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Post by julesd68 on Mar 30, 2022 21:23:46 GMT
This is an absolute riot.
Nearly pissed myself laughing at "Most Overrated Recordings in the Universe" by David Hurwitz who is the 'Executive Editor' for the Classics Today website.
The bit he does about British critics slathering over Beecham's Scheherazade is just priceless. And on Rattle - "Simon Rattle's entire discography could go out of print and noone would even care".  Truly a wise man speaketh here. |
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 31, 2022 7:04:26 GMT
Haha! Yes. It's great to see someone let loose like that. A lot of what he mentions I'm not familiar with, but much of those that am I agree with. A friend of mine has been rattling on (oops, no pun intended) about Horenstein being his favourite conductor for years. But try as I might, I just didn't get it. Its really good to see DH come up on my side of the fence. Rattle. Haha, yup, totally agree, a waste of space. I've been sayin' it for years. Anthony Collins Sibelius cycle. Yup, right on the money. Kleiber Beethoven 5th. Yeah,absolutely. It's great, but there are others around who have different and equally enjoyable / interesting / valid things to say about the piece. To constrain yourself to it is to constrain Beethoven's genius. The same goes for any classical piece where The One recording is enshrined as the only one you need. I agree with his general point about Kleiber as well, not everything he did was that good. I recall getting really excited about a Brahms 2nd symphony vid I found on YouTube. Meh. Yeah, I'll grow a beard and lose a bit more hair on top, and I'll do a vid something like that.  Maybe we should start a thread detailing our own views on overrated recordings. And piss all our friends off. |
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Post by MartinT on Mar 31, 2022 9:11:43 GMT
Well... I do think the Kleiber Beethoven 5th is the best I've heard, but I'm often happy to listen to other interpretations. As for the 9th, surely it's Jochum's (closely followed by Karajan)? In my opinion, anyway. "or, in this case, the Dead Pavane for a Princess". Karajan slickitude. Harsh on the Hallé. I can forgive Rattle because of his live performance of Mahler's 2nd at the Festival Hall, which was beyond any I have ever heard (even Tennstedt). That lets him off the hook. I'm not that keen on his recordings, though. He mentioned Norrington. <shudder> Great fun, and as Jerry says, good to hear someone let rip. |
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 31, 2022 11:33:29 GMT
Similarly to you with Rattle, Martin, I forgive Norrington his mixed recorded oeuvre because of the introduction he wrote for his Vaughan Williams symphony recordings. He describes meeting RVW when he, Norrington, was a lad. "The greatest human being I've ever met" or something like that anyway! Wow, that affected me deeply. I do agree with Hurwitz about the Halle. Barbirolli raised it from a 5th to a 4th rate orchestra. |
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 31, 2022 13:15:42 GMT
I wouldn't doubt his views on the Halle from a historical perspective but under Sir Mark Elder in recent years they are a different proposition entirely!
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 31, 2022 13:56:28 GMT
Yes, I agree about the more recent Halle under Elder, an excellent ensemble with some great modern recordings.
Back in the day in the 70s under James Loughran they were dire.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 31, 2022 14:36:55 GMT
Here's a distant memory rekindled - when living in Manchester in the 80's I remember going to see the Halle at the Free Trade Hall. Can't remember why I was there, maybe was something to do with school - it wouldn't have been a voluntary outing at that time! www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/special-features/the-halle-orchestra-bridgewater-hall-20720002.ampThe FTH was redeveloped some years ago and became a hotel - the Halle are now based at the superb nearby Bridgewater Hall which I urge anyone to visit for a concert if possible. |
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Post by Slinger on Mar 31, 2022 15:44:33 GMT
Oh well, I suppose I'll have to give up listening to Horenstein's live Mahler 8 now. It's a shame, because it leads off with some quite interesting interviews with Horenstein, and the music iitself is good, if not great, with a wonderfully quirky (it seems to me) final movement. I muist also dispense with Rattle's Mahler box set, which taken as a whole I like, especially his nicely melodramatic stab at the 10 th symphony. Is my Karajan Mahler 5 still safe? Even I think his tempi are a bit rapid, but I forgive him that for the gorgeous sound he gets from the orchestra. He's certainly thinning out my Mahler collection, although first on my list of things to get rid of would probably be Dave's annoying, helium-sucking voice. |
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 31, 2022 15:51:55 GMT
I get the free weekly email from DH's Classics Online website, where he provides summaries of his latest reviews and oft times access to full reviews. The main part of the site is behind a pay wall.
Sometimes I agree with his reviews, but also sometimes I think he is totally wrong!
Still, it does provide a heads up for some of the new releases.
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Post by Slinger on Mar 31, 2022 16:06:04 GMT
It all comes down to, as long as the playing, recording, etc. is not actually incontrovertibly abysmal for all to see, much of our enjoyment of a particular piece is down to personal choice. It's like I said about the Karajan Mahler 5, I really do think the tempi, especially on the adagio are too fast, but I also think that the music being produced overcomes that, and relegates it to a technicality. The percussion on the final movement of Horenstein's Mahler 8th really is quite odd, going by memory - I haven't played it for a while - but again, it's a technicality that doesn't actively bother me now unlike, probably, the first time I heard it. p.s. I'm not really throwing my Horenstein and Rattle away. |
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Post by MartinT on Mar 31, 2022 16:10:39 GMT
Oh well, I suppose I'll have to give up listening to Horenstein's live Mahler 8 now. It's a shame, because it leads off with some quite interesting interviews with Horenstein, and the music iitself is good, if not great, with a wonderfully quirky (it seems to me) final movement. I muist also dispense with Rattle's Mahler box set, which taken as a whole I like, especially his nicely melodramatic stab at the 10 th symphony. Is my Karajan Mahler 5 still safe? Even I think his tempi are a bit rapid, but I forgive him that for the gorgeous sound he gets from the orchestra. If I had to choose just one Mahler conductor for all of his symphonies, it would be Klaus Tennstedt. I also have memories of hearing quite a few of them under his baton when I saw the LPO a lot. |
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 31, 2022 16:18:09 GMT
I get the free weekly email from DH's Classics Online website, where he provides summaries of his latest reviews and oft times access to full reviews. The main part of the site is behind a pay wall. Sometimes I agree with his reviews, but also sometimes I think he is totally wrong! Still, it does provide a heads up for some of the new releases. I can only find a sign up for the paid content. I will definitely be looking at the new releases each week as they seem to be more comprehensive and wider ranging than usual suspects... |
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Post by Slinger on Mar 31, 2022 16:19:09 GMT
I'd probably agree with you, Martin. I've always championed his live Mahler 8th as my all-time favourite piece of music.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 31, 2022 16:27:51 GMT
As for the boy Karajan, I still find his Ravel and Debussy really seductive.
DH's comments on one of his La Mer recordings were very amusing "It's not the Sea, it's a swimming pool ... a stagnant bog".
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 31, 2022 19:05:31 GMT
More fun and games here.
The 2021 ALDA's - Avoid Like Death Awards!
"It's a musical rectal exam"
"The crap fest that Deutsche Grammofon has become"
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Post by MartinT on Mar 31, 2022 19:32:04 GMT
LOL, I've just listened to the "musical rectal exam" (the Eroica) and it does sound rather artificial and mangled.
EDIT: the Roth is even worse as the recording is all over the place and makes the strings sound like a single melged instrument.
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 1, 2022 6:10:48 GMT
Listening to the Currentzis Beethoven 7 - grr, on Spotify, Qobuz doesn't seem to have it, I'm starting to remember the reasons I went to Spotify now. Grrrr.
Anyway, the performance so far - OK I'm only a few minutes in - but it's very good!
And what's with the horsey sounds and Bruckner?
Doesn't he like venerate adore Bruckner?
If he doesn't, he's a twunk whose opinions mean nothing. Except when I agree with him.
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 1, 2022 6:31:19 GMT
Hah, well, nuts to you, Hurwitz.
I award you the Purple Scarf of Plonkitude.
The Currentzis Beethoven 7 goes in the elite group of my favourite recordings of the piece.
It's great!
So what if he writes pretentious album booklets? If he's this good a conductor, I forgive him.
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Post by MartinT on Apr 1, 2022 7:40:32 GMT
Yes, I didn't get the horsey sounds either. He's an entertaining chap, though.
Did you listen to that Roth recording? What was the engineer doing, or was it recorded on a clapped-out dictation machine?
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 1, 2022 7:55:22 GMT
I've not tried the Roth Eroica yet, I'd intended to sample the Currentzis 7th,but ended up listening to the whole thing!
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