Elgar's Hillside

Started by Mark, September 20, 2007, 02:03:01 AM

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karlhenning

Thanks to the most interesting remarks of You Know Who You Are, I have just done something I don't believe I ever have done before: ordered three different recordings of the same piece at once.  Hugh Bean, Nikolaj Znaider & Dong-Suk Kang all playing that rare b minor concerto.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Franco on April 29, 2010, 07:38:47 AM
Here's inexpensive new & used copies from Amazon.uk.

The CD finder at your service.

:)

Thanks. Ordered a new one from Music Direct...whoever they are. I had to check their shipping rates just to determine if they were in the UK.

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"

Sergeant Rock

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"

Scarpia

I think the people at EMI may notice a curious blip in sales of this recording, which may very well have gone months without selling a single unit.   :)


DavidRoss

Quote from: Scarpia on April 29, 2010, 08:33:50 AM
I think the people at EMI may notice a curious blip in sales of this recording, which may very well have gone months without selling a single unit.   :)
Yep, three sales of used copies should have them champing at the bit to tool up and get this back in print ASAP!  Hugh Bean's agent is frantically booking venues for a world tour, featuring backup dancers in sequined miniskirts acting out the parts of Elgar's would-be lovers as their musical themes battle it out for domination in this blockbuster extravaganza coming soon to a senior center near you!
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

Scarpia

Quote from: DavidRoss on April 29, 2010, 10:42:24 AM
Yep, three sales of used copies should have them champing at the bit to tool up and get this back in print ASAP!  Hugh Bean's agent is frantically booking venues for a world tour, featuring backup dancers in sequined miniskirts acting out the parts of Elgar's would-be lovers as their musical themes battle it out for domination in this blockbuster extravaganza coming soon to a senior center near you!

Some of us got them new.  I know someone who used to work at EMI and was responsible for overseeing royalty payments to artists.  I am told the monthly table contained many zeros.  I'm suggesting Mr. Bean, if he's still living, might have the pleasant surprise of a $3 check from EMI this month. 

karlhenning

Quote from: DavidRoss on April 29, 2010, 10:42:24 AM
. . . featuring backup dancers in sequined miniskirts . . . .

They can't all be named Windflower.

(Can they?)

Scarpia

#667
Quote from: DavidRoss on April 29, 2010, 10:42:24 AMfeaturing backup dancers in sequined miniskirts acting out the parts of Elgar's would-be lovers as their musical themes battle it out for domination in this blockbuster extravaganza coming soon to a senior center near you!

Which is why Hilary Hahn is a natural for this concerto.   Maybe a performance in which the various Windflower themes are parceled out to Hahn, Janine Jansen, Julia Fischer, Vilde Frang and Sara Chang.  8)

Franco

#668
Quote from: DavidRoss on April 29, 2010, 10:42:24 AM
Yep, three sales of used copies should have them champing at the bit to tool up and get this back in print ASAP!  Hugh Bean's agent is frantically booking venues for a world tour, featuring backup dancers in sequined miniskirts acting out the parts of Elgar's would-be lovers as their musical themes battle it out for domination in this blockbuster extravaganza coming soon to a senior center near you!

Unfortuantely, Mr. Bean cannot capitalize on this GMG induced spike in interest - he died in 2004.

Scarpia

Quote from: Franco on April 29, 2010, 11:19:49 AM
Unfortuantely, Mr. Bean cannot capitalize on this GMG induced spike in interest - he died recently.

Unfortunately, but I doubt he would have looked good in a sequined miniskirt anyway.   :(

karlhenning

Quote from: Franco on April 29, 2010, 11:19:49 AM
Unfortuantely, Mr. Bean cannot capitalize on this GMG induced spike in interest - he died in 2004.

His GMG time came too late!

DavidRoss

"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

Franco

#672
Hugh Bean
Dedicated violinist and teacher


QuoteOne of the highpoints of his career as soloist came in 1969, when he performed the Elgar Violin Concerto under Sir Adrian Boult, in a concert from the Three Choirs Festival that went out in a BBC broadcast. Bean had had a direct guide to the composer's intentions - Albert Sammons had been Elgar's favourite interpreter of the work - and the broadcast stimulated such enthusiasm that Bean received a bouquet of invitations to repeat his performance elsewhere. In 1972, with Sir Charles Groves, he took the concerto into the HMV studios, making a recording that soon became a classic.

DavidRoss

Quote from: Franco on April 29, 2010, 11:19:49 AM
Unfortuantely, Mr. Bean cannot capitalize on this GMG induced spike in interest - he died in 2004.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 29, 2010, 11:25:43 AM
His GMG time came too late!

Maybe--but at GMG a musician's stock always goes up if he's dead!
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

karlhenning

Quote from: DavidRoss on April 29, 2010, 11:30:03 AM
Maybe--but at GMG a musician's stock always goes up if he's dead!

I was afraid he'd say that!

Franco

Suicide as a career strategy?

Scarpia

Quote from: DavidRoss on April 29, 2010, 11:28:18 AM
Not Nigel? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8dq9NodWDY

Whew, that's a relief.  I thought you had found a video of him in a sequined miniskirt.   :)

DavidRoss

Quote from: Scarpia on April 29, 2010, 11:48:28 AM
Whew, that's a relief.  I thought you had found a video of him in a sequined miniskirt.   :)
Oh, no--the miniskirts are for these fiddlers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiaOFOMPOBc&feature=related
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

eyeresist

Quote from: Elgarian on April 28, 2010, 11:51:04 PM
There's an interesting hint of a polarisation of preference emerging here, with some lining up on what we might label the 'pro-Kennedy' side of the fence, and others on the opposing side: that is, those who enjoy the VC played with sparks and vigour - dare I say, a more masculine, beefy approach?
No, for me the problem with Bean is specifically his tone and vibrato. Tone: very thin. Vibrato: constant, niggling. Overall effect like a wasp by my ear. But I seem to be overly sensitive to vibrato. I can't listen to Vengerov's, it drives me up the wall. Rostropovich too, to a lesser extent.

kishnevi

Prompted by this thread, and the realization that it's been a while since I listened to it, I got out my one version of the VC--Gil Shaham with the CSO (Zinman conducting).
Basic opinion: Shaham pays attention both to the virtuoso moments and the emotional content, although he doesn't play the emotions on maximum.  I saw no indication of the "too many notes" syndrome.
Worst flaw of the recording: there is nothing couples with the Concerto on this disk,  so the CD is only 49 minutes long.