[Becca]

R. Strauss Four Last Songs
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
London Symphony / Sir John Barbirolli
(live recording 1965?)

It won't replaced my fondness for the Schwarzkopf/Szell recording but is worth listening as a live performance. The sound is reasonable broadcast stereo.

(Maybe it was Barbirolli's way of saying to Szell 'anything you can do...' There is a story behind that going back about 30 years.)

 

[Becca]

How is that recording? It and the performers names are new to me.

If you are including Daniel Harding as a new name...
‘It’s OK to take risks in concerts because there it’s safe to do so’: Conductor Daniel Harding on his double life as an airline pilot

 

[Becca]

To be frank, I comment on what I want to freely and I don't think too much about whether this thread is the right vicinity for such an opinion for saying whether I like a performance or not. But, now that you mentioned it, since this thread is dedicated to listening, I think it is okay to comment on a member's post. The like buttons don't really tell the whole tale and sometimes I feel the need to elaborate on my opinion. I think this thread should be open for such comments to take place as long as they're respectful to the member's post that you're responding to. This is just my two measly cents --- another member may feel differently.

Comments on posts are good, provided that they are constructive/informative. The problem is that the like button means different things to different people and, in many cases, it's sole meaning is 'I read your post' which doesn't really communicate anything.

 

[Becca]

Loving this! I love Bruckner and I love Klemperer so this is a match made in heaven for me:
View attachment 181669

Bruckner - Symphony No. 4 (1886 version, ed. Nowak)
Otto Klemperer - conductor
Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded September 1963

from Warner Classics box set: Bruckner Symphonies 4-9

If you love Klemperer and are just getting into opera, try his well regarded set of Wagnerian orchestral excerpts.

 

[Becca]

this one?

That is one of the 2. There is also a Wagner/Strauss box...

 

[Becca]

That box is a cracker his recording of Act I of Die Walkure makes me wonder what a Klemperer ring cycle might have sounded like.

True, but you need to remember that Klemperer's health meant that Reginald Goodall did the rehearsals for him, and we have a Goodall Ring!

 

[Becca]

Very true but I was really thinking of what might have been had he recorded a Ring in say the 50's when his health was considerably better and the availability of quality singers was arguably at a peak. He did after all have a great operatic grounding in his younger days.

Indeed, and that makes me think about the Barbirolli Meistersinger that almost was.

 

[Becca]

He did cut out some fine music but (I think I'm in a minority here) the result was tighter. I enjoy the Hickox account of the original version but probably not as much as good accounts of the final version. At least those who feel committed to a composer's final intention (for example, with the order of movements in Mahler 6) will presumably side with me! You have to admire VW's discipline in cutting really good music out so as to benefit the whole.

We also have accounts of earlier (and quite different) versions of a few important Sibelius works (violin concerto, 5th symphony) and again I hear him cutting out some great music but to the overall benefit of whole (i.e. the final versions that we all know and love).

No! There is a world of difference between re-ordering a symphony and making substantial cuts that mean the loss of gorgeous music. Having said that, I will respect his intent that the 1933/36 version be definitive, but I will continue to listen to the 1913 version for the pleasure it gives.

 

[Becca]

Nielsen, Symphony No. 5

Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. This is my first encounter with the 5th, so I don't know if this recording is good or bad other than the engineered sound is good and the orchestra plays in tune.
View attachment 181810

The 5th was my introduction to Nielsen when in my teens, and it made a substantial impression that hasn't faded. I can't speak to the Saraste recording but would strongly recommend the Blomstedt/SFSO recording or, even better if you have access, his concert with the Berlin Phil. which is available in the Digital Concert Hall.

 

[Becca]

Bernstein is still my definitive performance of Nielsen's 5th. I can think of no other performance that captures the mayhem, chaos, but also the rugged beauty better than him. Just my two cents.

That was my introduction to the work. I have also had the pleasure of hearing in the concert hall where it made an even more powerful impact.

 

[Becca]

I think the Dausgaard is superb and was my clear number 1 before yesterdays Chailly-road to Damascus moment!

Vanska's whole cycle is on my pending list, for purchase or streaming, so I don't know it yet.

FWIW, while I initially liked the Dausgaard, I found it a bit too hard driven on subsequent hearings. One that I have definitely enjoyed is the Harding/VPO.

As to alternative completions, I have heard all except Gamzou and still return to Cooke III as my preference, although the revised Mazzetti is a close second.

 

[Becca]

Thanks for your thoughts Becca. I hope I remain liking the Dausgaard, and don't go off it!

The Daniel Harding Mahler 10 on DG is now on my list for imminent purchase. I haven't heard it but a number of people have cited as very good and your comments have sealed it for me!

I was also intrigued by your comment (I think it was you) regarding Harding's Alpine Symphony. I would have gone with all the usual suspect and never would have thought of him for this work. You are in good company because a number of critics are citing it as an excellent performance.

I have DH's LvB overtures disc which I like very much, and a number of Britten discs which are rather good, and a Nicholas Maw recording, but I was put off a bit by his Mahler 6 with the Bavarian radio that I found very underwhelming (not helped by it being A-S).

Seems I need to reevaluate Maestro Harding!

Yes I had commented on his Alpine Symphony. He can be a very on/off conductor, some really good things and quite a bit that is average, however his penchant for A-S does raise him in my estimation , as does his insistence on having divided violins. The antiphonal effect can be very helpful. Some orchestras love him but as he admits to being a bit of talker in rehearsals, some don't. I can say that he is really nice to talk with, having a very refreshing outlook, partly due to his very antiphonal career

 

[Becca]

Yeah; I'm aleady a big fan of the audio as I've listened to both Davis accounts & Nelson, but I want to actually watch the opera for better context.

I strongly recommend the DVD of the Châtelet Paris performance with Susan Graham, Gregory Kunde and Anna Caterina Antonacci, conducted by John Eliot Gardner.

 

[Becca]

No, his Tristan (recorded for Decca) and Parsifal (recorded for EMI) are both in German. His Ring, though, is in English (recorded for Chandos).

It was originally done by EMI (I have their CD version) but Chandos eventually acquired the rights to the recording and remastered it.

 

[Becca]

Mahler - Symphony #5
Gothenburg Symphony / Santtu-Matias Rouvali
An interesting performance, probably never be a favourite but very well done. (click image for video)

 

[Becca]

If you have heard any 20th century Mexican classical then you have almost certainly encountered Jose Pablo Moncayo's Huapango, a pot-boiler if there ever was one! BUT you should really listen to this...
Tierra de Temporal
Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México / Sergio Cárdena

 

[Becca]

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 10 (Cooke III)
Wiener Philharmoniker
Daniel Harding
Rec. 2007
DG

It's like puff pastry, the more oil the fluffier. Brilliant!

Which translates to what?

 

[Becca]

I like the danish nickname even more. Det uudslukkelige. Partly because it's practically impossible to pronounce correctly if you're not Danish or from the Swedish "Deep South".

The Luisi 4 is very good.

I've listened to his Nielsen 5 a couple of times and it's pretty good too, just a bit too smooth and well-mannered. A bit too normal, if you know what I mean. Nielsen's not normal.

It sounds lovely, though.

A smooth and well-mannered Nielsen 5th is a contradiction! Unfortunately it's more common than not. Last week I watched a Gothenburg Symphony concert of the 5th with Jukka-Pekka Saraste which very much fell into the category by making it sound civilized ... a big mistake.

 

[Becca]

A smooth and well-mannered Nielsen 5th is a contradiction! Unfortunately it's more common than not. Last week I watched a Gothenburg Symphony concert of the 5th with Jukka-Pekka Saraste which very much fell into the category by making it sound civilized ... a big mistake.

I got to know the 5th via the Bernstein which I would describe as being (typically for Bernstein) a bit over-the-top. I think that Blomstedt gets it about right. Listen to his live concert of it with the Berlin Philharmonic if you have access to the Digital Concert Hall. The problem is that no recording quite makes the same impact as hearing it in the concert hall.