BaL 14.01.17 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 4 in F minor

[BBMmk2]

I bought that cycle last summer in a Japan HDCD issue. Great sound quality. As to whether it’s possibly the best? I don’t know, probably not! I will say that the Gergiev's VPO #4 knocks Maazel's into a cocked-hat.

Hmmm, I will have a listen this weekend.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Barbirolli's Pye/Nixa recording is let down to some extent by some rather scrappy playing by the Halle of the late '50s.

[Pulcinella]

This symphony unfortunately became one I can't take seriously ever since hearing the Hoffnung version.


(Google 'Hoffnung sugar plums’; for some reason I can't copy the link!)

[BBMmk2]

This symphony unfortunately became one I can't take seriously ever since hearing the Hoffnung version.


(Google 'Hoffnung sugar plums’; for some reason I can't copy the link!)

A bit like the Grieg PC with Andre Previn and Morecambe & Wise! :)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This symphony unfortunately became one I can't take seriously ever since hearing the Hoffnung version.


(Google 'Hoffnung sugar plums’; for some reason I can't copy the link!)

Do you feel the same about Haydn 94 and every famous piano concerto and opera?
I must admit the Haydn/Hoffning Surprise has forever coloured my listening.

[Pulcinella]

Do you feel the same about Haydn 94 and every famous piano concerto and opera?
I must admit the Haydn/Hoffning Surprise has forever coloured my listening.

No, but Anna Russell has forever coloured The Ring too! She is priceless.

To be fair, I'm not a great Tchaikovsky fan (in that I would not go to a concert specifically to hear anything other than perhaps the violin concerto and PC1, and even they would not likely be what attracted me to the concert), but I am currently listening to the BBCMM CD of this symphony (a Proms performance from 1964, BBCSO/Sargent) to try to get over my amusement at its start! I still had a smirk though.

[cloughie]

I bought that cycle last summer in a Japan HDCD issue. Great sound quality. As to whether it’s possibly the best? I don’t know, probably not! I will say that the Gergiev's VPO #4 knocks Maazel's into a cocked-hat.

Having recently been to pantomime - Oh no it doesn't. Not on the list presumably not currently available is one of my favourites PCO Argenta.

[silvestrione]

I don't have a low opinion of him actually, I just don't feel I've made contact with his work yet. I expect I'll get there in the end (preferably some time beforehand).

In my late teens I heard the LSO under Markevitch do this work at the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth. I'd thought the BSO under Silvestri pretty good, but I was just astonished, struck dumb by the power and impact of the playing.

Incidently, i don't think it helps to think much about 'Fate' etc. Seems to me to be about joy in life, exuberance...
The fanfares are exhilarating, and as for the warmth of the reply to them in the strings!...

Then there is wit and humour, a relaxed feel, in the delightful second subject of the first movement.

The Scherzo is just exhilarating from beginning to end, a magical ballet score...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Scherzo is just exhilarating from beginning to end, a magical ballet score...

- Tchaikovsky at his inventive and wittiest best, I think!

[pastoralguy]

- Tchaikovsky at his inventive and wittiest best, I think!

With a solo to give piccolo players nightmares for ever more...

[Petrushka]

With a solo to give piccolo players nightmares for ever more...

... and the cymbals player earns his pay in the last movement!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... and the cymbals player earns his pay in the last movement!

Possibly Tchaikovsky's least endearing characteristic.

I always think of PT as the man who invented the drumkit.

[Beef Oven!]

Having recently been to pantomime - Oh no it doesn't. Not on the list presumably not currently available is one of my favourites PCO Argenta.

Oh yes it does!

But seriously, I was genuinely impressed with the Gergiev, but I played it last out of the three (Celibidache MPO, then Maazel VPO, then Gergiev VPO) so perhaps I was more 'warmed up' for it. I will of course be listening again and will give a special ear to the Maazel.

[BBMmk2]

Oh yes it does!

But seriously, I was genuinely impressed with the Gergiev, but I played it last out of the three (Celibidache MPO, then Maazel VPO, then Gergiev VPO) so perhaps I was more 'warmed up' for it. I will of course be listening again and will give a special ear to the Maazel.

Yes please beefy, re the Maazel. I do think it's rather a special recording and performance.

[Beef Oven!]

Yes please beefy, re the Maazel. I do think it's rather a special recording and performance.