Originally posted by Caliban
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How kind 
Ah yes - I see what you mean! It's the lilting triple feel of the compound time signatures, of course, which is the most obvious fellow-feeling (I see from scores available online that the Berlioz is actually in 6/8 whereas the Schubert is in 12/8, but the lilt is the same).
I've spent quite a bit of time today comparing the leading 'contenders' using iTunes Music and other sites. (In passing, I've discovered the first two instances of recordings being available to buy on iTunes, but not being available to stream via iTunes Music (the Hickox and the Harnoncourt/Berlin recordings) - I thought if you could buy it, you could stream it).
I've come to the clear conclusion that the earlier Dresden recording on Phillips by Sawallisch is by some margin my favourite one. The tenor soloists are if anything more magical than the two Brits mentioned earlier; the choral style is FAR preferable to my ears than the other Sawallisch version (not keen on the Bavarian matrons), the overall recorded sound is likewise preferable to the other contenders (esp the Berlin Harnoncourt which has an oddly boomy/muddy lower register to the sound which is disagreeable). But above all, there's an extra dimension of ... not sure what to call it.... sublimity is one word that occurs to me, it seems to have a lot to do with the orchestra's contribution, the heart-stopping beauty of the woodwind for instance (that clarinet solo in the Incarnatus est duet)... After my mini-BAL today, all the others are in the shade, and it's the Phillips recording under the magician Sawallisch that's going to draw my money from my wallet (FLAC downloads on Presto Classical).
As I think I said before: revelatory!
Ah yes - I see what you mean! It's the lilting triple feel of the compound time signatures, of course, which is the most obvious fellow-feeling (I see from scores available online that the Berlioz is actually in 6/8 whereas the Schubert is in 12/8, but the lilt is the same).
I've spent quite a bit of time today comparing the leading 'contenders' using iTunes Music and other sites. (In passing, I've discovered the first two instances of recordings being available to buy on iTunes, but not being available to stream via iTunes Music (the Hickox and the Harnoncourt/Berlin recordings) - I thought if you could buy it, you could stream it).
I've come to the clear conclusion that the earlier Dresden recording on Phillips by Sawallisch is by some margin my favourite one. The tenor soloists are if anything more magical than the two Brits mentioned earlier; the choral style is FAR preferable to my ears than the other Sawallisch version (not keen on the Bavarian matrons), the overall recorded sound is likewise preferable to the other contenders (esp the Berlin Harnoncourt which has an oddly boomy/muddy lower register to the sound which is disagreeable). But above all, there's an extra dimension of ... not sure what to call it.... sublimity is one word that occurs to me, it seems to have a lot to do with the orchestra's contribution, the heart-stopping beauty of the woodwind for instance (that clarinet solo in the Incarnatus est duet)... After my mini-BAL today, all the others are in the shade, and it's the Phillips recording under the magician Sawallisch that's going to draw my money from my wallet (FLAC downloads on Presto Classical).
As I think I said before: revelatory!
) ... and hence the additional wisdom of
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