A Difference of Opinion

[Roasted Swan]

In the BBC Music Magazine this month the "Building  A Library" feature was the Strauss Alpine Symphony.  The preferred version was one I don't know - Ozawa/VPO on Phillips and was followed by the usual suspects of Kempe/Dresden/Karajan/BPO.  They also include a "one to avoid" which in this case was Wit/Weimar Staatskapelle on Naxos.  This happens to be one of my absolute favourite versions - spacious and grand, beautifully played and richly recorded.

Another BBC Music Mag "one to avoid" was the Karajan/BPO/Haydn Creation - which I think is just glorious.  Big Band Haydn for sure, but not sanctimonious or laboured or heavy.  Far from it - and having Wunderlich sing at least part of the tenor solos is the icing on a cake that's pretty stunning to start with..... (Janowitz is no slouch either)

Which led me to the idea behind this thread;  what performances or recordings (NOT pieces!) are generally considered top of the pile or bottom of the heap that Forum members have the opposite opinion about and why?!

[relm1]

I like James Levine's MET performance of Wagner's Ring but it is generally considered a snooze performance. 

[Brian]

Cue the Harold Farberman fans!

I will have to think about performances, but there are some "bad" recorded sounds that I really love. I like the USSR sound of Svetlanov recordings and the '50s Ancerl recordings in the Rudolfinum, which are supposed to be "notorious." They sound great to me.

[San Antone]

Not necessarily a recording, but I love Bernstein's Mass despite the critical tar and feathering it has received.  As for recordings, the 1971 original (recently issued with pristine re-mastering) is hard to beat, but Nézet-Séguin's 2018 recording is also very good.

[André]

Cue the Harold Farberman fans!

I will have to think about performances, but there are some "bad" recorded sounds that I really love. I like the USSR sound of Svetlanov recordings and the '50s Ancerl recordings in the Rudolfinum, which are supposed to be "notorious." They sound great to me.

Farberman's Mahler 5th and 6th are remarkable. They're never chosen for consideration by critics, but screw 'em !

[Daverz]

Farberman's Mahler 5th and 6th are remarkable. They're never chosen for consideration by critics, but screw 'em !

Donny Vroon (editor of ARG) liked them. 

[Daverz]

They also include a "one to avoid" which in this case was Wit/Weimar Staatskapelle on Naxos.  This happens to be one of my absolute favourite versions - spacious and grand, beautifully played and richly recorded.

Did they give a reason for avoiding the Wit?  Orchestra?  Hall?  Interpretation?

Another BBC Music Mag "one to avoid" was the Karajan/BPO/Haydn Creation

There's a certain kind of critic who will reject a recording out of hand for not being in "correct" period style.  I take that as an inability to evaluate a performance on its own merits.

[Daverz]

Cue the Harold Farberman fans!

I will have to think about performances, but there are some "bad" recorded sounds that I really love. I like the USSR sound of Svetlanov recordings and the '50s Ancerl recordings in the Rudolfinum, which are supposed to be "notorious." They sound great to me.

I love the sound of many of those Ancerl/Sejna/Chalabala recordings as well.  For Soviet recordings, the bar is low, so I'm usually pleased if one is more listenable than expected. 

[Brian]

Did they give a reason for avoiding the Wit?  Orchestra?  Hall?  Interpretation?

It's a combination of the distant microphones and slow tempos in quieter passages. I grew up with it and like it but I have learned to love the faster, more vivid, more "forward" recordings by folks like Mehta, Kord, and Previn more.

[Vox Maris]

In the BBC Music Magazine this month the "Building  A Library" feature was the Strauss Alpine Symphony.  The preferred version was one I don't know - Ozawa/VPO on Phillips and was followed by the usual suspects of Kempe/Dresden/Karajan/BPO.  They also include a "one to avoid" which in this case was Wit/Weimar Staatskapelle on Naxos.  This happens to be one of my absolute favourite versions - spacious and grand, beautifully played and richly recorded.

Another BBC Music Mag "one to avoid" was the Karajan/BPO/Haydn Creation - which I think is just glorious.  Big Band Haydn for sure, but not sanctimonious or laboured or heavy.  Far from it - and having Wunderlich sing at least part of the tenor solos is the icing on a cake that's pretty stunning to start with..... (Janowitz is no slouch either)

Which led me to the idea behind this thread;  what performances or recordings (NOT pieces!) are generally considered top of the pile or bottom of the heap that Forum members have the opposite opinion about and why?!

I actually like that Wit/Weimar Staatskapelle performance as well. BBC Music Magazine, while having some good articles every now and then, cannot be trusted when it comes to recommendations, because often I don't agree with their choices. There's no way the Ozawa/Wiener performance receives a top recommendation from me. It isn't a 'bad' performance, but it's certainly not in the same league as Kempe or Karajan.

[Spotted Horses]

My favorite recording of "The Planets" by Holst is Maazel, Orchestre National de France

[Roasted Swan]

I actually like that Wit/Weimar Staatskapelle performance as well. BBC Music Magazine, while having some good articles every now and then, cannot be trusted when it comes to recommendations, because often I don't agree with their choices. There's no way the Ozawa/Wiener performance receives a top recommendation from me. It isn't a 'bad' performance, but it's certainly not in the same league as Kempe or Karajan.

Apart from anything else - the Ozawa/VPO is tricky to find!  If you are intending to introduce readers to repertoire and "best" versions, then its probably a good idea if that performance is currently available..  I also feel that the "one to avoid" feature singles out - often unfairly - a performance that simply does not chime with the reviewer's taste.

[Madiel]

I can't think of any really strong examples right now, but I do vaguely remember trying a couple of "classics" and not understanding what the fuss was about. Such as Kleiber's Beethoven and Karajan's Sibelius, though they are both things I might try again sometime.

I tend to have a few stronger examples in pop music.

[AnotherSpin]

Apart from anything else - the Ozawa/VPO is tricky to find!  If you are intending to introduce readers to repertoire and "best" versions, then its probably a good idea if that performance is currently available..  I also feel that the "one to avoid" feature singles out - often unfairly - a performance that simply does not chime with the reviewer's taste.

Qobuz

[Daverz]

I remember Jim Svejda (in Fanfare) trashing the Marco Polo (now Naxos) recordings of the Lajtha symphonies because of the playing, particularly intonation if I recall correctly.  This one really perplexed me as I simply cannot hear what he is complaining about.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I can't think of any really strong examples right now, but I do vaguely remember trying a couple of "classics" and not understanding what the fuss was about. Such as Kleiber's Beethoven and Karajan's Sibelius, though they are both things I might try again sometime.

I think Kleiber's LvB and Brahms recordings are good, but the idea that "they blow away all the competition!" (yes, I've heard people say this) is nonsensical. It might make sense if there were only a few recordings of these pieces, but they're among the most recorded works ever, so there are tons of good-to-great choices.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

In the BBC Music Magazine this month the "Building  A Library" feature was the Strauss Alpine Symphony.  The preferred version was one I don't know - Ozawa/VPO on Phillips and was followed by the usual suspects of Kempe/Dresden/Karajan/BPO.  They also include a "one to avoid" which in this case was Wit/Weimar Staatskapelle on Naxos.  This happens to be one of my absolute favourite versions - spacious and grand, beautifully played and richly recorded.

The one I have (and like) is Ashkenazy/CzPO on Ondine. To give the devil his due, it was a Hurwitz recommendation that I acted on. Also, I was living in Prague at the time and it was my local orchestra, so that might have been a factor.

[Roasted Swan]

Qobuz

Aah - didn't think to look there - I don't stream...

[Crudblud]

Farberman's Mahler ... 6th

An unfortunate case of murder by the orchestra on that one, with the exception of the strings which are magnificent. Farberman's readings are really interesting though, that take on the Scherzo remains one of the most striking movements of Mahler I've ever heard.

[Vox Maris]

Keeping with the BBC Music Magazine theme brought to you initially from @Roasted Swan, the new December issue's 'Building A Library' feature is on Fauré's Requiem (a work near and dear to my heart) and their choice for the 'One To Avoid' is Cluytens on EMI. What a bunch of malarkey! I'm listening to this Cluytens performance as I type and it is absolutely exquisite in every way. He has some incredible soloists, too: Victoria de los Angeles and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. I mean you have to wonder whose paying these people to smear a recording that has been treasured by many for so long? Are they simply being the contrarian or are they genuinely clueless or perhaps a mixture of both? Whatever the case may be, this Cluytens performance belongs in every collection of this masterpiece, IMHO.