The Snowshoed Sibelius

Started by Dancing Divertimentian, April 16, 2007, 08:39:57 PM

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Brahmsian

Is there anyone else who loves Davis/BSO, especially in 7th?  Good grief, I should just succomb to the pressure and be a hater of Davis/Sibelius, Rattle/anything, Emerson SQ/everything and Quartetto Italiano/Beethoven SQs, Jochum/Bruckner.

Join the hate club Ray, join it.

My other unpopular choice is this:  Couldn't stand Segerstam's Sibelius' 3rd.  I found it duller than dishwasher.  Shoot me.  Bite me!

Sergeant Rock

#861
Quote from: ChamberNut on August 16, 2011, 07:47:47 AM
Is there anyone else who loves Davis/BSO, especially in 7th?  Good grief, I should just succomb to the pressure and be a hater of Davis/Sibelius, Rattle/anything, Emerson SQ/everything and Quartetto Italiano/Beethoven SQs, Jochum/Bruckner.

Having a bad day, Ray? If it helps, I love Davis in Sibelius (even the much maligned RCA cycle) but especially the Boston 3, 6, and 7. And I love the Emerson Quartet (especially their magnificent Op.135 which does attain cosmic significance in the last movement). And the Italiano...such gorgeous playing; no one quite like them (I heard them live shortly before they disbanded...still the best chamber concert I've ever heard).

And Jochum/Bruckner....well, he does suck  ;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"

Renfield

I, too, like Davis' Sibelius. My order of preference would be Philips, RCA, LSO Live.

(And, er, Jochum's Bruckner. ;D His DG 7th in particular.)

Brahmsian


Brahmsian


Sergeant Rock

Quote from: ChamberNut on August 16, 2011, 08:07:33 AM
;D 8)

Actually I love Jochum's 2 (DG), 4 and 9 (EMI) and 5 (Tahra). And those Masses!!!

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"

Brian

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on August 16, 2011, 07:57:43 AMAnd the Italiano...such gorgeous playing; no one quite like them (I heard them live shortly before they disbanded...still the best chamber concert I've ever heard).


I'll admit I don't follow the Beethoven SQ thread, but I'd never seen anyone here criticize the Italiano.

If you ever see the Pavel Haas Quartet live, your heart will flutter... though it may not be the music.  ;)

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Brian on August 16, 2011, 08:10:56 AM
If you ever see the Pavel Haas Quartet live, your heart will flutter... though it may not be the music.  ;)

;D  ...I know what you mean.

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"

Brahmsian

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on August 16, 2011, 08:14:02 AM
;D  ...I know what you mean.

Sarge

Oh, just checked Google images.  Me too.  :D

karlhenning

I should check out Davis/BSO . . . .

Brahmsian

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on August 16, 2011, 09:04:11 AM
I should check out Davis/BSO . . . .

Don't Karl.  It's total crap.  Trust me, you are way out of your element here.   ;D

karlhenning


Brahmsian

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on August 16, 2011, 09:14:10 AM
Pfft!

:D  Retarded chimps could have done a better job with Sibelius than that 'chump' Davis.   :D

Mirror Image

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on August 16, 2011, 09:04:11 AM
I should check out Davis/BSO . . . .

Before you do, what Sibelius symphony cycles have you heard?

karlhenning

Maazel/Wiener Philharmoniker
Blomstedt/SFSO
Berglund/Helsinki Phil (I think)
Bernstein/NY Phil
Bernstein/Wiener Philharmoniker (incomplete)


Anyway, I shall literally check the Davis/BSO out, for the CDs are available at the Boston Public Library . . . risk-free listening.

Mirror Image

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on August 16, 2011, 09:53:59 AM
Maazel/Wiener Philharmoniker
Blomstedt/SFSO
Berglund/Helsinki Phil (I think)
Bernstein/NY Phil
Bernstein/Wiener Philharmoniker (incomplete)


Anyway, I shall literally check the Davis/BSO out, for the CDs are available at the Boston Public Library . . . risk-free listening.

You haven't heard Vanska, Segerstam, or Ashkenazy yet? These are three of my favorite cycles. Yes, I would definitely checkout the Colin Davis BSO cycle just so you can hear it. I don't like Colin Davis in Sibelius, except for his LSO Live cycle. His early recordings lack a lot of the power I normally associate with Sibelius's music. Interestingly enough, Davis's BSO cycle was my first Sibelius set. :)

karlhenning

I've heard Ashkenazy in some of the tone-poems, and I'm not mad about them.

Mirror Image

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on August 16, 2011, 09:59:26 AM
I've heard Ashkenazy in some of the tone-poems, and I'm not mad about them.

For the tone poems, you can't get much better than Vanska or Segerstam in my opinion. I never really turned to Ashkenazy for his readings of these works. His symphony cycle, however, is quite fine.

Mirror Image

On a special note about Segerstam's Helsinki Philharmonic cycle on Ondine, I never cared much for his reading of the 6th. The Vanska has him beat in this work. There's a certain clumsiness in Segerstam's reading that it doesn't get off the ground or gain momentum. Vanska's reading is like an icy breeze from a lake. It glides along with a controlled force that really coasts you along like a sailboat.

Elgarian

What a smashing thread this was, and still is. Could I please thank everyone who's contributed in this current round of the conversation? I've read and enjoyed everyone's comments, but haven't time at the moment to respond to each one. There's something about the variety of response - the fact that we're all coming to Sibelius with different preconceptions, different expectations, different hopes, and then having different responses - that makes it actually quite thrilling to follow it all unfolding. (Ray, I salute your passion for Davis's Sibelius, Sir, even though I don't share it!)

But what I wanted to say specifically, before it gets swept away in my personal tide of rapidly-changing Sibelian events, is that I've been testing out my newfound fascination for the 4th. I think I mentioned earlier that I'd gone from Rozhdestvensky's 4th  to Segerstam's and been shocked by the difference. Well, today I listened to Vanska's 4th, confident that I'd make new headway. Well, more shocks. I actually laughed in bafflement after about 5 minutes, because I was so lost. The pointers I'd picked up from Rozhdestvensky seemed to slip by me, unnoticed. I found myself thinking what rubbish I must have been talking earlier, when I spoke of the four-note motif reminiscent of Elgar's 2nd windflower theme, because I didn't seem to be hearing it - hardly at all. Or perhaps  it was slipping by unnoticed, because I was finding it hard to stay interested.

Anyway, when it ended I paced around the room telling myself off! I concluded that I just mustn't have been in the right mood or something, and maybe if I'd played Rozhdestvensky's 4th I'd have been just as restless. Well, there was one way to test that - listen to Rozhdestvensky's 4th! So I did. Straight after Vanska.

Heck! It was like someone opening a window in a stuffy room. You know how it is - you think it's OK until someone actually lets the fresh air in and you realise what air is really like! It's hard to imagine that this is the same score; it's like an alternative version, with space and air and a clearer balance between all the instruments. I was now hearing my four-note Elgarian motif in lots of places - and realising that I'd missed quite a few on previous listenings, and the different sequences that follow in response.

I'm a bit worried that I seem to be turning into some sort of Rozhdestvensky freak! It's possible that I'm being swept away by the vision of the conductor rather than that of the composer, I suppose. But even if that's so, I'm intrigued by what I'm hearing, and I won't rest now until I've listened to the other 4ths that I have, to see if the emerging pattern is consistent.