Unpopular Opinions

[Florestan]

I'll take that "phonorrhea" any time over Mompou's particular brand of "phono-inopia". 

Needless to say, for me it's the other way around. 

Buna dimineata, Andrei.

Actually, at this time of the day (past noon) it's Bună ziua. We say Bună dimineața only until noon. And after 6 pm it's Bună seara. Colloquially and only with very close relatives and friends, at any time we say just "Bună" which is like Hola!.

[Madiel]

And suddenly the relationship between Romanian and Italian is laid bare.

[Florestan]

And suddenly the relationship between Romanian and Italian is laid bare.

There's much more. For instance:

Come ti chiamo? / Cum te cheamă?

Che fai? Ce faci?

Lasciatemi cantare / Lăsați-mă să cânt

Il barbiere di Siviglia / Bărbierul din Sevilla

etc etc etc.

Many Italians have told me that Romanian sounds quite close to certain Southern Italian dialects such as Napolitan or Sardinian. For instance, a Napolitan chick told me that once she was with her friends on a Romanian seaside beach and heard someone telling their kid: Dezbracă-te. They instantly understood that the kid was told to undress, because in Napolitan it's Sbracati! (the written forms are similar enough but the pronunciations are even closer).

In my experience an educated Romanian can, with a little practice, understand at least 75% of written and spoken Italian without ever studying it proper. And if they have a native talent for languages --- yours truly, for instance --- the percentage goes to 90%. The other way around, though, is generally not valid.

And btw, Romanian is also very similar to Catalan, there are a lot of words and even combination of words which are written exactly the same.

[ritter]

Needless to say, for me it's the other way around. 

Actually, at this time of the day (past noon) it's Bună ziua. We say Bună dimineața only until noon. And after 6 pm it's Bună seara. Colloquially and only with very close relatives and friends, at any time we say just "Bună" which is like Hola!.

Thanks for the explanation, Andrei. I would have thought it was something like that. The thing is in Spain we'll say buenos días until lunchtime. And since lunchtime is between 2 and 3 pm, our mornings are longer that elsewhere  .

[Florestan]

Thanks for the explanation, Andrei. I would have thought it was something like that. The thing is in Spain we'll say buenos días until lunchtime. And since lunchtime is between 2 and 3 pm, our mornings are longer that elsewhere  .

I'm aware of that. You Spaniards just love to taaaaaake yooooooour tiiiiiiiiiime.  .

[Madiel]

Pejacevic wrote better piano miniatures than Grieg.

[Florestan]

Pejacevic wrote better piano miniatures than Grieg.

As far as I remember, her piano music is not bad at all.

[LKB]

Klaus Tennstedt was overrated.

( ducks ),

LKB

[Jo498]

It seems Tennstedt really made splash in some live concerts in the 1970s and 1980s. People who attended these concerts became like devoted and also like his recordings. I don't think he is overrated today or has been in the last 20 years because he seems more like a dark horse nowadays and not that well known.

[LKB]

I attended a performance of the LPO with KT conducting in San Francisco, ca.1984 or so. They opened with the overture to von Weber's Der Freischütz, and l thought it very well done, nearly perfect.

Next up was Beethoven's Sym. no. 3, which was the very first symphony l memorized, nearly fifty years ago.

It was excruciating. Slow, flabby, and a universe removed from the HIP revelations which had already been provided by Hogwood and Gardiner etc.. Essentially incomprehensible.

My friend and l couldn't endure past the opening of the second movement. I had wanted to give KT a chance to redeem himself, but it was not to be. The funeral march was interminable, and we finally fled some five hours after the symphony began...

( Ok, l exaggerate a bit, but it felt that way. )

Also, l've found most of his recordings to be pedestrian, particularly his Mahler. I just don't hear what some listeners get so excited about.

Perhaps l am fundamentally incompatible with Tennstedt in some way, or will grow into an appreciation of him down the road... stranger things have happened.

,

LKB

[Brian]

Only really solid Tennstedt I've heard was a live broadcast of a Martinu symphony.

I feel that way about someone even more heretical... Giulini. Almost any Giulini recording for me is guaranteed to be a little slow, a little dull, with nothing new or interesting. This is definitely an unpopular opinion!

[Jo498]

I have heard almost no Tennstedt, so I cannot comment at all. But I do have the impression I sketched above and also that he and his recordings have largely faded and are not that well known among many listener, apart from that vocal minority.

Giulini is a rather different case. He was quite famous already in the early 60s and made lots of recordings over a timespan of about 40 years (whereas Tennstedt had a smaller, more local peak in the 1980s, apparently also cut short by illness).
I'd say that many of Giulinis later recordings (1980s) are not a little, but often extremely slow, but not slack in the better cases, so that the breadth and wealth of detail can be interesting. A bit like some Klemperer. TBH I think it mainly works with Bruckner but can be interesting in some other cases. So I think the high rating is deserved in some cases. Unlike Tennstedt I have heard and own a fair amount of his recordings (mostly Chicago and Vienna from the 70s to early 1990s) but I also could agree that there is some overrating of Giulini, especially in such that he seems still far better known and more highly rated than e.g. Tennstedt.

[Biffo]

I never rated Tennstedt very highly - efficient is the best I can say from my, admittedly, limited exposure. I never understood the enthusiasm for his Mahler.

I heard him live with the LPO in Mahler 2 - I know this because several years later I found the concert programme while clearing stuff out. I had absolutely no recollection of the concert. This is not due to failing memory as I do remember two earlier live performances of the same work - Levine, outstandingly good and Mehta, outstandingly bad.

I also heard Tennstedt in an all-Beethoven concert; the Coriolan Overture and the 5th Symphony were brisk and unfussy but not much else. The Violin Concerto was dragged out to nearly an hour but that might have been to suit the whims of the soloist, Gidon Kremer.

I thought I ought to give Tennstedt's Mahler recordings of Mahler a chance so I bought the double album of Symphony  No 5 and Das Lied von der Erde (EMI). I was pleasantly surprised by the opening of Symphony No 5; it was clean and unfussy, very different from some of the more 'highly coloured' versions I have. As the work progressed I realised there was little else to admire and it was actually a rather dull performance. Likewise I found DLvdE beautifully played and sung but bland.

This may be unpopular with some but I find Mahler from Michael Tilson Thomas and the SFSO also to be beautiful but bland.

[SimonNZ]

I've never heard a recording by Yo Yo Ma that I thought was a top five recording of anything. If his entire discography disappeared I would never notice.

Seems like a nice guy, though.

[Madiel]

I've never heard a recording by Yo Yo Ma that I thought was a top five recording of anything. If his entire discography disappeared I would never notice.

Seems like a nice guy, though.

Given how many recordings of things there are, Top 5 is a high bar.

[SimonNZ]

Given how many recordings of things there are, Top 5 is a high bar.

Yeah, but that's the way I felt about him even in the days when most serious recordings could be contained within the covers of a single Penguin Guide.

[MusicTurner]

Given how many recordings of things there are, Top 5 is a high bar.

Ma's coupling with Shosty 1st and Kabalevsky 1st ctos would be my preferred. But not any others by him.

[SimonNZ]

I considered making an exception for his Finzi, but will stick with the above statement.

[MusicTurner]

I considered making an exception for his Finzi, but will stick with the above statement.

Oh yes, forgot about that one. Not sure, would have to compare.

[Brian]

Walton too?
Just curious.

I agree that he seems like a terrific person. If I could ever have him over for dinner, I would.