Sun-drenched moments from Boult's Indian Summer?

[Karafan]

Afternoon all,

I wondered if anybody had yet the chance yet to sample the recent ICA Classics release featuring Boult's Indian Summer Proms performances of the Brahms and Mendelssohn 4th symphonies? The Italian symphony is with the RPO and dates from 29th July 1972, while the Brahms is with the BBCSO and was recorded on 8th August 1975, both in the RAH.

http://icartists.co.uk/classics/catalog/cds/sir-adrian-boult-1

Cheers

Karafan

[richardfinegold]

Afternoon all,

I wondered if anybody had yet the chance yet to sample the recent ICA Classics release featuring Boult's Indian Summer Proms performances of the Brahms and Mendelssohn 4th symphonies? The Italian symphony is with the RPO and dates from 29th July 1972, while the Brahms is with the BBCSO and was recorded on 8th August 1975, both in the RAH.

http://icartists.co.uk/classics/catalog/cds/sir-adrian-boult-1

Cheers

Karafan

It looks interesting. What would hold me back is that when I was in the U.K. last fall I purchased an ica recording of Boult
in Brahms 1 and the Elgar Enigma Variations. The sonics are very dim, well below the standard of what I would expect for an early 1970s recording.

[Karafan]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brahms-Symphony-Mendlessohn-Italian-Classics/dp/B00B5H09OY/ref=sr_1_1_digr?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1362242748&sr=1-1

How do they compare Richard?

[Barbirollians]

It looks interesting. What would hold me back is that when I was in the U.K. last fall I purchased an ica recording of Boult
in Brahms 1 and the Elgar Enigma Variations. The sonics are very dim, well below the standard of what I would expect for an early 1970s recording.

Perhaps you have a dodgy copy ? I have had no problems with that or the Brahms 3 Elgar 1 coupling .

[Petrushka]

Perhaps you have a dodgy copy ? I have had no problems with that or the Brahms 3 Elgar 1 coupling .

The Brahms 1/Elgar Enigma sounds fine to me as well. Look like the Brahms/Mendelssohn is another for the ever-expanding wish list.

I live in hope that ICA will release the Elgar 2 from the 1977 Proms.

[richardfinegold]

The Brahms 1/Elgar Enigma sounds fine to me as well. Look like the Brahms/Mendelssohn is another for the ever-expanding wish list.

I live in hope that ICA will release the Elgar 2 from the 1977 Proms.

I'll give Brahms 1 disc a rehear, but my recollection was that I had toturn thelevel up significantly, and that the midrange was muddy. I

[Barbirollians]

The Brahms 1/Elgar Enigma sounds fine to me as well. Look like the Brahms/Mendelssohn is another for the ever-expanding wish list.

I live in hope that ICA will release the Elgar 2 from the 1977 Proms.

Me too - that Elgar 2 sounds like hidden treasure .

[Pabmusic]

It's an enjoyable pairing, but it amuses me that the Italian Symphony is hailed by ICA as unusual repertoire for Boult. He made two commercial recordings with the LPO, in 1954 and 1966, just as many as he made of RVW's London Symphony.

[Pabmusic]

I got to thinking; what commercial recordings still await CD release? Here's a few, all (I think) stereo, that I don't think have been on CD yet. I haven't included the wealth of mono recordings from the early 50s.

Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty Suites (RPO/EMI Columbia/1967)

With the LPO for World Record Club (1965-1967):

Saint-Saens: Wedding Cake Caprice (Gwynneth Prior)
Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre
Gershwin: Cuban Overture
Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary (Gordon Webb)
Falla: Ritual Fire Dance
Ponchielli: Dance of the Hours
Suppe: Poet & Peasant Overture
Bruch: Kol Nidrei (Christopher Bunting)
Wolf-Ferrari: Jewels of the Madonna Intermezzo
Stravinsky: Circus Polka
Walton: Portsmouth Point
Brahms: Academic Festival
Mozart: Magic Flute Overture
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto (Hyman Bress)
Beethoven: Romance 2 (Hyman Bress)
Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen (Hyman Bress)
Tchaikovsky: Piano Conc. 1 (Cherkassky)
Littolf: Scherzo (Cherkassky)
Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto (Maureen Smith)
Grieg: Piano Concerto (Cherkassky)
Schumann: Piano Concerto (Cherkassky)

With the LPO for Miller International:

Beethoven: Eroica (1961)
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 5 & 6, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet (1959)
Brahms: Symphony 1 (1959)

With the Scottish National for Waverley (1963)

Elgar: Symphony 2

With the New Philharmonia (1965)

Sergei Barsukov: Piano Concerto 2 (Barsukov)

With the Vienna Symphony Orchestra for Pye (1959)

Mozart: Symphony 40 & Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Chopin: Piano Concs 1 & 2 (Barbara Hesse-Bukowska)
Liszt: Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (Edith Farnadi)

With the LPO for Allied/Concert Hall (1959)

Haydn: Symphony 104
Mozart: Haffner Symphony
Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien

With the RPO for HMV (1956)

Dohnanyi: Piano Concerto no. 2 & Nursery Variations (Erno Dohnanyi)

Many of these are already owned by EMI, so it ought to be possible to devise a box.

[Ferretfancy]

I have Dohnanyi's recording on CD of the Nursery Variations with the RPO and Boult. It's coupled with Sargent's excellent recording of the Suite for Orchestra Op. 19
The disc was issued as CDM763183 2 on the EMI Studio Label
It's an interesting performance in good if rather plummy early stereo from 1956 when Dohnanyi was 79. There are are a few fumbles, but it's well worth hearing. Boult was obviously fond of the Variations, and nothing really touches the Julius Katchen version which he recorded twice for Decca, once in mono, and later in stereo.

[richardfinegold]

Listened to the Boult First (just I, actually, returned from vacation late last night) on ICA. I have changed my mind. I wouldn't describe the sonics as top notch but it is certainly listenable. I listened this time on a new disc player, the Oppo BD-105, which has 32 bit DAC, so this may be affecting my perceptions as well.
I notice that the performance was in Albert Hall, which has a reputation as being a challenge to recording engineers.
For comparison sake I played a few minutes of Boult's 1957 recording of Beethoven's Eroica on the same player. This is a studio account, and here reproduced as a DVD-A, but it is really striking how much better the earlier studio recording is, despite being 20 years older than the Brahms.
The Brahms 1 has a fair amount of audience noise, which the Oppo seems to reproduce faithfully. The Brahms 4/Mendelssohn sells here on Amazon for the same amount as a used copy of Boult's 3 disc set of all the Brahms' symphonies with the LSO and LPO. For $25 more, I could purchase the recent big Boult EMI set
that has the Brahms symphonies and all that Wagner. I opted for the 3 disc set of all the Symphonies, but I'd be curious to see how those who purchase the ICA
disc rate the Italian Symphony performance, perhaps in comparison to the studio accounts that Pab references.

[amateur51]

Listened to the Boult First (just I, actually, returned from vacation late last night) on ICA. I have changed my mind. I wouldn't describe the sonics as top notch but it is certainly listenable. I listened this time on a new disc player, the Oppo BD-105, which has 32 bit DAC, so this may be affecting my perceptions as well.
I notice that the performance was in Albert Hall, which has a reputation as being a challenge to recording engineers.
For comparison sake I played a few minutes of Boult's 1957 recording of Beethoven's Eroica on the same player. This is a studio account, and here reproduced as a DVD-A, but it is really striking how much better the earlier studio recording is, despite being 20 years older than the Brahms.
The Brahms 1 has a fair amount of audience noise, which the Oppo seems to reproduce faithfully. The Brahms 4/Mendelssohn sells here on Amazon for the same amount as a used copy of Boult's 3 disc set of all the Brahms' symphonies with the LSO and LPO. For $25 more, I could purchase the recent big Boult EMI set
that has the Brahms symphonies and all that Wagner. I opted for the 3 disc set of all the Symphonies, but I'd be curious to see how those who purchase the ICA
disc rate the Italian Symphony performance, perhaps in comparison to the studio accounts that Pab references.

i can't deny your maths re the Boult Big Box, rfg but I would emphasise that we are beginning to realise with the release of previously hidden 'live' performances that Boult 'live' could be a very different musical animal from Boult in the studio.

Personally I'd never miss the opportunity to listen to/own a Boult 'live' performance.

Mind you, that's almost a given for the studio recordings too

[Petrushka]

i can't deny your maths re the Boult Big Box, rfg but I would emphasise that we are beginning to realise with the release of previously hidden 'live' performances that Boult 'live' could be a very different musical animal from Boult in the studio.

Personally I'd never miss the opportunity to listen to/own a Boult 'live' performance.

Mind you, that's almost a given for the studio recordings too

I'd second all of this. Don't forget that the ICA discs are of live perfomances that were never intended for commercial release and, yes, the Albert Hall is notoriously tricky for the engineers though the BBC get consistently impressive results from a difficult venue. Takng these things into account I, for one, am very glad to have them and willingly accept any slight technical imperfections including audience 'noise'.

[richardfinegold]

i can't deny your maths re the Boult Big Box, rfg but I would emphasise that we are beginning to realise with the release of previously hidden 'live' performances that Boult 'live' could be a very different musical animal from Boult in the studio.

Personally I'd never miss the opportunity to listen to/own a Boult 'live' performance.



Mind you, that's almost a given for the studio recordings too

It will be fun to compare the studio Brahms 1 with the live version. I have a feeling that I'll be shelling out for the ICA discs
ultimately.

[seabright]

One of the pieces pabmusic mentions in #9 is Jeremiah Clarke's 'Trumpet Voluntary.' Having heard Boult's splendid recording on You Tube, I reckon it ought to be a regular Last Night item because it's in Sir Henry Wood's orchestration and would make a great 'starter' to the second half. To whom can we suggest it? ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTY9kmzr4Lc