Poll
Question:
Name Your Favorite Composer of These Four
Option 1: Mahler
votes: 13
Option 2: R. Strauss
votes: 5
Option 3: J. Strauss
votes: 2
Option 4: Wagner
votes: 8
I'll start things off with a vote for Mahler.
Tough; I'm going to have to think about it. I love R. Strauss, but also love Wagner's orchestral music once in a while, and adore a lot of Johann (jr I presume)?
I do like music by all four; pressed for a favorite, though, I vote readily for Joh. Strauss Jr.
Quote from: Don on August 27, 2008, 12:46:18 PM
I'll start things off with a vote for Mahler.
Good start - my vote too.
I seriously like R. Strauss, Mahler and Wagner all equally. I really can't pick between those 3. :( Tough poll, Don!
Although I can pick the one I don't really like all that much, and that's J. Strauss II
I frequently listen to Mahler and R. Strauss. These days it's more Strauss than Mahler. A couple of days age I put Wagner on the Pod, orchestral music with Szell/Cleveland. It's hard to get into and I don't know why.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XD1DQ4ZWL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Oh, I guess Mahler. ::)
Gus, pulling away.
I went for Mahler. But I'm partial to Wagner, too.
(There's a dichotomy for Saul to conjure with ... )
I'm starting to like all of them except for J.Strauss, although i haven't listened to any of his stuff in probably a few years. If I tried him again, I'd have to be in a mindblowingly good mood or else his happy waltzes will make me want to smash my head open.
Quote from: James on August 27, 2008, 03:21:24 PM
HAHAHAHA i can relate, 'happy stuff' like that usually gives me an anxiety attack.
Sometimes it also gives me an asthma attack.
(i don't have asthma, btw)
Quote from: Don on August 27, 2008, 12:46:18 PM
I'll start things off with a vote for Mahler.
I voted for Wuorinen, but he didn't get the nomination. So I'll pull for R.Strauss instead.
If it weren't for Wagner, both Mahler and Richard Strauss might very well not written in the expanded polytonal harmonic system that makes their music so expressive and that Wagner pioneered. So what is the deal here?
To make a crude comparison, without God, what would Moses have amounted to???
Sheeesh, the calumnies and indignities that the cosmic divine Wagner is subjected to in this mortal coil....he is probably rolling over restlestly in his grave right now.
But then, he was probably rolling over restlessly even before this thread appeared....
Quote from: Chaszz on August 27, 2008, 07:08:18 PM
....he is probably rolling over restlestly in his grave right now.
But then, he was probably rolling over restlessly even before this thread appeared....
I don't know about Wagner but if
I were in a grave I know
I'd be rolling over right about now. Because the Wagner fan in me finds over-the-top, overly gushy posts like the above pretty embarrassing.
Not that I'm against admiring Wagner (I voted for him). But let's have some balance and perspective,
please!
Quote from: Brian on August 27, 2008, 12:49:00 PM
Tough; I'm going to have to think about it. I love R. Strauss, but also love Wagner's orchestral music once in a while, and adore a lot of Johann (jr I presume)?
Take any J you want.
Quote from: karlhenning on August 27, 2008, 12:53:22 PM
I do like music by all four; pressed for a favorite, though, I vote readily for Joh. Strauss Jr.
I thought that might be your vote.
Quote from: ChamberNut on August 27, 2008, 01:18:32 PM
I seriously like R. Strauss, Mahler and Wagner all equally. I really can't pick between those 3. :( Tough poll, Don!
Certainly tougher than the one with R. Strauss and the two movie guys.
Quote from: mn dave on August 27, 2008, 01:38:39 PM
Oh, I guess Mahler. ::)
I take it those four composers aren't exactly your soul-mates?
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on August 27, 2008, 03:17:08 PM
I'm starting to like all of them except for J.Strauss, although i haven't listened to any of his stuff in probably a few years. If I tried him again, I'd have to be in a mindblowingly good mood or else his happy waltzes will make me want to smash my head open.
I know what you mean. I can take about 15 minutes straight of his music; after that, I go for the vodka.
Quote from: Chaszz on August 27, 2008, 07:08:18 PM
If it weren't for Wagner, both Mahler and Richard Strauss might very well not written in the expanded polytonal harmonic system that makes their music so expressive and that Wagner pioneered. So what is the deal here?
I thought that many members would likely think very highly of those three composers. I threw in J. Strauss to lighten things up.
In any case, Wagner owes it all to J Strauss. What's the opening of Rheingold if not an over-inflated waltz? And doesn't the Wood Bird hail right out of the Wienerwald? Die Fledermaustersinger more like..... ;D
Quote from: Chaszz on August 27, 2008, 07:08:18 PM
To make a crude comparison, without God, what would Moses have amounted to???
Comparing
Wagner to God really
is crude 8)
Quote from: Don on August 27, 2008, 08:31:31 PM
I know what you mean. I can take about 15 minutes straight of his music; after that, I go for the vodka.
Not champagne?
Quote from: Don on August 27, 2008, 08:28:20 PM
Certainly tougher than the one with R. Strauss and the two movie guys.
;D
Yes, a lot tougher. I chose R. Strauss, by the narrowest of margins.
Quote from: lukeottevanger on August 28, 2008, 01:17:24 AM
Die Fledermaustersinger more like.....
;D
Quote from: karlhenning on August 28, 2008, 04:06:06 AM
Comparing Wagner to God really is crude 8)
Many Fundamentalist Wagnerians (aka
Wagnerrhoids) would think exactly the opposite.
Quote from: Jezetha on August 28, 2008, 04:22:57 AM
Many Fundamentalist Wagnerians (aka Wagnerrhoids) would think exactly the opposite.
Surely you mean
know....?
sorry, wrong thread....
Quote from: lukeottevanger on August 28, 2008, 04:24:05 AM
Surely you mean know....?
You're right -
I think,
they know.
Quote from: Don on August 27, 2008, 08:29:36 PM
I take it those four composers aren't exactly your soul-mates?
You guess well.
Quote from: donwyn on August 27, 2008, 08:24:25 PM
I don't know about Wagner but if I were in a grave I know I'd be rolling over right about now. Because the Wagner fan in me finds over-the-top, overly gushy posts like the above pretty embarrassing.
Not that I'm against admiring Wagner (I voted for him). But let's have some balance and perspective, please!
Well, I meant it tongue in cheek...... mostly......
partly.......
J'ai choisi la banane.
Quote from: drogulus on August 27, 2008, 01:36:47 PM
A couple of days age I put Wagner on the Pod, orchestral music with Szell/Cleveland. It's hard to get into and I don't know why.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XD1DQ4ZWL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Quote from: James on August 27, 2008, 02:14:28 PM
Probably crap performances? Try Herbie V Karajan's Overture Preludes or...Barbirolli/Halle Orch. versions.
No, they aren't crap performances. I have nothing against the alternatives you suggest but Szell's Wagner goes to the desert island with me. I'm not alone in my admiration. I've never seen a negative review of these performances--the closest was a mini-review in Fanfare covering the CD re-release in 1988 in which the reviewer thought Szell's interpretations "a bit too cool" (but he was obviously smoking something when he listened for that review ;D ) He admits Szell's Wagner was widely admired and thinks these are "superbly disciplined readings...magnificent playing by the orchestra."
Here are a few blurbs, examples of the critical consensus:
"The orchestral playing here is in a very special class. Its virtuosity is breathtaking. Szell generates the greatest tension, particularly in the two scenes from
Gotterdämmerung, while the
Liebestod from Tristan has never been played on record with more passion and fire." --Penguin Guide (recording awarded a Rosette).
"George Szell's lean and athletic recording of the best-known orchestral excerpts--including an especially rousing 'Ride of the Valkyries'--is an absolute necessity" --Jim Svejda, The Record Shelf Guide
"Frankly, if you like Wagner without a whiff of tedium you'd be better off with excerpts from the likes of George Szell on Sony Classics....These visceral, highly dramatic performances are where the Wagnerian adventure really begins." --Dan Morgan, MusicWeb
"Alternative performances which should find an honoured place in any collection must surely include Furtwängler's phenomenal reading with the VPO from 1949 (Testament),
Szell's impressive outing with the boys from Cleveland on budget priced Sony and Karajan's refurbished offering with the Berliners from his complete 1960s Ring cycle." --Richard Lee-Van den Daele, MusicWeb
The CD is also Classic Today's reference recording. When the reviewers from Gramophone and Classics Today agree, it's a safe bet. But even more important, it comes with the Sergeant Rock Seal of Approval:
(http://photos.imageevent.com/sgtrock/febgmc/drill-sgt%20seal%20of%20approval.jpg)
Sarge
Quote from: Chaszz on August 28, 2008, 04:49:20 AM
Well, I meant it tongue in cheek...... mostly......
partly.......
;) ;D
Come now, Sarge--this example just further confirms James's value as one of the most reliable contributors on this site. Remember the Seinfeld episode in which George realizes that he's been wrong about everything his whole life, so he decides to do the opposite of whatever he thinks best? ;D
Quote from: edward on August 28, 2008, 05:16:44 AM
J'ai choisi la banane.
Après moi, la banane . . . .
Indeed - Henning first, then bananas and other soft fruit, then Austro-German late-Romantics. It's the only order that makes sense.
Gosh, Luke, that wasn't quite what I had in mind. But I will not shrink from the call.
Le peuple le veult! 8)
Quote from: DavidRoss on August 28, 2008, 06:35:27 AM
Come now, Sarge--this example just further confirms James's value as one of the most reliable contributors on this site. Remember the Seinfeld episode in which George realizes that he's been about everything his whole life, so he decides to do the opposite of whatever he thinks best? ;D
I do recall that episode. So James is our forum's George. I like it. ;D
Sarge