.

Ray Hall, Taree
number_six
2019-10-24 01:35:15 UTC
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Post by Raymond Hall
Post by Oscar
First man to record complete Brandenburgs one-to-a-part. Excellent RVW Symphony Antartica on KOSS Classics, c.1990. R.I.P.
I have many sets of Brandenburgs, and Leppard's is easily one of my favourites. On two Philips Solo cds.
Ray Hall, Taree
I have those same ones. Also a superb BWV 80, Ein Fest Burg. Even if he is edged out by Richter, Leppard's Cantata 80 is still spectacular!
Frank Berger
2019-10-24 01:19:20 UTC
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Post by Oscar
First man to record complete Brandenburgs one-to-a-part. Excellent RVW Symphony Antartica on KOSS Classics, c.1990. R.I.P.
Also RVW #1 with Chicago SO in 1980. Included in one of the CSO "From
the Archives" sets.
msw design
2019-10-24 04:36:50 UTC
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Post by Frank Berger
Post by Oscar
First man to record complete Brandenburgs one-to-a-part. Excellent RVW Symphony Antartica on KOSS Classics, c.1990. R.I.P.
Also RVW #1 with Chicago SO in 1980. Included in one of the CSO "From
the Archives" sets.
Well, the Chrous set only gives you the scherzo. I doubt it is complete in another set, is it?
Frank Berger
2019-10-24 12:38:49 UTC
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Post by msw design
Post by Frank Berger
Post by Oscar
First man to record complete Brandenburgs one-to-a-part. Excellent RVW Symphony Antartica on KOSS Classics, c.1990. R.I.P.
Also RVW #1 with Chicago SO in 1980. Included in one of the CSO "From
the Archives" sets.
Well, the Chrous set only gives you the scherzo. I doubt it is complete in another set, is it?
You're right. Scherzo only. My mistake.
Kerrison
2019-10-24 15:45:49 UTC
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Post by Frank Berger
Post by Oscar
First man to record complete Brandenburgs one-to-a-part. Excellent RVW Symphony Antartica on KOSS Classics, c.1990. R.I.P.
Also RVW #1 with Chicago SO in 1980. Included in one of the CSO "From
the Archives" sets.
Did he play much English music in America? Here's a rather splendid St. Louis performance of Walton's "Crown Imperial" ...


number_six
2019-10-24 01:15:08 UTC
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snip < A fine conductor in a much wider repertory than he is usually associated. Well done, Maestro.
Dennis
Yes, I expected excellence from him in Bach or Handel and he always delivered. But I think I remember being surprised at his deft symphonic touch with Haydn, and even Rochberg, of all people. Now I'm wondering what that was.
Russ (not Martha)
2019-10-24 18:06:23 UTC
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A conductor I admired very much, and not least because he performed a good chunk of the Baroque and early classical repertoire on modern instruments, the way I like 'em. I wish more conductors would follow his lead in that respect.

Some years back I remastered to CD his "Bach Family' collection of works by Wilhelm Friedemann, Johann Christoph Friedrich, and Johann Ludwig, as well as a couple of symphonies by Carl Philipp Emanuel which so far have never appeared on commercial CD. There will probably be an intègrale issued eventually.

Russ (not Martha)
n***@gmail.com
2019-10-24 18:36:14 UTC
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Post by drh8h
His death was just announced. Had the pleasure of speaking to him once. Was bold enough to give him some ideas of pieces to play and he actually took one of my suggestions in Indianapolis. A fine conductor in a much wider repertory than he is usually associated. Well done, Maestro.
Dennis
Two recent losses, Jessye Norman recorded with Raymond Leppard:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Purcell+Raymond+Leppard&i=digital-music&ref=nb_sb_noss
Randy Lane
2019-10-25 17:13:10 UTC
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Post by n***@gmail.com
Post by drh8h
His death was just announced. Had the pleasure of speaking to him once. Was bold enough to give him some ideas of pieces to play and he actually took one of my suggestions in Indianapolis. A fine conductor in a much wider repertory than he is usually associated. Well done, Maestro.
Dennis
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Purcell+Raymond+Leppard&i=digital-music&ref=nb_sb_noss
A part of his Legacy that has not been well promoted and released in budget box format is his ground breaking complete Monteverdi Madrigals.

While there are many more alternatives now, including the near-benchmark set on Glossa, I would still welcome this set in a clamshell box.

In addition to the already mentioned Grieg recordings I frequently enjoy his Handel Ariodante recording too.
Oscar
2019-10-26 00:09:05 UTC
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Post by Randy Lane
In addition to the already mentioned Grieg recordings I frequently enjoy his Handel Ariodante
recording too.
Good call, Randy. I forgot to mention this in an earlier post. Dame Janet Baker in a Handel role under the baton of Raymond Leppard and the ECO is a recording that still stands up next to all HIPP contenders.
RANDY WOLFGANG
2019-10-26 03:05:57 UTC
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Post by Oscar
Post by Randy Lane
In addition to the already mentioned Grieg recordings I frequently enjoy his Handel Ariodante
recording too.
Good call, Randy. I forgot to mention this in an earlier post. Dame Janet Baker in a Handel role under the baton of Raymond Leppard and the ECO is a recording that still stands up next to all HIPP contenders.
I enjoy it too though Baker is not as good as she is in the Ariodante excerpt in the earlier Philips recital where the Dopo Notte is incredible. But still very good recording.
Alex Brown
2019-10-26 09:27:06 UTC
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Post by Randy Lane
In addition to the already mentioned Grieg recordings I frequently enjoy his Handel Ariodante recording too.
There's also his Mozart C Minor mass - my favourite recording of it by
some margin.
--
- Alex Brown
g***@gmail.com
2019-10-24 22:11:53 UTC
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He was an exceptional musician. He was a fine accompanist on both the keyboard and with an orchestra. He recorded a great Das Lied von der Erde with Janet Baker. The opera and concert performances by him I experienced over the years were wonderful events.
Andrew Clarke
2019-10-27 07:44:57 UTC
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Post by drh8h
His death was just announced. Had the pleasure of speaking to him once. Was bold enough to give him some ideas of pieces to play and he actually took one of my suggestions in Indianapolis. A fine conductor in a much wider repertory than he is usually associated. Well done, Maestro.
Dennis
He was at one time famous for his performance version of "The Coronation of Poppea", written for Glyndebourne and recast in two acts to allow time for the usual posh booze-up during the interval. It was enhanced by a spectacular production by Peter Hall from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Not a counter-tenor to be seen - I don't think that there were any travesti roles at all, and the whole lot sounded much more like Handel than Monteverdi. But it's claimed that it introduced a whole lot more people to early baroque opera and its possibilities.

Andrew Clarke
Canberra
g***@gmail.com
2019-11-13 02:31:02 UTC
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Post by drh8h
His death was just announced. Had the pleasure of speaking to him once. Was bold enough to give him some ideas of pieces to play and he actually took one of my suggestions in Indianapolis. A fine conductor in a much wider repertory than he is usually associated. Well done, Maestro.
Dennis
Didn't he compose the music for the 1963 film LORD OF THE FLIES?
Kerrison
2019-11-14 18:37:57 UTC
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Post by g***@gmail.com
Post by drh8h
His death was just announced. Had the pleasure of speaking to him once. Was bold enough to give him some ideas of pieces to play and he actually took one of my suggestions in Indianapolis. A fine conductor in a much wider repertory than he is usually associated. Well done, Maestro.
Dennis
Didn't he compose the music for the 1963 film LORD OF THE FLIES?
Yes he did.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057261/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1
Dirge
2020-07-19 20:56:42 UTC
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Post by drh8h
His death was just announced. Had the pleasure of speaking to him once. Was bold enough to give him some ideas of pieces to play and he actually took one of my suggestions in Indianapolis. A fine conductor in a much wider repertory than he is usually associated. Well done, Maestro.
Dennis
Raymond Leppard has figured prominently in my record collection since I began listening to classical music in earnest, especially his many recording ventures with the English Chamber Orchestra during the team’s ’60s & ’70s heyday (mostly on the Philips label). Leppard coaxes a relatively full and robust sound from the orchestra, and he brings a natural swagger and panache to the proceedings that tends to set him apart from his more buttoned-down contemporary, Neville Marriner—though Marriner-led performances tend to be more finely detailed and balanced, more polished even. His often pioneering recordings of Monteverdi and other early Baroque composers strike me as a bit dated nowadays, but they’re still quite “musical” and listenable. His ’80s & ’90s recordings, mostly with CBS, are generally very good, but few of them have that certain something that make his ’60s & ’70s Philips recordings so special to me.

Leppard/ECO is my go-to team for the orchestral warhorses of Bach and Handel—I keep flirting with others, but I always end up coming home to Leppard/ECO—and its disc of the Dvorak & Tchaikovsky serenades is another great favorite. These are my favorite recordings by Leppard, most being my overall favorite for the given work …

G. F. HANDEL: Water Music
J. S. BACH: Brandenburg Concertos
J. S. BACH: Orchestral Suites
G. F. HANDEL: Concerti grossi, Op. 6
G. F. HANDEL: Musick for the Royal Fireworks
C. P. E. BACH: Sinfonias, Wq. 183
W. A. MOZART: Mass in C minor, K. 427 “Great” (w/New Philharmonia Orchestra & John Alldis Choir on EMI)
Antonin DVORAK: Serenade for Strings
Pyotr TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade for Strings
Antonin DVORAK: Legends (w/LPO)
Edvard GRIEG: Holberg Suite ~ As much as I like the Leppard/ECO account, it must yield to the freakishly good account by Tønnesen/Norwegian Chamber Orchestra [BIS ’79] in my affections.

One nagging regret with regard to Leppard is that he didn’t conduct the recording of The Four Seasons that the ECO made with Henryk Szeryng for Philips in 1969: I love Szeryng’s playing of the solo part, but his conducting is a bit foursquare, and I always find myself wishing that Leppard was on the podium.
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