David Hurwitz

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Not the first time! Naxos also owns Ondine, Capriccio, Oehms Classics, and a couple others. 

I'm definitely going to listen to DH's Berglund review today while cleaning the bathroom.

Clever idea!  Getting two things done at once!

[DavidW]

I'm definitely going to listen to DH's Berglund review today while cleaning the bathroom.

Nothing else matches a Hurwitz review quite like cleaning the toilet!

[Karl Henning]

well, I supposed GMG folk will readily prove me wrong.

No no, I'm rough and ready enough to allow Hurwitz the possibility of being occasionally unobjectionable. We're not barbarians, here.

[Karl Henning]

Nothing else matches a Hurwitz review quite like cleaning the toilet!

Wholistic (* chortle *)

[(poco) Sforzando]

Nothing else matches a Hurwitz review quite like cleaning the toilet!

Garbage in, garbage out, you might say.

But I have also found nothing is so good for a nap than listening to a Hurwitz review. Whenever I feel a need for an afternoon snooze, I put on one of his longer ones and I'm out like a light five minutes in.

[LKB]

No no, I'm rough and ready enough to allow Hurwitz the possibility of being occasionally unobjectionable. We're not barbarians, here.

To put it another way, using one of my favorite couplets:

Accidents happen. 

[Herman]

David Hurwitz has very strong opinions, but he doesn't expect/demand other people share them. All he wants people to do is to "keep listening." 

Unfoprtunately I disagree. His opinions are often expressed with intimidating vehemence of ridicule. Keep in mind that many people approach classical music with feeling of insecurity.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Unfoprtunately I disagree. His opinions are often expressed with intimidating vehemence of ridicule. Keep in mind that many people approach classical music with feeling of insecurity.

Herman is exactly right. Hurwitz's biggest flaw is his intolerance of disagreement. There are no true "discussions" on his forum because one can never tell how many dissenting comments have been deleted. At times he'll devote an entire video to ridiculing someone who disagrees with him.

A more secure person would welcome opposing viewpoints, but disagree with Dave and you're on the outs. Example: he was reviewing Levit's recent Mendelssohn disc inspired by the October 7 attacks, but Hurwitz has decided that politics has nothing to do with music (which is of course nonsense), and that if anyone were to make a political point in the comments, they would be banned from his site. He's attacked me a number of times, which is why I no longer participate on his forum.

[Karl Henning]

Herman is exactly right. Hurwitz's biggest flaw is his intolerance of disagreement. There are no true "discussions" on his forum because one can never tell how many dissenting comments have been deleted. At times he'll devote an entire video to ridiculing someone who disagrees with him.

A more secure person would welcome opposing viewpoints, but disagree with Dave and you're on the outs. Example: he was reviewing Levit's recent Mendelssohn disc inspired by the October 7 attacks, but Hurwitz has decided that politics has nothing to do with music (which is of course nonsense), and that if anyone were to make a political point in the comments, they would be banned from his site. He's attacked me a number of times, which is why I no longer participate on his forum.

Dave "Snowflake" Hurwitz.

[Daverz]

Herman is exactly right. Hurwitz's biggest flaw is his intolerance of disagreement. There are no true "discussions" on his forum because one can never tell how many dissenting comments have been deleted. At times he'll devote an entire video to ridiculing someone who disagrees with him.

A more secure person would welcome opposing viewpoints, but disagree with Dave and you're on the outs. Example: he was reviewing Levit's recent Mendelssohn disc inspired by the October 7 attacks, but Hurwitz has decided that politics has nothing to do with music (which is of course nonsense), and that if anyone were to make a political point in the comments, they would be banned from his site. He's attacked me a number of times, which is why I no longer participate on his forum.

I agree that Hurwitz is intolerant of dissent in his comment section (he banned me years ago), but this is a stupid example.  There would be no benefit to anyone in allowing political comments on Israel/Palestine under a music CD review.  It would just turn into a cesspool very quickly. 

[(poco) Sforzando]

I agree that Hurwitz is intolerant of dissent in his comment section (he banned me years ago), but this is a stupid example.  There would be no benefit to anyone in allowing political comments on Israel/Palestine under a music CD review.  It would just turn into a cesspool very quickly. 

It was what came to mind as an example of his intolerance of dissent. No reason to throw people off the forum just for bringing it up, and apparently Levit's reason for producing the disc was the war.

And that was a really good nap . . . .

[Herman]

Herman is exactly right. Hurwitz's biggest flaw is his intolerance of disagreement. There are no true "discussions" on his forum because one can never tell how many dissenting comments have been deleted. At times he'll devote an entire video to ridiculing someone who disagrees with him.

A more secure person would welcome opposing viewpoints, but disagree with Dave and you're on the outs. Example: he was reviewing Levit's recent Mendelssohn disc inspired by the October 7 attacks, but Hurwitz has decided that politics has nothing to do with music (which is of course nonsense), and that if anyone were to make a political point in the comments, they would be banned from his site. He's attacked me a number of times, which is why I no longer participate on his forum.

I wasn't even aware of these things, the deletions and bans. I don't read the comment section to his videos much, since they tend to consist of the usual adulatory and / or emotional tributes that are usual on youtube. I guess he wants it this way. This guy is even sicker than I thought.
what I meant with vehemence etc is the tone of his videos; the screaming anger at musicians who do not do it his way. This is why I rarely watch his stuff.

[(poco) Sforzando]

I wasn't even aware of these things, the deletions and bans. I don't read the comment section to his videos much, since they tend to consist of the usual adulatory and / or emotional tributes that are usual on youtube. I guess he wants it this way. This guy is even sicker than I thought.
what I meant with vehemence etc is the tone of his videos; the screaming anger at musicians who do not do it his way. This is why I rarely watch his stuff.

Agreed. There was a scathing review of Klaus Mäkelä's Sibelius cycle, but when one listens to the recordings one finds that Mäkelä's versions hardly have the faults Hurwitz ascribes to them. My main problem is Mäkelä is the difficulty in finding those Finnish diacritics to spell his last name. Recently there was a video on 10 underperformed symphonic works (several of which BTW I have encountered in live performance myself). But because conductors supposedly do not perform some of the music Hurwitz wants them to, these conductors are "lazy," only programming the tried and true. Of course much of the point about live performance is moot anyway, since most of us get most of our music from recordings and a concert attended by maybe a few thousand people in a city most of us can't get to hardly matters at all. But that doesn't prevent Hurwitz from waxing apoplectic about these "lazy" conductors.

[71 dB]

Unfortunately I disagree.

There is nothing unfortunate about it. I don't care if you disagree. You shouldn't care either. Nothing in your or my life hinges on this. I have learned to care about only things that matter: The size of my electricity bill etc.

I have zero reasons to defend David Hurwitz. I have let people here know what I think about him, but certainly won't debate it. IT DOESN'T MATTER!!

[Herman]

Agreed. There was a scathing review of Klaus Mäkelä's Sibelius cycle, but when one listens to the recordings one finds that Mäkelä's versions hardly have the faults Hurwitz ascribes to them. My main problem is Mäkelä is the difficulty in finding those Finnish diacritics to spell his last name.

Mäkelä  -  like this? I haven't listened to KM's Sibelius recordings (yet) but from the online responses it's pretty clear to me that a conductor so young, slim and apparently liked by the orchestras he's working with, breeds huge resentment in boomers, who generally like their conductors old, barely able to reach the podium on foot or, even better, dead already and to be found in 100 CD boxsets as big as a baby's coffin.

A lot has changed since the 60s and 70s. Back then orchestras used to consist entirely of late middle-aged men (except of course for the harp and maybe one flute) and conductors were no spring chickens either. Maturity bred musical vision. Nowadays the best orchestras (look at Berlin PO) are stocked with young, sometimes very young musicians. At least half of them are female, not out of some equal opportunity thing, but because more girls persist and succeed in their musical education. Orchestral playing is largely a physical activity and you don't get any better over 55.

[Luke]

@Brian this is veering OT, and I shall cross-post. My suggestions for three pieces to start with Boulez in chronological order:

Le Marteau sans maître. It's not everyone's money, and in fact it fell out of and back into my own favor. I fell for it readily the first time I heard it, so maybe you will, too. And now that my own pendulum has re-swung, it's a firm fave again.

Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna. Atypical of the composer, as heretofore noted. Mightily strong piece.

Sur Incises. I don't know how the true Boulez fans feel about various times when the composer fiddled with various scores, and I guess that my writing that indicates that my own fandom is somewhat at arm's length, but I find this an unalloyed success.

Apologies to all for digging back over three months, but it seems I haven't looked at this thread in all that time, and returning to it do want to say to @Brian, if he's still interested in Boulez recommendations:

Pli Selon Pli. I love other Boulez scores very much, including the ones Karl mentioned and plenty more, but nothing matches this one for me. It's a personal thing for me - as a (probably very odd teenager) I used to repeat-listen to B's recording with Halina Lukomska, spinning my vinyl copy late at night and in the dark. Its form is unique and spellbinding. We start with Don, and one of the great openings - a shockingly abrupt chord from everyone, followed by an exquisite, mystical and very melodic statement of the first line of the Mallarme poem being set. And then - there's no other word for it, but it's the word I always reach for in talking about this piece - the music retreats into a non-verbal state of nascence. We are taken into a primal word of resonances and drone, punctuated by clattering outbursts of xylophone, screams from a solo cello etc etc.... We are led on a long, slow procession through these various musical events, as if in a dark night of the soul. The process is repeated in reverse in the last section of the piece, Tombeau, so that the music ends with emergence into vocal clarity (just for the last word) and a final, slashing chord. In between those delicately scored Improvisations which are among Boulez's most beautiful things. #

OK, I couldn't really go without making that recommendation - sorry for the interruption, do carry on....

[(poco) Sforzando]

Apologies to all for digging back over three months, but it seems I haven't looked at this thread in all that time, and returning to it do want to say to @Brian, if he's still interested in Boulez recommendations:

Pli Selon Pli. I love other Boulez scores very much, including the ones Karl mentioned and plenty more, but nothing matches this one for me. It's a personal thing for me - as a (probably very odd teenager) I used to repeat-listen to B's recording with Halina Lukomska, spinning my vinyl copy late at night and in the dark. Its form is unique and spellbinding. We start with Don, and one of the great openings - a shockingly abrupt chord from everyone, followed by an exquisite, mystical and very melodic statement of the first line of the Mallarme poem being set. And then - there's no other word for it, but it's the word I always reach for in talking about this piece - the music retreats into a non-verbal state of nascence. We are taken into a primal word of resonances and drone, punctuated by clattering outbursts of xylophone, screams from a solo cello etc etc.... We are led on a long, slow procession through these various musical events, as if in a dark night of the soul. The process is repeated in reverse in the last section of the piece, Tombeau, so that the music ends with emergence into vocal clarity (just for the last word) and a final, slashing chord. In between those delicately scored Improvisations which are among Boulez's most beautiful things. #

OK, I couldn't really go without making that recommendation - sorry for the interruption, do carry on....

I'm glad you brought this up. I consider "Pli" to be Boulez's masterpiece, above the others Karl mentioned save for perhaps "Marteau." And while I've heard all the other Bz pieces mentioned here live, I've never heard "Pli" performed, and Bz never brought it to New York. The first recording with Lukomska is the most violent, and in my opinion the best of his three. To return this to Hurwitz, he constantly denigrates the avant-garde and lists Boulez as one of three composers we can live without. (But if you read his written reviews on Classics Today, you'll find he gives "Sur Incises" a 9/9, and has some praise for "Rituel." Hypocrisy? I wouldn't dream of saying such a thing.)

[Luke]

The first recording with Lukomska is the most violent, and in my opinion the best of his three.

I'm glad you say that. I certainly prefer it, but I've always suspected I just imprinted on it early. It certainly has the violence you mention, which makes these events stand out from that fascinating background of long held, amorphous harmonies all the more colourfully. I've just been looking through the score again. It really is the most extraordinary thing - mind boggling to look at, let alone to imagine mastering.

[Luke]

...he... lists Boulez as one of three composers we can live without.

He's not speaking for me, because I certainly couldn't, and not just for Pli (e.g. I have a sudden urge to listen to Le soleil des eaux again, with its gorgeous, sun-baked opening movement.)  Dare I say that I think Hurwitz is responding to the idea of Boulez rather than to the beauty of much of his actual music?

[(poco) Sforzando]

I'm glad you say that. I certainly prefer it, but I've always suspected I just imprinted on it early. It certainly has the violence you mention, which makes these events stand out from that fascinating background of long held, amorphous harmonies all the more colourfully. I've just been looking through the score again. It really is the most extraordinary thing - mind boggling to look at, let alone to imagine mastering.

I don't have a complete 1-volume score of Pli. I have Don and two of the Improvisations, but not Tombeau which I consider the high point of the work (especially the soprano's entrance at the end, with the accompanying horn.) I have many other Boulez scores, including a Marteau which he signed for me the one time I met him at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall following a lovely performance of that work. Elliott Carter, whom I've spoken to a few times, was also in attendance.