Richard Pennycuick wrote concerning Spohr:

>There are also many volumes of string quartets which someone at
>Fanfare loves - has any lister explored these?

I bought each of the 9 volumes of Spohr's string quartets on Marco Polo,
and I truely treasure them.  These works bridge the gap between the
classical and romantic periods, and I tend to love the mix of the two time
periods.  As for other Spohr chamber works, Marco Polo issued 3 volumes of
string quintets which are excellent; the 4th volume has just been released.
Two Spohr piano chamber works were issued by MDG; these are even better
than the string chamber works on Marco Polo.  But, best of all is a Sony
Vivarte disc of L'Archbudelli performing Spohr string chamber works on
period instruments; this group also put out a great disc of Reicha string
chamber music on the same label.  I'd recommend that interested list
members rush to the store and buy some of these recordings, but I have
not seen them in the stores recently.

>BTW, Don, did you ever get to hear your friend's Ries symphonies?

No, I didn't.  He did not like the comments I made to him after he informed
me that the Golden Globe Awards took precedence over his invitation to me
to listen to the symphonies.  He will not return my calls, and I don't even
know where he bought the disc.  Boy, a lot of folks are getting irked with
me lately.  It's time for a reassessment.  Next thing I know, my loyal
collie will bite me.

Don Satz
[log in to unmask]