The New Yorker choses it's Best of 2007:
Simone Dinnerstein's Goldberg Variations is called the runaway hit of the year.
Russian National Orchestra's Nine Symphonies of Beethoven conducted by Mikhail Pletnev, is ref. to as 'their audacious originality as indisputable'. I agree with The New Yorker!
Lisa Batiashvili's interpretation of the Sibelius and Lindberg violin concertos with Sakari Oramo and the Finnish Radio Symphony is praised.
Marc-André Hamelin's Haydn Piano Sonatas are called crisp and spirited interpretations.
The only DVD on the list is Mozart's "Mitridate, Re di Ponto", from the 2006 Mozart Festival praises the director Günter Krämer for taking a minor Mozart opera into a dramatic feast, assisted by
Mark Minkowski in the pit.
Osvaldo Golijov's cantata "Oceana" is a work of true seriousness' with Dawn Upshaw and Robert Spano conducting.
Attention is given to the genius of modern music
Stockhausen and his "Stimmung".
There are three more 'Bests': Corigliano's Music for String Quartet, Henry Brant/Charles Ives 'A Concord Symphony' and the Budapest's Festival Orchestra's "Josephs Legende".
I am not familiar with all the chosen ones, but the four I do know are on the list.
The Rice [University] Thresher student newspaper also chose its best of 2007 under my guiding hand this month. ;) Regrettably my list had no discs in common with those of the New Yorker, and only one with the NY Times. Here was my list with quotes:
"Eldar Nebolsin's versatility is dazzling" in a new disc of Rachmaninov preludes.
The Pavel Haas String Quartet gives "passionate, heartrending performances" of the music of their namesake composer.
"The Athens State Orchestra stars in Kalomiris: Triptychon, Symphony No. 3, the first album of music by Manolis Kalomiris ever released. ...Adventurous listeners are strongly advised to check out this surprising new album."
Rene Jacobs' Don Giovanni is "so boldly original that it should be mandatory listening for Mozart lovers."
Osmo Vanska "paces Beethoven's "Pastorale" Symphony perfectly and finds a wealth of gorgeous detail in the score."
And finally, with a new solo Scriabin recital and a phenomenal recording of piano concertos by Tchaikovsky and Medtner, Yevgeny Sudbin "is poised to become the most important pianist of the next century. He is that good."
The Dinnerstein Bach has been on just about every pro critic's list of picks, and the Pletnev Beethoven is hugely divisive (when I told a certain cuddly, popular critic from ClassicsToday that the NY Times had selected Pletnev's Beethoven for its "Best of 07" list, his response was simple and eloquent: "Pletnev? You're kidding." And in a follow-up: "I read it. ...By the way, [the critic]'s paraphrasing the publicity material that came with the disc. What a disgrace!"). I think more folks would have chosen the superb Vanska-Beethoven, but it came out just too late for everyone's list ... except mine. ;D
Quote from: uffeviking on January 18, 2008, 07:35:43 PM
Simone Dinnerstein's Goldberg Variations is called the runaway hit of the year.
Whoever made that pick should be put in front of a firing squad.
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on January 18, 2008, 08:03:58 PM
Whoever made that pick should be put in front of a firing squad.
OK then, contribute something worthwhile and give us YOUR list of Ten Best in 2007!
Quote from: uffeviking on January 18, 2008, 08:32:41 PM
OK then, contribute something worthwhile and give us YOUR list of Ten Best in 2007!
Oh dear, I only gave seven. :)
Three more:
BRAHMS Double Concerto, Clarinet Quintet (Gautier and Reynaud Capucon, Paul Meyer, Myung-Whun Chung, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Capucon Quartet)
GLAZUNOV String Quintet, Five Novelettes (Fine Arts Quartet, Nathaniel Rosen)
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 2 (Konstantin Scherbakov, Dmitry Yablonsky, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra)
Quote from: uffeviking on January 18, 2008, 07:35:43 PM
Russian National Orchestra's Nine Symphonies of Beethoven conducted by Mikhail Pletnev, is ref. to as 'their audacious originality as indisputable'. I agree with The New Yorker!
I have only listened to the 5th symphony from that set, but there is absolutely nothing "audacious" or even "original" in there. It is just extremely, extremely, extremely bad. This is without doubt the worst performance of any Beethoven symphony I have ever heard, so bad it is almost embarrassing to listen to it.
Of course, it comes with a lot of blablaing as the inbuilt bullshit insurance policy that it is somehow "challenging" and "provocative", to preemptively silence any criticism. The problem here is that the spectrum of Beethoven interpretation is so extremely wide that almost anything has been done before. Including this kind of conceptless clowning around with the music. It is of course very easy to just do something random and pretend it is "challenging", but the problem is that with Beethoven, really more or less everything has been done several times over in many different ways.
But never have I heard anything as random and incoherent, in any kind of stylistic approach. What Pletnev does here is advertised as some kind of "romantic expressive" approach, but in reality, it is just random nonsense which has absolutely no basis in the score, its formal structure, its harmonic progressions, its melodic content or even its dramatic concept.
A lot of conductors have explored these and other parameters of the music in very personal and original ways, conductors such as Furtwängler, or a little less organically, Mengelberg, but what they did did often highlight or underline certain aspects of the music. What Pletnev does here is just tear the scores apart and throw the disjointed pieces around. His "interpretation" doesn't sound like an interpretation at all. It sounds like a parody. In fact, it sounds like a parody of the kind of approach conductors as Mengelberg took, but without any of the insights and narrative concept behind that.
Almost every single bar or phrase contains some complete musical bullshit which just draws attention to itself, like the idiotic way he lets the trumpets blare out the main motif in the first movement. But the trumpets only have a supportive, underlining role here. What this does is that it makes this sound a little "unusual", but it makes no musical sense at all. One has the impression that these performances are conducted by someone who doesn't even have an elementary understanding of the most basic aspects of music, such as form and harmony. It sounds like some total amateur just got a chance to conduct an orchestra and fooled around with that a little bit.
I find it deeply, deeply saddening that in a time when the reception and interpretation of Beethoven symphonies has developed to such a high level that we can now look at a very wide and rich spectrum of stylistic approaches which have been explored by many good musicians, all sorts of traditional and revisionist approaches which are all based on elements that have grown within or from a historical context, that this kind of amteurish pseudo-challenging crap gets that much attention and is even published by a major label such as DG. Except that DG is not a major label anymore, most of what they crank out now is nonsense such as this, overhyped youngsters, the worst of modern classical music marketing and hype.
Of course, it is easy to explain why some people even like this and find it "challenging" or "audacious" or whatever. Because a lot of people have learnt absolutely nothing from listening to all the various approaches to this music which all contribute some insights to our better understanding of these incredibly complex masterpieces. Those people have no clue what makes a really good and coherent performance, no matter in what style, "traditional", "late romantic", "modernist", "classicist", "HIP", or in whatever combination of stylistic elements from different traditions and approaches. But since Pletnev's "ideas" are so sledgehammered, it gives those people the feeling that they get treated to some kind of radically new approach. Sad, sad, sad, sad.
Quote from: Brian on January 18, 2008, 07:49:40 PM
"The Athens State Orchestra stars in Kalomiris: Triptychon, Symphony No. 3, the first album of music by Manolis Kalomiris ever released...
...by Naxos.
www.kalomiris.org (http://www.kalomiris.org)
Quote from: uffeviking on January 18, 2008, 08:32:41 PM
OK then, contribute something worthwhile and give us YOUR list of Ten Best in 2007!
I AM contributing something do this thread by bringing just criticism where real critics are seemingly unable to provide any. Dinnerstein's Goldbergs is a dud, but hey,bOprah approves! Accolades please.
As for drawing my own list, i rarely check the dates on recordings so i didn't keep track, but from those few i remember i nominate this collections of chansons by Binchois, which is perhaps one of the best recordings ever made for this type of repertory, is not THE best:
http://www.amazon.com/Joye-plaintes-Gilles-Bins-Binchois/dp/B000NOKA3K/ref=pd_bxgy_m_text_b
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on January 19, 2008, 05:18:47 AM
I AM contributing something do this thread by bringing just criticism where real critics are seemingly unable to provide any. Dinnerstein's Goldbergs is a dud, but hey,bOprah approves! Accolades please.
There's been quite a mix of opinion about the Dinnerstein. Initially, I didn't care much for it, but continued listening has raised my opinion of it. I find her blend of very slow trance-like performances and astounding virtuosity very appealing. Don't know what my final thoughts will be, but I consider the disc one of the most interesting Goldbergs I've heard in the past few years.
Quote from: Wanderer on January 18, 2008, 11:50:07 PM
...by Naxos.
www.kalomiris.org (http://www.kalomiris.org)
well I knew that his Symphonies had been recorded in Greece, but they are certainly not available here in the United States as far as I know. :( We will have to wait for Naxos' whim to hear the rest of his music.
M, I think this review (http://classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=11195) of the Pletnev Beethoven will confirm for you that the other eight are just as awful.
Quote from: Brian on January 19, 2008, 08:56:43 AM
M, I think this review (http://classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=11195) of the Pletnev Beethoven will confirm for you that the other eight are just as awful.
If
M forever and
Hurwitz are in agreement rejecting the Pletnev Beethovens it confirms I am right in accepting and liking them, all nine of them! ;D
The New Yorker's list was chosen by Russell Platt, and I think he did a great job of picking interesting selections (although I have not heard most of them). The Dinnerstein recording has been garnering comments good and bad from all over, but it appears to pique people's interest and make them think about the piece, which can't be a bad thing. Haven't heard any of those Pletnev recordings, but again, the wide variety of comments makes me curious.
The Stockhausen has already appeared on several other "Best of 2007" lists, and I'm eager to hear it. I did hear the Corigliano, which is excellent and includes a very fine first string quartet by Jefferson Friedman, one of his students. And I heard Batiashvili perform the Lindberg concerto (amazingly premiered at the Mostly Mozart Festival) and I look forward to heariing it again.
--Bruce
Quote from: Brian on January 19, 2008, 08:56:43 AM
M, I think this review (http://classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=11195) of the Pletnev Beethoven will confirm for you that the other eight are just as awful.
Well, as you probably know, I don't take Hurwitz really seriously as a reviewer. But in this case, it should be pretty obvious for anyone with a minimum understanding of the subject that this is far from audacious and challenging, it just is a hoax. And not even a very well done one either. A lot of the tempo changes in the 5th symphony I listened to don't work that well either from an ensemble point of view. That makes it even less convincing and appear even more amateurish and random.
Quote from: uffeviking on January 19, 2008, 09:10:13 AM
If M forever and Hurwitz are in agreement rejecting the Pletnev Beethovens it confirms I am right in accepting and liking them, all nine of them! ;D
If you are happy to simmer in the juice of your ignorance, I am happy for you. You are exactly the impressionable and gullible consumer that this set is made for.
Great, so what do you people think of the Hamelin? I'm in the market for some Haydn piano sonatas.
Quote from: Brian on January 18, 2008, 08:55:31 PM
BRAHMS Double Concerto, Clarinet Quintet (Gautier and Reynaud Capucon, Paul Meyer, Myung-Whun Chung, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Capucon Quartet)
How is this CD? The pairing makes it very tempting.
Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on January 19, 2008, 12:49:54 PM
Great, so what do you people think of the Hamelin? I'm in the market for some Haydn piano sonatas.
As the ad goes: priceless. One of the few Hamelin discs I can recommend unreservedly.
Thanks. 8)
Quote from: Brian on January 19, 2008, 08:56:43 AM
well I knew that his Symphonies had been recorded in Greece ...
As well as his piano music, operas and a number of other works. Some of his piano pieces are actually common fare in local competitions. Perhaps you could try ordering some recordings over the internet if you feel so inclined, otherwise Naxos might indeed be your only hope.
Quote from: hornteacher on January 19, 2008, 05:25:39 PM
How is this CD? The pairing makes it very tempting.
The first time I listened I wasn't very fond of the performance of the concerto, mainly because I was not very fond of the concerto. Eventually, however, the Capucons' marvelous, lyrical, intense reading began to win my admiration, and then respect, and then love. The clarinet quintet, which I'd never heard before, is sublime in its beauty. I had initially had some qualms over the playing of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, but can't remember what they are. Here is the review (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Nov07/Brahms_capucon_3951472.htm) which inspired my impulse purchase of the disc. My main qualm with it is that no autobiographical information is provided on the Capucons, Myung-Whun Chung, or Paul Meyer, although their are more than enough photos of each of them. Who knows why Virgin does this...
Another MusicWeb review (http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Jan08/Brahms_capucon_3951472.htm) printed today strikes me as rather breathless and slightly crazed. ;D
Quote from: uffeviking on January 18, 2008, 07:35:43 PM
The New Yorker choses it's Best of 2007:
Marc-André Hamelin's Haydn Piano Sonatas are called crisp and spirited interpretations.
Still waiting with baited breath to hear from you,
Gurn, if and when you will be buying this Haydn CD - or do only pianists, pushing up daisies for the past fifty years, qualify for your esteemed approval? ::)
Quote from: Brian on January 20, 2008, 01:13:19 PM
The first time I listened I wasn't very fond of the performance of the concerto, mainly because I was not very fond of the concerto. Eventually, however, the Capucons' marvelous, lyrical, intense reading began to win my admiration, and then respect, and then love. The clarinet quintet, which I'd never heard before, is sublime in its beauty. I had initially had some qualms over the playing of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, but can't remember what they are. Here is the review (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Nov07/Brahms_capucon_3951472.htm) which inspired my impulse purchase of the disc. My main qualm with it is that no autobiographical information is provided on the Capucons, Myung-Whun Chung, or Paul Meyer, although their are more than enough photos of each of them. Who knows why Virgin does this...
Another MusicWeb review (http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Jan08/Brahms_capucon_3951472.htm) printed today strikes me as rather breathless and slightly crazed. ;D
I got this CD too recently, and it hasn't left my CD tray. It's really great. :)
Quote from: Lilas Pastia on January 19, 2008, 09:23:49 PM
As the ad goes: priceless. One of the few Hamelin discs I can recommend unreservedly.
Agreed. I'm not typically a Haydn fan, but Hamelin makes a convincing go at the music!
Has anyone bought Golijov's cantata "Oceana"? I am waiting until I see it at a decent price, but would like to know if anyone here has had any reactions to hearing the piece.
Mike
Quote from: M forever on January 19, 2008, 12:36:07 PM
Well, as you probably know, I don't take Hurwitz really seriously as a reviewer. But in this case, it should be pretty obvious for anyone with a minimum understanding of the subject that this is far from audacious and challenging, it just is a hoax. And not even a very well done one either. A lot of the tempo changes in the 5th symphony I listened to don't work that well either from an ensemble point of view. That makes it even less convincing and appear even more amateurish and random.
I've heard some of the Pletnev Beethoven on the radio, and I also was not tempted to buy it. The aspect I found most off-putting was, in the excerpts I heard, he inserts huge, pregnant pauses between sections of a movement. The image that came to my mind as I was listening was of the conductor having fallen off the podium, and the orchestra waiting patiently for him to pick himself up and recompose himself before resuming.