Ruslan and Ludmilla speed record

[Roslynmuse]

Very interesting view ferret. It doesn't seem very long ago that received wisdom seemed to be saying that works generally got performed more slowly as time went by. I think that the argument went that, with romantic and post-romantic works especially, conductors' searches for ever-deeper 'emotion' and 'significance' led inevitably to ponderous tempi. Then I suppose, along came HIPP and the accretions in the classical era got stripped away - eg by the discovery that Beethoven's metronome couldn't simply be assumed to have been faulty.

So maybe we've seen a reversal of a process in less than a lifetime?

I think the general rule might be slow music has become slower and fast music faster. But you could probably find as many exceptions to the rule as examples - and much has to do with the 'version of choice' most regularly broadcast (for example) or recommended, causing a trail of influence.

[Keraulophone]

How about this HIPP version?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMvOLepoBO8

... = 4' 38".

Mravinsky had mellowed to 5'10 by 1973, but this 1965 classic is spellbinding: the heft / sweep / articulation of those fiddles, all moving as if their lives depended on keeping up to tempo.

The Marriage of Figaro Overture on that old Melodiya LP (the sleeve smelt of Politburo glue) is also pretty electrifying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y80rQMI53wE

[cloughie]

that old Melodiya LP (the sleeve smelt of Politburo glue):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y80rQMI53wE

Wasn't it the Artia label which had red linson covers with stuck on labels down the spine?

[Keraulophone]

Wasn't it the Artia label which had red linson covers with stuck on labels down the spine?

According to Mravinsky's online discography, this performance has been (re)issued as follows:

1965/2/23, Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Live; RE: Aleksandr Grosman
LP: Melodiya SM 02864 (1971) B-371
CD: Melodiya MCD 223 (1988)
CD: Melodiya MCD 5002, 6 disc set
CD: Andromeda ANR 2531 (1994)
LP: Ariola 80588XAK (1976)
CT: Ariola VS 122K (1976)
CD: Artists FED 044 (1993), 2 disc set
CD: BMG 74321-25191-2 (1995)
CD: BMG(Japan) BVCX 4008 (1996)
CD: BMG(Japan) BVCX 4028 (1997)
LP: Chant du Monde LDX 78705/6 (1981)
LP: JVC VIC 5067 (1977)
LP: JVC VIC 9544 (1985)
CD: JVC VDC 1115 (1986)
CD: JVC VICC 2031 (1990)
CT: Linfair 13007 (1987)
CD: Olympia OCD 223 (1988)
CD: Olympia OCD 5002, 6 disc set
LP: Shinsekai SMK 7712 (1972)
LP: Shinsekai MKX 2010 (1975)

IMO the 1971 Melodiya smells the most authentic!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

IMO the 1971 Melodiya smells the most authentic!

[Flay]

I usually end up feeling cheated when I hear performances of R & L that overdo the speed. However the final movement of Tchaik 4 often gets the same speed treatment - but in that situation it works. Allegro con fuoco with knobs on!