BaL 11.03.17 - Schoenberg: Gurrelieder

[Beef Oven!]

£4 used to replace it.
If it wins, the price will rocket.
No lose.

It’s here, somewhere. Even though it won, I wouldn’t buy it anyway. I never got on with it. Maybe it knows and up and left.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The Rattle is terrific and I have never felt the need for another version .

It's the only version I have, and it now seems that I got it right.

[Beef Oven!]

Get over to amazon.co.uk quickly. It's dead cheap there at the moment, Used: Very Good for as little as £3.18 + £1.26 p&p.

Much prefer the Boulez and Sinopoli anyway - it’ll turn up.

[Beef Oven!]

I’ve always responded to the music more than the singing (which I freely admit, is missing some of the point), so this BaL was not so interesting to me.

Yvonne Minton is an absolutely stellar Waldtaube and Boulez, as usual imposes nothing on the music, other than the music. When I want something more romantic, I’ll listen to the Sinopoli.

The Rattle will turn up, anyway.

[Bryn]

My attention to the BaL drifted a little from time to time, but did the Mark Albrecht/Dutch National Opera DVD/Blu-ray even get a passing mention? Mine arrived in the post a couple of days ago but I have yet to find time to watch/listen to it.

[BBMmk2]

Well I disliked the BaL today. Seemed to meander, imo. I like Abbado, James Levine and Edward Gardner. I'll be sticking my guns here.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

My attention to the BaL drifted a little from time to time, but did the Mark Albrecht/Dutch National Opera DVD/Blu-ray even get a passing mention? Mine arrived in the post a couple of days ago but I have yet to find time to watch/listen to it.

Nope - nor, unless I missed them, were there comments on Boulez or Stenz. I think I enjiyed the BaL a lot more than did Bbm, but the excerpts from the chosen Rattle reminded me why I didn't buy it after hearing it when it first came out (the phrasing squeezed as if by a children's entertainer making animals out of balloons). I very much liked hearing the Ozawa again, though: time I upgraded from cassette!

[Richard Barrett]

(the phrasing squeezed as if by a children's entertainer making animals out of balloons)

Harsh words mate!

I was resting this morning after a late night out and missed the programme. Not being much of an admirer of Rattle I don't think I'll bother now! but because of this thread I did listen in the past week to both Abbado and Sinopoli. I didn't get around to Boulez, let alone any of the recordings I don't have at home, but it strikes me that this is a work requiring such extravagant resources that if you're going to do it at all you'll probably be committed to doing it well.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I enjoyed this BaL very much, but am not exactly rushing for another Gurreleider since I have the Rattle on CD and the Ozawa on LP. But I was very sorry we didn't get anything of Hans Hotter's Speaker on the Chailly. Heard it probably on R3 when it first came out and found it (him) wonderfully moving, as near still to singing the part as makes no difference

[EnemyoftheStoat]

The choir (amateurs who not only don't require payment, but who who actually pay membership subscriptions) financially costs nothing...

Hmmmm. I'm an amateur (volunteer in US-speak), singing with two of London's better symphony choruses at present, and neither of these charge subscriptions thanks to their affiliations with particular bands. AFAIK, none of the London choruses thus affiliated do so, unlike the independents. It seems a bit bonkers to me to pay subscriptions (sometimes hefty) if you're good enough not to have to (unless you want to sing the same piece every Easter).

As for choristers being "free", well you still have to factor in the costs of their rehearsal space hire, director's fees, repetiteur and language coach, and Gurrelieder doesn't sing itself. The amount of prep that goes into something like this is pretty considerable; even something pretty bog-standard like a Mozart Req or a Bells financially costs rather more than nothing.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

the phrasing squeezed as if by a children's entertainer making animals out of balloons)

I'd have edited out the "as if".

[visualnickmos]

I listened again to my only version - Ozawa, and of course the fabulous Ms Norman. I really do see no reason to go for Rattle's recording - especially when it was mentioned that some might find some of it a bit too slow (me paraphrasing) and one of the reasons I love Ozawa's is that it has a lightness of touch, which lets detail 'sing out' without feeling rushed or indeed, smothered; I think this is a particularly 'heavy' piece, and all too easy to milk for allit's worth, but Ozawa keeps everything well-aflot. The over-egged [sic] tendency in places of Rattle's recording, I found a little off-putting for my own personal taste. I am however, seriously considering Boulez as a 'partner' to my Ozawa recording....
All in all, I very much enjoyed this BaL.

[seabright]

The 1961 Edinburgh Festival performance with Stokowski, the LSO and James McCracken was mentioned briefly at the start but not considered, as it was from a live mono broadcast with much coughing. However, a click of this link will provide a 'taster' of the Guild CD ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuCErbm4ksA

[gurnemanz]

I listened again to my only version - Ozawa, and of course the fabulous Ms Norman. I really do see no reason to go for Rattle's recording - especially when it was mentioned that some might find some of it a bit too slow (me paraphrasing) and one of the reasons I love Ozawa's is that it has a lightness of touch, which lets detail 'sing out' without feeling rushed or indeed, smothered; I think this is a particularly 'heavy' piece, and all too easy to milk for allit's worth, but Ozawa keeps everything well-aflot. The over-egged [sic] tendency in places of Rattle's recording, I found a little off-putting for my own personal taste. I am however, seriously considering Boulez as a 'partner' to my Ozawa recording....
All in all, I very much enjoyed this BaL.

Also enjoyed the BaL, loving the extracts played from Ms Norman and Brigitte Fassbaender. I do appreciate the work but it is not one I listen to that often, so I probably do not need another version. My only recording from Kegel and Dresden Phil actually got a mention for the quality of the orchestral playing. The soloists may not be absolute front rank but are good enough to be happy with.

[BBMmk2]

I don't see anything wrong with Abbado's version?