Mendelssohn's 3rd Symphony - Recordings that you enjoy

[Gurn Blanston]

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

Dirk,
this was the disk I meant:



but I see now that although the 4th and Hebrides are with Szell, that the 3rd is, in fact, by Andrew Davis. My bad...

[M forever]

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.

Well, you can't have everything (unless you are Harry, of course, then you have to have everything). I actually didn't know that Harnoncourt had recorded these symphonies - or I may have read or heard that somewhere many years ago but forgot about it. I enjoy listening to Mendelssohn's symphonies once in a while, but I am not really collecting multiple versions of them. Well, I have several versions of most of the symphonies, but not many. I did order the Harnoncourt CD though. This might be something that Thielemann might do very well - I heard a great 5th with him in Berlin with the BP once. Of course, his is the more "romantic" appproach.

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).

If you like the kind of clarity and slenderness that I imagine Solti brings to this repertoire, then maybe you might also like Norrington's recording. I actually have that but haven't listened to it in many years (and it is buried somewhere deep in my CD collection which is still mostly in boxes from my not-so-recent move), but I remember it as a quite interesting, not surprisingly rather slender and rhythmically springy, well outlined interpretation.
Incidentally, I do have a Solti performance of the 4th, a live recording with the WP. But I have never heard any other Mendelssohn from him.

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.

Well, it's been a while since I listened to that 7th although I listened to the EMI Bruckner 4 not too long ago and found the sound rather good, but again, I haven't heard the 7th you mention here in a while and would have to relisten to it to doublecheck my memory. In general though, the recordings EMI made are much better and more "true" to the sound the BP had under Karajan. You have to take my word for it, since I heard them live quite often with him. Apart from the sound quality as far as timbres are concerned, the problem with a lot of DG recordings of the BP is that a lot of the inner detail is simply very smudgy and hazy, and while "the Karajan sound" was indeed very polished and somewhat smooth, it was much more transparent and luminous than one might think when listening to many of the DG recordings, and there was much more detail definition than these recordings suggest.
There is nothing "pumped up" about the EMI recordings though - it did actually sound that "big" live, believe it or not. It's hard to describe to someone who has never heard something like that live, sorry. The last time I listened to one of these was the EMI album of Wagner preludes, and hearing that transported me back to when I heard them live those many years ago, something that doesn't happen with a lot of the DG stuff.

BTW do you like the interpretaiton, or do the sonic considerations ruin the recording totally?

I don't remember. I was just too annoyed by the sound. It certainly was very well played and had a number of nice musical moments despite the sonic problems, but these do weigh rather heavy in my opinion, because Karajan was such a "sound centered" conductor.

[Lethevich]

If you like the kind of clarity and slenderness that I imagine Solti brings to this repertoire, then maybe you might also like Norrington's recording.

Is that the Hänssler one? I too like that disc, although there was no point me mentioning it before, as I haven't heard many recordings to compare it with...

[adamdavid80]

So, if someone wanted their library to consist of 5 Mendelssohn discs total (and this can include tw different accounts of the same piece), what would you recommend?

[karlhenning]

Abbado leading the LSO in the Third and Fourth Symphonies

Cyprien Katsaris playing the piano concerti

Henryk Szeryng playing the E Minor Violin Concerto with the LSO and Doráti

Previn & the LSO performing the Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Opus 20 Octet, choose what performance you will.

[adamdavid80]

Abbado leading the LSO in the Third and Fourth Symphonies

Cyprien Katsaris playing the piano concerti

Henryk Szeryng playing the E Minor Violin Concerto with the LSO and Doráti

Previn & the LSO performing the Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Opus 20 Octet, choose what performance you will.

Got the Abbado, and the Szeryng sounds like something to definitely put high on my list...but I don't know the Katsaris at all...are you familiar with the Hough on Hyperion?  I've been considering that one based on rave reviews I've read.

[dirkronk]

If the "discs" were flat, black, analog and vinyl, I'd say:

Violin concerto--Oistrakh/Ormandy on U.S. Columbia (many fine ones but this is magic)

Symphony #3/Hebrides overture--Maag/LSO on Decca/London

Symphony #4--Van Beinum/Concertgebouw on Philips (mono but excellent sound and my fave performance)

Piano concertos--hmmm, harder, but possibly Perahia/Marriner on Columbia (haven't heard the R. Serkin mentioned earlier in the thread, so that might be preferable)
OR
MSND--Maag/LSO (this might have to take precedence over the piano cti.--for longer excerpts Previn/LSO; shorter, fewer items but utterly gorgeous playing Szell/Concertgebouw)

Octet etc.--I Musici on Philips (ASMF also did a nice one, with some string syms attached IIRC)

Cheers,

Dirk

[karlhenning]

...are you familiar with the Hough on Hyperion?  I've been considering that one based on rave reviews I've read.

I'm not; it does sound good.

[M forever]

Is that the Hänssler one? I too like that disc, although there was no point me mentioning it before, as I haven't heard many recordings to compare it with...

No I was talking about the onewith the London Classical Players on EMI. I wasn't aware that he also made Mendelssohn recordings with the RSO Stuttgart. But I am not suprised.

[MichaelRabin]

One of my 5 is the Violin Concerto with Campoli, LPO and Boult - superior to Szeryng & Dorati and D Oistrakh & Ormandy. Sadly - it is on the Beulah label - which is now OOP.

[Ric]

Flor doesn't force the timing and the dynamics, but he maintains the way that Mendelsohn drew. Simply, Flor does that the music speaks to us.

The sound quality is not too good, but enough to enjoy the music.

[Lilas Pastia]

Thanks for that Ric. I wasn't aware of Flor's set. I heard him do a quite superb Bruckner 8th here that had exactly those qualities you speak about. I currently own only one disc of symphonies 3 and 4, and the piano concertos, so I guess I could indulge!

[M forever]

Save your money and indulge in the Masur recordings which are basically what Flor apes, not surprisingly, because he was from East Germany, too, and they had preserved a more traditional way of approaching the music there, only that Masur was decades ahead of Flor in experience when he made his recordings, and, as good as the Bamberger Symphoniker are, the Gewandhausorchester is just a few ticks better, especially in this repertoire.

[Que]

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.

Absolutely - seconded.

Q

[Lilas Pastia]

I'll take your word for it, but aren't these Masur recordings quite older than the Flor? In any case, I suppose there won't be agreement on any complete cycle. American Record Guide describes them as "not as rigid and cold as Karajan, but there is something routine about his conducting". Their choice for a complete set is Abbado DG and Weller Philharmonia Chandos). Walter Weller is a former concertmaster of the WP and I like the few record of his I have. Any comments on this one?

[adamdavid80]

Anyone have an opinion on Gardiner's disc containging the Italian and Reformation symphonies?  The snippet I've heard of the 4rth opening movement sounded fine...(I have Abbado's 3&4, and,considering what I've read right here, gonna pick up Maag's 3rd)

[Gurn Blanston]

Anyone have an opinion on Gardiner's disc containging the Italian and Reformation symphonies?  The snippet I've heard of the 4rth opening movement sounded fine...(I have Abbado's 3&4, and,considering what I've read right here, gonna pick up Maag's 3rd)

I wish I had heard it, but unfortunately not.

However, as you can see in my tag, the Maag arrived today and I'm giving a first listen. So far pretty impressive! The sound is great for 1957, and the playing is right up to snuff. Haven't gotten to the crucial 4th movement, but I have hopes. It will have to be pretty outstanding to nudge Solti and company aside, but hey, it could happen! 



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Listening to:
London Symphony Orchestra, Maag - Symphony No 3 III. Adagio

[Gurn Blanston]

OK, quick impression of the Maag/London Scottish.

As I noted above, the playing is first rate. The sound on this Decca Legends is really good for its time, I can't detect any recording compression or clipping noises (which only means that I can't hear them, maybe you can).

The crucial point which I have mentioned in terms of my own enjoyment of the work, the Allegro maestoso in the 4th movement, is the only place where it falls down a bit. It certainly is maestoso, but the tempo is not allegro, or my feeling of allegro. Simply put, it is a bit too slow to satisfy. I have to go back to Solti/Chicago here and say that he hits the nail on the head, somehow managing to maintain allegro throughout without sacrificing maestoso in any way. Nonetheless, no regrets having bought this, it is a good 3rd, and a very nice Midsummer's Night to boot. Thanks to those who rec'd it to me.



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Listening to:
K 626alt Requiem in d arr. for String Quartet (HIP) - Kuijken Quartet - K 626alt Requiem in d arr. for String Quartet pt 10 - Hostia

[flyingdutchman]

Great to hear Gurn.  Glad you enjoyed it.  I don't think I've ever heard Solti do this.  Are you talking of the 1986 digital recording or Solti's mono recording?

[Gurn Blanston]

Great to hear Gurn.  Glad you enjoyed it.  I don't think I've ever heard Solti do this.  Are you talking of the 1986 digital recording or Solti's mono recording?

Yes, I did enjoy it. This is the Solti:



although it is from 1990 rather than 1986. Very pleasing.