BaL 31.10.15 - Berg: Violin Concerto

[visualnickmos]

The performance details on the CD are as follows: Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall, 25 March 2000.

Yes - I realise that, now; I went and checked, thereby perhaps making my earlier posting seem pointless.

A damn fine Verklarte Nacht, too, on the same CD.

[Petrushka]

As so often when these BaL discussions take place, I'm amazed to find just how many versions I have sitting on my shelves!

I have the Suk (Ancerl), BBC MM CD, Faust/Abbado, Stern, NYPO/Bernstein, Szeryng/Kubelik, Watanabe/Sinopoli, Chung/CSO/Solti and Zukerman/LSO/Boulez.

Like Roehre, I learnt the piece from the Szeryng/Kubelik but have to say that this could be yet another BaL winner for Abbado as I think his recording with Isabella Faust will be hard to beat.

[Barbirollians]

Suk /Ancerl won in 2004 surprising to see it back as a BAL so soon

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's interesting to note that in the last 7 days, there have been zero comments on this BaL - a record low for the run-up to a broadcast.

[verismissimo]

Although I have and enjoy both Suk/Ancerl and Grumiaux/Markevich, my consistent favourite is Stern/Bernstein, which hardly ever gets mentioned in despatches. Filled with loving tenderness, as am I this morning.

[verismissimo]

Top BAL! And superb presentation thus far!

Absolutely loved the Krasner.

[Roehre]

It's interesting to note that in the last 7 days, there have been zero comments on this BaL - a record low for the run-up to a broadcast.

It isn't Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Elgar or Mahler, is it, and Furtwängler hasn't made a recording of it

[DracoM]

Crikey, talk about an OTT reviewer....the litany of way, way too thick descriptions, the swoonings and gaspings in a stream of cliches.
If a reviewer can make me never want to hear a piece of music again, this review was it. In a sense, this review was all about the reviewer.
AND
the adoration of Isabel Faust from the very first moments of the review and I bet you can't guess who was 'the winner'?


Blimey.

[Nachtigall]

Crikey, talk about an OTT reviewer....the litany of way, way too thick descriptions, the swoonings and gaspings in a stream of cliches.
If a reviewer can make me never want to hear a piece of music again, this review was it. In a sense, this review was all about the reviewer.
AND
the adoration of Isabel Faust from the very first moments of the review and I bet you can't guess who was 'the winner'?

Agreed. A female endorsement of a female reading – not that that detracts from the quality of Isabel Faust's performance, of course. And the mispronunciation of Berg – or was that just due to a peculiarity of accent?

[BBMmk2]

Well, I am always happy when Abbado wins, even with collaborative recordings!

[LeMartinPecheur]

Crikey, talk about an OTT reviewer....the litany of way, way too thick descriptions, the swoonings and gaspings in a stream of cliches.
If a reviewer can make me never want to hear a piece of music again, this review was it. In a sense, this review was all about the reviewer.
AND
the adoration of Isabel Faust from the very first moments of the review and I bet you can't guess who was 'the winner'?


Blimey.

Agree that she telegraphed her punches, not just re Faust but also in her dismissal of Mutter (fully deserved it seemed to me, though we did have a strong Mutter supporter further up this thread IIRC). That said, I found her enthusiasm very acceptable, and her likes and dislikes to be sufficiently supported by the excerpts she played.

Do we really want BaLs to be dry, quasi-scientific, 'logical' proofs that X is the 'best' version?? Give the gal a chance!

EDIT Don't often do this these days but have just ordered the the BAL winner (made a Faustian compact?). So thank you Ms Molleson.

[Compared with others on this thread I don't have such a very big stack of Bergs already (Chung, Szerying and the BBC MM Kavakos)....]

[ardcarp]

Towards the end KM used the word 'dated' as a criticism of Perlman's performance. 'Dated' was therefore not alluding to sound-engineering but to performance style. If she were referring to a performance style adhered to by mainstream violinists for several decades after Berg's death, then presumably they would be more 'authentic' not less. She also used the word 'sentimental' as a 'bad thing'. Expressonism is perhaps not easy to explain [and the Violin Concerto is not a prime example of Expressionism anyway] but surely it has something to do with feelings, emotions and yes, sentiment. I have loved this work (ever since having to take down the Chorale as a Finals aural test) and to call it sentimental is, for me, not a criticism.

Having said all that I thought Faust/Abbado (which I didn't know) was a pretty good result.

[antongould]

Agree that she telegraphed her punches, not just re Faust but also in her dismissal of Mutter (fully deserved it seemed to me, though we did have a strong Mutter supporter further up this thread IIRC). That said, I found her enthusiasm very acceptable, and her likes and dislikes to be sufficiently supported by the excerpts she played.

Do we really want BaLs to be dry, quasi-scientific, 'logical' proofs that X is the 'best' version?? Give the gal a chance!

EDIT Don't often do this these days but have just ordered the the BAL winner (made a Faustian compact?). So thank you Ms Molleson.

[Compared with others on this thread I don't have such a very big stack of Bergs already (Chung, Szerying and the BBC MM Kavakos)....]

Agreed .....

[LeMartinPecheur]

Towards the end KM used the word 'dated' as a criticism of Perlman's performance. 'Dated' was therefore not alluding to sound-engineering but to performance style. If she were referring to a performance style adhered to by mainstream violinists for several decades after Berg's death, then presumably they would be more 'authentic' not less. She also used the word 'sentimental' as a 'bad thing'. Expressonism is perhaps not easy to explain [and the Violin Concerto is not a prime example of Expressionism anyway] but surely it has something to do with feelings, emotions and yes, sentiment. I have loved this work (ever since having to take down the Chorale as a Finals aural test) and to call it sentimental is, for me, not a criticism.

Having said all that I thought Faust/Abbado (which I didn't know) was a pretty good result.

You're opening up lots of interesting/contentious issues here ardcarp! 'Sentimental' tends to mean an excess of sentiment/ emotion. So all we need to do is decide, or better prove, exactly how much of this commodity Berg intended the music to convey

I guess the Krasner/ Webern performance provides evidence that Berg would have anticipated, maybe even wanted, a big emotional style of delivery with rich tone and bags of vibrato. But even if he did, does that mean we shouldn't adjust to our own arguably less emotional zeitgeist? Not a completely rhetorical question NB - answers to it will certainly differ

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Towards the end KM used the word 'dated' as a criticism of Perlman's performance. 'Dated' was therefore not alluding to sound-engineering but to performance style.

But earlier in her discussion, she spoke of Perlman as one of her favourite of the "older" recordings - which, I think showed that her later "dated" might also refer to sound-engineering. It certainly gave a hint about her age!

Like DracoM, I wasn't thrilled by the presentation, finding those little "just take a listen" comments before extracts VERY irritating, as well as the older clichés about Berg's "emotional" "approachability" themselves "dated" and simplistic - the very fact of Webern's conducting should have given her enough of a clue that "arch-intellectual" just doesn't work, and she needs to reconsider her opinions of the Musics of the Second Viennese School.

BUT - it was good to be reminded of recordings (like the Kremer and the Perlman) that I haven't heard in decades, and to realize yet again what an astonishing work this is.

(EDITED after reading ardy's comment more carefully)