The Worst First!

[DavidW]

Interesting. Previn so often did so well.  Well, we all take the odd misstep.

It is always funny how sometimes a performer can do something exceptionally well and so you turn to something similar and then it is just mediocre.  As if they had an intense amount of passion and commitment for this one singular work and the other ones were by the numbers.

[Brahmsian]

Unpopular opinion time: I'm definitely not fond of Rachmaninov's 1st. In fact, I don't think it should've been rescued at all. May the firing squads commence.

[Sergeant Rock]

I was going to get out my bazooka but you beat me to it 

Sarge

[Brahmsian]

I was going to get out my bazooka but you beat me to it 

Sarge

I was looking for the same one you use Sarge, but I did not want to infringe on any patent rights. 

[Mirror Image]

I was with you until recently, having heard only Previn/LSO which is an unqualfiied dud. Then I heard Nezet-Seguin/The Philadelphians and changed my mind.

Honestly, I never heard one performance that has convinced me of it's alleged greatness and I don't think I could stomach listening to it again no matter how well Nezet-Seguin conducts it. Sorry, dear Rachmaninov fans!

[Brian]

It is always funny how sometimes a performer can do something exceptionally well and so you turn to something similar and then it is just mediocre.  As if they had an intense amount of passion and commitment for this one singular work and the other ones were by the numbers.

Yeah! That always surprises me. It's especially true in the cases of composers with rather limited outputs - like a conductor who is really good in Elgar 1 but really bad in Elgar 2, or a Brahms cycle where one of the four is inexplicably way worse. It makes more sense in a case like Mahler or Shostakovich that maybe you don't love all 10-15 symphonies equally, but if you only love Rach 2 and 3, nobody is forcing you to do 1!

[Mirror Image]

I was going to get out my bazooka but you beat me to it 

Sarge

Boy...this didn't take long. ;P

[Brahmsian]

Honestly, I never heard one performance that has convinced me of it's alleged greatness and I don't think I could stomach listening to it again no matter how well Nezet-Seguin conducts it. Sorry, dear Rachmaninov fans!

We can still be friends. 

[Sergeant Rock]

I really like Taneyev's first. 

I should give it a listen.

Back in 2007 someone recommended this Symphony and included a link to the JPC website...which led me to pull a paulb. I sampled the first 30 seconds and concluded it was repetitious crap   So, yeah, I too should give it a proper listen.

Sarge

[Mirror Image]

We can still be friends. 

[vandermolen]

I'm sure that I replied before but I really like Khachaturian's First Symphony (especially the RCA LSO recording with Tjeknavorian).

[Symphonic Addict]

I'm sure that I replied before but I really like Khachaturian's First Symphony (especially the RCA LSO recording with Tjeknavorian).

Count me as another fan of this exuberant symphony (I don't know that performance, nonetheless).

[vandermolen]

Count me as another fan of this exuberant symphony (I don't know that performance, nonetheless).

It's here Cesar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE6t0E5WCSw

[Symphonic Addict]

It's here Cesar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE6t0E5WCSw

Thanks, Jeffrey!

[Symphonic Addict]

Today I seem to have found the worst first ever (and the worst second ever too):

[Florestan]

Today I seem to have found the worst first ever (and the worst second ever too):

Well, go on: what's so bad about them?

[Luke]

There are worster firsters than Foerster's, I durster say.

[Symphonic Addict]

Well, go on: what's so bad about them?

Almost everything: it's pretty predictable, insipid, bland (where have I seen that word before?), flaccid, with poor melodic material. It's like an anemic imitation of Dvorak. FWIW, its first movement sounded a bit more spirited, but that's about it.

Previously I had thought of the symphonies by d'Indy and Alfvén like the worst firsts I've heard, but they're much more accomplished and focused.

Interesting that other people have mentioned the ones by Dvorak and Khachaturian like the worst first. They're not IMO, they're screaming masterpieces compared to the Foerster.

Of many, many symphonies I've heard and revisited over the years, the Foerster is a fair candidate to be the worst first I've ever listened to.

Hurwitz seems to agree too:

[Karl Henning]

There are worster firsters than Foerster's, I durster say.

You're wicked, friend!

[Karl Henning]

Almost everything: it's pretty predictable, insipid, bland (where have I seen that word before?), flaccid, with poor melodic material. It's like an anemic imitation of Dvorak. FWIW, its first movement sounded a bit more spirited, but that's about it.

Previously I had thought of the symphonies by d'Indy and Alfvén like the worst firsts I've heard, but they're much more accomplished and focused.

Interesting that other people have mentioned the ones by Dvorak and Khachaturian like the worst first. They're not IMO, they're screaming masterpieces compared to the Foerster.

Of many, many symphonies I've heard and revisited over the years, the Foerster is a fair candidate to be the worst first I've ever listened to.

Hurwitz seems to agree too:

The Dvořák First is his weakest, to be sure, but there is plenty of interest in it.