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Early Music Performer Discographies Upcoming Performances with HIP Staging |
Suggested Presents for Early Music Enthusiasts
This page is intended for friends and family of early music fanatics who wonder what to get them for Christmas, birthdays, graduations, etc. A few possibilities follow. I have excluded musical instruments, since most early instruments are not purchased "off the shelf" but are made to order or in small quantities by specialist builders.
CDs & Books
If you know the recipient's specific interests, it should not be difficult to pick out a suitable early music CD or book. Otherwise, the new CDs listed on the home page and books on the new books page are unlikely to be in the person's collection. Unfortunately, no DVDs of historically-staged baroque or classical operas have been released thus far. For Christmas, I highly recommend the following disk of variations on traditional French Noëls:
 Jean-François
& Pierre Dandrieu. Noëls variés pour l'orgue. Pavane ADW
7405 (1 CD 1998). Details on the
Présence de l'Abbatiale website. Greta de Reyghere, soprano.
Pascale Rouet, organ.
Organ by Christophe Moucherel (1725) at l'Abbatiale de Notre
Dame de Mouzon. A fine recording of traditional Noëls followed
by interesting variations for organ utilizing the distinctly
French reed and pipe stops. As restored, this organ can be
switched between French and German pedal stops, with 4, 8 and 16
flute stops on the French pedal.
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An
early instrument enthusiast would certainly appreciate Dr. Andreas Beurmann's
superb coffee table book illustrating his magnificent collection of antique
harpsichords, virginals, spinets and clavichords,
Historische Tasteninstrumente (Prestel Verlag, Munich, 2000, 216 pages).
This oversize book contains more than 380 color photographs, including close-ups
of decorations, roses, jacks, keys, hitchpins, hinges and other construction
details. It's written in German, but the instrument specifications are easily
comprehensible regardless of German language ability. I bought a copy from a
marketplace vendor on Amazon.de for about $40.
Anyone with a sense of humor and at least modest command of English will appreciate this high quality compilation of the life work of most scientists' favorite cartoonist:
 Gary
Larsen. The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994. Huge: 2 volumes
in slipcase. 1250 pages. Andrews McMeel Publishing, October
2003.
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Electronics
For
someone who travels frequently, I recommend the
Bose
QuietComfort 2 Noise Cancelling Headphones, which cost about $300.
Binoculars
Anyone who attends concerts regularly will greatly appreciate a pair of fine, compact binoculars. The three great binocular companies, Swarovski, Zeiss and Leica, all have new models that are especially well suited for opera and concert viewing.
I
own and highly recommend
Swarovski EL 8x32 Binoculars, which are very light, bright, and focus
quickly and easily down to about 2m. Eye relief is long enough that I can see a
full field while wearing eyeglasses and clip-on sunglasses. They're very
expensive (>$1,300), but an excellent value considering their clear superiority
to earlier compact binoculars. Competitive models from Zeiss (8x32 FL & 10x32
FL) were recently introduced. (The Swarovski EL 10x32 lack adequate eye relief
for people who wear glasses.)