Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)

[Mirror Image]

This looks like an interesting set:

[asin]B0794MC592[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

It's true.  (That more Martinů recordings is a good thing.)

(Just how many recordings of the Rhapsody-Concerto have you got, John?  Mere curiosity.  You are the one to decide when enough is enough    )

[Karl Henning]

This looks like an interesting set:

[asin]B0794MC592[/asin]

Hmm, a BSO/Munch recording of the Fantaisies symphoniques!  Of course, Martinů and the BSO had a good partnership during his American exile.

[Mirror Image]

It's true.  (That more Martinů recordings is a good thing.)

(Just how many recordings of the Rhapsody-Concerto have you got, John?  Mere curiosity.  You are the one to decide when enough is enough    )

I own quite a few. Let's see: Josef Suk/Neumann (Supraphon), Rivka Golani/Maag (Conifer), Tabea Zimmermann/Conlon (Capriccio), Mikhail Zemtsov/Järvi (Chandos), Maxim Rysanov/Belohlávek (BIS), and Bohuslav Matoušek/Hogwood (Hyperion). There may be more that I'm simply misremembering.

This said, that Pentatone recording does look rather tempting, but I think I'll be able to resist.

[Mirror Image]

Hmm, a BSO/Munch recording of the Fantaisies symphoniques!  Of course, Martinů and the BSO had a good partnership during his American exile.

Yes, indeed and may I say that Munch completely nailed this symphony. I'm glad that this performance has been reissued and not as an expensive Japanese import.

[vandermolen]

This looks like an interesting set:

[asin]B0794MC592[/asin]

Very much so - I love classic is historical performances.

[vandermolen]

This looks like an interesting set:

[asin]B0794MC592[/asin]

It's a fantastic set John. Ordered yesterday and magically arriving today. It's worth mentioning that despite the title of the album the only symphonies included are No. 4 in that marvellous performance with Martin Turnovsky and the Czech PO and No.6 'Fantasies Symphoniques' in another classic recording with Charles Munch and the Boston SO. However,  the other 'symphonic works' include my favourites:

Frescoes of Piero della Francesca

The Parables

Double Concerto for two string orchestras piano and timpani

as well as the Three Ricercari and Toccata.

The set is excellent value at Amazon UK and as you say is not an expensive Japanese import. Remastering sounds v good as well.

[Karl Henning]

It's a fantastic set John. Ordered yesterday and magically arriving today. It's worth mentioning that despite the title of the album the only symphonies included are No. 4 in that marvellous performance with Martin Turnovsky and the Czech PO and No.6 'Fantasies Symphoniques' in another classic recording with Charles Munch and the Boston SO. However,  the other 'symphonic works' include my favourites:

Frescoes of Piero della Francesca

The Parables

Double Concerto for two string orchestras piano and timpani

as well as the Three Ricercari and Toccata.

The set is excellent value at Amazon UK and as you say is not an expensive Japanese import. Remastering sounds v good as well.

Looks very good, indeed.  If I am hesitating—and, yes, I am —it is because I sense a duplication of the Paraboly with the corresponding Ančerl Gold edition, and the Toccata e Due Canzoni.

But it looks like it would nevertheless be almost two hours of new material (to me).

[vandermolen]

Looks very good, indeed.  If I am hesitating—and, yes, I am —it is because I sense a duplication of the Paraboly with the corresponding Ančerl Gold edition, and the Toccata e Due Canzoni.

But it looks like it would nevertheless be almost two hours of new material (to me).

Am sure you won't regret it Karl - it really is a super release.

[Biffo]

A new Supraphon release today - 'What Men Live By' & Symphony No 1  Belohlavek conducting the Czech Philharmonic

I bought mine from MDT to take advantage of the free postage -

https://www.mdt.co.uk/martinu-what-men-live-for-czech-philharmonic-jii-blohlavek-supraphon.html

[SurprisedByBeauty]

The latest discography is up:




A Survey of Martinů Symphony Cycles

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-survey-of-martinu-symphony-cycles.html

[Rinaldo]

The latest discography is up:




A Survey of Martinů Symphony Cycles

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-survey-of-martinu-symphony-cycles.html

Excellent! I must check out the Válek set.

And while we're in the Supraphon territory, just a quick recommendation of this beauty:

[asin]B077HPCQ8X[/asin]
Got if for Christmas, the singing is both precise & warm and there's also a hefty booklet with all the lyrics in Czech, English, German and French.

[Draško]

The latest discography is up:




A Survey of Martinů Symphony Cycles

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-survey-of-martinu-symphony-cycles.html

Excellent! Well done. 

I even agree with most of your descriptions of various cycles, if not always on their respective merits.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Thanks for the kind words, ye.

Which are your most grave disagreements as far as merit is concerned, Draško? Valek?

[Draško]

Thanks for the kind words, ye.

Which are your most grave disagreements as far as merit is concerned, Draško? Valek?

No, quite the contrary I really like Valek. I think it's maybe the best set for someone wanting only one.

Valek I feel strikes the middle ground between Belohlavek/BBC, which is way too hard edged for my taste, and Neumann's limpidness and flowing, whom I absolutely love but I'll cede that in combination with somewhat soft Supraphon sound it might strike some ears as a bit less visceral then they'd think is optimal. Even if deemed soft edged Neumann's infinite musicality is I feel undeniable compared to infinitely annoying bitty jitteriness of Jarvi, whose set's merit thoroughly eludes me, to my disadvantage I'm sure.

Thomson and Meister are two sets that I thought, maybe slightly unexpectedly, are actually quite decent albeit with an occasional wtf moment, eg I think Thomson misjudges the slow movement of the 3rd, Meister I know less but I did raise couple of eyebrows here and there.

It's a shame that Belohlavek never finished his CzPO Supraphon cycle, which I found easily preferable to his British coal mining approach.   

[SurprisedByBeauty]

It's a shame that Belohlavek never finished his CzPO Supraphon cycle, which I found easily preferable to his British coal mining approach.

...well, all but the 2nd missing. That's not bad.

[Brian]

I am comparatively lower on Jarvi and Meister and have no qualms about Thomson/Chandos, but otherwise I agree with your broad point: for whatever reason (perhaps his lack of fame and the accompanying assumption that anyone who records him extensively really loves his music), there are no bad Martinu cycles. There is also no "definitive" cycle. I am happy to have Belohlavek/BBC around for when I feel like the Modern Times-ian bustle of American industry, Neumann around for when I feel like rustic Czech dancing, and Thomson/Chandos around for when I want to get punched in the face by brass instruments.

Excellent piece and research, thank you!

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

The latest discography is up:




A Survey of Martinů Symphony Cycles

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-survey-of-martinu-symphony-cycles.html

I'm happy to see you give Valek his due. His cycle is my favorite. I don't really agree that Neuman is at all "dated." I find the performances vibrant and the audio very satisfying.

One note about the Neuman recordings, they were mastered with "pre-emphasis." No problem listening on a proper CD player or ripping with iTunes. However ripping with any other software (EAC, foobar2000, XLD) will produce and uncompensated audio file that will not sound right (unnaturally emphasized treble). It occurs to me that might explain the dissatisfaction some people express about the recordings.

I was also shocked to read about Belohlavek's travails, explaining why he had two aborted cycles before finally completing a cycle with the least appropriate orchestra at his disposal. His BBC recordings are at the end of my preference list, Valek, Neuman, Belohlavek/Czech, Thomson,  Jarvi, Belohlavek/BBC. Never heard Meister or Fagan.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Look at all that subterranean support for the Valek cycle!  Now there's a cycle that got ever so little love; modest or no reviews... I'm heartened that I am not the only one who finds it almost curiously satisfactory.

And thanks, Ghost and Brian, for the kind words.

[Brian]

Just gave a listen to Válek's 2 and 4. The recorded sound is a bit of a minus - misses some of the timpani oomph and bass power, sounds very much like it was recorded in a radio studio. But Válek's rather-laid back interpretation works well in the Second and in the first movement of the Fourth; they come across pastoral, lyrical, a little bit provincial. It's only really in the scherzo and finale of No. 4 that they sound like they're rehearsing rather than performing. The slack pacing in the finale, especially, makes the orchestra sound rather thin.

Based on this, I think I'll try 1, 3, and 6, but maybe not 5, and consider that this is an "alternative" interpretation rather than a reference.