Bob Draper wrote:

>My view on Kuijken is not a good one.  I found it flat and lacking in
>excitement.  Some of the tempi are pedestrian too.  Maybe it's his HIP
>approach here just too thin.  Hence this one no longer resides in my
>collection.

I haven't heard Kuijken's Jahreszeiten, but his Schoepfung is wonderful.
It is definitely thinner than Gardiner, though.

>On the other hand Gardiner's HIP approach is entirely different.  His is a
>dynamic version well played well sung and a fuller feeling to it if you get
>my drift.  I seem to recall that this was a gramophone record of the year
>when released.

I really enjoy Gardiner in both Jahreszeiten and Schoepfung.  I take fault
in the extreme dynamic range of the recording, though, particularly in
Schoepfung.  In order to hear the soft parts (which are basically all the
recitatives) I have to crank up the volume, and then when you get a big
chorus I'm afraid of blowing out windows.  Such is life with digital
recordings.  Perhaps it's a nice problem to have.

-Matthew