Recordings That You Are Considering

[George]

Thank you. I was about to take exception to your original assertion    I haven't heard any of Vänskä's Beethoven yet (hoping for a cheap box) but Barenboim's cycle is one of my favorites.

Sarge

Mine too.

It's now available at MDT for under $20!!

[Renfield]

It's a full sized modern symphony orchestra that gains its transparency through the balance of the dynamics.

That's a (much) better way of putting what I meant by the "minimalist" comment.

I'm delighted - though not all that surprised - to hear it's not a recorded sound gimmick!

[Bunny]

Thank you. I was about to take exception to your original assertion    I haven't heard any of Vänskä's Beethoven yet (hoping for a cheap box) but Barenboim's cycle is one of my favorites.

Sarge

Mine too.

It's now available at MDT for under $20!!

I'd like the link for that, as I can't find it at MDT.

Historically Bis has been notoriously slow at putting out those box sets.  Brautigam's Haydn was just released this past year as a box, and that's been available in the single entries for more than 5 years.  Only about 2 years ago, when I wrote to them about a possible Haydn set, the answer was that they still had to make back their investment so they weren't putting out a box set to save buyers any money. 

Btw, Barenboim's Beethoven is very different from Vänskä's.  Barenboim is the supreme romanticist of Beethoven interpretation, his interpretations stemming out of the same tradition as Furtwängler.   Vänskä's interpretations owe more to Toscanini, Zinman, and HIP scholarship.  There's room on my shelf for both, in fact, if the Beethoven works, then I want it.  It's mediocrity that I find objectionable.

Edit: I just realized that the MDT reference was not to a box of Vänskä's LvB, but Barenboim's.  Silly me!  No one should hold their breath waiting for a Bis box set.

[George]

I'd like the link for that, as I can't find it at MDT.

If you're in the US, it's under $17

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//2564618902.htm

[Bunny]

Thanks, George, but I actually have that set and enjoy it very much.  I bought it years ago from Caiman on Amazon UK for about $15.00 US including s&h.   (Used like new, and really still in the shrink wrap).  The only set I would rate a better bargain was the complete Zinman from Amazon US (don't recall the vendor) for $5.95 + s&h when it was selling at Tower for $60.00. 


Unfortunately, the Barenboim is still wickedly expensive here in the USA, if you can even find it because Warner has eliminated their classical music division here.  It has a different picture on the box and starts around $50.00 used at Amazon, which is a crime. 

[Bunny]

Just looked at the link, and I'm surprised that they quote Gramophone.  As I recall, Gramophon's reviews of the set were the equivalent of a very politely worded dis!

What I will say is that each of the digital cycles listed above offers a more consistent interpretative picture than this latest release (Wand, Harnoncourt, Gielen and Zinman would be my own first choices and Maag should please those who crave a Furtwanglerian interpretative axis). But Barenboim still has much to communicate: indeed, he honours a noble interpretative tradition that is a vital part of our musical past. He constantly reminds me of various older performances that I still cherish, though he never quite manages to improve on them. Gramophone

[Sergeant Rock]

Haha... ha! :-) Have fun waiting. But if you're good (i.e. can wait a few months), I'll send you a copy of 4/5 (and maybe 3/8??) of which I have (a) spare(s).

I'm an old fart. I could go at any moment    but if you have spares you're willing to share, I'll try to prolong this earthly life.

Sarge

[jlaurson]

Unfortunately, the Barenboim is still wickedly expensive here in the USA, if you can even find it because Warner has eliminated their classical music division here.  It has a different picture on the box and starts around $50.00 used at Amazon, which is a crime. 

1.) $50,- for that cycle is no crime. (Esp. not in the cool plastic-box packaging. 

2.) Because Amazon.com are idiots, they don't label CDs properly which means it is almost impossible to find some recordings. And when one (I) finds them and adds the proper information, they auto-reject it for some flimsy, stupid reason. (E.g. no verification possible, when all they need to do is read off the damn cover.) But -- the cheapo Warner box of the Barenboim LvB Symphonies is available on Amazon.com -- as a perfectly reasonably priced import. ($19.98)

Barenboim, Beethoven, Symphonies 1-9, Leonore & Fidelio Overtures, Warner

[jlaurson]

I'm an old fart. I could go at any moment    but if you have spares you're willing to share, I'll try to prolong this earthly life.
Sarge

Are we talking months or years? 
(And, since I'm in emoticon-mode, will it be  or  0:) ?)

[Sergeant Rock]

Haha... ha! :-) Have fun waiting.

No one should hold their breath waiting for a Bis box set.

Well, I did wait for Vänskä's Sibelius and was eventually rewarded with that marvelous, and dirt cheap, "Essential Sibelius" box. However, I agree with you both: especially at my age, I'm really gambling with the Beethoven

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Are we talking months or years? 

(And, since I'm in emoticon-mode, will it be  or  0:) ?)

I'm a heathen and a soldier...it doesn't look good for the latter emoticon.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Mine too.

It's now available at MDT for under $20!!

Yeah, I bought mine for a ridiculously low price several years ago. After Teldec collapsed, JPC lowered the price of the entire Teldec catalogue. Fantastic bargains. I bought Barenboims's Bruckner, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumman and Wagner for a pittance; listened to my purchases, and discovered the mainstream press had seriously underestimated Barenboim the conductor. Of course he won't appeal to every taste--he's old school--but I love that.

Sarge

[Brian]

That spot miked sound that you comment on isn't from engineering.  You get the same effect in live performance.  It was hard for me to believe it, but that orchestra is just capable of playing at so many different sustained volume levels it gets scary.  And Vanska knows exactly how he wants to exploit this.  It's all from his control of the dynamics of each particular group of instruments, especially the strings.  You have to see it live to really appreciate just how much in control he is, and just how responsive that band is to him. 

Wow. Wish I were in Minnesota... that sounds like a special collaboration. (And is, judging from the results.)

[Dundonnell]

Yeah, I bought mine for a ridiculously low price several years ago. After Teldec collapsed, JPC lowered the price of the entire Teldec catalogue. Fantastic bargains. I bought Barenboims's Bruckner, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumman and Wagner for a pittance; listened to my purchases, and discovered the mainstream press had seriously underestimated Barenboim the conductor. Of course he won't appeal to every taste--he's old school--but I love that.

Sarge

I have the Teldec cd of Barenboim conducting the Berlin Phil. in Bruckner's 9th. A marvellous performance in my estimation

[Renfield]

My own favourite thing Barenboim's done as a conductor is his Brahms. Quite unexpectedly good.

(And I also appreciate the Beethoven and Bruckner cycles, even if I'm inclined to agree with Gramophone on their overall value.)

[Sergeant Rock]

I have the Teldec cd of Barenboim conducting the Berlin Phil. in Bruckner's 9th. A marvellous performance in my estimation

It is indeed. I also love the Second and the Fifth from this cyle (the Fifth with a very deliberate Furtwänglerian coda...as though he were finally acknowledging his debt and simultaneously thumbing his nose at his critics )

Sarge

[Renfield]

(And I also appreciate the Beethoven and Bruckner cycles, even if I'm inclined to agree with Gramophone on their overall value.)

I actually think this was a little disingenuous and/or snotty of me, on second read. His Bruckner cycle has some excellent, even superb performances, and his Beethoven is at a very high level, if not as exceptional IMO as for me to rank it before at least ten others.

[Sergeant Rock]

I actually think this was a little disingenuous and/or snotty of me, on second read. His Bruckner cycle has some excellent, even superb performances, and his Beethoven is at a very high level, if not as exceptional IMO as for me to rank it before at least ten others.

Not to worry. His Bruckner is an acquired taste...or to the taste of those with no taste    In fact, I only recall one critic (on BBC3, reviewing Barenboim against Masur) who liked Barenboim's cycle. The critical consensus was so lopsidedly against Daniel, I didn't even bother to listen when the symphonies were first released. The eventual low price, combined with hearing that BBC critic's against-the-grain opinion, finally made me sample it...and low, it was far, far better than I expected. My favorite Bruckner cycle? No. But then no one gets every symphony right and the good things outweigh the mediocre.

His Beethoven is more consistently great, I think. It is, for me, one of the best, certainly in the top five.

Sarge

[Dundonnell]

The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music-which often gets a rough ride around these parts-puts the Barenboim Bruckner series as its top recommendation

"The cycle rises to a climax with Barenboim's masterly readings of the last two symphonies. No.8 in the full Haas edition is dedicated in all four movements, with the hushed expanse of the slow movement leading thrillingly into the incisive, brassy attack of the finale. No.9 is equally dedicated, with Barenboim bringing out the adventurousness of the writing, with fragments coalescing into towering climaxes, ending on a noble account of the finale so satisfying that one has no regrets that Bruckner failed to complete a finale."

[Sergeant Rock]

The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music-which often gets a rough ride around these parts-puts the Barenboim Bruckner series as its top recommendation

"The cycle rises to a climax with Barenboim's masterly readings of the last two symphonies. No.8 in the full Haas edition is dedicated in all four movements, with the hushed expanse of the slow movement leading thrillingly into the incisive, brassy attack of the finale. No.9 is equally dedicated, with Barenboim bringing out the adventurousness of the writing, with fragments coalescing into towering climaxes, ending on a noble account of the finale so satisfying that one has no regrets that Bruckner failed to complete a finale."

That's really interesting. I haven't bought a Penguin since the mid-90s (few of Barenboim's Berlin recordings are reviewed in that 96 edition) but I don't recall the Gramophone (where these reviewers originated) having such high praise (except for the Ninth, which everyone seems to like...even our own Jens, if I'm not mistaken). Maybe there's been a critical reevalution? In any case, this pleases me. Thanks for pointing it out.

Sarge