Beethoven 'Pastoral' LPO/Tennstedt

[pastoralguy]

Does a twenty-three-year-old recording count as being "in the modern age" meponders?

Hard to believe I bought it the day it came out...

[LaurieWatt]

Amazon here lists a 1990 and a 1992 LPO recording of the 6th. I am presuming the latter is the one that you referenced. It doesn't appear new at all, being available in a couple of different repackagings. Or is there a 3rd Performance, dating also from 1992, that has just been released?
I listened to the 1992 version mentioned above on Spotify during my morning walk. It has been raining and flooding here and I was hoping to time the walk between cloudbursts. I thought I had it safe but about 5 blocks from home a sudden downpour drenched me and made a mockery of my flimsy umbrella. Fittingly, this coincided with the beginning of the storm sequence in the music.
Spotify only carries the first three movements--after the storm begins to fade, one is suddenly presented with the unwelcome opening of the Egmont Overture.
So I can only critque the first 3/5 of the recording. It appears to be well played, well recorded, with sensible tempos. It no doubt was a joy to hear in the concert hall.
Arkiv Music currently lists 285 versions of Pastoral as available. Pretty daunting competition and no one could possibly be familiar with all of them. My favorites are oldies from the dawn of the Stereo era--Bruno Walter with the 'Columbia Symphony' and Pierre Monteux with the LSO. From the HIPP perspective I prefer Hogwood. More recent 6ths that I have enjoyed are Vanska, Abbado/Berlin, and the severely underrated Herreweghe.
Back to the 3/5 Tennstedt that listened to this morning, I would rate it highly, with a few caveats. Perhaps there was a drought in London in 1992 because the babbling brook doesn't sound very deep, and the pubs must have closed early that year, because the merrymaking peasants don't sound very tipsy. The storm sequence has a nice sense of foreboding, but it sounds to me like a General massing his troops for an assault, rather than a sudden eruption that seems to come out of nowhere and drench those unfortunate outsiders. The versions I referenced above seem to go beyond the bar lines and have the storm just suddenly be there, but the deliberate pacing on the present recording is a valid alternative.
Perhaps the last two movements are extraordinary and raise this recording to a very high plane. Based on the three that I heard--and assuming that I listened to the same recording in the OP, which I am not all sure of-- I would rate it as a very competitive recording in a ridculously crowded field of contestants .

Richard, the recording of the Pastoral was made professionally from a live RFH concert on the date on the CD for the LPO Archive and has never been released before (the symphony is not a BBC recording as suggested by the label). The Egmont is from a recording of mine from a R3 broadcast.
Laurie

[Barbirollians]

Richard Osborne gave it a very good review in Gramophone I see .

[richardfinegold]

Richard, the recording of the Pastoral was made professionally from a live RFH concert on the date on the CD for the LPO Archive and has never been released before (the symphony is not a BBC recording as suggested by the label). The Egmont is from a recording of mine from a R3 broadcast.
Laurie

I will accept that Laurie, but Amazon US site lists two Pastorals with a 1992 recording date. Amazon is not always reliable
When it comes to dates, however

[Barbirollians]

I bought this on the basis of the recommendations on here and although there are lovely things in it and indeed a very good storm there are one or two rather irritating rits and what sounded like a dominant flute in the finale which I really did not like .

[richardfinegold]

I listened to Bruno Walter today. Now threre is a 6th for the ages

[cloughie]

I listened to Bruno Walter today. Now threre is a 6th for the ages

How 's it compare with E Kleiber CAO and the mono first Cluytens?

[richardfinegold]

How 's it compare with E Kleiber CAO and the mono first Cluytens?

I am unfamiliar with those two.

[Barbirollians]

A bit more genial than E Kleiber . I tend to prefer the stereo Cluytens and the mono LPO/ Kleiber - all of them are unmissable - as are Bohm, Boult and Kletzki IMO

[visualnickmos]

I listened to Bruno Walter today. Now threre is a 6th for the ages

That's the one! Timeless. I have the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.....

[richardfinegold]

That's the one! Timeless. I have the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.....

The "Columbia" SO was either the NY or the LA Phil, depending upon the coast that Walter was recording on

[Nick Armstrong]

The "Columbia" SO was either the NY or the LA Phil, depending upon the coast that Walter was recording on

Is that so? I had no idea!

And are you and yours back safe on the coast of Lake Michigan?

[Petrushka]

The "Columbia" SO was either the NY or the LA Phil, depending upon the coast that Walter was recording on

As most (all?) of the recordings made by the Columbia Symphony Orchestra were set down in Hollywood, my understanding was that most of the players were indeed members of the LA Philharmonic. The NYPO recorded with Walter in its own name, again, as far as I am aware but would be happy to learn of the correct situation if I'm mistaken.

[richardfinegold]

Is that so? I had no idea!

And are you and yours back safe on the coast of Lake Michigan?

Yes, back home, survived a week of broken air conditioner compressor in hot old Paree, Normandy a most absorbing jaunt, although I see in the news that the dairy farmers are blocking the road to Caen, glad I missed that. Took a croissant making class on Bastille Day and endangered my new Coronary Arteries by devouring the outcome.
Speaking of the shores of Lake Michigan, we will be attending the Grant Park SO in two days. Highlight (?) is the Saint-Saens 2nd PC, but at least it's a free concert in a beautiful setting (Millenium Park). Not quite the Proms but the best we midwesterners can do this time of year.
I should mention that re: Walter and the Columbia SO, while in New York it was substantially the Philharmonic, in LA there were significant numbers of freelancers augmenting a core from the LA Phil. Most of the freelancers were European emigres who made a living in Hollywood playing film music and were thought to be better than the LA Phil Musicians in the pre Zubin Mehta era.

[richardfinegold]

As most (all?) of the recordings made by the Columbia Symphony Orchestra were set down in Hollywood, my understanding was that most of the players were indeed members of the LA Philharmonic. The NYPO recorded with Walter in its own name, again, as far as I am aware but would be happy to learn of the correct situation if I'm mistaken.

The NYPO did make records with Walter under their own name but also were limited by their Union rules as to how much time they could spend playing and recording. To get around this a core of about 70 or so members "freelanced" as the Columbia SO, as they also did a few years earlier under Stokowski ("Stadium Symphony", not to be confused with the Philadelphia Orchestra also freelancing under Stokie as "The Robin Hood Dell Orchestra"). The LSO and Vienna Phil , among other notable Orchestras, did similar things for various contractural reasons.
Reportedly there was one Walter/Columbia Bruckner Symphony that used the West Coast iteration for the main job and used the East Coast iteration for some touch ups.