LPO Jurowski Jan 15 2014

[EdgeleyRob]

Still in trouble with the chest infection, my ears too silted up to listen to this Jurowski 6th - or (much worse) the Bychkov/BBCSO Leningrad tonight. Bit fed up.
("So, BOO HOO!" - Said of course with the force and sarcasm of Liz Taylor to Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?)

Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that Jayne. I, a rabid unbeliever, listened to Bychkov's Leningrad this evening and thought that he made a convincing case for the work. I was longing to hear whether you, a devout yet insightfulful believer, shared my feelings. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that your ears recover before the iPlayer's week is out. Whatever, ...get better, soon for FOR3 NEEDS YOU!

I hope you soon feel better Jayne,them there chest infections are b******s.

I took time out yesterday evening to listen to our Petersburg Symphony,I've been a believer for years Ed.
This was a stupendous performance IMO.
Invasion music full of blood and iron,slow movement full of heartache,almost every note of the work a teardrop.
Bychkov's mother lived through the siege and it's evident this music is in his veins.

I hope you feel well enough to catch this at some point Jayne,as Ed says,it's crying out for one of your fantastic reviews.

[Tevot]

Hello there,

I really enjoyed the Mahler - and to me the Andante before the Scherzo makes perfect sense. Will now give the Leningrad a spin...

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[richardfinegold]

Fantastic quote -

and the incident was indeed inaudible and invisible from Row E (although I did see some of the punters in the seats directly behind the hammer grinning - I assumed it was just at the spectacle of the chap wielding his oversized croquet mallet...)

My wife and I heard this work at the Aspen Music Festival, conducted by James Conlon, about 5 years ago. There was a preconcert lecture by Michael Kennedy that focused on the issues of Andante/Scherzo (II/III) and the Hammer blows in IV, which of course meant that the audience was extra focused on the percussionist. Said percussionist had the top of his mallet fly off after delivering the last stroke and missed the head of the kettledrummer by a foot or so.

[amateur51]

Hello there,

I really enjoyed the Mahler - and to me the Andante before the Scherzo makes perfect sense. Will now give the Leningrad a spin...

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[Tevot]

Hullo playmates,

I must admit that I was underwhelmed when I heard the Macmillan first time around. I have listened to listen again again - and it is making more of an impression. And I will at least listen again one more time

Regarding Ed's earlier comment that posterity will be unkind to Macmillan - who or what determines this? Critics, audiences or players? Or is it all down to market forces?

Here is a review from the Telegraph in which the Concerto (not Mahler!) was showcased:-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalconcertreviews/10576884/James-MacMillan-premiere-LPO-Royal-Festival-Hall-review.html

Perhaps like Mahler - Macmillan's time will come?

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[johnb]

I listened again to the Mahler via iPlayer and thought that the iPlayer sound lacked the low bass of the live iPlayer broadcast. Is this just me or has anyone else experienced the same?

[jayne lee wilson]

Unable to listen to this yet, but as I've said before, the R3 live feed often seems to sound better than the iPlayer version, which is why I'm so keen to listen as-it-happens...

[secondfiddle]

It is a great pity that the "world weary trudge" describing Barbirolli's opening of his commercial recording is really very unrepresentative of how he actually conducted this work.
His recording was made during 17th - 19th August 1967. However on the evening before the recordings began, on the 16th August, he performed the work with the same orchestra(Philharmonia) and thankfully this wonderful performance is preserved on a Testament CD(SBT 1451) in glowing stereo. To compare both performance and recording blind, one could assume that the were by different conductors. Testament - 74 minutes 42 seconds - HMV - 84 minutes 08 seconds. (first Mvmt - 19m08s (T) 21m 19s(HMV) - these are significant differences.
This "world weariness" could overtake JB significantly during his last years, marring some recordings (and performances).
However if one compares the other Testament CD of JB conducting Mahler 6 with the BPO one year earlier and the 1965 Prom performance with the Halle with the 1967 performance, they are all very similar in opening and overall timings with a proper march-like tempo(aprrox 100-103 beats per minute) as against the commercial recording which is almost turgid by comparison.
JB came alive more often in the evenings and most of his best recordings were taped during afternoon sessions rather than mornings.
Try the Testament Prom with the Philharmonia to hear how JB really conducted this work.

Barbirolli’s commercial recording of Mahler 6 would seem to support the suggestion that his studio performances could be slightly more drawn out than his live performances, if timings are anything to go by.
I watched him rehearse Mahler 6 with the Halle for his first Prom performance of the work in 1965 and I taped the broadcast that evening. I also taped the performance he gave at the Proms two years later (released on CD by Hunt and then, in stereo, by Testament). My timings of these performances and the commercial recording are as follows:
Mahler Symphony No 6
Hallé/Barbirolli 1965 Proms
18’ / 14’ 10” / 12’ / 28’ Total: 72’ 10”
NPO/Barbirolli 1967 Proms
18’ 50” / 13’ 38” / 11’ 55” / 28’ 56” Total: 73’ 19”
NPO/Barbirolli EMI recording
21’ 11” / 15’ 46” / 13’ 50” / 32’ 40” Total: 83’ 27”
(The timings given on CD covers sometimes include a little bit of silence at the end of movements and so are not entirely accurate.)

Perhaps of interest, I taped a 1966 broadcast that Barbirolli gave of Mahler 5, and the timings compared with his commercial release are even more surprising, especially in the Adagietto:
Mahler Symphony No 5
Hallé/Barbirolli Broadcast April 1966
11’ 17” / 13’ 22” / 15’ 20” / 7’ 50” / 14’ 20” Total: 62’ 09”
NPO/Barbirolli EMI recording July 1969
13’ 38” / 15’ 08” / 17’ 56” / 9’ 50” / 17’ 20” Total: 73’ 52”

And dealing with Mahler 5, what an impressive performance the NYO gave the other evening on R3.

[johnb]

Unable to listen to this yet, but as I've said before, the R3 live feed often seems to sound better than the iPlayer version, which is why I'm so keen to listen as-it-happens...

After I posted I realised that I had changed the amplifier between when I listened live and listened to Listen Again, also I hadn't adjusted my sub to take account of the changes. So, all in all, my post was ... cough ... a tad premature.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

secondfiddle (#38) - fascinating post; many thanks.