BaL 29.11.14 - Schumann: Symphony no. 2

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  • Nick Armstrong
    Host
    • Nov 2010
    • 26524

    Originally posted by visualnickmos View Post
    It was in fact, LB's later (VPO) example that MR Wigmore played. I think some of LB's later (namely VPO recordings) lost some of the 'zip' that his NYPO recordings possessed.
    ... ditto some of the Israel Phil recordings, imo.
    "...the isle is full of noises,
    Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
    Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
    Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."

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    • cloughie
      Full Member
      • Dec 2011
      • 22116

      Originally posted by visualnickmos View Post
      But try LB's NYPO for size! Mega-good
      Or his NYStadiumSO from the early 50s!

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      • ferneyhoughgeliebte
        Gone fishin'
        • Sep 2011
        • 30163

        Originally posted by cloughie View Post
        Or his NYStadiumSO from the early 50s!
        Oh, Yes!

        Wasn't Schumann #2 on the programme of Lennie's famous "first" concert where he substituted for an indisposed Bruno Walter?
        [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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        • ferneyhoughgeliebte
          Gone fishin'
          • Sep 2011
          • 30163

          New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra, Leonard BernsteinRecorded 1953


          New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra, Leonard BernsteinRecorded 1953


          New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra, Leonard BernsteinRecorded 1953



          "It turns out that, with proper care taken by the conductor, there is no problem of balance within the orchestration" - You tell 'em Lennie!
          [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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          • Karafan
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 786

            Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwPKz-nv-LI

            New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra, Leonard BernsteinRecorded 1953


            New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra, Leonard BernsteinRecorded 1953



            "It turns out that, with proper care taken by the conductor, there is no problem of balance within the orchestration" - You tell 'em Lennie!
            Thanks for that, Ferney!
            "Let me have my own way in exactly everything, and a sunnier and more pleasant creature does not exist." Thomas Carlyle

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            • makropulos
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 1669

              Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
              Oh, Yes!

              Wasn't Schumann #2 on the programme of Lennie's famous "first" concert where he substituted for an indisposed Bruno Walter?
              No - but it was a piece he conducted very often all through his career.

              Re the "first" concert (14 November 1943), there was Schumann on the programme:
              Schumann: Manfred Overture
              Rosza: Theme, Variations and Finale
              Strauss: Don Quixote
              Wagner: Meistersinger Overture

              For a very early Lenny Schumann 2, the West Hill Radio Archives box of LB historic broadcast performances includes Schumann 2 from 23 March 1946 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Well worth a listen!
              Last edited by makropulos; 02-12-14, 23:25. Reason: Added last sentence

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              • Barbirollians
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 11671

                It is so encouraging one just has to mention Lenny and the thread takes off - my VPO/Bernstein order is apparently on its way !!!

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                • makropulos
                  Full Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 1669

                  Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                  It is so encouraging one just has to mention Lenny and the thread takes off - my VPO/Bernstein order is apparently on its way !!!
                  I agree - great to have such a lively thread - and I do hope you're not disappointed!

                  Comment

                  • Barbirollians
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 11671

                    Originally posted by makropulos View Post
                    I agree - great to have such a lively thread - and I do hope you're not disappointed!
                    I am looking forward to it ! I may not agree with every Bernstein decision but I have a lot of his records and none of them I have ever regretted buying- not even that late duo of Tchaikovsky 6 and Dvorak 9 -extraordinary performances

                    I see there is a DG box of those 1953 recordings coupled in each case with Lenny's talk - oh dear that has gone in the basket too

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                    • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                      Gone fishin'
                      • Sep 2011
                      • 30163

                      Originally posted by makropulos View Post
                      No - but it was a piece he conducted very often all through his career.
                      Thanks for that, makro!

                      Originally posted by Barbirollians
                      that late duo of Tchaikovsky 6

                      and Dvorak 9
                      [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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                      • jayne lee wilson
                        Banned
                        • Jul 2011
                        • 10711

                        Am I missing something, I thought, after Wigmore's BaL praise for Yannick Nezet-Seguin's 2nd? I had been fascinated by 1 & 3, drawn back to them, enjoying them more and more. So - back to No.2...

                        Long story short, after further system-tuning (and a really hefty boost to volume) I was able to achieve a warmer, more immediate sound, bringing the detail into the room more vividly.
                        Then HiFiNews arrived, and Chris Breunig made Ticciati's cycle his Album Choice, with this:
                        "Ticciati's very individual interpretations, which rank as some of the most insightful to be had (far superior, to my mind, to the recent hard-driven Nezet-Seguin series which others seem to like)..."
                        It would have been easy it leave it there, right?

                        Well, no. N-Z's 2nd - in the 1st movement especially - is a hi-energy, often explosive reading, but one not without expressive subtlety, rather in the way Pruslin commented on : those slight variations within a haupttempo, relaxing into a second subject without obvious tempo reduction. With a more sympathetic balance there is much beautiful playing to be heard in the adagio, you note how the scherzo repeats are nicely varied, the trios sweet and songful, and the finale really thrilling with a terrific final impact (as are all the finales here)...
                        BUT with a cool, distant recording/system balance, with a high speed 1st movement to condition your responses, these things are easily missed (or misjudged). That's why the reviews have diverged so much, and why I've had such a tussle with it myself. But I dislike being unfair to performers, and Yannick N-S does have something special to offer in this repertoire. A marvellously jaunty sense of rhythm, especially in finales, among much else.

                        No.4 didn't improve though. Despite some lovely playing, the first 3 movements still seem too safe, and dynamically constrained - you find yourself urging the music into bigger climaxes than ever quite arrive; then the finale explodes with rhythm, dynamics - and infectious joy and brilliance, one of the best I've ever heard. Perhaps it was edited in from a different performance?

                        It's a flawed, often very exciting cycle, this. Bouncy and foot-tapping, sometimes rushing past in a blur - but with such fresh ideas interpretatively that any obsessive Schumanista should try to get a listen. BUT it ​is system-sensitive, and you'll need a big soundstage and high volume to appreciate its unique rewards...

                        (**Travellers on the hi-res highway - note that Holliger's Schumann is available direct from Audite in 24/48 res., and for FAR less money than lossless/CD elsewhere! Vol. 1 looks worth a shot...)
                        Last edited by jayne lee wilson; 04-12-14, 20:13.

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                        • Karafan
                          Full Member
                          • Nov 2010
                          • 786

                          Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                          I see there is a DG box of those 1953 recordings coupled in each case with Lenny's talk - oh dear that has gone in the basket too
                          Do you have a link please, dear Barbs?
                          "Let me have my own way in exactly everything, and a sunnier and more pleasant creature does not exist." Thomas Carlyle

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                          • cloughie
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2011
                            • 22116

                            Originally posted by Karafan View Post
                            Do you have a link please, dear Barbs?

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                            • Nick Armstrong
                              Host
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 26524

                              Wow - 23 quid for the downloads versus 67 for the CDs ... no contest!
                              "...the isle is full of noises,
                              Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
                              Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
                              Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."

                              Comment

                              • Barbirollians
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 11671

                                Originally posted by Caliban View Post
                                Wow - 23 quid for the downloads versus 67 for the CDs ... no contest!
                                The box I ordered last night was £20 !

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