Name that orchestra - Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5

[PerfectWagnerite]

Finally, I get around to posting!


1- I like this recording, I like the way the solo horn sounds, it is unusual, there is significant vibrato, it sounds almost more like a euphonium. At 9:30, I once had that bit stuck in my head for days and couldn't remember what piece it was...it's lovely how Tchaikovsky plays with major/minor tonality in the last minute or so of the clip. I don't know, I don't think it's an American orchestra , European perhaps.

That much is obvious. You think Szell, or Reiner, or Ormandy, would let the horns play like that.

[Brian]

Hello Perfect FIFTH, some pretty interesting guesses there, is there anything more you might be able to tell us?

Finally, I get around to posting!

Couldn't have picked a better work, or starting point, I think this one of my favorite moments in the symphony. (I swear we read each other's minds! )

Next time I throw one of these together I'll have to pull out my crystal ball again.    That's so cool ... yeah, my love for this symphony has increased by leaps and bounds over the last month too, after I acquired my fifth different recording of the piece (which is included as one of the clips...).

the brass (trumpets) are a little too present in the balance in some places.

You should hear the finale!    This was my first recording of the Tchaikovsky Five, and for a while I disliked the finale very strongly because on this recording it turns into a trumpet spectacular! Trumpets trumpets trumpets (and violins) ! 

4 - Philadelphia

Hmm ... maybe Philadelphia and this orchestra have something important in common?

This has been open quite a while, will the reveal be soon? Looking forward to it!

Well, after getting your message the other day I decided to see if you'd have some comments  (sorry I haven't written back yet ... just a few minutes!) . Today would be a good time to drop a couple hints, with a reveal maybe in a few days. Glad you could make it!


HINTS!

That much is obvious. You think Szell, or Reiner, or Ormandy, would let the horns play like that.

Hint #1: Szell, Reiner and Ormandy were all born within 350 miles of the home of Orchestra #1. (For those who don't know, they were all born in Budapest.)

Hint #2: One of those three can be found in one of the clips.

Hint #3: Two of the orchestras are based in the same city.

Hint #4: With one exception, our commentators so far have placed clip #3 in either Germany or Austria. Think farther west.

[Greta]

Yes, sorry Brian...I actually wrote this post directly after I wrote you that message, and then kind of forgot to post it because my brain was fried from midterms and concerts.

Ooh, a lot to think about...I will come back to it later tonite and post again...

[Brian]

Yes, sorry Brian...I actually wrote this post directly after I wrote you that message, and then kind of forgot to post it because my brain was fried from midterms and concerts.

Yeah, midterms were murderous here too ... I'm supposed to be finishing writing a story (actually it's about novella length now ) on another message board, but haven't been able to exert the effort to write another sentence.    But there's something bracing about being busy all the time - I don't have time to worry or complain or get homesick!

[M forever]

Wait a little longer before you reveal anything here, the game is just picking up, and I hope to be able to download and listen to the higher res clips with concentration sometime soon, although seeing how crazily busy I have been for the last couple of weeks, and how much is still going on, I may simply not find the time...

[Brian]

Wait a little longer before you reveal anything here, the game is just picking up, and I hope to be able to download and listen to the higher res clips with concentration sometime soon, although seeing how crazily busy I have been for the last couple of weeks, and how much is still going on, I may simply not find the time...

Thanks sir, will wait a while for some more discussion.

[PerfectWagnerite]

HINTS!Hint #1: Szell, Reiner and Ormandy were all born within 350 miles of the home of Orchestra #1. (For those who don't know, they were all born in Budapest.)

Hint #2: One of those three can be found in one of the clips.

Hint #3: Two of the orchestras are based in the same city.

Hint #4: With one exception, our commentators so far have placed clip #3 in either Germany or Austria. Think farther west.

Clip 1: Polisn National SO, Anton Wit.
Clip 2: Philadelphia ORch., Eugene Ormandy
Clip 3: London SO, Igor Markevitch
Clip 4: London PO Royal Philharmonic Orch., no guess on conductor

[PerfectWagnerite]

Thanks sir, will wait a while for some more discussion.

Well not that Pretty Girl has had ber say are you still waiting for M the Drunken Sailor?

[Greta]

I sent Brian a PM, as two were I think close, and the others not....I think discussion has stalled enough to proceed with the revelation?

[PerfectWagnerite]

I sent Brian a PM, as two were I think close, and the others not....I think discussion has stalled enough to proceed with the revelation?

You 28? You look like you are 18.

[Brian]

You 28? You look like you are 18.

So far you've called Greta a Pretty Girl and brought up her age and looks for no apparent reason in a thread that's about Tchaikovsky. (Do you do that to male users?) Now, I'd really be thrilled if M and/or O Mensch and some other Tchaikovsky-loving users (21 people have downloaded the file; don't be afraid to post your responses!) continued the discussion of the four clips, but if the thread is going to derail into arguing about Pretty Girls and Drunken Sailors, the reveal and subsequent conclusion will come that much faster.

[PerfectWagnerite]

You want to know why only M the Drunken Sailor Forever, Greta, Sean and myself have responded in this thread (PERFECT 5th doesn't count since he is too chickensh*t to post any thoughts)? Look at the kind of response you get in reply #9 and he sarcasm in reply #11. Maybe the rest of the 17 people who downloaded these clips don't like to be called "idiots" and made fun of.

And when someone (was it Gustav) wanted to post his/her thoughts to you in private you get M saying how it wouldn't be any fun. C'mon.

[Bonehelm]

You want to know why only M the Drunken Sailor Forever, Greta, Sean and myself have responded in this thread (PERFECT 5th doesn't count since he is too chickensh*t to post any thoughts)? Look at the kind of response you get in reply #9 and he sarcasm in reply #11. Maybe the rest of the 17 people who downloaded these clips don't like to be called "idiots" and made fun of.

And when someone (was it Gustav) wanted to post his/her thoughts to you in private you get M saying how it wouldn't be any fun. C'mon.

What did you just call me, you piece of *********?

[M forever]

Just go ahead Mr Reinhart, if you want to reveal the interpreters. I am so overworked here that I won't have time anytime soon to relisten to the clips.

[Brian]

And the orchestras were...

I was sad to see that ORCHESTRA #1 did not have many friends. It was criticized for mediocre playing and uninteresting conducting, and a "total lack of tonal beauty." On the other hand, the "wobbly" French horn solo is definitely distinctive, and helped place the orchestra somewhere behind the Iron Curtain. Two people (one by PM) guessed the Naxos recording led by Antoni Wit, featuring the Polish National Radio Symphony. Others pointed to central European ensembles or even lesser Soviet ones. In truth, this recording dates from the early 1960s in Prague - it is the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra led by Lovro von Matacic.

Everybody agreed that ORCHESTRA #2 was American, well-prepared, and led thoughtfully. They were right. It was a 1959 recording by The Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy.

ORCHESTRA #3, on the other hand, seems to have thrown some folks seriously off. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniele Gatti is not exactly "central European" or American either, but as Greta points out it has a terrific brass section (you should hear the beginning of the Fourth!) and some truly virtuoso playing from all involved (ditto the Capriccio Italien!). This, by the way, is by far my own favorite; I first heard Gatti's Tchaikovsky (4,5,6) last month and have kept it playing regularly ever since. Currently I'm listening to the Fourth, in fact.

In my hints I mentioned that ORCHESTRA #4 has something in common with the Philadelphia Orchestra; that common link is Riccardo Muti. This very broad, expansive account of the symphony is taken from Muti's cycle of the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies with Philharmonia.

Images to connect with the words:

[Sergeant Rock]

Once again a mystery orchestra thread proves that no one can actually identify orchestras with anything near regularity.

I'm surprised too how little respect Matacic and the Czech Phil got. This recording has been recommended by several forumites as the best Fifth you can buy. Interesting that it does so poorly heard "blind."

Sarge