Bruckner's 6th Symphony - Blind Comparison

Started by TheGSMoeller, May 02, 2014, 05:05:52 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Sergeant Rock

I'm listening to the A & B groups now (really  ;D )  I'll have them done in a couple of hours.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 06, 2014, 04:58:15 AM
I'm listening to the A & B groups now (really  ;D )  I'll have them done in a couple of hours.

Sarge

Tearin it up!  8)

Ken B

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 06, 2014, 04:58:15 AM
I'm listening to the A & B groups now (really  ;D )  I'll have them done in a couple of hours.

Sarge
Ripping the heart out of Klemp, Barbirolli, and Celi one imagines.  >:D

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Ken B on September 06, 2014, 05:43:21 AM
Ripping the heart out of Klemp, Barbirolli, and Celi one imagines.  >:D

Three of my favorite conductors?  :o  ...I hope not! Although in the past, in these comparisons, I have been known to blindly murder a few favorites  ;D


Sarge 
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Ken B

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 06, 2014, 05:48:49 AM
Three of my favorite conductors?  :o  ...I hope not! Although in the past, in these comparisons, I have been known to blindly murder a few favorites  ;D


Sarge
A closet Roegner fan ...  >:D

Sergeant Rock

#425
Second Round, Group B

B1 The Apotheosis of the Dirge. We all know who this is. He gets a free pass to the next round. Love the way the slow tempo and the prominent, rude, almost dissonant horns emphasize the struggle towards the central climax.

B2 I don't, in principle, dislike tempo treated like taffy. I'm less concerned with architecture than with emotional truth. As long as it serves an emotive purpose I can happily live with it. But this performance didn't move me. (I think I know the conductor so it doesn't surprise me.) I didn't like the string dominance either. I often wanted more horn and woodwind. The horns were especially deficient in the bars leading to the central climax.

B3 A performance with few negative qualities (horns disappointed occasionally) although no real heart-wrenching highs either.  Great sonics. I just sat back and wallowed in the gorgeous sounds of Bruckner. I'll probably be surprised when the conductor is revealed. I expect it's someone I wouldn't have guessed.

B4 I think the taffy pull works here. It kept me interested, waiting for what would happen next; what the next surprise would be. The instrumental balance was almost always perfect (yeah, amw, the trumpets do go missing at the climax); woodwind standing out when needed, great horns and lower brass. The funeral march was deeply felt.

1 - B1
2 - B4
3 - B3
4 - B2

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Sergeant Rock

#426
Second Round, Group A

I had to take a break to feed Mrs. Rock. We had baked ocean perch prepared Greek style (at least it's Greek according to the recipe I found online). Drank a Slovenian white wine. Fortified thusly, I tackled group A.


A1  Technicolor sound, intense drama, Bruckner kicking ass. This is Bruckner playing and interpreting quite different from the performances in the B group where Zen-like spirituality reigned. And look amw! here are B4's missing trumpets  ;D

A2  The funeral march was interesting, with timps more recessed than I usually like but producing a ghostly ambience that's quite fitting.  "That silence before the middle crescendo is brilliantly done" ---agree with Neal here. Bruckner taking one of his deep breaths, the conductor fearless in letting it happen. Overall a quite beautiful performance and recording, nicely paced. Hard to fault...but I will: I wanted more detail at certain points.

A3  There's a minute and half difference in time between this and A2 but they sound like twins in many respects. Very hard to choose between them. Another ghostly funeral march. There's a delicacy in much of the solo playing I find compelling. The climb to the central climax was a bit more intense than A2 although I wanted even more horn (who would've guessed  ;) ). Brilliant trumpets in the climax, ringing out triumphant. Is that the deciding factor?

A4  Oboe is a bit shaky in the beginning. Does that add or detract? It was like hearing little lost souls. Central climax relatively weak. I don't particulary like the sound of this (Central European?) orchestra. But....I gave it a second chance. And damn, I'm liking it more now. This really is the Group of Death  :(  But the brass is still weak in the central climax (may be the recording, not the players' fault).

1 - A1
2 - A3
3 - A2
4 - A4


Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Sergeant Rock

#427
Quote from: Ken B on September 06, 2014, 05:50:52 AM
A closet Roegner fan ...  >:D

No...you're mistaking me for AndrĂ©...although he's been out of the closet for years now  ;D

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

TheGSMoeller

Yay! I think I can close this round. And I'll reveal the eliminated recordings this evening. I'm ready to move on!

Also, any objection to making semi-final round the finale movement rather than Scherzo? And make it a true playoff round rather than combined scores?

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 06, 2014, 02:19:04 PM
Yay! I think I can close this round. And I'll reveal the eliminated recordings this evening. I'm ready to move on!

Also, any objection to making semi-final round the finale movement rather than Scherzo? And make it a true playoff round rather than combined scores?

Will the Scherzo be the final round then? If so, I don't understand your reasoning.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 06, 2014, 02:27:00 PM
Will the Scherzo be the final round then? If so, I don't understand your reasoning.

Sarge

Entire piece will be in final. And I believe that there's more to judge in terms of interpretation/performance from the finale than the scherzo. After my initial proposal of the rounds I realized that I don't think the Scherzo's would split the listeners as much.
Now this was also when I thought I had more participants and hoping that those who were involved weren't judging every Group, which it pretty much has become that. Which I really don't mind in the end, and hopefully by changing the labeling of the groups helped with disguising some discs that were recognized.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 06, 2014, 02:34:03 PM
Entire piece will be in final. And I believe that there's more to judge in terms of interpretation/performance from the finale than the scherzo. After my initial proposal of the rounds I realized that I don't think the Scherzo's would split the listeners as much.
Now this was also when I thought I had more participants and hoping that those who were involved weren't judging every Group, which it pretty much has become that. Which I really don't mind in the end, and hopefully by changing the labeling of the groups helped with disguising some discs that were recognized.

Ah, I see. Sounds good to me.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

TheGSMoeller

#432
How's my math?  8)

Group B
Neal       amw     Moonfish     Sarge
B1         B1         B3             B1 - 19 pts
B3         B3         B1             B4 - 13 pts
B4         B4         B4             B3 - 15 pts
B2         B2         B2             B2 - 8 pts




YIKES!  ???  :o  :'(  Hey, Peter! Do you remember your Group A listening?  ;D 
Kidding, I will just do a tie breaker of combined points from Round 1.

Group A
Cato           ChamberNut     Sarge        Neal
A4             A3                      A1           A2 - 13 pts
A3             A4                      A3           A1 - 13 pts
A1             A2                      A2           A3 - 16 pts
A2             A1                      A4           A4 - 13 pts

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 06, 2014, 02:41:08 PM
YIKES!  ???  :o  :'(  Hey, Peter! Do you remember your Group A listening?  ;D

Group A
Cato           ChamberNut     Sarge        Neal
A4             A3                      A1           A2 - 13 pts
A3             A4                      A3           A1 - 13 pts
A1             A2                      A2           A3 - 16 pts
A2             A1                      A4           A4 - 13 pts

The Group of Death indeed!

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Trout

I believe A1 should be at 14 points, meaning A2 and A4 would be sent into oblivion by a single point.  >:D

(also less important, but B3 is at 16, according to my calculations)

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: Trout on September 06, 2014, 04:02:21 PM
I believe A1 should be at 14 points, meaning A2 and A4 would be sent into oblivion by a single point.  >:D

(also less important, but B3 is at 16, according to my calculations)

That's why I asked about my math. Thank you, Trout!
Watching a 5 year old and calculating didn't blend well.  ;D

TheGSMoeller

Updated scores, results are on the way..

Group B
Neal       amw     Moonfish     Sarge
B1         B1         B3             B1 - 19 pts
B3         B3         B1             B4 - 13 pts - eliminated
B4         B4         B4             B3 - 16 pts
B2         B2         B2             B2 - 8 pts - eliminated



Group A
Cato           ChamberNut     Sarge        Neal
A4             A3                      A1           A2 - 13 pts - eliminated
A3             A4                      A3           A1 - 14 pts
A1             A2                      A2           A3 - 16 pts
A2             A1                      A4           A4 - 13 pts - eliminated

TheGSMoeller

Remembering the Round 2 Eliminations so far

C2




C1



Group D eliminations...


D2





D3

Skrowaczewski/Saarbrucken


[/quote]

TheGSMoeller

The Rest of Round 2 Eliminations

Group A

A2



A4




Group B

B2



B4


Brian