BaL 27.12.14 - Schubert: Symphony no. 8 in B minor

[edashtav]

Hey ED.....
Warmest greetings on this coldest and darkest of nights... But you know what? It's past 0200, so it's time for a hot toddy, tweed coat, torch and wellies - those bird feeders need topping up for the dawn...

So I'll take a rain check, or maybe a frost check, on that one...

Gosh or goshawk, Jayne, I've always thought that nobody except my wee wife, Anne, filled their bird-tables in the wee small hours before dawn.

[gurnemanz]

Away when it was broadcast, I've just listened to podcast. I bought Norrington when it came out (1990), probably persuaded by an enthusiastic review from the late lamented John Steane in the Gramophone, of which I was an avid reader at the time. I thought the case was made on BaL. I remember enjoying its fresh approach when I first got it and have appreciated its qualities ever since but would not want it to be my only version. I seem to have a lot of Unfinisheds. With Goodman, it's on the shelf as an alternative listening experience to Sawallisch, Karajan, Bernstein, Jochum, Furtwängler and a rather scratchy wartime Mengelelberg.

I note that on the same Virgin Twofer you also get the Fourth which was Richard Wigmore's BaL recommendation in Nov 2012. Wigmore is a man with impressive Schubertian credentials and I don't know that recording at all and have just dipped into the programme out of curiosity.

[visualnickmos]

I have just listened to the complete(!) 'winner' and although I quite enjoyed it, it didn't have the same impact as say, Kertesz, who did not get even a mention, let alone a look-in, at which I was very surprised - unless I missed it. Kertesz with the VPO is fantastic - the whole set, not just the 8th.

[cloughie]

I have just listened to the complete(!) 'winner' and although I quite enjoyed it, it didn't have the same impact as say, Kertesz, who did not get even a mention, let alone a look-in, at which I was very surprised - unless I missed it. Kertesz with the VPO is fantastic - the whole set, not just the 8th.

I'd forgotten the Kertesz - yes a great set! - RC was so impressed by the Norrington this morning that he owned up to his preferences of Bohm and Klemperer - I think I like his choices!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

But as I said earlier, there appear to be sound balance problems at the start of the 1st movement of the Kertesz.

[visualnickmos]

I'd forgotten the Kertesz - yes a great set! - RC was so impressed by the Norrington this morning that he owned up to his preferences of Bohm and Klemperer - I think I like his choices!

Yes - rather 'pointed' wasn't it! I liked his choices, too.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

There are few flies on Rob.

[vinteuil]

... Mr Cowan's comfort zone for recordings seems solidly fixed in the 1950s and 1960s.

I don't think he has ever really escaped that historical sound.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Historical sound? Modern sound seems to aim at being as old as possible. The sound of modern instruments is then perceived as old.

It's a funny old game.

[Barbirollians]

I have just been enjoying the wonderful HIPP sounds of Bruggen's Decca Beethoven Fourth Symphony - doesn't stop me thinking that the Norrington Schubert 8 sounds like a run-through !

[verismissimo]

... Mr Cowan's comfort zone for recordings seems solidly fixed in the 1950s and 1960s.

I don't think he has ever really escaped that historical sound.

And it's not at all what I think of as historical, vints. Now 1900-1925 (and the arrival of the microphone), that's historical! Pre 1900 is beyond the pale sonically, even for me.

[Barbirollians]

I thought I should give Mr de Souza's BAL a listen - a wasted 45 minutes of my life . He has a view of the symphony that I do not share and one that seemed entirely to miss its extraordinary emotional content . He seemed to believe that this stunningly beautiful music should not be beautiful .Hence ,his choice of a matter of fact run-through like reading.

[Barbirollians]

Having listened on i-player to the Norrington , my tape of which has long since bit the dust , my recollections were confirmed . Aggressive , monochromatic and dull .

I liked Rob's Freudian slip when quoting de Souza about grasping rather than gasping at the speeds.

[Bryn]

Having listened on i-player to the Norrington , my tape of which has long since bit the dust , my recollections were confirmed . Aggressive , monochromatic and dull .

I liked Rob's Freudian slip when quoting de Souza about grasping rather than gasping at the speeds.

Yup, "Aggressive , monochromatic and dull", sums up your recollections for me too. Many thanks to RN for helping to scrape away the 20th Century accretions of sentimentality which so vitiated the composer's own stand on such matters.

[Barbirollians]

Yup, "Aggressive , monochromatic and dull", sums up your recollections for me too. Many thanks to RN for helping to scrape away the 20th Century accretions of sentimentality which so vitiated the composer's own stand on such matters.

How childish . You like it I don't there is no need for petty personal attacks just because someone disagree with you .