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Heck148

The 1960 BBC Mravinsky/LenPO DS 8 is a great performance of this powerful symphony... Along with Solti/CSO it is my favorite Shost 8...in both cases, the conductors take us on a amazing musical journey...full of ups and downs...tranquility and savage violence....this is not the glory of war, but rat...

Heck148

maestrob wrote: ↑
Wed Mar 27, 2024 10:26 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr3WVje-C3o

Andre Previn was a great spokesman for Sir William Walton's First Symphony.

Yes, his LSO recording c '67 on RCA is superb....really hot stuff!!

Heck148

Yes, a correction is long overdue....there are some very good American conductors...US orchestra managements need to get over the "inferiority complex" and engage some of the finest Americans.

Heck148

....We just heard Welser-Most at Carnegie Hall lead Bruckner IX in a magnificent performance, and I'm looking forward to hearing his Mahler as well here. The finale of the first movement was quite emotional for me in the Bruckner. What a fine orchestra! We were there, too!! It was very good - not t...

Heck148

I heard Jean Martinon conduct Sacre du Printemps in 1967. Completely blew me away as did this Bernstein Columbia recording. https://img.apmcdn.org/d5f4411135ab707a6b15fb6baa9fda2a6cb26a09/portrait/0e1a8a-20130529-rite-bernstein.jpg [/quote] That first Bernstein is still one of my favorite recording...

Heck148

I'm a huge fan of Ozawa's early Chicago recordings, including Schoenberg's Piano Concerto with Peter Serkin, recently released in an affordable RCA small box. The others I'll have to consider in due time. Yes, some excellent recordings - he also recorded some excellent works with CSO recorded by EM...

Heck148

Stravinsky: ‘The Rite of Spring’ Ozawa knew Stravinsky and felt a special connection to his music, especially the composer’s fierce and mysterious “The Rite of Spring.” Here, his youthful energy mirrors the power and fury of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ozawa had problems with certain parts of "...

Heck148

I'm going to hear Welser-Most conduct the ViennaPO in March, @ Carnegie Hall...

Great programs, really looking forward to it...I was concerned about his health issues, when he needed to take some time off. guess he's pretty much back up to speed.

Heck148

Hindemith Sym in Eb should be a concert staple....fine work... It begs the obvious question; why isn't it? For example, could we substitute yet another Beethoven 5 for this work? (FWIW, this is not Beethoven's greatest symphony!!) I hear you...The Hindemith Eb, plus any other worthy 20th Century sy...

Heck148

Hindemith Sym in Eb should be a concert staple....fine work...

Heck148

So sad to hear of his passing...his PDQ Bach routine was hilarious, so many funny things.. Schickele was a bassoonist...he wrote a couple of cool Bassoon 4tets - "Last Tango in Bayreuth", and "Lip My Reeds" [takeoff on Bush,sr's famous "Read My Lips...." quote....really funny - Lip My Reeds is calls...

Heck148

I really enjoy Miller's performance of DLvDE on Walter's wonderful recording with the NYPO... She does a fine job, and the orchestra work is really superb - It was interesting to read that she studied with Boris Goldovsky, the great opera impresario... I got to work with him at his summer Opera work...

Heck148

Weingartner was a very fine conductor...along with Toscanini he introduced the "literalist" approach to conducting and interpretation....going back to the score...play what's written....so he is definitely breaking away from the Wagner, Furtwangler, Mengelberg Romantic tradition... I've always found...

Heck148

I remember John F. - I met him once in Boston - very nice meeting....I enjoyed his views, well-written....didn't always agree with him. but that's perfectly fine.... I remember Ralph Stein as well, knew him online from way-back, many sites ago... Can't say I miss the likes of J Powell [ansertmaniac]...

Heck148

I'm supposed to hear him conduct the ViennaPO in early March for 2 concerts in Carnegie Hall..I hope he is well enough to appear...or, if they need a substitute, who will they get??

Heck148

I'm so looking forward to hearing some great concerts after the New Year: 1/25/24 - Nelsons conducts the BSO in concert performance of Shostakovich - "Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk" Boston Symphony Hall 3/1, 3/2/24 - Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall..Franz Welser-Most Berg 3 Orchestra Pieces Bruckner ...

Heck148

Didn't Philly go on strike a few years back?? had to take a pay cut which dropped their pay relative to other major orchestras?? It used to be the highest paid were Chicago and NYPO, with Boston, Philadelphia, then Cleveland. That changed, so now the highest paid group [minimum scale] is LAPO 190K, ...

Heck148

Again?? didn't they strike not so long ago....ended up taking a big pay cut, iirc....

Heck148

Holden Fourth wrote: ↑
Fri Nov 04, 2022 9:02 pm
I'm listening to his CSO Brahms 3 at the moment - glorious!

Yes!! excellent Brahms 3...tough piece to conduct....

Heck148

I have a special relationship with Bruno Walter's Mahler stereo Symphony IX and his stereo Das Lied von der Erde, not to mention his Bruckner IV, VII & IX with the Columbia Symphony. His Mozart was the most beautiful of its era. Yes, those are wonderful Mahler recordings...up at the top level of my...

Heck148

One of my favorite musical quotes from great musicians - Bruno Walter: “When I was very young, when I was a teenager, then I was only enthusiastic for the great pathos and the big emotions, and Mozart seemed to me at that time too quiet, too tranquil. Youth is more apt to love the shout and the grea...

Heck148

Bernstein recorded this for Columbia (now reissued on CD by Sony). I have had that recording for years. I cannot understand why that work is not played much more frequently. Really!! this should be a repertoire staple...it's colorful, intense, exciting, very substantial... orchestras should perform...

Heck148

The Nielsen Clarinet Concerto certainly is a tour de force for the soloist.....very challenging... Stanley Drucker's account with Bernstein/NYPO was the standard for as long time...now there are many others...supposedly Stanley did this on one take - Bernstein asked him if he wanted to re-take any p...

Heck148

A link to Alito’s full opinion and full dissent, dissenting opinion excerpts, my thoughts, are at the “After three decades” topic posted here this afternoon, fww. alito's "opinion" is pure garbage - historically wrong, factually inaccurate, totally twisted and flawed... this atrocity will go down a...

Heck148

worst ruling in history - worse than Dred Scott, Plessy, Koramatsu, election 2000, citizens united...words are not adequate to express the disgrace and appalling horror that this neo-fascist ruling inflicts on America.... I have daughters, grand-daughters, great-grand-daughters - I fear for their li...

Heck148

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahoZwPouYUE Enjoy! this is on the same disc as the "Elektra" Suite...very fine, well-played, superbly recorded by Reference Recordings...some very fine solo work, Pittsburgh acquits itself well....perhaps the horns don't play with quite the panache of the CSO or VPO ...

Heck148

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61BcZrxCkIL._AC_UY327_FMwebp_QL65_.jpg Been meaning to get that disc with Inge Borkh for too many years now. I've heard it on Spotify, but Spotify's sonics can't fully covey the atmospherics of a .wav file. Thanks for the reminder. It's awesome....Borkh is very e...

Heck148

I have this disc, and it's quite good...PittsSO acquits itself well... Splendid sound, Reference Recording seems to be consistently excellent... Stiff competition with this music...Honeck/Pitts do well, perhaps not quite the electricity, the alertness of Solti/VPO....and nobody matches Reiner/CSO fo...

Heck148

Very sad...a large city that no longer has an orchestra...the Board couldn't/ wouldn't raise the $$...
Similar thing happened in Syracuse, an ex"alma mater" of mine...BoD just couldn't raise $$

Heck148

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im6UFiHaApU Aaron Copland began work on "Lincoln Portrait" in January 1942, following a commission from conductor, Andre Kostelanetz, who conducted the premiere with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on 14 May 1942. The narrator on that occasion was William Adams. On...

Heck148

Martinon's recordings while he was in Chicago are universally excellent. Too bad he didn't stay longer. What a fine combination! Yes!! so many absolute winners!! Miraculous Mandarin, Nielsen 4, Arcana, Mennin 7, Mahler 3 and 10, Ravel, Frank Martin Cto, Bizet, etc, etc.. The RCA complete Martinon/C...

Heck148

Great recording....the Finale is the best I've ever heard....wonderful...must have been cosmic, live in the hall....

Heck148

Reiner recognized that she had superior talent as a conductor.....but he also knew that orchestral opportunities for women on the podium were slim to none at that time [late 50s]...he encouraged her to train his chorus....which she did with great success... Reiner was known to be a tough customer, a...

Heck148

My parents both attended Temple University [1930s], and took music classes from Ornstein....they loved him, and he inspired them in their appreciation and understanding of music...My Mom always collected any recordings of his music when they became available...

Heck148

I'll be sure to check those out: haven't heard them yet. My preference for Schumann is Solti or Mehta in Vienna. Talk about colors! Bernstein also did well here in NY in the 1960's. Yes, the Solti/VPO Schumann symphonies set is good...Bernstein/NYPO is very good, esp 3 and 4....the Barenboim/CSO se...

Heck148

I find Abbado's Lucerne cycle has even more depth than his earlier recordings in Chicago. He grew so much as a musician during his career. His Chicago recordings sound almost too polite to my ears, even though his shaping of phrases and tempo choices are right up there with Solti's. Remember, he ha...

Heck148

I love Barenboim's Chicago recording of Bruckner 4 - one of my top favorites - amazing range of dynamics and articulation by the orchestra, superb recorded sound....the complete set on DG has much better sound than the individually released versions that came out earlier... Agreed, but his Staatska...

Heck148

Abbado's Chicago Mahler 5 is stellar, one of the very best - up there with the Solti versions...
I heard him conduct LondonSO live in Boston Symphony Hall years ago - it was excellent....CA has this piece down very well...

Heck148

I love Barenboim's Chicago recording of Bruckner 4 - one of my top favorites - amazing range of dynamics and articulation by the orchestra, superb recorded sound....the complete set on DG has much better sound than the individually released versions that came out earlier...

Heck148

I'm unsold on Dudamel thus far....I've heard some ok things by him, nothing to blow me away...
He conducted the score to the recent West Side Story movie release...he does ok with that, but not up to the level of Bernstein himself [on DG] or Max Goberman [original cast recording]

Heck148

A few years back, my orchestra got to play with YoYo Ma- he played Saint-Saens Cto #2, iirc...He's quite a character.... When the orchestra booked him - it was all done thru his agent - there were all sorts of conditions and limitations attached, nearly prohibitively so - as in: -"Mr. Ma will not be...

Heck148

Modernistfan wrote: ↑
Wed Mar 02, 2022 2:38 pm
MTT, who is 77 years old, has been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a very aggressive and difficult to treat form of brain cancer...

This is very bad news...I believe it's a similar cancer that killed Ted Kennedy...

So sorry to hear this...

Heck148

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJqC0-ohnQA Bruckner V might be a tough nut to crack for some, but the rewards are there. Bruckner 5 has been a tough nut for me to crack...big, sprawly, episodic....it has always seemed rambling and disconnected....i finally zeroed in on it with Solti/CSO - the Fina...

Heck148

Incidentally, I'm quite convinced that both the Russian and the German premieres were recorded in monaural sound, as radio broadcasts in both countries did not happen in stereo until 1964/5. I'll give my Kondrashin '62 recording a listen, but I think it is stereo...{Disc claims that it is} It's a f...

Heck148

maestrob wrote: ↑
Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:52 am
even though the reconstructed VII is hardly more than a curiosity and only available separately.

Really, that so-called #7 was pretty much a loser, imo...

Heck148

neilnw wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 25, 2022 9:07 pm
Among my most recent LP acquisitions is the early-70s set of Bernstein doing the first three.

Bernstein's #1 is really fine....the delicious playing of Harold Gomberg in the lovely oboe solo of mvt II is worth the price by itself!!

Heck148

Interesting about the Urania recording. So the question becomes...Did Kondrashin make two recordings, one in mono and then one in stereo? I've never heard the mono one, but it's good to know that it exists. Wonder if it's still available on CD? Thanks for that knowledge. The Urania disc bills it as...

Heck148

neilnw wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 25, 2022 11:53 am
"Winter Dreams" is my fave of any of them.

#1 is a fine work!! Tchaik Syms #1-3 are great fun to play!! I've performed #s 1 and 2 quite a few times....only once for #3, which has a great part for Bassoon!!

Heck148

Rach3 wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 24, 2022 5:56 pm
The only PIT symphony to which I listen.Even more so now.

Yes, Tchaik #2 is neat piece...I much prefer syms 1-3 to the later, vastly over-exposed, overplayed 4 and 5...i sometimes listen to 6, mvts I and III.

Heck148

Kondrashin didn't get to record the Fourth Symphony until 1966, so Ormandy was the first on record. I have a Urania disc [2-disc set] with Kondrashin/MoscowPO recorded in 1962, so it says :?: :?: .... great performance....I recently did a comparative listening of some of my favorites - all excellen...

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