Record Review: One to avoid

[LMcD]

Ah - so when our list of available recordings comes out before each BAL we should have a chance to give thumbs down to ones we particularly don't like.

I guess that depends on how many of those recordings you've heard - in my case, not many!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

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... the only time I knew immediately that a CD I had acquired was a complete disaster was the Franck Symphony with Giulini and the Vienna Philharmonic, 1993 -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000083Y2X

Unbearably sluggish. I am still surprized it was ever released...

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That reminds me of the Bernstein recording of the same work with the French National Orchestra. Not too bad as a performance, but the worse early digital sound that even DG could muster - and this was their worst era from a technical point of view.

[Pulcinella]

I guess that depends on how many of those recordings you've heard - in my case, not many!

Same here in this case, but many forumites have very broad knowledge: comments on a work such as 'I'd avoid X's recording, as it doesn't include the first movement exposition repeat' could be useful background for others, for example, for whom that mattered.

[LMcD]

Same here in this case, but many forumites have very broad knowledge: comments on a work such as 'I'd avoid X's recording, as it doesn't include the first movement exposition repeat' could be useful background for others, for example, for whom that mattered.

I'm always willing to learn from other Forumites!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In the case of Alpine Symphonies, ones to avoid are both versions by Franz Welser-Möst, the earlier one by Sir Andrew Davis, and I do find Karl Böhm’s reading to be rather dull. Not many people agree with me about Karajan’s DG recording (but that’s DG’s fault, not Karajan’s; the live DVD version is far superior).
One definitely to steer clear of is Franz Konwitschny’s disastrously and incompetently edited version has a lap-dissolve that repeats two or three minutes’ music at the “summit”.

[mathias broucek]

In the case of Alpine Symphonies, ones to avoid are both versions by Franz Welser-Möst...

Glad it's not just me!

[visualnickmos]

In the case of Alpine Symphonies, ones to avoid are both versions by Franz Welser-Möst, the earlier one by Sir Andrew Davis, and I do find Karl Böhm’s reading to be rather dull. Not many people agree with me about Karajan’s DG recording (but that’s DG’s fault, not Karajan’s; the live DVD version is far superior).
One definitely to steer clear of is Franz Konwitschny’s disastrously and incompetently edited version has a lap-dissolve that repeats two or three minutes’ music at the “summit”.

I have a fair few 'Alpensinf....' including, (I write with a red face!) the Welser-Most (EMI) I was unaware that he'd recorded another one!

[ARBurton]

No, not the programme itself (enough of us are doing that already), but recordings to avoid.

Like others, I would much prefer the return of Interpretations on record; Building a library seems to have outlived its time, as it’s probably fair to say that there are now many recordings of works that are at worst quite adequate for any newcomer, who may well stream several versions anyway and not be saving up precious pocket money to buy something very special to start a collection with.

What might be more fun would be to have a parallel ‘One to avoid’ thread for each week’s chosen work, with reasons. BBC Music Magazine does this in their very limited written Building a library article each month.

This year’s lemons are:
Schubert: Death and the maiden; Manderling Quartett
Nielsen: S4; CBSO/Rattle
Chopin: Piano sonata 2; Pogorelich
Gershwin: Piano concerto; Previn/Pittsburgh
Brahms: Clarinet quintet; Leister and Amadeus Quartet
JSB: B minor mass; Karajan (1952/3)
Sibelius: S5; BPO/Karajan
Shostakovich: S5; Russian NO/Berglund
Haydn: Creation; Karajan’s first
Janacek: Taras Bulba; NDRSO/JEG
Pergolesi: Stabat mater; Pappano

Who’s going to be brave enough to start the ball rolling for the Mozart Gran partita?

Another article section I rather like in BBC MM is ‘I’d like another go at’ in the interviews with artists, in which they talk about how their interpretation of a work might have changed since their original recording.

Bit late to this thread, but what was the issue with HvK`s first Haydn Creation?? Of the umpteen recordings I have I think it`s one of the best!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Bit late to this thread, but what was the issue with HvK`s first Haydn Creation?? Of the umpteen recordings I have I think it`s one of the best!

It is an extraordinary list, with choices seemingly arbitrary and intended to cause "discussion" and stir controversy. To deny oneself the infinite pleasure of Gundula Janowitz's contributions to this set suggests a degree of oedipal masochism probably not shared by the majority of BBCMusMag purchasers. (Wunderlitz is wunderbar, too.) Karajan makes some cuts in the score which prevents the set from being a "top" recommendation, and the use of an extra tenor to record the recitatives because of Wunderlitz's death might be a cause for concern to some delicate souls, too - but to advise readers to "avoid" it completely is irrational. (IIRC, Karajan's digital remake also has those cuts, so the logic - of there is any - of singling out the first recording on those grounds is irrelevant.)

Similarly, the Karajan Sibelius Fifth cannot be put at the top of a list of recommended recordings because the sound quality is a bit "muffly" (more recent remasterings than the copy i have may have improved matters) and because of Karajan's lifelong practice of ignoring the silences between the final chords - but why the '60s version is singled out in this respect ... Otherwise (Mrs President) I'm with Richard Osborne and Glenn Gould in my admiration of "the multi-faceted splendours" of the recording. (The Fifth was the Sibelius work most frequently programmed by Karajan, appearing 26 times during the period 1950 - 1979; the composer himself greatly admired his first recording with the Philharmonia.)

Not sure why Rattle's Nielsen #4 was so greeted, either - it's not the best performance on record, but there are others that could also be so described - and if the Previn Gershwin set might not be regarded by some as up to the standards he'd set in his earlier recording, the instruction/advice to "avoid" it is baffling.

On the face of it, cheap sensationalism rather than useful advice. I'm sure Forumistas can do much, much better in their own replies to the BaL Threads that Pulcie suggests.

[mathias broucek]

Agreed. The barrier for "avoid" needs to be set higher/lower

I would suggest Klemperer's Philharmonia Bruckner 8 which is cut in the finale and not particularly well played

[jayne lee wilson]

Agreed. The barrier for "avoid" needs to be set higher/lower

I would suggest Klemperer's Philharmonia Bruckner 8 which is cut in the finale and not particularly well played

The much-reissued Knappertsbusch (Doblinger/Schalk) Bruckner 5th could be described in very similar terms.... definitely another member of the what-were-they-thinking-of club...

You come out of that one thinking....I have supped full with horrors....

(Great fan of Kna usually though!)

[mathias broucek]

The much-reissued Knappertsbusch (Doblinger/Schalk) Bruckner 5th could be described in very similar terms.... definitely another member of the what-were-they-thinking-of club...

You come out of that one thinking....I have supped full with horrors....

(Great fan of Kna usually though!)

The horror! I'd forgotten about that. IIRC Botstein has recorded the Schalk 5th in modern sound. Why?????

[Alain Maréchal]

Similarly, the Karajan Sibelius Fifth cannot be put at the top of a list of recommended recordings because the sound quality is a bit "muffly" (more recent remasterings than the copy i have may have improved matters) and because of Karajan's lifelong practice of ignoring the silences between the final chords - but why the '60s version is singled out in this respect ... Otherwise (Mrs President) I'm with Richard Osborne and Glenn Gould in my admiration of "the multi-faceted splendours" of the recording. (The Fifth was the Sibelius work most frequently programmed by Karajan, appearing 26 times during the period 1950 - 1979; the composer himself greatly admired his first recording with the Philharmonia.)

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I have known Karajan's first Berlin recording since it appeared, I have always thought highly of it, and I have never had any problems with the sound on LP. It is possible that whenever I hear a digitized version my internal ear hears the LP. I can understand the objections to the spacing of the final chords, but I can forgive them as interpretative license* (even if the score insists on strict tempo). I am always impressed by the power generated towards the end of the slow movement (the effect of which may, I think, be lost in digital remasterings).

* licence?

[Alison]

The horror! I'd forgotten about that. IIRC Botstein has recorded the Schalk 5th in modern sound. Why?????

Having read a good review somewhere, definitely one of my worst ever purchases.

[Felix the Gnat]

Ives 4 - Seiji Ozawa, Boston SO, DG. A complete mess.