Post by julesd68 on Jun 7, 2022 22:13:51 GMT
In my top 5 classical works of all time is undoubtedly the Vienna Phil recording of Khachaturian’s ‘Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia’ with the composer holding the baton. 
I originally owned it on the immortal Decca SXL6000 vinyl and have loved it ever since - just the perfect performance, full of emotion, drama and crushing dynamics. I think it’s from 1962 but have never heard anything to trouble it - my god those strings, the double basses!
Only today I was listening to Classic FM in the car and heard part of a recording by the normally uber reliable Neeme Järvi but it sounded utterly limp and flat in comparison, the strings seemingly often held back by a lack of convincing vibrato, it took so much feeling out of the music. It woke up a bit towards the end but no comparison with Vienna really.
Looking back I wrote about this three years ago when trying to find another decent recording -
< Neeme Jaarvi heads out of the blocks like he’s on speed, destroying the delicate atmosphere for me. Conversely Temirkanov is so plodding you might think he has taken a mogadon and I just run out of patience with it. Back to the original and happiness is restored, it really is such a wonderfully expressive performance; I’m struggling to think of how it could be improved. >
So my question to you is have you ever come across another recording of this work that can compete?
I’m wondering if there is something recent with great sonics that can trouble the scorers, so must investigate further and post here with any updates.
I originally owned it on the immortal Decca SXL6000 vinyl and have loved it ever since - just the perfect performance, full of emotion, drama and crushing dynamics. I think it’s from 1962 but have never heard anything to trouble it - my god those strings, the double basses!
Only today I was listening to Classic FM in the car and heard part of a recording by the normally uber reliable Neeme Järvi but it sounded utterly limp and flat in comparison, the strings seemingly often held back by a lack of convincing vibrato, it took so much feeling out of the music. It woke up a bit towards the end but no comparison with Vienna really.
Looking back I wrote about this three years ago when trying to find another decent recording -
< Neeme Jaarvi heads out of the blocks like he’s on speed, destroying the delicate atmosphere for me. Conversely Temirkanov is so plodding you might think he has taken a mogadon and I just run out of patience with it. Back to the original and happiness is restored, it really is such a wonderfully expressive performance; I’m struggling to think of how it could be improved. >
So my question to you is have you ever come across another recording of this work that can compete?
I’m wondering if there is something recent with great sonics that can trouble the scorers, so must investigate further and post here with any updates.
