BaL 4.06.16 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, ‘Pathétique’

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Headphones.

A frequent solution. But my speakers are so good.

[Nick Armstrong]

But my speakers are so good.

I'll see you and raise you a pair

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Those look amazing.

[Nick Armstrong]

Those look amazing.

Not mine alas!


http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-hi-fi-...way-1456415419

[gurnemanz]

I seem to have the "wrong" Karajan (1977) also Litton/BSO which I like and Pletnev and Ormandy/Philadelphia which I also like + interesting Toscanini and fiery Bernstein (1965). Not planning to buy any more at present.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

How much?

[Nick Armstrong]

How much?

You have to email them!

Back on topic: the recommended Karajan is available to stream on iTunes music, in this manifestation which appears to be the limited Japanese edition




It is playing at the moment and sounds absolutely stunning...

...(back on speakers) ... on my loudspeakers:





(Trusty Cabasse Yawls, sounding as great today as when I bought 'em in Calais in 1991! They're farther apart than in this photo... )

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Warner%2BClassics/3817982

[Nick Armstrong]

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/W...assics/3817982

Yes, that's where I'll download the recording from if I decide to. For the present, I'm happy with the iTunes Music approach.

[mikealdren]

I seem to have the "wrong" Karajan (1977) also Litton/BSO which I like and Pletnev and Ormandy/Philadelphia which I also like + interesting Toscanini and fiery Bernstein (1965). Not planning to buy any more at present.

Interesting that three recordings she admired: Karajan, Mravinsky and Pletnev all appear in highly regarded recordings on the yellow label but in each case she preferred alternatives.

[Keraulophone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtLq8wj0p80

I'd be interested to know what others thnk of this VPO/Karajan video performance, recorded in 1984 and re-released with surround sound in 2008 in a series marking HvK's 100th birthday. There are a few real (Japanese?) people in the audience, instead of the cardboard cut-out figures that Karajan had plonked in the Berlin Philharmonie. I find the playing of the VPO more vibrant, gripping and variegated than that of the BPO conducted by Karajan, and he looks at and communicates directly with the players much more than in those trance-like earlier Telemondial productions from Berlin.

[visualnickmos]

I seem to have the "wrong" Karajan (1977) also Litton/BSO which I like and Pletnev and Ormandy/Philadelphia which I also like + interesting Toscanini and fiery Bernstein (1965). Not planning to buy any more at present.

Seems he 'did' two; 1960

I 17:59
II 8:14
III 9:18
IV 10:55

and 1968

I 18:00
II 8:06
III 9:27
IV 10:40

[cloughie]

Seems he 'did' two; 1960

I 17:59
II 8:14
III 9:18
IV 10:55

and 1968

I 18:00
II 8:06
III 9:27
IV 10:40

The 1960 was on CBS, the 1968 on RCA. The 12cd Tchaik box contains the RCA one.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'd be interested to know what others thnk of this VPO/Karajan video performance, recorded in 1984 and re-released with surround sound in 2008 in a series marking HvK's 100th birthday. There are a few real (Japanese?) people in the audience, instead of the cardboard cut-out figures that Karajan had plonked in the Berlin Philharmonie. I find the playing of the VPO more vibrant, gripping and variegated than that of the BPO conducted by Karajan, and he looks at and communicates directly with the players much more than in those trance-like earlier Telemondial productions from Berlin.

I think this is same performance that DG released as an audio CD. It was recorded in January, 1984, when the company had not really grasped the pitfalls of digital sound. However, it's a superb performance, and is in DG's Wiener Philharmomiker 50 CD box set.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've just ordered the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra/Alexander Melik-Pashayev recording - the first version I ever had, on a Saga LP. I wore it out, and I'm wondered what I'll think of it so many years later.

I finally listened to this today. I was expecting to be disappointed. It's in mono and there was that change of acoustic in the 3rd movement, as though someone had suddenly pressed the Dolby button by mistake.

Well, the change of acoustic never happened on the CD transfer, and the mono sound is pretty good. As for the performance, it's in a class of its own. I now know why I grew to love this work in the mid-1960s.