I still like the Szell. Maybe it’s because that’s what I’ve listened to through the years. I don’t like the fast one, and the “granite” one, although majestic, seems too slow. The Pittsburgh doesn’t seem to have the richness of sound that the Cleveland has. That takes me back to Szell!
John - I listened to the George Szell recording with the Cleveland Orchestra this morning while reading all the articles I had saved up for today. Really enjoyable. I look forward to diving into the rest of them this week to see how they differ.
OK. I'm up for the challenge, John. My musical knowledge is quite limited so any feedback I offer will be completely gut reaction rather than musical critique but I'm sure that will be OK. I look forward to listening over the next few days.
Yes, after all, it’s all about letting the music speak to you, and in those terms, your response is just as legitimate as that of the most experienced music critic.
Listening now. Thanks for doing this! I have a bunch of ideas about readings, but much less of an idea how to expand my musical background. So what you're planning here looks to be very useful!
Hello. On a completely different subject. I am a cuneiformist. I worked on the scholarly edition of The Epic of Gilgamesh. It is a fascinating story and should you want to use it here I could add the cuneiform with a few notes on reading it.
That’s really interesting. I don’t know Gilgamesh well enough to lead a read-through, but I’m quite interested in the cuneiform! I hope you’ll find a forum for discussing it, and please let me know.
Listening to Ashe now. Thank you for expanding our listening!
We live in NE Ohio and the Cleveland Orchestra is a gem for the area. Cleveland is also home to the excellent baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire; worth exploring their recordings.
I’ve always loved the fact that one of the world’s great orchestras for the last 75+ years resides in this working-class American city. I’ll check out Apollo’s Fire—thanks for the tip!
Great selection of recordings here, John. I saw Gardiner and the ORR perform Beethoven 9 at Carnegie Hall about 15 years ago, and totally changed how I hear that work. I listened to the Karajan/Berlin cycle growing up, and I thought I loved my Beethoven thick and grand, but Gardiner provided new textures to discover and embrace.
Sat down with the Honeck today — incredible! As you said, the perfect mix of modern and historical performance practice. Definitely going to see out their other recordings. My go-to cycle for the past several years has been Blomstedt with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and there’s a good amount of overlap in the two conductors’ approaches.
Glad you like the Honeck! His Beethoven 5 and 7 are superb as well. I like just about every recording I’ve heard from Blomstedt, so I need to go back to his Beethoven cycle(s). Oh, and that Sibelius record is really good—beautifully recorded. I’m listening to it right now with good headphones.
I'll probably only be able to listen to one of these recordings this week. I'm thinking it will be the Gardiner. I do love a passionate performance of anything. Otherwise, I've been listening to the score for Dune pt. 2. I'm not sold on it yet. It doesn't seem as bold as the score for the first film, and it feels so far like Zimmer is just playing the same leitmotif over and over and over again.
The story of how Zimmer put all the music together for Dune pt 1 is as fascinating as the score itself. He was doing it in 2020, so couldn't just bring everyone to a single studio. One of the main female vocalists recorded her parts in her closet in her apartment in New York, for example. But he was able to get more than 100 Scottish bagpipers in a single space to record a piece. Everyone had to wear hearing protection because the decibel reading reached jet engine levels.
I’ll definitely put that on my list. In college once in the basement of the music building, I had a practice room next to a person playing bagpipes, and I couldn’t hear myself playing. The pipes are meant for the great outdoors!
You remind me of a day when I was walking along the River Ness in Inverness, Scotland. It was all quiet- just birdsong and the sound of water- when suddenly there was bagpipe music wafting through the woods. It was unexpected, but then, I was in Scotland.
From a European perspective, I particularly like Harnoncourt, Savall, de Friend, Brüggen and Immersaal. And Gardiner. I don’t do the big band approach to Beethoven but it was interesting to have a listen to them. Thanks.
If I had included a fifth recording, it probably would have been Harnoncourt, one of my conducting heroes. I haven’t heard Immersaal or de Friend, so I will give them a listen. Thanks!
I still like the Szell. Maybe it’s because that’s what I’ve listened to through the years. I don’t like the fast one, and the “granite” one, although majestic, seems too slow. The Pittsburgh doesn’t seem to have the richness of sound that the Cleveland has. That takes me back to Szell!
So, you’re saying that Szell’s is the “Goldilocks” recording?
John - I listened to the George Szell recording with the Cleveland Orchestra this morning while reading all the articles I had saved up for today. Really enjoyable. I look forward to diving into the rest of them this week to see how they differ.
Glad you enjoyed the Szell! And that will make a nice basis for comparison to the other recordings.
OK. I'm up for the challenge, John. My musical knowledge is quite limited so any feedback I offer will be completely gut reaction rather than musical critique but I'm sure that will be OK. I look forward to listening over the next few days.
Yes, after all, it’s all about letting the music speak to you, and in those terms, your response is just as legitimate as that of the most experienced music critic.
Listening now. Thanks for doing this! I have a bunch of ideas about readings, but much less of an idea how to expand my musical background. So what you're planning here looks to be very useful!
Great—hope you enjoy the recordings!
Same for me.
Hello. On a completely different subject. I am a cuneiformist. I worked on the scholarly edition of The Epic of Gilgamesh. It is a fascinating story and should you want to use it here I could add the cuneiform with a few notes on reading it.
That’s really interesting. I don’t know Gilgamesh well enough to lead a read-through, but I’m quite interested in the cuneiform! I hope you’ll find a forum for discussing it, and please let me know.
Listening to Ashe now. Thank you for expanding our listening!
We live in NE Ohio and the Cleveland Orchestra is a gem for the area. Cleveland is also home to the excellent baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire; worth exploring their recordings.
I’ve always loved the fact that one of the world’s great orchestras for the last 75+ years resides in this working-class American city. I’ll check out Apollo’s Fire—thanks for the tip!
Great selection of recordings here, John. I saw Gardiner and the ORR perform Beethoven 9 at Carnegie Hall about 15 years ago, and totally changed how I hear that work. I listened to the Karajan/Berlin cycle growing up, and I thought I loved my Beethoven thick and grand, but Gardiner provided new textures to discover and embrace.
Sat down with the Honeck today — incredible! As you said, the perfect mix of modern and historical performance practice. Definitely going to see out their other recordings. My go-to cycle for the past several years has been Blomstedt with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and there’s a good amount of overlap in the two conductors’ approaches.
Also, great to see Mälkki recording Sibelius!
Glad you like the Honeck! His Beethoven 5 and 7 are superb as well. I like just about every recording I’ve heard from Blomstedt, so I need to go back to his Beethoven cycle(s). Oh, and that Sibelius record is really good—beautifully recorded. I’m listening to it right now with good headphones.
I meant to write Honeck, not Gardiner. 🙄 Still waking up....
I think you’ll enjoy the Honeck.
I'll probably only be able to listen to one of these recordings this week. I'm thinking it will be the Gardiner. I do love a passionate performance of anything. Otherwise, I've been listening to the score for Dune pt. 2. I'm not sold on it yet. It doesn't seem as bold as the score for the first film, and it feels so far like Zimmer is just playing the same leitmotif over and over and over again.
I haven’t listened to either of those scores—will have to put them on my list.
The story of how Zimmer put all the music together for Dune pt 1 is as fascinating as the score itself. He was doing it in 2020, so couldn't just bring everyone to a single studio. One of the main female vocalists recorded her parts in her closet in her apartment in New York, for example. But he was able to get more than 100 Scottish bagpipers in a single space to record a piece. Everyone had to wear hearing protection because the decibel reading reached jet engine levels.
I’ll definitely put that on my list. In college once in the basement of the music building, I had a practice room next to a person playing bagpipes, and I couldn’t hear myself playing. The pipes are meant for the great outdoors!
You remind me of a day when I was walking along the River Ness in Inverness, Scotland. It was all quiet- just birdsong and the sound of water- when suddenly there was bagpipe music wafting through the woods. It was unexpected, but then, I was in Scotland.
I've always loved the Klemperer. The Gardiner is fresh but a bit too zingy for me. I don't know the others, but I will listen!
I’ll be interested to know what you think of the Honeck recording. Fast like Gardiner, but less zingy.
From a European perspective, I particularly like Harnoncourt, Savall, de Friend, Brüggen and Immersaal. And Gardiner. I don’t do the big band approach to Beethoven but it was interesting to have a listen to them. Thanks.
If I had included a fifth recording, it probably would have been Harnoncourt, one of my conducting heroes. I haven’t heard Immersaal or de Friend, so I will give them a listen. Thanks!
Sorry. My fault. It is de Vriend.
Ha! No worries.