Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)

[Karl Henning]

4) Only Kremer/DG recorded Concerto Grosso No.5

[asin]B000FIKVY2[/asin]

[snyprrr]

[asin]B000FIKVY2[/asin]

That's a mis-print. Look inside, it's No.6!

[Karl Henning]

Thanks . . . I think

[snyprrr]

Thanks . . . I think

It's... ok,.. Karl,... I'm here for you! 0:)

[snyprrr]

I'm trying to work my way out of this Schnittke madness, but I've caught myself in the Concerto Grosso quagmire. Which do you prefer? I was listening to Kremer's No.1, and, it's quite a piece of confrontational music. I just don't know how often I want to hear so much... well, I wouldn't call it "bitterness" (not YET in Schnittke- that comes later)m but his intensity I find... eh, I don't know- it's almost 30minutes- he really puts it to ya- making you go through this pain. But, it had its "beautiful" moments. Still, hard to "love".

The first five CGs are all pretty long (obviously, the two on the Chailly are going to be just a smidge more consumer friendly)... ooooo... it's been a long week in "trying to LIKE Schnittke-land". I have to be in the right mood for Schnittke, it seems.

Still, it looks as though the Cello Concerto 2 is the Big Daddy of them all, and THAT I can listen to for pleasure!


Schnittke... making it hard on m ::)e....




See? I've got myself painted into a Martinu/Schnittke corner here. How DO I get out??

[snyprrr]

It was about 1992. I had just drank a pot of espresso, my complexion was turning green, and I was in TowerRecords- standing there for an hour- trying to decide between the expensive BIS Schnittke and the cheap LvB Kovechavich.

20 years later...

[Karl Henning]

It was about 1992.  I had just drunk a pot of espresso, my complexion was turning green, and I was in Tower Records . . .

There is the beginning of literary greatness kerneled here . . . .

[North Star]

It was about 1992.  I had just drunk a pot of espresso, my complexion was turning green, and I was in Tower Records . . .

There is the beginning of literary greatness kerneled here . . . .

When will we get to read the snypps novella?

[snyprrr]

When will we get to read the snypps novella?

Please - I need an agent- a plot-

lesbian vampires? or "guy goes mad listening to music"?

seriously I need to make some career choices here


I know! I'm become a Martinu Scholar!



...er

[North Star]

Please - I need an agent- a plot-

lesbian vampires? or "guy goes mad listening to music"?

seriously I need to make some career choices here


I know! I'm become a Martinu Scholar!



...er

Or perhaps a collage of those ideas, à la Scnittke: a Martinů scholar goes mad while observing the activities of lesbian vampires? That would be a hit, I'm sure

[snyprrr]

Or perhaps a collage of those ideas, à la Scnittke: a Martinů scholar goes mad while observing the activities of lesbian vampires? That would be a hit, I'm sure

A Musical Novel!... with a happy ending!

[snyprrr]

On a more serious, CDCDCD Schnittke-A-Thon note, I'm seriously thinking about doing some damage. Questions:

1) How do the Lubotsky (SONY) and Kremer (DG) 'Quasi una Sonata' compare?

2) How do we  really really feel about the Chailly recording this morning? Do you pull it out often? MUST I get it ... again? (I don't know what happened (this was way back when))

3) How essential are those two SONY discs of Chamber Music with Lubotsky? (NO! I don't know why I'm asking these silly questions!)


I just don't see myself entertaining Schnittke that often, so why do I feel compelled to sacrifice for him? Ugh

[snyprrr]

I'm having a Martinu/Schnittke DeathMatch here! Oh, the bloodshed (in the wallet!) The horror! No one (dollar) was spared

[Karl Henning]

2) How do we  really really feel about the Chailly recording this morning? Do you pull it out often? MUST I get it ... again? (I don't know what happened (this was way back when))

Oh, you would ask, the day I am packed light for travel . . . .

[snyprrr]

Oh, you would ask, the day I am packed light for travel . . . .

Take it

[snyprrr]

Concerto Grosso No.5

I remember when this came out, with the most cringe-inducing disc mate of Glass's Violin Concerto (it must have been the time). It seems no one understood this piece, and I had dismissed it as being another Schnittke Baroque-on-Acid.

But in my current trolling I dredged it up, and lo!, the Violin Concerto No.5 was revealed! This work belongs with the Piano Four Hands and 2nd Cello Concertos, a work freed of all "polystylism" and is simply an Avant Garde Abstract Work of Art. It certainly is rough and ready to do business, slicing and dicing and slashing and burning its way through 28 minutes of what might be called a most Rihm-like concerto. At least I was thinking that this made a great foil foil for the Mutter disc as a comparison not only of the Rihm but of the Berg as well.

I was so pleased when I read that it was a Totally Abstract work, and I think it quite delivers one of Schnittke's most pulverizing-ly bitter/angry works. I'm quite amused that so many 'Extreme Listeners' don't get this piece- I think it's pretty plainly much like Schoenberg's String Trio, just a pure expression of... what?... rage?

The recording seems to absorb much of the shock impact of the music, making for a very enjoyable listen. The Berliners sound silky smooth, which is a real treat in such acerbic music. This is the height of Abstract Schnittke.

[not edward]

2) How do we  really really feel about the Chailly recording this morning? Do you pull it out often? MUST I get it ... again? (I don't know what happened (this was way back when))

I'd say it's a keeper. Great performances of both pieces. While I do sometimes feel that the 5th symphony is something of a pendant to Peer Gynt and doesn't add very much to that work, it does share much of the same preoccupations at a much more digestible length.

[snyprrr]

I'd say it's a keeper. Great performances of both pieces. While I do sometimes feel that the 5th symphony is something of a pendant to Peer Gynt and doesn't add very much to that work, it does share much of the same preoccupations at a much more digestible length.

(that edward, he's pretty persuasive, eh?)

I did used to have, along with the BIS counterparts (because Penguin Guide TOLD me to!), - and I don't know exactly why I parted ways, but, as I've been sampling both works on YT, I keep feeling bothered by the actual music- both intros being very much alike, and the prejudice in my head that I'm going to be taken for a (charlatan) ride. I guess it's just the Bach thing,... I know there's more abstract music in both pieces than just what the outer movements provide,... perhaps it's that one still has to pay full price- even for a Used copy!?!

I mean, ... I mean...

It might be a foregone conclusion that we'll meet again. I just feel like I had a discovery of the CG 5, a very abstract piece, and I'm feeling very distant towards Schnittke polystylism works, of which these two are the most famous.

Do you all want to take bets on how long I hold out?


I feel like I've been buying a lot of 'mandatory' stuff lately- like some whip cracking school marm in my head says, You MUST get this, you can't get want you want, you have to get what The Library needs. Well,... we ARE reaching the end of Discovery Season, thankfully!

[snyprrr]

Symphony No.6 (1992)

We have Otaka (BIS) and Polyansky (Chandos) before us. The moment is at hand. Otaka, the only game in town for a long while, has for years weathered outrageous condemnation from most quarters,- roundly dismissed is more like it- and yet, the temptation to simply gathered up Symphonies 6 & 7 in one place must be too great for some!

I'm into the second movement of the Otaka. I surely wonder how Polyansky is going to add four minutes to that First Movement, but I'm going to switch over after the Presto. Otherwise, in a liberal mood I have a hard time pinning down what the heresies are. The Second Movement is equal time for both.

From the outset, am I hearing Polyansky quicker than Otaka? Surely it can't be. Well, but the Chandos sound is certainly up to par, giving quite a different feel from the 'Pettersson Black' BIS recording (which, frankly, I love, lending that extra depressing quality which seems a bit lost in the lavish, opulent Chandos). Do I hear the burbling brass come off a bit clearer (better?) in the Chandos? I'll give Polyansky the nod in milking this music superbly, but someone is going to have to give me some timings on the Otaka if you want me to hear some specific instances of the crimes he's accused of. I actually like the 'Quote' bit (is it 'Peter & the Wolf'?) better in the Otaka. The strings immediately following are rendered, of course, much smoother in the Chandos (again, the BIS has that typical (wonderful) 'Petterrson Black' recording style which gives the piece a large Gothic Setting to unfold, whereas the Chandos just sounds like a perfect recording in the classic Chandos lushness). Frankly, though I like the winning brass in the Chandos, the open BIS recording, as always, allows the brass quite a spectacular presence. Again, someone point out Otaka's fault here.


For those who DON'T like Schnittke, I might have to recommend 6 over 8,... 6 AND 7 over 8, perhaps,... well, all three form a unit, there are all the final distillations of Schnittke's Late Style. No.6 totally breaks with old Schnittke to lay on the Bruckner (in 7 mostly) in a much more Classical, coherent style that any lover of mid-century Symphonies would eat up. It has the pencil-sketch sparseness of Late Shostakovich with less obvious melodic material. The First Movement seems to function as a ruminating restlessness, mulling things over and over in the dark language of aforementioned mentor. It seems the most abstract, cryptic, and gnomic utterance of Shostakovich's 'motto' theme- odd noodling that becomes its own Morse Code.

Polyansky's Second Movement, is, well, quite superior to Otaka, but, in his haphazard way, Otaka lends an air of zanyness that is curtailed in the Chandos (through virtuosity!). Still I like both.


I'm going to stop here for now for some comments by you. Surely you are well aware of this controversy and would like to weigh in? Chandos makes it sound like DSCH's 14 1/2, and BIS makes it sound like Pettersson's 3 1/2- what's the problem?

[Karl Henning]

Most interesting review, thanks!  I'll have to revisit before I might reply . . . and this week looks like some Vaughan Williams re-immersion for me . . . .