Rachel Podger

Rachel Podger – J.S. Bach – Cello Suites (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 14, 2023 · Comments off

This is the first time the famous J.S. Bach Cello Suites are recorded and released performed on violin. Who would be a better candidate for this adventure than the ‘Queen of the Baroque Violin’ (Sunday Times), Rachel Podger?

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Rachel Podger, Jane Rogers – Mozart & Michael Haydn: Duo Sonatas (2011) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 14, 2023 · Comments off

These are splendid works. The combination of violin and viola is a remarkably sonorous one, and Michael Haydn’s two duos are masterpieces no less accomplished than Mozart’s. The team of Podger and Rogers is very well matched in terms of timbre, phrasing, and interplay between melody and accompaniment. They communicate the joy of the allegros vividly and with great spirit.

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Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque – J.S. Bach: The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV1080 (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 14, 2023 · Comments off

Questions about the implied instrumentation are never going to be answered definitively. Certainly, virtually all the cycle is set out in such a way that it can be played on the keyboard, but the open score format of the original invites interpretation from any potential instrumental combination (or, indeed, even just a soundless reading by the highly trained musician). This question immediately leads on to another how are we expected to listen to this music? Are we meant to hear a sequence of virtual events or is it to be one event in a single span of time? Is it perhaps the filling out of contrapuntal and motivic possibilities that are all potentially simultaneous and which only have to be strung out in time to render them humanly perceivable? Much of this suggest that the work implies a sort of cyclic time, experienced from the point of view of eternity – in other words, the sort of time that we might imagine God experiences, superior to the messy narrative of human linear time. Yet, there are always human, worldly elements, such as the allusions to French style in Contrapunctus 6, the rhetorical pauses in the very first Contrapunctus, or the playful flow of the mirror fugues or some of the canons. This residue of human habitation is perhaps what distinguishes Bachs fugal works from the fugal (or ricercar) tradition of previous composers and in which later composers heard a voice speaking directly to them, a voice that shared at least some aspects of the modern world, even if it was entirely suffused with the sense of an overwhelming and all-embracing godly order.

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Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque – Bach: Double & Triple Concertos (2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 14, 2023 · Comments off

The dynamic ensemble Brecon Baroque was founded in 2007 by violinist and director Rachel Podger as resident ensemble at her annual Brecon Baroque Festival. Experience Rachel Podger’s unique brand of Baroque music as she tackles Bach’s Double and Triple violin concertos with the Brecon Baroque ensemble.

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Rachel Podger and Arte dei Suonatori – Antonio Vivaldi: La Stravaganza – 12 Violin Concertos (2003) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 14, 2023 · Comments off

Rachel Podger and Arte dei Suonatori – Antonio Vivaldi: La Stravaganza – 12 Violin Concertos (2003)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:43:52 minutes | 1,66 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Channel Classics

These performances of Vivaldi’s La Stravaganza – a collection of 12 violin concertos – are truly extravagant. They’re not designed to be listened to in one sitting and shouldn’t be: it’s not the sameness of the orchestration which might get in the way, it’s the intensity with which Vivaldi composed them and the manner in which the remarkable Rachel Podger plays them. Fans of Andrew Manze will love Podger for similar reasons.

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Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque – Bach: Violin Concertos (2010) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 14, 2023 · Comments off

Podger has one of the sweetest tones of any period-instrument violinist – heard at its most beautiful in the singing Andante of BWV 1041, wonderfully sustained but never cloying. The finale has an infectiously spritely bounce and exhilarating dramatic tension; despite the energetic pace, it manages to stay firmly on the rails thanks to the players’ formidable technique and musicianship. No one will go wrong with this invigorating album.

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Rachel Podger, Christopher Glynn – Beethoven: Sonatas for Violin and Piano Op. 12 No. 1, Op. 24 & Op. 96 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 30, 2023 · Comments off

Rachel Podger, Christopher Glynn - Beethoven: Sonatas for Violin and Piano Op. 12 No. 1, Op. 24 & Op. 96 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz] Download

Rachel Podger, Christopher Glynn – Beethoven: Sonatas for Violin and Piano Op. 12 No. 1, Op. 24 & Op. 96 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:07:16 minutes | 2,28 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Channel Classics Records

Rachel Podger, “the unsurpassed British glory of the baroque violin” (The Times), and Grammy award-winning pianist Christopher Glynn recorded Beethoven’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano Nos. 1, 5 and 10. Following the critically acclaimed Mozart/Jones Sonatas “Fragment Completions” (2021), this Beethoven album marks Podger & Glynn’s second release together.
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Rachel Podger, Jane Rogers – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Michael Haydn – Duo Sonatas (2011) DSF DSD64

SACD / DSD By admin · June 26, 2023 · Comments off

The Duos for Violin and Viola by Mozart have long been favourite pieces of ours – pieces we’d take out and play when there wasn’t a keyboard player or cellist to hand, or busk as teenagers to earn extra pocket money. Back then, the audience’s response clearly indicated how appealing these pieces were as our takings always doubled when we played them!These works never cease to amaze – Mozart uses the two instruments so effectively and with such exquisite craftsmanship that he never leaves one wondering where the rest of the string quartet might have gone….They are also hugely engaging to play and so endlesslyrich and interesting that the appeal to the listener is guaranteed. Mozart’s reference to other genres is always fascinating. In this case the writing is dramatic, operatic even (the violin taking the role as soprano diva (!) and the viola as the heroic tenor?!). One could perhaps go as far to say that these duos are distillations of the art of chamber music as in the Haydn quartets, but more naturally recreational and less self-conscious.For a violist they are about as exposed as you can be; hitherto very few sonatas or concerti had been written for solo viola – and the accompaniment would seldom have been as scant as a single violin. The conversational and imitative nature of the writing allows for freedom andcharacterization, and it was refreshing and rewarding to be as spontaneous as possible in the recording sessions. It was also a diverting and enjoyable experience to record two of the Michael Haydn duos, previously unknown to us both. The character of these pieces is often reminiscentof Austrian folkmusic and it really seems as if you can hear the yodelling vernacular bouncing off the mountains in timely echoes. The challenges in these works are quite different to those of his friend Wolfgang – the demands placed on the violinist are obvious as the writing is busy,yet in need of a casual fluidity, whereas the violist has the task of being constantly inventive with material which is largely accompanimental (melody and bass, in effect). Who knows?Maybe Wolfgang and Michael tried these out during Mozart’s visit to Salzburg when he helped his friend complete a set of six Sonatas in 1783.Rachel & JaneDuos for Violin and Viola

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Rachel Podger, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante; Haydn: Violin Concerti 1 & 4 (2009) DSF DSD64

SACD / DSD By admin · June 26, 2023 · Comments off

Rachel Podger, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante; Haydn: Violin Concerti 1 & 4 (2009)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:08:06 minutes | 2,68 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: ISO SACD | © Channel Classics Records B.V. | Front Cover, Booklet

It was a joy and an honour to record Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante – such a beautifully crafted masterpiece with those memorable, elegant and distinctive themes in the first movement and both soloists weaving in and out of symphonic textures, the remarkable poignancy of the second movement with its dramatic dialogue which is then dispersed by sheer delight and comic playfulness in the Presto.Delving into these moods was personally enriching and helped me gain a little bit more insight into Mozart’s genius and being. Pavlo and I had the extreme good fortune to play a Strad each! Generously loaned to us by the Royal Academy of Music for this project, we savoured every minute of having these esteemed and valuable instruments in our hands! ‘Mine’ is a proud instrument which demands careful negotiation and warming before it will expose it’s beautiful colours. An amazing experience in itself to play an instrument like this, it was even more of an event when the two Strads met and ‘spoke’ to each other with a feeling of being acquainted, perhaps not for the first time…
Violinist Rachel Podger has secured a name for herself as a master interpreter and performer of all things Baroque and early Classical. Her recent recordings of the complete Mozart violin sonatas thrust her career forward from her already prestigious beginnings as a member of the Palladian Ensemble and Florilegium. This Channel Classics album finds Podger in front of the innovative Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment performing two Haydn concertos written during his time in the employ of the Esterházy family, as well as the instantly recognizable Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. Written for Luigi Tomasini, the concertmaster of the Esterházy Court Chapel, the two concertos are filled with dazzling pyrotechnic displays and soulful, sustained melodies, characteristics that play to Podger’s strengths. Any hints of stuffiness or rigidity conjured up when thinking of period instrument performances are at once dispelled with Podger’s vitally enthusiastic but well-controlled approach to her instrument. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment likewise focuses on spontaneity, vibrancy, and beauty of tone. Joined by violist Pavlo Beznosiuk, the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante is treated with similar energy and excitement. A change of instrument, bow, and strings results in a warmer, more hushed tone from Podger that provides a nice contrast to the brightness heard in the Haydn. Keen listeners will also notice that the viola is tuned a half-step higher than usual, which was indicated in Mozart’s original score. The result here is a brighter, more clearly projecting instrument.

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Rachel Podger, Gary Cooper – Mozart: Complete Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin (2004-09) DSF DSD64

SACD / DSD By admin · June 25, 2023 · Comments off

We bundled the eight Mozart cd’s that Rachel Podger and Gary Cooper recorded over the last ten years into an atrractive box, with an informative note from producer Jonathan Freeman-Attwoord. The duo partnership Gary Cooper and Rachel Podger has taken them worldwide. These recordings of Mozart’s Complete Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin have received countless awards and accolades, including multiple Diapason d’Or awards and Gramophone Editor’s Choices, and hailed as ‘benchmark’ recordings.

“Finally, one asks why there hasn’t previously been a complete recording on historical instruments. From my ‘privileged’ position as listener-in-chief, I can tell you it is because no pair can make such transparent and difficult music sound so effortless, elegant, witty, emotionally persuasive and enjoyable. Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, producer

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Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque – J. S. Bach: Violin Concertos (2010) MCH SACD ISO

SACD / DSD By admin · March 25, 2023 · Comments off

Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque – J. S. Bach: Violin Concertos (2010)
Genre: Classical | SACD ISO: DST 2.0, 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Artwork | 2.82 GB
Label: Channel Classics | Release Year: 2010

For those who already appreciate Rachel Podger’s unique brand of magic I’ll just say that this return to recorded Bach is lovely and all that one could hope for. All that one looks for is here, and there is more.
For those who are not familiar with Rachel Podger, she is a unique voice among violinists. She has absorbed the principles of late Baroque performance practice and made them a part of herself, so that the articulation and inflection of that rhetorical approach to music flows from her as a natural idiom of expression. But this is only half of the picture. She also excels at communicating the logic and coherence of the music. She’s not so busy being expressive that she forgets where she is. She can turn a melodic corner with an elastic flourish that makes one catch one’s breath, but she never goes off the road or gets lost. Her style is an intensifying balance between opposing forces: florid yet subtle, expressive yet ordered, emotional yet objective.
On this recording there is something of an added richness in her expression, and if anything an even stronger sense of relating each moment to the whole, creating an enlarged sense of integrity and structure in the music even while she executes ravishing rhetorical details with an agile liquid flow. Then again perhaps it is just that the intersection of Ms. Podger and Bach always magifies her virtues, and the present CD is merely the first opportunity we have had to clearly hear her rendition of a Bach concerto. These recordings have some of the energy and wit of a live performance–there is a strong feeling that the performers know each other well and are having fun…

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Rachel Podger – Tutta sola (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 18, 2022 · Comments off

On this album entitled “Tutta sola”, violinist Rachel Podger plays solo repertoire from five European composers who all lived to celebrate new year’s eve in 1700. It is a wonderful baroque programme of selected solo violin pieces, preludes, dances and fugal movements. One person, at least with regards to the repertoire for Baroque violin, springs immediately to mind: Johann Sebastian Bach. But the german composer was not the only composer to experiment with “senza basso” – music without accompanying bass –, and neither was he the first. In addition to Johann Sebastian Bach, this recording features solo violin music from Johann Joseph Vilsmayr, Nicola Matteis Jr., Johann Paul von Westhoff, and Giuseppe Tartini.

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Rachel Podger, Pavlo Beznosiuk – Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante; Haydn: Violin Concerti 1 & 4 (2009) MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · October 31, 2022 · Comments off

Two rarely recorded Haydn violin concertos frame Rachel Podger’s performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat on this disc. Both concertos have only string accompaniment, here provided by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and a discreet harpsichord (the player’s name unaccountably omitted from the list of the orchestra personnel in the accompanying booklet). Rachel Podger has chosen to play both concertos on her own Pesarinius violin (1739) that she feels is most suited to the style of these works and few would disagree with her choice. Her agile and spirited playing in the outer movements is complemented by her pure cantilena in the slow movements. As is to be expected, both works are full of baroque idioms and, while neither presents Haydn at his most inventive, they make an enjoyable pairing. The C major concerto is the more interesting of the two with a beautiful slow movement in which Podger’s rapt playing over pizzicato strings is a pleasure to hear.

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Rachel Podger, Holland Baroque Society – Antonio Vivaldi – La Cetra (2012) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · September 26, 2022 · Comments off

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) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · September 3, 2022 · Comments off

Rachel Podger - Biber: Rosary Sonatas (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz] Download

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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