Ten Perfect Orchestral Recordings...
Thu, May 17 2012, 12:13AM
#2
RE: Ten Perfect Orchestral Recordings...
Kempe's song cycles are fine. I haven't heard him in anything else.
Of course, I fogot about Kindertotenlieder with D.F-D., a classic. I have Sym 1 with the BBCSO, poorly recorded and scruffily played, 2 with the Munich Phil, fails to generate electricity, and Das Lied with Baker and Spiess, BBCSO again. Baker's fine - I could listen to her all day singing scales - but Spiess's constant scooping up to high notes drives me round the bend and the whole performance fails to catch fire.
Am I the only one who finds Chailly's cycle a landmark in Mahler interpretation?
I'd forgotten about the forgotten Spiess ruining Kempe's and Baker's Das Lied.
Never mind, who buys, or listens, for the tenor, alone, anyway?
Thu, May 17 2012, 3:25AM
#3
RE: Ten Perfect Orchestral Recordings...
Am I the only one who finds Chailly's cycle a landmark in Mahler interpretation?
tagalie - I think the Chailly recordings have some very good performances. I suspect that if I was to line up my preferences and then look at when they were recorded it would be the later recordings that I find most favourable.
I was very fortunate to be taking a sabbatical, travelling through Europe some years ago, when Chailly was performing the ninth in Amsterdam. They broadcast the peformance outside in the park opposite the Concertgebouw, preceded by a very interesting interview with Chailly. The concerts marked the end of Chailly's time in Amsterdam and I have to say I thought the performance was really wonderful - it seemed to do the difficult feat of being both backwards and forwards looking. And of course the orchestra was spectacular.
Somebody else has mentioned Rattle. I recall find his Mahler (on record) vastly overrated - I really think his conducting is best heard in the flesh; on record he sounds overmannered and fussy in core repertoire. Case in point, the very odd Brahms cycle with the BPO. I'm under the impression (maybe wrongly) that Rattle was very much taken with Guilini's approach to Brahms, but Rattle's versions sound like imitations and lack Guilini's poise. That said, there is always a caveat - Rattle's performance of the first I seem to remember struck me as rathr good, a little rough around the edges but vibrant and with a thrilling final movement.
Has anyone heard the Carlos Kleiber Das Lied - I have listened on YouTube but I don't think a commerical version was ever released?
Thu, May 17 2012, 11:33AM
#4
RE: Ten Perfect Orchestral Recordings...
So many people condemn Rattle's recordings saying they prefer him live, in concert, and yet nearly all, if not all, of his recordings with the BPO were taken live.
Go figure.
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Speaking of Mahler...
I have numerous Mahler cycles, both of Bernstein; Rattle, Chailly, Abbado and Sinopoli, but the best of all by far in my view is my gem, that of Tennstedt. Absolutely fabulous, transparent, the right tempo for the music (based on the orchestral colours he brings out), the right phrasing, ... a long list. The Abbado 8th is a favourite too, as are Bernstein's later 5th and his 9th (from Berlin). Harding's Mahler is exceptional too. While I liked Rattle's 1st at the Proms and much of his CBSO cycle, I'm less impressed by the recordings from Berlin and don't know why...