David Hurwitz

[Mirror Image]

His Youtube videos are so cool. Started watching them a few days ago. His mannerism is my drug. Tam tam!! Funny man.

Wow...you really need to get out more.

[flyingdutchman]

Well, at least Hurwitz isn't Don Vroon.

[Mirror Image]

Well, at least Hurwitz isn't Don Vroon.

I had to look up Don Vroon. Never heard of him. I think I might have heard of the American Record Guide, but, honestly, I confess to have no knowledge of Vroon's work. Not that it matters one way or another since I don't actually make it a habit of reading 'professional' music criticism nor actually caring about they think.

[Daverz]

Was taken aback seeing Hurtwitz's mug at Presto.  It's an entertaining podcast with Hurwitz and Paul Thomas of Presto exchanging their favorite American and UK composers:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/3689--presto-music-podcast-episode-10-across-the-pond-with-david-hurwitz

[Daverz]

I had to look up Don Vroon. Never heard of him. I think I might have heard of the American Record Guide, but, honestly, I confess to have no knowledge of Vroon's work. Not that it matters one way or another since I don't actually make it a habit of reading 'professional' music criticism nor actually caring about they think.

I subscribed to ARG for many years, but gave up a decade ago.  Vroon is embarassing, but that didn't prevent him from hiring some good writers.

I've also decided to give up on Fanfare.  Too many Dentley Hunt (AKA Santa Fe Listener) reviews.  I note that his Santa Fe Listener byline at a Amazon has now been replace by his "professional" name.

[Brian]

Was taken aback seeing Hurtwitz's mug at Presto.  It's an entertaining podcast with Hurwitz and Paul Thomas of Presto exchanging their favorite American and UK composers:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/3689--presto-music-podcast-episode-10-across-the-pond-with-david-hurwitz

Gonna listen to this while wrapping Christmas presents. I so hope Hurwitz gets into his encounters with George Lloyd.

[(poco) Sforzando]

He can be very funny. He really can. Take a look at his videos on Carl Orff box sets and his preferred Wagner operas. On the other hand one has to slog through a half-hour of drivel to get to his top recommendations, one really does, so I often just fast-forward to the last five minutes. I really do. Sometimes he surprises by saying good things about music one wouldn't expect from him, like Renaissance polyphony. He really does. But his comments on Lieder and the music of Pierre Boulez were puerile. They really were.

[71 dB]

He can be very funny. He really can. Take a look at his videos on Carl Orff box sets and his preferred Wagner operas. On the other hand one has to slog through a half-hour of drivel to get to his top recommendations, one really does, so I often just fast-forward to the last five minutes. I really do. Sometimes he surprises by saying good things about music one wouldn't expect from him, like Renaissance polyphony. He really does. But his comments on Lieder and the music of Pierre Boulez were puerile. They really were.

Hurwitz seems to have this principle of "subjective" and "objective" facts. He doesn't mind if you have different "subjective" facts such as a little different favorite cycle of something etc., but then there's "objective" facts such as certain recordings being so bad nobody should like them. I support this kind of thinking.

[Jo498]

But Hurwitz is not very consistent. His silly behavior concerning some topics can fall into the clearly objective realm, such as the examples Sforzando mentioned or a bunch of others (and I would include some of his comments on Wagner also among the puerile stuff). And his antics and also the very fact that he spends his life reviewing and ranking recordings give the lie to the claim that most of such distinctions are merely subjective.

[PaulThomas]

Was taken aback seeing Hurtwitz's mug at Presto.  It's an entertaining podcast with Hurwitz and Paul Thomas of Presto exchanging their favorite American and UK composers:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/3689--presto-music-podcast-episode-10-across-the-pond-with-david-hurwitz

Glad you enjoyed it!

[PaulThomas]

Gonna listen to this while wrapping Christmas presents. I so hope Hurwitz gets into his encounters with George Lloyd.

He sure does!

[Brian]

He sure does!

Loved learning that Lloyd is extremely bad at sending mail! Good, fun show.

He really can. ...one really does.... I really do. .... He really does. ...They really were.

Oof, this is so true. (Less so on the Presto podcast for some reason - there are only one or two - maybe because he was prompted with questions rather than having to fill all the time himself?) It's one of several vocal mannerisms which remind me (dare I say it?) (I really do) of a certain current president. Is it a New York thing? Or just a guy who likes talking thing? Of course, this is one of the reasons I prefer writing to speaking...you can edit out the dumb bits before anyone else is exposed to them.

[Mirror Image]

I subscribed to ARG for many years, but gave up a decade ago.  Vroon is embarassing, but that didn't prevent him from hiring some good writers.

I've also decided to give up on Fanfare.  Too many Dentley Hunt (AKA Santa Fe Listener) reviews.  I note that his Santa Fe Listener byline at a Amazon has now been replace by his "professional" name.

Ah yes, I've had several run-ins with Santa Fe Listener and I find him to be laughable about best. I mean I know we all have our biases, but I really don't like when a critic takes it to the extreme. It just makes for bad reading, which is why, as I mentioned, I don't read reviews anymore. It's become a podium for tirades and diatribes and not actually getting to the root of why this person likes/dislikes the composer, work or recording in question.

[Madiel]

He can be very funny. He really can. Take a look at his videos on Carl Orff box sets and his preferred Wagner operas. On the other hand one has to slog through a half-hour of drivel to get to his top recommendations, one really does, so I often just fast-forward to the last five minutes. I really do. Sometimes he surprises by saying good things about music one wouldn't expect from him, like Renaissance polyphony. He really does. But his comments on Lieder and the music of Pierre Boulez were puerile. They really were.

This is gold.

[Daverz]

Was taken aback seeing Hurtwitz's

Did I really write "Hurtwitz"?  I really did.  Freudian slip!

[(poco) Sforzando]

Oof, this is so true. (Less so on the Presto podcast for some reason - there are only one or two - maybe because he was prompted with questions rather than having to fill all the time himself?) It's one of several vocal mannerisms which remind me (dare I say it?) (I really do) of a certain current president. Is it a New York thing? Or just a guy who likes talking thing? Of course, this is one of the reasons I prefer writing to speaking...you can edit out the dumb bits before anyone else is exposed to them.

No, no, my dear Texan friend! It is a Hurwitz thing, just as "a little bit" is a Lydia Bastianich thing, if you've ever been exposed to her cooking shows. (And if you haven't, please don't rectify, as she seems to me a wretched cook.) Hurwitz just can't shut up. He really can't. His latest installment, on of all things clarinet concertos, repeats the phrase five times that I counted despite all my fast-forwarding. And he takes a full five minutes to tell us that Spohr (pronounced correctly as Shpore) is a terrible composer - before telling us what recording to buy of his clarinet concertos. I will pass on those. I really will.

[Daverz]

No, no, my dear Texan friend! It is a Hurwitz thing, just as "a little bit" is a Lydia Bastianich thing, if you've ever been exposed to her cooking shows. (And if you haven't, please don't rectify, as she seems to me a wretched cook.) Hurwitz just can't shut up. He really can't. His latest installment, on of all things clarinet concertos, repeats the phrase five times that I counted despite all my fast-forwarding. And he takes a full five minutes to tell us that Spohr (pronounced correctly as Shpore) is a terrible composer - before telling us what recording to buy of his clarinet concertos. I will pass on those. I really will.

Karl Leister was a really good clarinetist, so I wouldn't avoid these recordings based on Hurwitz's recommentation.  Spohr's symphonies are tedious, but the clarinet concertos seem to bring out his best side, as does some of his chamber music with winds.

[71 dB]

Just watched the clarinet concerto video. Nobody makes me as excited than him. I like his "there's plenty of good recordings of this piece - pick one and enjoy" attitude. It's the right way. Not the "has to have the ABSOLUTE BEST performance on this ultra obscure East-European label which has been OOP for 532 years and there's one copy of it on eBay for $777+shipping or you have to cry because the Naxos version sucks" attitude which takes all the enjoyment away.

Of all the works he talked about I only have/own Mozart (3 performances), Finzi and Nielsen. 

[Jo498]

But this is another one of his inconsistencies. If he claims that there are plenty of good recordings and one can really do nothing wrong, I get the suspicion that he does not care all that much about the music and its details. Of course, it is very probably true that even in pieces recorded many times like the Mozart clarinet concerto the range of interpretations is hardly comparable with Brahms' or Mahler's symphonies. But still there are differences, not the least in tone and aesthetic (e.g. vibrato) of clarinet playing.

The claim that all this hardly matters is in a way as extreme as the obsession with "the best" or the hyperbolic claims that hardly any recording does a certain music full justice or how absolutely terrible some highly regarded musicians or recordings supposedly are.

re: Spohr I agree with Daverz. He wrote some pretty good chamber music and if one likes clarinet concertos, his are probably at least as good as Weber's (a bit later and a bit more weighty). I'd rather listen to a Spohr clarinet concerto than to a Paganini violin concerto (although I will even listen to the latter for the fireworks every other year or so).

[71 dB]

But this is another one of his inconsistencies. If he claims that there are plenty of good recordings and one can really do nothing wrong, I get the suspicion that he does not care all that much about the music and its details. Of course, it is very probably true that even in pieces recorded many times like the Mozart clarinet concerto the range of interpretations is hardly comparable with Brahms' or Mahler's symphonies. But still there are differences, not the least in tone and aesthetic (e.g. vibrato) of clarinet playing.

The claim that all this hardly matters is in a way as extreme as the obsession with "the best" or the hyperbolic claims that hardly any recording does a certain music full justice or how absolutely terrible some highly regarded musicians or recordings supposedly are.

re: Spohr I agree with Daverz. He wrote some pretty good chamber music and if one likes clarinet concertos, his are probably at least as good as Weber's (a bit later and a bit more weighty). I'd rather listen to a Spohr clarinet concerto than to a Paganini violin concerto (although I will even listen to the latter for the fireworks every other year or so).

I think he means that if a work has been recorded 30 times, perhaps 10 of those are good, 10 are passable and 10 are bad and one can select anything from those 10 good ones and be happy. This kind of mindset indicates he cares about the music.

I don't know Spohr's music at all so I don't comment on that. Why don't I just check out his clarinet concertos? Because theres a million of other things to check out and I don't know where to start!! Bartok's Piano Concertos? Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas? Tippett's Piano Concerto (Hurwitz says it great)? When do I have the time when all I do is watch Youtube about PRN going against Anthony Fantano!