I'm pleased with my set of RVW symphonies, plus a few other works, conducted by Haitink,although I won't be getting rid of my Boult's,especially his stunning no 6.
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I love his Ravel on the CSOlabel!!Don’t cry for me
I go where music was born
J S Bach 1685-1750Comment
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I don't have many Haitink recordings, which I guess is a little daft, as in the time I've been attending live shows, it's been his that have always blown me away. I see now that his Bruckner 7 with the CSO from a couple of years ago is available. That was a first dipping into Bruckner for me when they played that at the Festival Hall and it was an evening I'll never forget. Man, I remember walking with my beau over Blackfriars bridge after, like I was walking on air and whatnot, all uplifted. I'll get that disc.
I did pick up that Haitink Ring cycle recently, though not the one folk are talking about here, obviously. Haven't got round to a full listen. No-one rate that one at all?Comment
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Haitink
It's hard to make a short list, and mine is going to repeat a lot of what's already been said. In no particular order...
1. Mahler Matinees (on DVD)
2. A bootleg video of the Mahler 8 he did in Amsterdam in 1987 - stunning and very different from the rather dull studio recording in his Philips complete cycle
3. Debussy, above all the Images and Nocturnes
4. Strauss, especially Till and Tod u. Verklaerung
5. VW symphonies
6. Elgar symphonies - these have really been growing on me
7. Wagner Tannhauser (not risking an umlaut) on EMI. I've only just heard this very recently and I thought it was quite wonderful
8. Mozart Figaro (Glyndebourne, on DVD)
9. Brahms - the Philips series of orchestral works that's just been reissued
10. Several Bruckner performances, especially the live Bruckner 8th on Profil with the Dresden Staatskapelle.
Has anyone yet heard his live Bavarian Radio Bruckner 5? I'm not sure if it's actually appeared yet.Comment
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Are you sure it isn't the performance to celebrate the centenary of the Concertgebouworkest in 1988?Originally posted by makropulos View Post
Remarkably this performance was nearly ten minutes shorter than the one the following day (as the tension of the live TV-broadcast and the presence of Queen Beatrix had ebbed away).Comment
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I was there for 'Meistersingers' with Uncle Bernie on the night that CovG gave its last complete performance before shut down: I didn't even try for tickets for the gala. Extraordinary: big John Tom as Sachs, Thomas Allen as Sixtus Beckmesser, Nancy Gustavson as Eva, and Catherine Wyn Rogers as Magdalena. I managed to get a standing ticket for the performance, as in those days you had to queue all day outside the Royal Opera, get your ticket at 3pm, then wait until the all clear, then the scrum up the stairs to blag your favourite standing places, then if you were lucky, when the lights went down, you could nip into a stalls seat. My friend had the art of nippage reduced to a fine art.
Anyway, on this great occasion, I was fortunate to meet another friend who had pressing business elsewhere, and offered me his stalls seat free of charge: I had some doubts, but he said that the 3rd act of Meistersingers was two hours long. So there I was, the comfort of a seat, for the final act before domesday: even Sir Jeremy Isaacs came on stage to deliver a eulogy that we must pledge to be here once the Opera House reopened.
The greatest opera I've ever been to (except Rattle's 'Parsifal' at the Proms of course: the most staggering, wonderful thing I have ever witnessed)Comment
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Roehre, you're completely right, of course! Yes it's that performance - my fingers must have been doing the thinking for me when I typed the wrong year.Originally posted by Roehre View PostComment
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A quick reply to Makropoulos on the Bruckner 5 which Alison wrote about on the BBC MB and about which I have effused as well. It's a recent performance (February 2010), well recorded in the Philharmonie - and really very fine. Best recorded Bruckner 5 I've ever heard - and a tribute to Haitink's great understanding of Bruckner. He never loses sight of the architecture of this symphony - and, although it may not be for those who like their Bruckner taken at a lick, it just sounds, well, right. And, as I said earlier, I just wanted to stand up and cheer at the end.Comment
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the Vaughan Williams Symphony cycle he did with the LPO on EMI was great"Perfection is not attainable,but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence"Comment
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Thanks, HighlandDougie. I'll order it tonight - sounds tremendous!Originally posted by HighlandDougie View PostComment
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It's one of the £100 worth of CD's I've bought myself for Christmas - not to be opened until the 25th!Originally posted by makropulos View Post"The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard HaitinkComment
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Petrushka
I assume youve listened to all of your trips-to-London discs purchased during Proms 2010 !Comment
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Petrushka -How about the BBCNOW Petrushka ??
To get back on topic, I'd briefly say that the EMI Haitink Ring is a good set to own especially at its current asking price.
It feels a trifle studio bound at times and does not fully convey the magic of the Covent Garden performances many of us
were privileged to attend. Any newcomer to Wagner would find much to enjoy and can go on to explore more charismatic
accounts as the years go by. At least one hugely knowlegeable chap I know ranks the Walkure as the best version on disc
- and he's got them all.Comment
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I've now listened to the Bavarian Radio Bruckner 5 online (it's on the Naxos Music Library) and can't wait for a real copy to arrive. I agree with Alison and HighlandD about this performance - it's absolutely tremendous. And I say that as someone who has always found Bruckner 5 a tougher nut to crack than most of the other great Bruckner symphonies.Comment
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