BaL 12.10.24 - Beethoven: Symphony 4

[Alison]

From previous experience I don’t really trust Richard Wigmore in Beethoven. Like Barbs, my first thought was Adam Fischer.

No sneering at HvK please!

[HighlandDougie]

Apologies to Alison.but what does, "I don’t really trust Richard Wigmore in Beethoven", mean?

[Alison]

So authoritative in Haydn, I felt he didn’t really penetrate to the core of Beethoven 8 when selecting Paavo Jarvi. It was as if the Eighth were just another standard classical symphony.

[HighlandDougie]

So authoritative in Haydn, I felt he didn’t really penetrate to the core of Beethoven 8 when selecting Paavo Jarvi. It was as if the Eighth were just another standard classical symphony.

Well, yes, I really don't like that version of the 8th at all - so we'll see. I do, though, have time for Adam Fischer - admittedly in relatively small doses. Kirill Kondrashin in LvB 4th for me.Wonderful!

[Barbirollians]

Actually ,Adam F’s 1st is rather good but wouldn’t be my library version .

1962 HVK would win for me with the Philips Bruggen recording.

[silvestrione]

Well, yes, I really don't like that version of the 8th at all - so we'll see. I do, though, have time for Adam Fischer - admittedly in relatively small doses. Kirill Kondrashin in LvB 4th for me.Wonderful!

Ah yes, with the advantage over HvK of an exposition repeat!

[Retune]

Manacorda takes the win. Didn't see that coming before the broadcast. Mackerras and Norrington runners up.

[HighlandDougie]

I bought the Manacorda set a couple of months ago and have very much enjoyed listening to it so would endorse Richard Wigmore's enthusiasm. Very glad that Järvi was shown the door, as it were. "Breathless" indeed, just like his 8th. I was present at the Mackerras performance in the Usher Hall. I liked it then and continue to do so. An enjoyable BaL, I thought.

[silvestrione]

I bought the Manacorda set a couple of months ago and have very much enjoyed listening to it so would endorse Richard Wigmore's enthusiasm. Very glad that Järvi was shown the door, as it were. "Breathless" indeed, just like his 8th. I was present at the Mackerras performance in the Usher Hall. I liked it then and continue to do so. An enjoyable BaL, I thought.

Yes indeed, very enjoyable. I am probably a bit 'stuck in a rut' with full symphony orchestra performances (I like the Chailly and Abbado, played, and the Rattle, just mentioned; I used to have the Ivan Fischer, but don't seem to have kept it!) and very much enjoyed the extracts from smaller forces.

[pastoralguy]

I was present at the Mackerras performance in the Usher Hall. I liked it then and continue to do so. An enjoyable BaL, I thought.

Yes, I was there as well. A friend in the SCO said the orchestra knew that something rather special was happening at these hastily arranged concerts.

[Pulcinella]

Manacorda takes the win. Didn't see that coming before the broadcast. Mackerras and Norrington runners up.

Thanks. Website update added to OP too.

Recommended version
Kammerakademie Potsdam
Antonello Manacorda (conductor)
Sony 19658849982

[Alison]

I’ve sampled the Manacorda set and ordered the CDs this afternoon. No complaints with RW on this occasion; good descriptions of the music which he clearly knows very well

[Barbirollians]

Very predictable that Wigmore would start with the Fischer brothers.

I am more than prepared to be convinced by Manacorda after that Eroica but not at all surprised by his top two - Wigmore tends to go for HIPP influenced modern chamber orchestras . Look at his choices for symphonies 1 and 8.

The 1962 HVK extract swept the board !

[Barbirollians]

Surprised no mention of Savall.

[richardfinegold]

I heard the Ninth from this team and thought it was lightweight. The Fourth is a different kind of work, obviously