Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony

Started by Don, April 21, 2007, 12:56:57 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

JRJoseph

I actually heard the Manfred a few weeks ago by the New York Phil. here in NYC.  The audience went wild thinking they had heard a great performance but I felt it dragged in spots and the slow movement seemed endless although it was exciting in spots.  It certainly was great to hear it live.  The conductor was S, Bychkov.  It received a poor review from the NY Times critic who complained about sloppy playing and timing problems.  I own the Muti and Plentev (?) versions.  I am still looking for a better recording and understanding version of this great but sprawling work.

PerfectWagnerite

I rather like Ashkenazy and Chailly, especially Chailly. The Concertgebouw just has the right chops and flair to pull this one off.

merlin

Kitayenko, Rostropovich, and Svetlanov are wonderful.  Excellent sound and performances.

aligreto

Great to read more thoughts on this work  :)

vandermolen

My favourite is still the Svetlanov with the bogus ending (used years ago in a TV dramatisation of Anna Karenina along with Glazunov's 'Finnish Fantasy'). I also still like the Goossens recording with the original ending.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Cato

Quote from: JRJoseph on March 12, 2017, 06:54:39 AM
I actually heard the Manfred a few weeks ago by the New York Phil. here in NYC.  The audience went wild thinking they had heard a great performance but I felt it dragged in spots and the slow movement seemed endless although it was exciting in spots.  It certainly was great to hear it live.  The conductor was S, Bychkov.  It received a poor review from the NY Times critic who complained about sloppy playing and timing problems.  I own the Muti and Plentev (?) versions.  I am still looking for a better recording and understanding version of this great but sprawling work.

Quote from: aligreto on March 13, 2017, 08:46:24 AM
Great to read more thoughts on this work  :)

I have mentioned this earlier, but one of the greatest recordings of it is a version (there is a cut in the finale, which some say is warranted) by Toscanini with the NBC Orchestra:

https://www.youtube.com/v/IbPKC2ii9W0&index=2&list=PLAjaJgK3Be--OwoE6LEkAczfScMWep-I9
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)


aligreto

Quote from: Cato on March 22, 2017, 12:49:15 PM
I have mentioned this earlier, but one of the greatest recordings of it is a version (there is a cut in the finale, which some say is warranted) by Toscanini with the NBC Orchestra:

https://www.youtube.com/v/IbPKC2ii9W0&index=2&list=PLAjaJgK3Be--OwoE6LEkAczfScMWep-I9

Unfortunately this video is not available to me.


Cato


Quote from: Cato on March 22, 2017, 12:49:15 PM
I have mentioned this earlier, but one of the greatest recordings of it is a version (there is a cut in the finale, which some say is warranted) by Toscanini with the NBC Orchestra:

https://www.youtube.com/v/IbPKC2ii9W0&index=2&list=PLAjaJgK3Be--OwoE6LEkAczfScMWep-I9

Quote from: aligreto on March 25, 2017, 02:28:33 AM
Unfortunately this video is not available to me.

Strange: no idea about the problem!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

North Star

Quote from: Cato on March 25, 2017, 10:12:28 AM
Strange: no idea about the problem!
Seems like it's just available in the US.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

aligreto

Quote from: Cato on March 25, 2017, 10:12:28 AM
Strange: no idea about the problem!

Don't worry, it can be a common enough problem around here. Thanks for posting anyway  :)

bluto32

Quote from: bluto32 on March 05, 2017, 02:49:24 PM
... Has the main Manfred theme of the symphony ever been used in a film score? Or maybe for a TV series a long time ago? I've got a feeling I've heard it somewhere...

Anyone? I feel so sure I've heard this in a movie a long time ago, but have had no luck searching for what it might be online.
(Or perhaps I'm just going senile  :-\)

Bluto

aligreto

Unfortunately I cannot help here. Don't worry about the senility though  ;D

Laece

Quote from: Marcel on October 13, 2008, 12:50:53 PM
Hi guys ! Are you aware, there is a new recording of Tchaikovsky's Manfred by V. Petrenko (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra).



http://www.naxos.com/feature/Tchaikovsky_Manfred_Symphony_CD.asp

The performance is excellent in my opinion. One of the very best recording of the piece.

Completely agree with this.

flyingdutchman


Que


relm1

#97
Quote from: Que on November 29, 2017, 11:47:43 AM
Anyone got a chance to hear this new recording?  :)

[asin]B072WKNJ8B[/asin]

http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2017/Oct/Tchaikovsky_Manfred_4832320.htm

Q

I just heard it and find it a leisurely traversal through the musical drama though vividly recorded.  The duration of the music isn't the problem, it is just that the performance somewhat lacks intensity.  This is not a "white hot" interpretation.  I did prefer the last movement over the first movement though.  It doesn't replace the best for me.  My favorites are Riccardo Muti/Philadelphia Orchestra, Petrenko/Royal Liverpool, and Jurowski/London Philharmonic (which is probably the best for me mixing intensity, drama, and lyricism). 

You did it


André

#99
My favourites are Silvestri (EMI), Haitink, Rozhdestvensky, Abravanel, Svetlanov and Muti. I don't much care for Petrenko. It is a clear-headed but non-partisan view of the score, by which I mean that he never explores its extreme reaches, whether they are of despair, languid swooning, exaltation and exultation, neurotic febrility, etc. Those I've mentioned all take us to one or more of these violently exacerbated emotional states.

The out and out winner in terms of fantastic orchestral execution and glorious sound is the Concertgebouw/Haitink. It's also a noble, exciting intepretation, dramatic where needed but never neurotic (which Manfred certainly is). Abravanel's is a clean, limpid interpretation. The volume knob needs to be cranked up for a fully satisfactory sound to emerge. But do crank it up: it reveals a reading of uncommon honesty and finesse, and the conductor makes the middle movements stand out as an oasis of repose and beauty. Silvestri is a sulfurous, volcanic interpreter and this disc is the standout in the excellent EMI Icon set dedicated to this conductor. Garments are rended and hands wringed in grand fashion. The sound is excellent.

The Rozhdestvensky disc (to which I'm listening right now) is the product of one of those vinyl-to-disc house affairs that attempt to rescue forgotten or otherwise unavailable discs. It's a highly individual account, beautifully realised by the russian musicians and quite well recorded. One thing one must say about this conductor: he is never less than 100% involved in what he does. This has now been reissued on various labels and is easily obtainable. I'll listen to the Svetlanov disc next. If memory serves it's a highly idiosyncratic, sometimes wilfull, electrically charged affair.

Muti is an excellent, « straight » interpreter: no licenses are taken. It's an exciting, dramatic, unvarnished traversal. I remember the Maazel WP as a somber, gloomy interpretation. I'm interested in the Jansons, Nelsons and Chailly recordings. Drasko's advocacy of the Symeonov makes me think: I'll try to locate a copy (it's there, but very expensive). I've never been disappointed by his recommendations !