What are you listening 2 now?

[Mirror Image]

Well, you seem shocked I'd dare respond to your comment.  I thought maybe you didn't understand what we're all doing here: giving our opinions on stuff. 

"Fanboy"?  Pithy commentary, that ... "you disagree with my dismissal of this person, therefore you must be a fanboy"

"I don't wish to discuss Ormandy with you" ... so why did you?

No, you're a fanboy or you wouldn't have bothered with the lengthly post you gave about Ormandy. It felt like to me you were trying to sale this conductor to me when I had no interest in what was on the table to begin with. So that's why I made the comments I made to you, but you seem to have a problem that I have problem with your Ormandy commentary? You can discuss this conductor until your blue in the face and it wouldn't matter to me. I don't think he's an interesting conductor and I never have and you do, so how about let's drop this, shall we?

[ChopinBroccoli]

I really liked his substitution of men's choir for the cellos at the start of the 1812 Overture, which suits beautifully, since it is a liturgical chant.

He also did a lot of creative things with strings in many recordings ... having one of the sections play an octave higher or lower to bring out a particular passage ... sometimes you scratch your head "what's that all about?" but just as often I'd find myself saying "great idea"

[ChopinBroccoli]

No, you're a fanboy or you wouldn't have bothered with the lengthly post you gave about Ormandy. It felt like to me you were trying to sale this conductor to me when I had no interest in what was on the table to begin with. So that's why I made the comments I made to you, but you seem to have a problem that I have problem with your Ormandy commentary? You can discuss this conductor until your blue in the face and it wouldn't matter to me. I don't think he's an interesting conductor and I never have and you do, so how about let's drop this, shall we?

Again, you initiated the conversation

If you don't want to hear what people have to say, don't engage them

You still seem unable to wrap your head around this basic idea, you tedious cretin

[Traverso]

Beethoven

CD7

Piano Sonatas 23-24-25-26 ("Waldstein")-27

[Karl Henning]

No, you're a fanboy or you wouldn't have bothered with the lengthly post you gave about Ormandy. It felt like to me you were trying to sale this conductor to me when I had no interest in what was on the table to begin with. So that's why I made the comments I made to you, but you seem to have a problem that I have problem with your Ormandy commentary? You can discuss this conductor until your blue in the face and it wouldn't matter to me. I don't think he's an interesting conductor and I never have and you do, so how about let's drop this, shall we?

John, this doesn't become you, which I only say because I'm certain you'll agree. We're all fans of some types of music, of some composers, some conductors, some ensembles. That's why we're all here. And probably we've all expressed our enthusiasm warmly and at length. That cannot be anything to scorn, can it? I write because I remember being rather an ass to you when you were praising Delius. I don't like to see you making a similar mistake.


Well, I guess I spoke up too late, after the escalation of rancor.

[Mirror Image]

John, this doesn't become you, which I only say because I'm certain you'll agree. We're all fans of some types of music, of some composers, some conductors, some ensembles. That's why we're all here. And probably we've all expressed our enthusiasm warmly and at length. That cannot be anything to scorn, can it? I write because I remember being rather an ass to you when you were praising Delius. I don't like to see you making a similar mistake.


Well, I guess I spoke up too late, after the escalation of rancor.

Yes, this is true, Karl. I'll simply let the matter go (even though I did get that last post in before your message). FYI, I'm not too impressed with Delius these days and your opinion on him does seem to hold water. I still like a few of his works, but I cannot give the high marks I once gave him. But that's a topic for another day.

Sincerely,

The Tedious Cretin

[Karl Henning]

TD:
Hindemith
Sonatas for brass & Pf
Glenn-St-Gould 

[pjme]

https://www.youtube.com/v/75cq8QOIhbc

The Gürzenich Orchestra / Roth : Graziane Finzi and Bruckner 7

[ChopinBroccoli]

TD:
Hindemith
Sonatas for brass & Pf
Glenn-St-Gould 

I'm starting to believe Hindemith is the most underrated composer that ever breathed.  Was just listening to that fantastic Kammermusik album from Chailly earlier and the other day the outrageously virtuosic Szell/Cleveland Symphonic Metamorphoses ... these are masterpieces, evidence of a truly distinct creative voice. 

[Mandryka]

Well it's pouring with rain here, cold and a strong wind, and I had to do the worst thing anyone ever has to do on a Thursday afternoon, I had to liaise with a man from Thames Water who eventually turned up at a nearby property to unblock a sewer. I returned home miserable and wet and cold only to find this lovely CD lying on my doormat, dropped in by the postman.

[staxomega]

Let me know what you think of the Woodward performance. I'm not too fond of his piano playing (a bit too cold and cerebral for my tastes), but I'm quite biased when it comes to Debussy pianists.

The only two I know well (played many times) are his recordings of WTC and Op. 87 Preludes and Fugues, I was pretty engaged by both of them for different reasons. Op. 87 may not bring out the various emotions of the piece as well as Scherbakov but it offered me many nice insights.

I'm not entirely enthusiastic about this Debussy set. Usually I glean something from his interpretations, I didn't get any of that here. I don't mind cool in the Preludes (for reference Michelangeli's DG recordings are at the very top of my favorites) but here Woodward just sounds detached, and it's not really that interesting. There are a handful of interesting moments like the left hand trills in Le Vent Dans La Plaine. Ah well, it's been some time since I've heard a new to me set of Preludes that really grabbed me, I was hoping this would scratch the itch. My gut feeling is I won't change my mind on it with repeat listens. It's available on Spotify, I would have normally streamed it first but I was adding a pile of CDs from this seller and this was pretty cheap.

Did you end up getting that Russell Sherman disc of Images, Estampes Book II and Preludes Book II? Those were such interesting interpretations that really spoke to me, the rubato and ritarandos in all the right places and he never lost the forward momentum of the music creating quite the interesting set, particularly in Images.
-----
Last night's listening was these exceptional performances of Beethoven's Symphony 3 and 5 from the Walter box, this is the earlier 1941 recording, I'm going to listen to it again now. I have also read some more of the book from the box, it's really nice with loads of details, pictures and many photos of take sheets.

I'm pretty confident that like the recent Szell remasters (which my friends and I compared against many LPs) these Walter remasters will also be a significant improvement in sound quality over the vinyl or older CDs.

[Ratliff]

I'm starting to believe Hindemith is the most underrated composer that ever breathed.  Was just listening to that fantastic Kammermusik album from Chailly earlier and the other day the outrageously virtuosic Szell/Cleveland Symphonic Metamorphoses ... these are masterpieces, evidence of a truly distinct creative voice.

That Chailly Kammermusik set is certainly a miracle.

[Traverso]

That Chailly Kammermusik set is certainly a miracle.

+1 

and not to forget his string quartets

[Christo]

I'll tell you the truth. I don't speak German at all. And when I first came across CPE Bach's Kenner und Liebhaber sonatas, I thought they were written for two real people, Herr Kenner and Herr Liebhaber!

Oh, but both exist irl (almost), of course, German a language flexible enough to serve many purposes:

   

[Ratliff]

Ormandy's Prokofiev recordings are all outstanding

His Shostakovich were almost always exceptional (especially the first and the cello concerto with Rostropovich)

His Mussorgsky "Pictures" might be the best ever

His Tchaikovsky was always excellent

His Rachmaninoff cycle is one of the best

The guy was great in Russian music

Other composers he did exceptional work of include Sibelius, Saint-Saëns, Vaughn Williams, Ives and Dvorak

His orchestra was one of the most ridiculously skilled on the planet

He gets killed for three reasons:
1) he didn't excel in the core Germanic repertoire... usually offering beautifully played but puzzlingly neutral interpretations (especially not doing more to reign in the opulent, lush "Philly" strings in material from the Classical era)

2) He was a little chubby guy with a relatively unremarkable personality by conductor standards in contrast to younger, pompadour sporting colleagues like Lenny and Karajan or intimidating or severe contemporaries like Szell or Reiner ... he also sold a lot of records... easy target

3) like Szell and Bernstein, he suffered from Columbia engineering that hurt his chances with the audiophile contingent... ironically, when he moved to RCA in the 70s they were far removed from their "Living Stereo" glory years

The man was at the helm of one of the world's elite orchestras for 44 years and made a huge number of recordings.  There are some absolutely great ones in there if one simply takes the time to look.

File me under 3. When I started collecting Columbia records vinyl was horrid and I only bought imported LPs. Ormandy, Szell, we're not on my radar. I've recently decided to look into Szell. Maybe ormandy too.

[ChopinBroccoli]

That Chailly Kammermusik set is certainly a miracle.

It really is.  Just amazing

[Karl Henning]

I'm starting to believe Hindemith is the most underrated composer that ever breathed.  Was just listening to that fantastic Kammermusik album from Chailly earlier and the other day the outrageously virtuosic Szell/Cleveland Symphonic Metamorphoses ... these are masterpieces, evidence of a truly distinct creative voice. 

Aye, the Kammermusiken are especially superb!


One of my latest Hindemith discoveries has been The Long Christmas Dinner, which is wonderful!

[Ken B]

John, this doesn't become you, which I only say because I'm certain you'll agree. We're all fans of some types of music, of some composers, some conductors, some ensembles. That's why we're all here. And probably we've all expressed our enthusiasm warmly and at length. That cannot be anything to scorn, can it? I write because I remember being rather an ass to you when you were praising Delius. I don't like to see you making a similar mistake.


Well, I guess I spoke up too late, after the escalation of rancor.

Good as a general rule. Principal exception: a noted Stockhausen fanboy.

And La Mer fanciers of course.

TD
Hindemith
Mathis Symphony
Philadelphia, Sawallisch

[Karl Henning]

Good as a general rule. Principal exception: a noted Stockhausen fanboy.

And La Mer fanciers of course.

And just when I'd toweled off, too!

[ChopinBroccoli]

File me under 3. When I started collecting Columbia records vinyl was horrid and I only bought imported LPs. Ormandy, Szell, we're not on my radar. I've recently decided to look into Szell. Maybe ormandy too.

The remasters in that Szell set last year were generally very well done and improved the sonic picture... I only hope any music lover will investigate the accomplishments of the man and his orchestra and give their ears a chance to adjust ... but I understand different strokes and all that