[wkasimer]

To me the only people who find Klemperer's recordings out of fashion are those with tin ears, are not musicians themselves and/or have no idea what interpretation means in music.

What an effective way to eliminate debate. Perhaps you should just call anyone who disagrees with you "deplorable".

I happen to love Klemperer, but for a lot of music - particularly Baroque music - he IS out of fashion. That doesn't mean that one can't like it and enjoy it, but let's face it - no one is going to perform Messiah or the St. Matthew that way in 2018.

 

[wkasimer]

Glad to know I'm a "deplorable" because you don't feel I should have an opinion different than yours.

You are entitled to your opinion. What you're not entitled to do is assume that anyone who disagrees with you is an inferior listener with tin ears and no knowledge of music.

 

[wkasimer]

Even if I did say it with the intent that you have incorrectly attributed to it,

I think that your original comment was pretty clear:

"To me the only people who find Klemperer's recordings out of fashion are those with tin ears, are not musicians themselves and/or have no idea what interpretation means in music."

it would still be "just an opinion" and thus you again are still saying I am not entitled to have an opinion.

You're entitled to an opinion about Klemperer. You're not entitled to an opinion about me, or the reasons for my opinions.

You pretty clearly don't "get it", so I'm done here.

 

[wkasimer]

What are your favourite recordings of his EMI catalogue? I'm not counting live recordings like some Mahler symphonies or Beethoven 9, in Testament, etc.

While Klemperer is always interesting, I think that he's at his best in Brahms (the symphonies, the German Requiem, and especially the violin concerto with Oistrakh. I like his Beethoven and Haydn, too. As for Mozart, it's odd - I like him in symphonic music, but not so much in the operas. His Zauberflote and Da Ponte operas are very, very serious, and I can appreciate that when I'm in the right mood, but I usually prefer a little more light and shade. Zauberflote also suffers from a cast that looks good on paper, but doesn't really deliver the goods (Lucia Popp aside).

 

[wkasimer]

True. And considering the opening of the Matthew Passion is one choir encountering the other choir in an extreme stage of mourning, the relatively sprightly dance Gardiner whips up is kind of inappropriate. At least in my opinion.

Fortunately, those aren't the only choices - there's a lot of territory between Gardiner's seven minutes and Klemperer's twelve.

 

[wkasimer]

Agreed. For me the best approach is Jochum. Just beautiful.

Yes - the Jochum is one of my favorite modern instrument versions. And believe it or not, Solti's version is also excellent.