The Classical Chat Thread

[Brian]

Where did you hear that, Brian? I can't find anything online. What's he going to do now? I hear Boston is looking for a conductor 

Sarge

The news is buried here. Wit has no website, and the WPO didn't do a farewell concert with him, and they also don't have any fanfare about their new director. It's almost like they wanted nobody to know. But:

"Managing and Artistic Director of Warsaw Philharmonic from January 2002 till August 2013.... From the concert season of 2010-11, he held the post of guest conductor with Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra in Pamplona. As of 2013-14, he will take over as that orchestra's artistic director, simultaneously accepting the position of honorary conductor to Cracow Philharmonic."

Makes me wonder if arrangements with Naxos will continue in Warsaw, or in Pamplona. Also makes me wonder if he's semi-retiring to Spanish wine country.

EDIT: Looked at the OS de Navarra's 2013-14 schedule. He's only appearing with them three times, in February-April, and only in the most normal of repertoire (Mozart [inc. Requiem], Haydn, Beethoven, Scheherazade).

EDIT II: Oh I was wrong! Wit/Warsaw's farewell is 23 August... at the BBC Proms. A delicious program of Lutoslawski, Panufnik and Shostakovich with Alexander Melnikov.

[jlaurson]

Resurrecting the WETA Mahler Survey
to go along with coverage of part of the Salzburg Mahler Cycle



Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.7 (Part 1)
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/08/gustav-mahler-symphony-no7-part-1.html



Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.7 (Part 2)
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/08/gustav-mahler-symphony-no7-part-2.html

[Sergeant Rock]

The news is buried here. Wit has no website, and the WPO didn't do a farewell concert with him, and they also don't have any fanfare about their new director. It's almost like they wanted nobody to know. But:

"Managing and Artistic Director of Warsaw Philharmonic from January 2002 till August 2013.... From the concert season of 2010-11, he held the post of guest conductor with Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra in Pamplona. As of 2013-14, he will take over as that orchestra's artistic director, simultaneously accepting the position of honorary conductor to Cracow Philharmonic."

Makes me wonder if arrangements with Naxos will continue in Warsaw, or in Pamplona. Also makes me wonder if he's semi-retiring to Spanish wine country.

EDIT: Looked at the OS de Navarra's 2013-14 schedule. He's only appearing with them three times, in February-April, and only in the most normal of repertoire (Mozart [inc. Requiem], Haydn, Beethoven, Scheherazade).

EDIT II: Oh I was wrong! Wit/Warsaw's farewell is 23 August... at the BBC Proms. A delicious program of Lutoslawski, Panufnik and Shostakovich with Alexander Melnikov.

Thanks for digging up all that information. And let's hope his work with Naxos continues. It's been a great run so far.

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

E-mail came in from Naxos today, touting Alsop conducting Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem.

Does anyone who has heard it, speak for it?

[Brian]

E-mail came in from Naxos today, touting Alsop conducting Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem.

Does anyone who has heard it, speak for it?

Directly relevant to the previous discussion, Wit said he wanted to record that with Warsaw but Naxos refused and said they wanted to hand it to someone else. They offered him the complete Dvorak chorchestral works as a consolation; that Requiem is coming soon.

[Karl Henning]

Sure, that has the look of a purely artistic decision . . . .

[kishnevi]

I suppose Alsop noticed that Gardiner finished off his Brahms cycle with the Requiem, and wanted to do the same with hers.

That said,  there are a lot more recordings of the Brahms Requiem, and a lot of them good ones;  Dvorak choral/orchestral not so much, and I'll be much more interested in(meaning, much more likely to buy) these Dvorak recordings than I would be interested in a hypothetical Wit Brahms Requiem.

[jlaurson]

Notes from the 2013 Salzburg Festival ( 10 )

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra 1 • Mariss Jansons
A Russian Pair of Sixes

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/08/notes-from-2013-salzburg-festival-10.html

[Brian]

That said,  there are a lot more recordings of the Brahms Requiem, and a lot of them good ones;  Dvorak choral/orchestral not so much, and I'll be much more interested in(meaning, much more likely to buy) these Dvorak recordings than I would be interested in a hypothetical Wit Brahms Requiem.

Yup. The absence of an acceptable recording of Dv's Te Deum is one of the recorded catalogue's worst omissions; one of the composer's greatest and most individual (that is, most Dvoraky) masterpieces, with somehow no satisfactory performance available.

(Neumann, Rilling = fairly sluggish and needing extra jubilance; Chandos = choir is not good, and blatantly Russian; Macal = New Jersey orchestra not up to snuff. Haven't heard Shaw or the Belohlavek performance, which is on DVD only.)

[jochanaan]

E-mail came in from Naxos today, touting Alsop conducting Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem.

Does anyone who has heard it, speak for it?

I've not heard of that recording, but I can certainly speak for Marin Alsop.  She's one of my favorite conductors.  But I'm prejudiced: I've heard her live with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra here in Denver.  I can still remember Maestra Alsop and the CSO doing a flawless Mahler 7 and a very exciting performance of a Roy Harris symphony (#3?).

[Karl Henning]

I know she is capable of fine work, indeed;  which is why the rumor of meh Brahms (the symphonies on Naxos) is so disconcerting.  Am hoping the Op.45 may be notably better.

[Brian]

I know she is capable of fine work, indeed;  which is why the rumor of meh Brahms (the symphonies on Naxos) is so disconcerting.  Am hoping the Op.45 may be notably better.

My personal version of that rumor is very good Brahms 1 and 3, overall-good but problematic 4, and pretty dull 2.

[Karl Henning]

I appreciate the sharper granularity, Brian.  What were the problems in the e minor?

[TheGSMoeller]

My collection only contains Alsop in a disc of Barber, Glass Sym. 2/3 and Weill Symphonies.

[kishnevi]

Having listened to that Alsop Mahler 1 I bought and B&N this afternoon--there's certainly nothing wrong with it.  But there's also nothing that shouts out "you must hear this performance".    I might suggest it as a budget-minded choice for someone just getting into Mahler, but you can actually throw a dart at the Amazon listings for this symphony and come up with a choice just as good.

Same general reaction to her Brahms 1, btw.  It's her Barber and John Adams recordings I like best of what I've heard from her.

[Opus106]

Alsop is scheduled to conduct the OAE in Brahms' German Requiem at the Proms tonight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2013/august-17/14630

[Brian]

Having listened to that Alsop Mahler 1 I bought and B&N this afternoon--there's certainly nothing wrong with it.  But there's also nothing that shouts out "you must hear this performance".    I might suggest it as a budget-minded choice for someone just getting into Mahler, but you can actually throw a dart at the Amazon listings for this symphony and come up with a choice just as good.

Same general reaction to her Brahms 1, btw.  It's her Barber and John Adams recordings I like best of what I've heard from her.

I like the finale best on that Mahler 1 - really thrilling, to these ears. The rest is just good. I've seen her Mahler 1, Barber, AND John Adams live; the Barber's exciting and really coheres, but when I think of Marin Alsop concerts I've been to, the first thing I'll always think of is the Doctor Atomic Symphony, which she's yet to record.

EDIT: Karl, just did a GMG search and I wrote a long review of Alsop's Brahms here. My superlatives for #1 are something I'd now like to tone down a little/lot. Actually I was a whole lot wordier/rambly back in '07, looks like. But hey, that comment at the end about how her Dvorak Seventh would probably suck was spot-on. Can't think of a worse recording of that symphony.

[jlaurson]

Notes from the 2013 Salzburg Festival ( 10 )
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra 1 • Mariss Jansons

A Russian Pair of Sixes



http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/08/notes-from-2013-salzburg-festival-10.html




Notes from the 2013 Salzburg Festival ( 11 )
Soloist Recital • Till Fellner

Baroque Brawn and Classical Timidity



http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/08/notes-from-2013-salzburg-festival-11.html




Notes from the 2013 Salzburg Festival ( 12 )
El Sistema • White Hands Choir

The Calligraphy of Song



http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/08/notes-from-2013-salzburg-festival-12.html




Notes from the 2013 Salzburg Festival ( 13 )
Liederabend • Christian Gerhaher & Gerold Huber

The Art of Darkness



http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/08/notes-from-2013-salzburg-festival-13.html

[Brian]

Man, I just had a dream where I kept reading reviews of all these amazing masterpiece symphonies that nobody's ever heard of, that were just coming out on CD, and how the reviewer hoped they would be played in concert halls alongside Beethoven. One was a Mackerras recording just being issued on Supraphon. But of course the moment I woke up I realized none of them were real.

[North Star]

Man, I just had a dream where I kept reading reviews of all these amazing masterpiece symphonies that nobody's ever heard of, that were just coming out on CD, and how the reviewer hoped they would be played in concert halls alongside Beethoven. One was a Mackerras recording just being issued on Supraphon. But of course the moment I woke up I realized none of them were real.

Well, the Asrael is relatively recent...