David Hurwitz

[Florestan]

https://www.youtube.com/v/PSXwzHIqzRA


So Hurwitz dislikes the Honeck Ninth.  That's OK.  What is not OK is the fit of that shirt.  Seriously.

I'll give you the fit, yet the necktie is impeccable ton-sur-ton. Seriously.

[Symphonic Addict]

I often keep thinking he can be too insolent at times. Nevertheless, he knows a lot of stuff and technique about what he's talking about, and I think his message is well directioned or transmited to his viewers. And dry, too, frequently responds barely what people ask him. But let's not forget how warm and enthusiastic he looks like. He shares our love for classical music, which must be handled by expert and sensitive performers in excellent recordings.

Note: I'm getting kind of tired of his Haydn Crusades, yet his educational style appeals a lot too.

[Mirror Image]

I often keep thinking he can be too insolent at times. Nevertheless, he knows a lot of stuff and technique about what he's talking about, and I think his message is well directioned or transmited to his viewers. And dry, too, frequently responds barely what people ask him. But let's not forget how warm and enthusiastic he looks like. He shares our love for classical music, which must be handled by expert and sensitive performers in excellent recordings.

Note: I'm getting kind of tired of his Haydn Crusades, yet his educational style appeals a lot too.

I'm getting more tired by how much stock some people put into his reviews. He's no more knowledgeable than someone with a broad interest in this music who has been listening for 30+ years, which applies to many members here.

[Irons]

So what? More power to him! Especially in this age of ours when one is increasingly becoming afraid of saying "It's a fine day today!" just because someone somewhere might be in so bad a mood as to consider sunshine a personal offence.

If this is how you perceive the world around you, you are living in a fantasy land!  This is not at all an apt description of the state of rhetoric in 2021.  Social media is always blowing up with ad hominem attacks and insane outrage over anything and everything.

Weirdly, I agree with both statements above equally! You cannot say boo to a goose to someone's face for fear of insult and a keyboard warrior under the cloak of anonymity writes the most disgusting drivel. Strange world! 

[DavidW]

Weirdly, I agree with both statements above equally! You cannot say boo to a goose to someone's face for fear of insult and a keyboard warrior under the cloak of anonymity writes the most disgusting drivel. Strange world!

Just to be straight, I don't have a problem with him expressing certain performance styles and musical genres are not for him.  It is just when he takes it a step further and personally attacks musicians.  That is the problem.  Not saying that DH shouldn't speak critically about something he doesn't like, just that he doesn't have to disparage composers and performers while doing so.  I don't consider that a stepping on egg shells thing, just common courtesy.  DH would not be a good critic at all if he held back on negative opinions.  But there is certainly a way in which they can be expressed, and saying all of Boulez's music is trash, Furtwangler's lvb 9 has no merit, Norrington is not an artist etc. etc. is just not it.

And I say that as someone who enjoys his reviews and his videos.  Now if you look at say his Mahler vids you can see he does a much better job because he focuses on the music and clearly articulates the pros and cons specific performances have in detail.  He doesn't say something is trash or great.  He would say something like "well in this passage the brass section is expected to run on stage then run back and Bernstein decided to just hire two different groups of performers but so and so just kept them backstage and they failed to have the required presence in the next passage".  And that kind of insightful criticism is fantastic.

I think that whenever any one tries to precisely articulate in detail what they like or not like and avoid sweeping generalities not only is it more helpful to the reader/audience but ad hominem attacks tend to simply go away because the critic was forced to think more analytically about what they were trying to convey.  When DH forces himself into that more critical, thoughtful mode he is on fire.  When he is just waving his hands and praising and putting down artists excitedly it is not only insulting, it is mostly a waste of time.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Gotta admit his piece on Grainger was hilarious, though there are few things I want less to acquire than a box of Grainger's complete music.

[(poco) Sforzando]

The video on Dvorak's Fifth Symphony was unusually focused on the music and musical examples. If you're wondering why he spends 30 minutes choosing his top 5 recordings, it's because he spends the first 25 minutes analyzing the music (and pondering its influence on Brahms) before the obligatory list of Kubelik, Kertesz, Neumann (analog), Jansons, and another I forgot.

Brian, that video on the 5th was excellent and sets a standard I wish he'd achieve more often. (I myself have Kertesz and Belohlavek, whom Hurwitz doesn't mention, and that's good enough for me.) But too often he clowns around without saying much useful about the music. Take today's Massenet piece, for example. Massenet = fluff, for sure. Bruckner = Spam? Doesn't he get what Spam means? (Maybe Bruckner = a crown roast of pork.)

[Brahmsian]

I've enjoyed watching several of his videos over the last couple of weeks and will continue to listen to them. I find them entertaining.

[Leo K.]

I'm a big fan of his videos and it's my favorite channel on YouTube. I don't have to agree with him to enjoy these discussions, (i.e., Roger Norrington is one of my top conductors). My feelings are not precious or hurt if he hates what I like.

[Brahmsian]

I'm a big fan of his videos and it's my favorite channel on YouTube. I don't have to agree with him to enjoy these discussions, (i.e., Roger Norrington is one of my top conductors). My feelings are not precious or hurt if he hates what I like.

Same here. A really big fan of his videos.

[Mirror Image]

I'm a big fan of his videos and it's my favorite channel on YouTube. I don't have to agree with him to enjoy these discussions, (i.e., Roger Norrington is one of my top conductors). My feelings are not precious or hurt if he hates what I like.

My favorite channel on YouTube is Samuel Andreyev's:

https://www.youtube.com/user/temporalfissure/featured

The reason I love his channel so much is the way he breaks down pieces of music in his analysis videos. He doesn't talk down to his audience and he lays everything out in a clear, precise manner that is quite easy to follow.

[Irons]

Same here. A really big fan of his videos.

Here too.

[Leo K.]

My favorite channel on YouTube is Samuel Andreyev's:

https://www.youtube.com/user/temporalfissure/featured

The reason I love his channel so much is the way he breaks down pieces of music in his analysis videos. He doesn't talk down to his audience and he lays everything out in a clear, precise manner that is quite easy to follow.

Great recommendation, thank you for the heads up!!

[Mirror Image]

Great recommendation, thank you for the heads up!!

My pleasure, Leo.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I'm a big fan of his videos and it's my favorite channel on YouTube. I don't have to agree with him to enjoy these discussions, (i.e., Roger Norrington is one of my top conductors). My feelings are not precious or hurt if he hates what I like.

It appears that he says the Carmen Suites by Igor Markevitch is performed by an authentic Spanish orchestra. But I think it is performed by a French orchestra (Lamoureux). Am I mixed up?

Plus, why would it be considered authentic even if the orchestra were Spanish and even if the composer were Spanish.

[Jo498]

I think Hurwitz got mixed up. Markevitch did record an LP with "Spanish favorites" with a Spanish radio orchestra but the Carnen and Arlesienne Suites are with the Lamoureux.

https://www.discogs.com/de/Orchester-Des-Spanischen-Rundfunks-Igor-Markevitch-Liebeszauber-Espa%C3%B1a-Catalonia-Danzas-Espa%C3%B1olas/release/5159840
https://www.discogs.com/de/Bizet-Igor-Markevitch-Lamoureux-Orchestra-Paris-Carmen-Suites-Nos-1-2-LArl%C3%A9sienne-Suites-Nos-1-2/release/6228101

[ritter]

I think Hurwitz got mixed up. Markevitch did record an LP with "Spanish favorites" with a Spanish radio orchestra but the Carnen and Arlesienne Suites are with the Lamoureux.

https://www.discogs.com/de/Orchester-Des-Spanischen-Rundfunks-Igor-Markevitch-Liebeszauber-Espa%C3%B1a-Catalonia-Danzas-Espa%C3%B1olas/release/5159840
https://www.discogs.com/de/Bizet-Igor-Markevitch-Lamoureux-Orchestra-Paris-Carmen-Suites-Nos-1-2-LArl%C3%A9sienne-Suites-Nos-1-2/release/6228101

Yes, I think that is the case. Markevitch was the first music director of the Spanish National Radio and Television Orchestra when it was founded in 1965, but his tenure was very brief.

[(poco) Sforzando]

My favorite channel on YouTube is Samuel Andreyev's:

https://www.youtube.com/user/temporalfissure/featured

The reason I love his channel so much is the way he breaks down pieces of music in his analysis videos. He doesn't talk down to his audience and he lays everything out in a clear, precise manner that is quite easy to follow.

I want to look into these. They seem promising.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Sometimes he drives me nuts, as when he talks up some forgotten composer or other and then he plays a few clips that prove what a mediocrity that composer really is. (Honestly, Julius Röntgen anybody? Even worse, Don Gillis?) His snooty dismissal of the music of Pierre Boulez is all the more disheartening, as it's just another tiresome knee-jerk reaction against the avant-garde that will prevent even more people from discovering the music for themselves.

But his recent video on "Conductors Behaving Badly" is very worth hearing, and says a lot about the state of music performance today. (Theater people could do a parallel "Directors Behaving Badly.")

[Mirror Image]

I want to look into these. They seem promising.

I think you'd enjoy them. Andreyev knows his stuff that's for sure.