Kuijken and La Petite Bande on tour

Peter Bright wrote (February 20, 2004):
Admirers of Sigiswald Kuijken may wish to know that he is celebrating his 60^th birthday with a European tour. This was posted today on the Goldberg site:

Kuijken and La Petite Bande

20-02-2004

Sigiswald Kuijken, one of the pioneers of the baroque revolution, will be celebrating his sixtieth birthday in 2004. La Petite Bande feted its thirtieth anniversary in 2002. But make no mistake about it, the illustrious violinist is still bursting with energy and his ensemble's concerts are out to prove it. The group will be taking Bach's Brandenburg Concertos on the road, with stops in the Vienna Konzerthaus (2 March), the Louvain Auditorium (3 March) and the Maison de Radio France (4 April). The Saint Matthew Passion will also go on a lengthy tour.

It's well-known that Sigiswald Kuijken has definitively adopted Joshua Rifkin's theories, and that the results have elicited mixed reactions from his colleagues, to say the least. His B Minor Mass (BWV 232), performed according to these aesthetic precepts, opened up fascinating perspectives. Will his Saint Matthew (BWV 244) be more successful than Paul McCreesh's? Those who want to see for themselves will have many opportunities: 28 March in Andorra, 2 April in Louvain, 3 April in Paris (Radio France), 6 April in Milano, 7 April in Padua, and 9 April in Massmechelen.

Paul Dirmeikis wrote (February 20, 2004):
[To Peter Bright] Thanks, Peter, for this info.

An investigation on the web made me find that a new B Minor Mass recording by Kuijken and La Petite Bande was released last January by Urtext Records. I just ordered it: B Minor Bass by Kuijken and La Petite Bande

I loved his last cantatas recording and I have great expectations concerning this Mass recording.

Gabriel wrote (February 20, 2004):
[To Paul Dirmeikis] How very interesting. Thanks Paul for this info - I wasn't aware of this recording till now. Like you I was very impressed with his DHM cantatas recording (excepting the rather unattractive Tenor) and the earlier Accent recording canata recording with Nancy Argenta and Klaus Mertens is gorgeous too (even if not OVP(orchestral)P).

Paul Dirmeikis wrote (Fbruary 20, 2004):
I gathered some more information on Allegro's website which distributes Urtext Records, a Mexican label : this performance was captured on location during the International Cervantes Festival in Guanajuato, Mexico, in October 2000. This recording isn't mentionned yet in the discography of La Petite Bande on their own website. Why such unexisting advertising ? Probably because a small unknown Mexican label released it... If DGG had released it, we would have heard about it at least a year before its release. Viva El Internet !

If a world known ensemble such as La Petite Bande needs now to look out of Europe in order to get recorded, moreover performing such a masterpiece, well, that's quite significant about the European labels spirit and health... Will any of the coming SMP (BWV 244) performances be recorded ? I have serious doubts. Maybe Sigiswald Kuijken should wear a fancy and romantic white shirt as André Rieu, and play a couple of Vienna waltzes before and after the SMP performance ? That way, he might not have to go as far as Mexico to have his work recognized, recorded and released...

Gabriel wrote (February 20, 2004):
Paul Dirmeikis wrote: < Why such unexisting advertising ? Probably because a small unknown Mexican label released it... If DGG had released it, we would have heard about it at least a year before its release. Viva El Internet ! >
Absolutely!

Paul Dirmeikis wrote (Fbruary 20, 2004):
I found some sound samples of this new recording. It seems quite promising...
B Minor Mass by Kuijken and La petite Bande Sound samples

Gabriel wrote (February 20, 2004):
Paul Dirmeikis wrote: < I found some sound samples of this new recording. It seems quite promising... B Minor Mass by Kuijken and La petite Bande Sound samples >
Thanks for this link. I thought the singing perhaps a little scrappy at times (in the "Cum Sancto Spiritu") and there is the Knut Schoch problem again, but then it's very hard to tell much from snippets like that. But definitely promising, as you say (and as one might expect from Kuijken).

Europe is still full of thriving independent labels (or so we hope!) so maybe there are plans for a recording of Kuijken's SMP. We can hope...

Bradley Lehman wrote (February 20, 2004):
< Thanks for this link. I thought the singing perhaps a little scrappy at times (in the "Cum Sancto Spiritu") and there is the Knut Schoch problem again, (...) >
What's the "Knut Schoch problem"?

Philip Peters wrote (February 21, 2004):
[To Bradley Lehman] He sings and shouldn't. (He also ruined a lot of the Leusink cantatas but then there he was in cahoots with others ;-)

Gabriel wrote (February 21, 2004):
[To Bradley Lehman] To my mind a rather pinched and unattractive voice.

Sw Anandgyan wrote (February 21, 2004):
Kuijken and La Petite Bande new B minor Mass recording

[To Paul Dirmeikis] This album is not a 2 CDs set. It is only a single compact disc with eight excerpts from the B minor Mass.

IClassics and ArkivMusic both got that wrong, only HBDirect mentions the single CD though ArkivMusic gives the length at 0 hour 39 minutes.

I have seen it in Montrיal and even took a listen. It is a gorgeous sounding live recording with playing more than up to par but this is not the whole oeuvre. I'll skip this acquisition for that very reason.

P.S. From HBDirect ...

Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750)
Mass in b, BWV232
Kiujken, Sigiswald/La Petite Bande

The world famed early music ensemble La Petite Bande, directed by Sigiswald Kuijken, is captured on location during the International Cervantes Festival in Guanujuato, Mexico, in October of 2000 in a brilliant performance of Bach's great choral masterpiece, the b minor mass. This is a major Baroque release, stunningly packaged as always from Urtext in slipcase with a 32-page booklet.
1 CD Set URT-50 $17.70 $15.93

Paul Dirmeikis wrote (February 22, 2004):
[To Sw Anandgyan] Aïe caramba !...
Thanks for this info. Actually I saw this strange 39 minute duration on the web site, but I thought the mistake was there. Allegro's website (Allegro distributes Mexican Urtext records in the USA) doesn't mention at all that this recording is a single CD with excerpts... And 39 minutes for a CD is even stranger...

This is weird. I wonder why Kuijken accepted this... But it could explain the unexisting advertising. I'll try to ask La Petite Bande through its website.

Gabriel wrote (February 22, 2004):
[To Paul Dirmeikis] How very odd! Wny would anyone want to buy 39 minutes of the B minor Mass?!! And what a missed opportunity to record the whole thing.

Bradley Lehman wrote (February 22, 2004):
[TGabriel] Parmentier's recording of Handel's "Messiah" is that way, too. With Emma Kirkby, Marius van Altena, et al. The published LP is just a small collection of excerpts. They did the whole thing in concert. (Unfortunately, I was not there, and haven't heard the radio aircheck of it; only the LP.)

Sigiswald Kuijken: Short Biography | La Petite Bande
Recordings: Part 1 | Part 2 | General Discussions
Individual Recordings: Cantatas BWV 49, BWV 58 & BWV 82 | Cantatas BWV 9, BWV 94 & BWV 187 | BWV 232 - Kuijken | BWV 244 - Kuijken | Final Review: Kuijken Sonatas and Partitas