Recommend me the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th recording please.
Mon, Jan 28 2013, 6:35PM
#2
Further support for Vaughan
Further support for Vaughan Williams himself. It has enormous individuality, and really doesn't sound that bad. Barbirolli in stereo would be a good companion. He was the first conductor to record the piece commercially.
Mon, Jan 28 2013, 6:35PM
#3
Further support for Vaughan
Further support for Vaughan Williams himself. It has enormous individuality, and really doesn't sound that bad. Barbirolli in stereo would be a good companion. He was the first conductor to record the piece commercially.
Mon, Jan 28 2013, 6:36PM
#4
Further support for Vaughan
Further support for Vaughan Williams himself. It has enormous individuality, and really doesn't sound that bad. Barbirolli in stereo would be a good companion. He was the first conductor to record the piece commercially.
Fri, Feb 1 2013, 2:31AM
#5
RE: Recommend me the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th recording
I like the Previn/LSO, though lately I feel it is slightly overdone. Must hear his Telarc recording sometime - hopefully not as 'ambient' as his rerecording of 2. Two conductors I'm not usually fond of do very well: Handley and Thomson.
OTOH, Boult and Barbirolli do little for me, the latter in particular seems to lack expressiveness here. Haitink = meh, as usual, and same with Bakels. Gibson's old recording is alright, but doesn't match my top three faves.
Fri, Feb 1 2013, 8:13AM
#6
RE: Recommend me the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th recording
Have people seen that the Halle under Mark Elder will be issuing a disc of the 5th and 8th Symphonies next month? Could be very interesting.
Thu, Feb 14 2013, 8:07PM
#7
RE: Recommend me the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th
Wow this is hard to do...I have at least 11 different recordings and all have their merits. I do agree with the already mentioned Andre Previn/LSO, on RCA 1990, as well as Bryden Thomson/LSO on Chandos (1993 I think). I also rather fancy Yehudi Menuhin with the Royal Phil Orchestra, on Virgin ltd. (anyone remember that one?). Honorable mention also for "Glorious John", the EMI classic recording!
Fri, Feb 15 2013, 3:31AM
#8
RE: ...the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th recording please.
I'm sure all your "11 different recordings have their merits", Jared, but the initiator of this thread (who, apparently, has already left us) was interested in the definitive recording. A futile task, but some people beleive in this sort of quest for the best.
I only have half a dozen recordings of this Symphony and, while I appreciate the "merits" of each one of them, I don't espouse all of them, in the same way. Finally, I don't think I will go for the new one with Sir Mark...on Halle, while I'm sure it will have enough merits for someone to chase it.
Parla
Mon, Feb 18 2013, 3:09AM
#9
RE: ...the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th recording please.
the initiator of this thread (who, apparently, has already left us) was interested in the definitive recording. A futile task, but some people beleive in this sort of quest for the best.
Parla, the initiator of this thread was interested in other members' opinions as to the best recordings; nowhere did he use the word "definitive". That word is however implicit in all your many pronouncements on what goes and what doesn't, most notably your rejection of the validity of personal taste in the matter of the established "canon" of great composers and their music. You're not engaged in any sort of "quest for the best" - because you're convinced you've already found it.
Mon, Feb 18 2013, 4:17AM
#10
RE: ...the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th recording please.
Guillaume, the initiator use the word "definitive" in the title of the subject of this thread and that's enough. In his introductory text, he points out the word "Best" to add, only in parenthesis, "in their own opinion". However, even if it is, in their opinion, the quest is for the best, isn't it?
Parla
Sun, Feb 24 2013, 2:47AM
#11
RE: Recommend me the definitive
I'd be happy with either of the recommendations above (the Handley with the benefit of more modern sound). The LSO/Hickox on Chandos is lovely, too, and I like the LPO/Haitink reading on EMI (the work's architecture strongly and patiently emphasised in that reading). And a special word for VW himself conducting the LPO at the 1952 Proms on Somm.
Strange. I listened to the Previn last night for the first time in years and for the first time was horrified by the recording. Even my wife, for whom this performance used to be a top desert island pick, asked me to switch to the Handley after the second movement and commented how much better the sound was. For me, this underlines a factor that most discussions on recording quality miss: our ears become educated, able to pick out micro differences. So I take all claims that the human ear can't detect, say, the difference between 24 and 16 bit recording, with a big pinch of salt. State-of-the-art today is noticeably sub-par tomorrow.
Mon, Feb 25 2013, 6:02AM
#12
RE: Recommend me the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th
The sad paradox is that the more you spend on your sound system, the worse most of your records will sound ;)
Mon, Feb 25 2013, 12:23PM
#13
RE:..the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th recording please.
This is debatable, eyeresist. It didn't happen to me, anyway. Since I upgraded my system to higher levels, everything sounds better except for the old recordings, which show all the problems they were less obvious in a lower cost system. In other words, I believe it is a matter of finding the appropriate system, based on the recordings one has.
Parla
Mon, Feb 25 2013, 8:20PM
#14
RE: Recommend me the definitive Vaughan Williams 5th
The sad paradox is that the more you spend on your sound system, the worse most of your records will sound ;)
You're absolutely right. That old VW5 used to sound perfect. As Peter Walker used to say about his speakers, if you don't like what you hear, blame the recording.
A very special word - such a moving performance.