Mendelssohn's 3rd Symphony - Recordings that you enjoy

[adamdavid80]

The Maag 4th, on IMP or MCA classics is quite fine, but does not stand up to the Scottish LSO account.

And top picks(s) for the 4th?

[flyingdutchman]

That one is harder for me to formulate an opinion on.  I have always gravitated to the 3rd and that is why I responded to this thread so forcefully.

[M forever]

Did you? You just interjected a few comments like "end of story!" which don't tell the reader anything at all. I would be interested in knowing *why* a particular recording is "highly recommended". We all know it is very difficult to explain these things in words, but if we don't even try, there is no point in visiting a discussion forum in the fist place.

Anyway,

I am particularly interested from those who have heard it: how is COE / Harnoncourt in these works? Also WP / Dohnanyi.

I actually didn't know that Harnoncourt had recorded the 3rd and 4th symphonies, but he did, along Sommernachtstraum and Walpurgisnacht which I vaguely remembered he recorded, but I never heard any of these. But that is definitely interesting and fortunately, used copies are easily available, so I ordered one of each.

I have the Dohnányi recording but actually don't remember much about how it is - I haven't listened to it in a long time. If you are looking for good Mendelssohn in general, it is worth checking out Masur's recordings with the Gewandhausorchester. These performances display a very fine sense of style and they are a good example for the often misused, elusive term "idiomatic" in the eloquently flowing, finely inflected and nuanced way the music is played, and Masur shows a good feeling for balances and proportions in these basically classicist readings, however at the same time there is also enough weight and depth of sonorities where needed (e.g. in the "darker" and "heavier" sections of the "Scottish" symphony). These are recordings I like to listen to once in a while because the musc making is just so stylish and the playing so sonorous. I just enjoy listening to this kind of orchestral culture which on that level is very rare.


BTW, Gurn mentioned recording with Barenboim and the RSO Berlin but he probably meant Ashkenazy?

[flyingdutchman]

Did you? You just interjected a few comments like "end of story!" which don't tell the reader anything at all. I would be interested in knowing *why* a particular recording is "highly recommended". We all know it is very difficult to explain these things in words, but if we don't even try, there is no point in visiting a discussion forum in the fist place.

Anyway,
I actually didn't know that Harnoncourt had recorded the 3rd and 4th symphonies, but he did, along Sommernachtstraum and Walpurgisnacht which I vaguely remembered he recorded, but I never heard any of these. But that is definitely interesting and fortunately, used copies are easily available, so I ordered one of each.

I have the Dohnányi recording but actually don't remember much about how it is - I haven't listened to it in a long time. If you are looking for good Mendelssohn in general, it is worth checking out Masur's recordings with the Gewandhausorchester. These performances display a very fine sense of style and they are a good example for the often misused, elusive term "idiomatic" in the eloquently flowing, finely inflected and nuanced way the music is played, and Masur shows a good feeling for balances and proportions in these basically classicist readings, however at the same time there is also enough weight and depth of sonorities where needed (e.g. in the "darker" and "heavier" sections of the "Scottish" symphony). These are recordings I like to listen to once in a while because the musc making is just so stylish and the playing so sonorous. I just enjoy listening to this kind of orchestral culture which on that level is very rare.


BTW, Gurn mentioned recording with Barenboim and the RSO Berlin but he probably meant Ashkenazy?

M,

If you bothered to go just a little further, you'd see a little more about why.

[M forever]

Yes, thank you for the detailed information. I think I learned a lot.

I also have the Abbado and a vast number of others.  Nevermind those, get the Maag.

[flyingdutchman]

Don't be such a dick.  Or do I have to say ooh, "it's got such a fine sense of style or is idiomatic?"

Here:

The classic LSO Maag is by far the one to get for dynamics, beauty of presentation (the slow movement is breathtaking), and sound.  I love this one so much, I've bought it in virtually every cd release, including the SACD from Japan and the classicrecords gold release.

[M forever]

Well, you don't know what idiomatic Mendelssohn playing is, so you can't really say that - but of course, you could say it anyway. And thanks for your detailed description of that recording. I will read it later when I have enough time to digest all the info.

[Gurn Blanston]

This one:

That is the one I got. Should be here next week.

Thanks,


----------------
Listening to:
Chicago SO / Solti - FMB Symphony #3 in a Op 56 5th mvmt

[Gurn Blanston]

Anyway,
I actually didn't know that Harnoncourt had recorded the 3rd and 4th symphonies, but he did, along Sommernachtstraum and Walpurgisnacht which I vaguely remembered he recorded, but I never heard any of these. But that is definitely interesting and fortunately, used copies are easily available, so I ordered one of each.

I have the Dohnányi recording but actually don't remember much about how it is - I haven't listened to it in a long time. If you are looking for good Mendelssohn in general, it is worth checking out Masur's recordings with the Gewandhausorchester. These performances display a very fine sense of style and they are a good example for the often misused, elusive term "idiomatic" in the eloquently flowing, finely inflected and nuanced way the music is played, and Masur shows a good feeling for balances and proportions in these basically classicist readings, however at the same time there is also enough weight and depth of sonorities where needed (e.g. in the "darker" and "heavier" sections of the "Scottish" symphony). These are recordings I like to listen to once in a while because the musc making is just so stylish and the playing so sonorous. I just enjoy listening to this kind of orchestral culture which on that level is very rare.


BTW, Gurn mentioned recording with Barenboim and the RSO Berlin but he probably meant Ashkenazy?

You're right, Gurn DID mean Ashkenazy. I knew it was one of those piano players...   Anyway, I rather like that version, although not to the degree of the Solti.

Glad you mentioned the Masur/Gewandhaus, that's one I was looking at but didn't have a feeling for. I'm willing to have a go at any of them, but I don't want to start with a consensus stinker. This one goes on the list too.

I figure on the Harnoncourt too. I'm surprised you hadn't had this one in hand already, given your taste (which I share) for Harnoncourt.

I have found one or two places where this symphony can be downgraded. A place I care about is the Finale - Allegro maestoso assai. There are times where this is taken as too... maestoso. It becomes ponderous, which is just what it shouldn't be given its crucial position as the very last bit to say. That is one of the things that attracts so highly with the Solti, it is maestoso (ma non troppo).

Thanks,



----------------
Listening to:
Chicago SO / Solti - FMB Symphony #3 in a Op 56 5th mvmt

[flyingdutchman]

Gurn,

You got a great Midsummer's to go with it.  His Hebrides Overture recording isn't there, but they'd have to put it on a second disc to get it in.

[Gurn Blanston]

Gurn,

You got a great Midsummer's to go with it.  His Hebrides Overture recording isn't there, but they'd have to put it on a second disc to get it in.

Just what I was thinking. I love "Fingal's Cave" and hoped for that coupling, but you can't have everything.



----------------
Listening to:
Mendelssohn Symphony #3 in a Op 056 - Berlin RSO / Ashkenazy - Symphony #3 in a Op 056 1st mvmt - Andante con moto - Allegro un poco agitato

[Lilas Pastia]

Klemperer is the one that really corners the symphony for me - that is, until the coda, which is far too slow and gets glued into treacle as it  progresses. But the rest is really worth listening to. The Philharmonia's winds in the scherzo bubble like no other, and the slow movement has a natural gravitas that is just awesome. Great sound too.

I don't think as highly about the famous Maag version. The strings are wiry and the sound is boxy. No sense of the air and space that adorn the superb EMI production.

Karajan's is a perfect foil to the Klemperer. He is bracing, urgent and joyful, and the coda is a delightful, uxultant romp. Great playing (those icy winds!) and very good sound.


I used to like the Muti Philharmonia a lot, but that was in the lp days, so I can't vouch for such a far off memory. In my recollection it combined the intents of the two Ks, while the playing was both refined and a touch aloof. Glossy sound as I remember it, but the end result was powerful and exciting..

[M forever]

Karajan's is a perfect foil to the Klemperer. He is bracing, urgent and joyful, and the coda is a delightful, uxultant romp. Great playing (those icy winds!) and very good sound.

I have to emphatically disagree about the sound. I think it totally sucks. It does sound quite "nice" and sweetly bright and all that, but the last time I listened to that recording with good headphones, I got very frustrated by the highly artifical sound smoothing, the hazy lack of depth in which a lot of inner detail simply disappears into a misty void, and the overall, "unnatural" feel of the sound which doesn't do the sound of the BP justice at all. Of course, the recordings from that era were specifically engineered to yield that smooth and silky brand "Karajan sound" in the LP era and that worked very well, but I think it just doesn't sound good at all.

[Gurn Blanston]

That's what I was afraid of. I never doubt the BP's playing, or even Karajan's conducting, but even one as undiscriminating as I am has to draw the line at a certain sound quality.

[flyingdutchman]

Klemperer is the one that really corners the symphony for me - that is, until the coda, which is far too slow and gets glued into treacle as it  progresses. But the rest is really worth listening to. The Philharmonia's winds in the scherzo bubble like no other, and the slow movement has a natural gravitas that is just awesome. Great sound too.

I don't think as highly about the famous Maag version. The strings are wiry and the sound is boxy. No sense of the air and space that adorn the superb EMI production.

Karajan's is a perfect foil to the Klemperer. He is bracing, urgent and joyful, and the coda is a delightful, uxultant romp. Great playing (those icy winds!) and very good sound.


I used to like the Muti Philharmonia a lot, but that was in the lp days, so I can't vouch for such a far off memory. In my recollection it combined the intents of the two Ks, while the playing was both refined and a touch aloof. Glossy sound as I remember it, but the end result was powerful and exciting..

The one complaint I have heard about the Maag in common with yours is that the strings are "glassy."  I don't think so and the overall approach Maag brings is fully involving and forceful.  The air that you speak of I feel comes out in the latest remasterings.

[Xenophanes]

I also like Maag, LSO, which I have on a London Stereo Treasures LP. It also has a wonderful Hebrides Overture.

I rather like Dohnanyi, too, for a more modern recording.

[val]

My favorite: Peter Maag with the LSO. Intense, dramatic, with a superb sense of dynamic and contrasts.

[Lilas Pastia]

I have to emphatically disagree about the sound. I think it totally sucks. It does sound quite "nice" and sweetly bright and all that, but the last time I listened to that recording with good headphones, I got very frustrated by the highly artifical sound smoothing, the hazy lack of depth in which a lot of inner detail simply disappears into a misty void, and the overall, "unnatural" feel of the sound which doesn't do the sound of the BP justice at all. Of course, the recordings from that era were specifically engineered to yield that smooth and silky brand "Karajan sound" in the LP era and that worked very well, but I think it just doesn't sound good at all.

Very possible. To me the sound of the BP in the Karajan EMI Bruckner 7th is impossibly artificial, pumped up and hazy, and yet you like it a lot. What can I say? I hear what I hear, and my mind processes it as it comes out of the speakers. BTW do you like the interpretaiton, or do the sonic considerations ruin the recording totally?

Regarding the Maag, I never heard the 'latest remasterings' only the lp.

[Gurn Blanston]

I want to thank everyone for their input so far. Here is what I've done:

Ordered Maag/London SO
Ordered Harnoncourt COE
Put WP / Dohnányi on my wishlist

Still open to other suggestions, like the ubiquitous Szell/Cleveland. Is good?

But I'm off to a good start, thanks to ya'll.

Cheers,


----------------
Listening to:
Glinka: Symphony; Spanish Overture; Music from Prince Kholmsky - USSR SO / Evgeni Svetlanov - Glinka Symphony in d on 2 Russian themes for orchestra  G. i193 (incomplete)

[dirkronk]

Still open to other suggestions, like the ubiquitous Szell/Cleveland. Is good?

Not aware of Szell having done a Mendelssohn 3rd. A 4th, yes...and it was coupled with an Andrew Davis 3rd on a budget CD--is that the one you mean, Gurn?

Cheers,

Dirk