Martinu beyond the symphonies - January 2013, pages 90-91
Wed, Jan 23 2013, 10:53AM
More interesting recordings:
Thu, Jan 24 2013, 2:38PM
#2
RE: Martinu beyond the symphonies - January 2013, pages 90-91
His stuff all more or less sounds the same.
Thu, Jan 24 2013, 3:46PM
#3
RE: Martinu beyond the symphonies - January 2013, pages 90-91
His stuff all more or less sounds the same.
Must say, got to agree with that.
Norman Lebrecht is a big Martinu fan. Far from agreeing with all his views on classical music, I did think good enough for Norman, good enough for me. Sadly it was not.
Thu, Jan 24 2013, 5:28PM
#4
RE: Martinu beyond the symphonies
You do have to be choosy with Martinu, but then Stravinsky made the mistake of thinking that all of Vivaldi's concertos sounded the same. Take the cantata 'A bouquet of flowers', nothing he or anybody else wrote sounds like that. It's like two darts players singing to each other. Avoid that one.
Thu, Jan 24 2013, 6:25PM
#5
RE: Martinu beyond the symphonies - January 2013, pages 90-91
I get on with the third symphony (but not the rest) and the double concerto especially. The piano trios are interesting.
Thu, Jan 24 2013, 11:26PM
#6
RE: Martinu beyond the symphonies - January 2013, pages 90-91
His Chamber Music is quite interesting and at times brilliant (Piano Quartet, Piano Quintet, String Quartets, Piano Trios and, of course, some of his Piano Music). However, I can agree with Schiller: a good deal of his work is actually uneven, but never going that low.
Parla
Thu, Jan 24 2013, 11:48PM
#7
RE: Martinu beyond the symphonies - January 2013, pages 90-91
Norman Lebrecht is a big Martinu fan. Far from agreeing with all his views on classical music, I did think good enough for Norman, good enough for me. Sadly it was not.
HM - That made me chuckle. Right now Lebrecht is involved in another of his little spats regarding the stepping down of James R. Oestreich at the NYT. If you read his take, Oestreich was not a particularly nice chap - but dig a little deeper and you'll find an old, rather cool and pointed dissection of Lebrecht's 'Why Mahler?' The last sentence is, indeed, a sort of tagline that should accompany much of Lebrecht's writing:
' Writing of Alma Mahler, he all but invites comparison with his own work:
“Nothing she writes can be accepted without corroboration.” '
For my sins I have to say I read said book last year. My wife said she was not quite sure what I was reading that week, as I alternated between howls of laughter and protest. He almost put me off Mahler...
Back to Martinu - I really find the Field Mass a fine work, have spent some good times listening to The Greek Passion and think the string quartets deserve a little more respect. As many have said, his best music at is excellent.
Mon, Jan 28 2013, 3:04AM
#8
RE: Martinu beyond the symphonies - January 2013, pages 90-91
I've been enjoying my explorations (over the past few years) of Martinu's works. I'm currently working my way through his quartets.
This album is also one that I enjoy revisiting:
http://www.amazon.com/Martinu-Overture-Rhapsody-Sinfonia-concertante/dp/...
Has anyone here by any chance heard this album? If so, what do you think of it?
Best wishes,
Petra
Martinu is a very interesting composer, not as interesting as Janacek but very good. Some of his work is a bit uneven (Parla won't like that) but his best works are masterpieces.