on 2/20/08 6:16 PM, David Pickett at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> At 14:56 20-02-08, James McCarty wrote:
> 
>> I have recordings of the Colmar Ruckers
>> that bear no resemblance to it at all, and I have others that put it in the
>> room with me.
> 
> Given that you have actually played the Colmar Ruckers, Jay, I, for
> one, would be interested to know of examples of the two types of recording.

To my ears, my worst recording of the CR is the first one I ever owned,
which is Bob van Asperen's 1983 Bull CD on Telefunken Das Alte Werk. If I'm
not mistaken, Chris Clarke had restored the instrument not long before.
Telefunken's engineers always seemed to me to come up with a rather rough
hpd sound, which is unfortunate considering how many recordings Uti
Leonhardt made for them, including my favorite Goldbergs. Remember, too,
that digital recording was still in its infancy, and many recordings were
fairly harsh, not exactly "perfect sound forever." The performance on Bob's
CD is very fine, though, and as they say about sex, even the worst recording
of the Colmar Ruckers you ever heard is still pretty good.

Bob made two more recordings on the CR, of F. & L. Couperin, in 1990 and
1992, respectively. These are better sonically than the Telefunken, but
still nothing like the present sound of the instrument. Bob's new LC series
on Aeolus, is quite superior--only the first volume is out so far.

The finest recording is Blandine Verlet's first Froberger CD for Astrée,
done in 1989. This is the one that sounded so incredibly lifelike on the
very expensive system I mentioned in a previous post. The engineer was
Michel Bernstein, now unfortunately deceased--he went on to found Arcana
Records. Unfortunately, this recording is no longer available, and it is
very difficult to find, even in the used market. It definitely is a desert
island recording. (NB: this is _not_ the 2000 "ou l' intranquillité"
recording, which is readily available, but not nearly as good.)

Bernstein also did the honors on the first two volumes of Blandine's Louis
Couperin _integrale_. These are as superb as the earlier Froberger, but the
later three volumes don't quite come up to Bernstein's standard. Last year I
was able to find the set on the European market, but it gets more and more
difficult to acquire--if you like LC, BV, or the CR, act immediately.

-- 
James R. (Jay) McCarty, MD
Fort Worth, TX

"Sine arte, scientia nihil est"