David Hurwitz

[imperfection]

   Here I  am  in  agreement  with  Hurwitz  and   not  Mforever.
Hurwitz  is  absolutely  right  on  target  here  in   pointing  out  how  silly  HIP  is  in  Brahms.  How  do  we  know that  Brahms  would  not  have  been  delighted  to  with  performances  of  his  music  if  he  could  hear  say,  Dohnanyi  and  Cleveland,  Masur  and  the  the  Gewandhaus,  or  Levine and  Vienna,  etc,  perform  his  symphonies?   I  haven't  heard  Gardiner's  allegedly  "authentic"  Brahms  symphonies,  and they  might  very  well  be  excellent,  but  if  they  are, it  won't  be  because  of  the  period  instruments.
   And  Mforever,  please  stop  dismissing  those  who  are  less  enthusiastic  about  period  instrument   performances  than  you  as  ignorant  of   scholarship  in   performance  practice  and  music  history.  This is  extremely  irritating.
   

You know what's more irritating? Your formatting of everything you post. It discourages members from reading them.

[Bulldog]

You know what's more irritating? Your formatting of everything you post. It discourages members from reading them.

I don't know what Superhorn is up to with his format, but I'm starting to get used to it.  Or maybe it's that I just finished a big drink and find everything okay.

[greg]

I
                                   it.
          like           

[Bulldog]

I
                                   it.
          like           

You're making me dizzy. 

[Brian]

Maybe Superhorn posts with a defective typewriter.

[M forever]

BTW, Bulldon, since you asked (in another thread), there is also at least one post from me missing here in which I mentioned that Gardiner's recording is - finally - an interesting opportunity to hear the valveless natural horns Brahms wanted for his horn parts.

[Superhorn]

    I'm  not  sure  that  Brahms  actually  wanted  his  orchestral  music  to  be  played  on  natural  horns.  By  his  day,  valved  horns  were  already  the  norm.
    In  1846  Schumann   wote  his  wonderful  but   terrifyingly  difficult   Konzertstuck  for  four  horns  and  orchestra  as  a  showpiece  for valved  horns.  But  to  show  you  how  sily  some HIP  advocates  are,  there  was  a  concert  at  Carnegie  hall  back  in  the  90s  of  an  orchestra  where  the  horn section  played  the  Konzertstuck,  and  not  a  period  instrument  group.  The  New  York  Times  reviewer  said  that  it  would  have  been  prefererable  to  hear  an "authentic"  performance  on  natural  horns !   He didn't  even  realize  that  the  piece  is  UNPLAYABLE  on  the  natural  instrument !

   

[PerfectWagnerite]

So did Dvořák.

Did he? I thought only his dad did?

[M forever]

I'm  not  sure  that  Brahms  actually  wanted  his  orchestral  music  to  be  played  on  natural  horns.  By  his  day,  valved  horns  were  already  the  norm.

Of course you aren't sure because you don't know anything about that subject. Brahms stated that very explicitly. Even though valave horns had become the norm in his day? Yes, of course, because otherwise he wouldn't have had to say that.

But  to  show  you  how  sily  some HIP  advocates  are,  there  was  a  concert  at  Carnegie  hall  back  in  the  90s  of  an  orchestra  where  the  horn section  played  the  Konzertstuck,  and  not  a  period  instrument  group.  The  New  York  Times  reviewer  said  that  it  would  have  been  prefererable  to  hear  an "authentic"  performance  on  natural  horns !   He didn't  even  realize  that  the  piece  is  UNPLAYABLE  on  the  natural  instrument !

So because some idiot in the NY Times said that, that means that every single HIP performer on the planet is silly? I didn't know that the whole HIP movement was centered around the music critic of the NY Times.

[starrynight]

Music is probably as passionate as the performer who performs it.  A bad performer can probably make anything bland.

[Mirror Image]

Hurwitz is harmless really, but I don't put any stock into anything he writes. He's just another critic in a vast sea filled critics.

[PaulSC]

a vast sea filled with critics.

Interesting image. Are their feet encased in blocks of cement?

[Sergeant Rock]

....but I don't put any stock into anything he writes.

Really? Not anything? 

  10/10 CHARLES KOECHLIN
Le Docteur Fabricius Op. 202; Vers la Voute étoilée
Suttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Heinz Holliger

"If you love crazy late-Romantic orchestral music at its most extravagant and eccentric, then baby, your ship has come in! Heinz Holliger and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra play the living daylights out of this irascible, improbable, and ultimately quite lovable curmudgeon of a piece...Gloriously rich and natural recorded sound puts the final touch on one of the most surprising and rewarding releases of this or any other year. Keep it coming, Hänssler and SWR!"--David Hurwitz


Sarge

[Opus106]

Meh. A fluke at best.

[Sergeant Rock]

Meh. A fluke at best.

A fluke? I don't think so    To wit:

His string quartets are, in my opinion, right up there with Shostakovich and Bartok. Some of the best written in the 20th Century.

HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS
Complete String Quartets (17)
Cuarteto Latinoamericano

"The series reaches its culmination in the large works composed around the time of the Second World War, Nos. 7-11, which really do constitute landmark 20th century contributions to the form on a par with those of Shostakovich and Bartók." --David Hurwitz


Sarge

[Mirror Image]

Interesting image. Are their feet encased in blocks of cement?

No, they're in encased in large of amounts of hardened money from record companies.

[Mirror Image]

Okay, so me and Hurwitz likes some of the same things, so what? Sarge and I like some of the same things. Harry and I like some of the same things. It happens...

[Sergeant Rock]

Okay, so me Hurwitz likes some of the same things, so what? Sarge and I like some of the same things. Harry and I like some of the same things. It happens...

So you admit you agree with Hurwitz sometimes? And can we take it a step further and say that, perhaps, you shouldn't entirely dismiss his criticism since, obviously, you and he are on the same page about two of your favorite composers? Why don't you take any stock in him? He agrees with you!

I happen to think he's a very good critic whose 10/10 reviews have never let me down and whose 2/9 reviews never fail to amuse me even when I disagree with him.

Sarge

[DavidW]

So you admit you agree with Hurwitz sometimes? And can we take it a step further and say that, perhaps, you shouldn't entirely dismiss his criticism since, obviously, you and he are on the same page about two of your favorite composers? Why don't you take any stock in him? He agrees with you!

But a stopped clock is still right twice a day, but you would still throw it out anyway.

[Brian]

I happen to think he's a very good critic whose 10/10 reviews have never let me down and whose 2/9 reviews never fail to amuse me even when I disagree with him.

Some of Hurwitz's 10/10 reviews have caused me to waste my time with mediocre music that he temporarily got really excited about for reasons I couldn't hear (Bruch's Swedish Dances, Braunfels' Berlioz Variations, Hausegger's Natursymphonie [though I know there are folks here who love Hausegger]). On the other hand, a really enormous number of Hurwitz's 10/10 reviews have led me to offbeat music I find completely and utterly stunning. It was Hurwitz, for instance, who put me on Pierne's ballet Cydalise a few months ago, and Hurwitz who first tempted me into trying Atterberg.