Steve Schwartz wrote:

>Undoubtedly, those very orchestral behemoths and demi-behemoths that
>used to wallow in Handel-Harty and Bach-Stokowski or tromped their
>way through the Brandenbergs have become diffident and have to a great
>extent left the field to the HIPsters.  I wish the old guard
>would come back.  They have something to offer that "authentic"
>instrumentalists lack.

I'd prefer to agree with Steve but can't.  Yes, the old guard has something
different to offer, but I don't want to receive it.  However, there's
plenty of room for old guard and HIP performances; we can all be happy.

>Brahms's string sextets represent some of his most gracious and
>beautiful chamber writing.  For these works, I grew up listening to
>a lush modern sound I could wallow in, and in large part that sound
>became part of my conception of the piece.

One of the primary reasons I like the L'Archbudelli Brahms string sextets
is the avoidance of that lush sound.  For me, the music has sufficient
inherent lushness wihtout performers raising the bar.

Mimi Ezust wrote:

>I love my Archibudelli Sextet recording.  It is so wonderful to hear
>all the parts the way you would if you were actually playing them.

Although Mimi and I are not usually of similar mind on musical matters, we
are in perfect unison on the Brahms recording.  Mimi, does this worry you?

I have a few recordings of the sextets, and the L'Archibudelli is the one
I most treasure.  Steve mentioned that the HIP approach in Classical and
Romantic repertoire would likely remain an "addendum".  Only time will
answer that question, but I'm satisfied as long as just one or two
excellent HIP recordings of a work in this repertoire are available.

Don Satz
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