Amazing shortcomings in your collection

[Harry]

I'm always finding shortcomings in my collection which is why I keep buying and buying and buying and buying and buying and buying and .........................buying(n+1)!

Why does that sound familiar to me Hmmmm?

[George]

Or not.

At the risk of being controversial (and having now heard seven or eight different performances), I'd put Klemperer waaaaay down my list. Maazel, Haitink, Norrington (yes, Norrington) - hell, even the '77 Karajan - go in above the Klempster in my pecking order. But hey, we're all different. Gun to the head? Maazel. Or Haitink.

I am surprised that Previn's digital account isn't among your faves. 

[Mark]

I am surprised that Previn's digital account isn't among your faves. 

Nah! Sounds like a run-through. Not bad. Not great, either. Brahms deserves better.

[George]

Nah! Sounds like a run-through. Not bad. Not great, either. Brahms deserves better.

I've only heard my copy once or twice in poor condiitions so I will wait to report.

[Bunny]

Why does that sound familiar to me Hmmmm?

Like mother like son?

[Sergeant Rock]

Or not.

At the risk of being controversial (and having now heard seven or eight different performances), I'd put Klemperer waaaaay down my list. Maazel, Haitink, Norrington (yes, Norrington) - hell, even the '77 Karajan - go in above the Klempster in my pecking order. But hey, we're all different. Gun to the head? Maazel. Or Haitink.

Hey, Mark. I'm glad you've finally found a Requiem you can live with. It's been a long search!

I have three problems with Maazel: he's too slow, almost turgid, and what's worse, he sounds slower than he actually is which means he's rhythmically less than compelling. Second problem: there's a lack of orchestral detail especially when the chorus is singing. That's the fault of both the recording engineer and Maazel's inability to balance his forces properly. Klemperer, as usual with this conductor, lets you hear everything clearly.

And finally, and this is purely subjective, Klemperer's interpretation is more dramatic than Maazel's.

Sarge

[Bogey]

Hey, Mark. I'm glad you've finally found a Requiem you can live with.

Something about this lead in sentence is not quite working for me Sarge.

[George]

Something about this lead in sentence is not quite working for me Sarge.

Reminds me what my grandfather used to say everytime we drove by a cemetery. "People are dying to get in there."

[Harry]

Like mother like son?

Right, that's it!

[Sergeant Rock]

Something about this lead in sentence is not quite working for me Sarge.

Maybe I should rephrase that 

Sarge

[Mark]

Klemperer, as usual with this conductor, lets you hear everything clearly.

And finally, and this is purely subjective, Klemperer's interpretation is more dramatic than Maazel's.

Sarge

Interesting points, but I'll take issue if I may (derailing this thread in the process, for which I apologise).

Klemperer let's you hear everything clearly? Maybe when sat alongside Maazel, but no way true when placed beside the vocal clarity achieved by both Blomstedt and Norrington. The choral articulation in both of these peformances is FAR clearer than that in the Klemperer. Which brings me to your point (which you admit is subjective, as is what I'm about to post) about the drama in the Klemperer. I'd say it borders on melodrama; whereas with Blomstedt, the orchestral colours shine through clearer, and with Norrington, even more so. I've said before on here that with the Norrington in particular, you get the drama without the melodrama.

But I'd still choose Maazel or Haitink . Both slower, yes (more appropriate for a Requiem, no?), but both with moments of lasting magic.

And yes, it has been some search.

[Que]

Well, what is a shortcoming ? Much of it includes music I'm not attracted to. 

"Gaps" in my collection (none or very little): Early Music, British post-baroque composers (ANY), Bartok, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Schönberg, Webern. Some gaps I'd like to fill (Bartok, Stravinsky, Schönberg, Webern) others not...

Q

[not edward]

I don't have a recording of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto (even though in my teens I played it in a violin/piano reduction).

[karlhenning]

Gluck's Orfeo ed Eurydice

Wozzeck 

[marvinbrown]

  I guess we all have shortcomings in our collection:  I am missing an overwhleming majority of Haydn's symphonies, I don't have any music by Bruckner, Shostakovich, Handel, Elgar (except March 1 from pomp and circumstance does that count??)  to name a few. No reason to feel bad though, it is pointless to collect music you don't like just for the sake of filling gaps.  I tried to fill in a Mahler gap once and I ended up with a complete symphony cycle that at present is gathering dust  . (it is sitting in my living room on a top shelf where neither I nor the cleaners can get to it)   

  marvin

[DetUudslukkelige]

My Biggest Shortcomings: Liszt, Vaughan-Williams, Early and middle Baroque (Nothing currently Pre-Vivaldi), Chamber Works by Dvorak or Nielsen, A second recording of several Bruckner & Mahler Symphonies, A surprising number of Haydn Concertos, Masses and Symphonies, more major Mozart works than I'd care to admit, Sibelius - Recently remedied! (Gosh, what was I missing!)

[Bonehelm]

I still can't accept the fact that I only own 27 versions of Beethoven 9th...

[Heather Harrison]

Thanks to this thread, I have addressed two of the shortcomings in my collection.  Today, I bought CDs of solo piano music by Brahms and Liszt (see the Purchases Today thread).  This is a good start, but I will certainly need more.

Heather

[71 dB]

Amazing Bach shortcomings in my collection:

- Goldberg Variations
- WTC book I
- English Suites
- Motets

I also have only three CDs of Bach's organ works.

[Greta]

Sadly I must admit I have no Brahms and Bruckner and very little Mozart! *goes running* Anything before say 1850 I could use more of. But also the 2nd Viennese guys. I have the problem of "discovering" a new work or composer and immersing myself for a few months at the exclusion of others. I think this past month my purchases were all Mahler and Sibelius. (And another Planets, I'm so ashamed)

But I feel my biggest shortcoming is genre-related rather - virtually all symphonic/concertos and opera.  I'm exploring more string quartets and piano from the library, but I still can't seem to resist the siren song of unheard recordings of big orchestral pieces. I love it though! It's a thrill to lust after a certain recording and finally get it, and then appreciate it more because it's a work you know extremely well.

I tried to fill in a Mahler gap once and I ended up with a complete symphony cycle that at present is gathering dust. (It is sitting in my living room on a top shelf where neither I nor the cleaners can get to it) 

Wanna pawn it off on someone? Won't gather any dust here!