BaL 8.04.17 - Kodaly: Dances of Galanta

[makropulos]

I have Solti, Kertesz, Dorati (Mercury), Reiner and Fricsay (among Hungarian conductors) and a few others including Rodzinski, Mackerras and De Sabata. While I can't imagine there will be any reason to add to that lot (certainly not with Ivan Fischer's Philips record which I quickly jettisoned after comparing it with the recordings of his earlier compatriots), it'll be very interesting to hear this BAL. I've been very fond of the piece ever since playing it in a youth orchestra in the early 1970s.

[vinteuil]

The mark over the second 'a' is not a stress mark. The 'a' without a mark is a very dark sound, almost like an English 'o' as in 'hot'. 'a' with the mark is pronounced like the 'a' in 'bath' as pronounced in Yorkshire. Stress is definitely on the first syllable.

... many thanks for that : pleased to find that I have in fact been getting it right all along after all!

Ah, as in takács...

... and Tamás Vásáry




.

[mikealdren]

In addition to the (originally on Hungaroton) Budapest FO/Ivan Fischer Brilliant Classics performance, which has probably now gone to £100.00 a copy on Amazon, given the sudden spike in deamnd, there is the later Philips performance, as in:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kod%C3%A1ly-J%C3%A1nos-Suite-Dances-Gal%C3%A1nta/dp/B00000JLEW/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1490964205&sr=1-1&keywords=kodaly+dances+of+galanta+ivan+fischer

They are not the same performances as the timings are different. I have this CD - which is excellent - but haven't heard the earlier performance.

Question for Alps, which version do you like so much, have I rushed into the wrong one?!?!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... 'a' with the mark is pronounced like the 'a' in 'bath' as pronounced in Yorkshire.

I know people in Bath who pronounce it that way too.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I don't usually do this, but I'm going to place a bet on Budapest Festival Orchestra/Iván Fischer.

[Pulcinella]

Well done, Alpie, but surely only modified rapture, as yet again it is a download-only winner!

[vinteuil]

Well done, Alpie, but surely only modified rapture, as yet again it is a download-only winner!

... was it in the end the Ivan Fischer / Budapest on hungaroton / brilliant, or the Ivan Fischer / Budapest on philips?

The former seems available on disc -

http://amzn.eu/1kzNUJh

as does the latter

http://amzn.eu/iS3AWUq

- which as Highland Dougie points out is a different recording -

In addition to the (originally on Hungaroton) Budapest FO/Ivan Fischer Brilliant Classics performance, which has probably now gone to £100.00 a copy on Amazon, given the sudden spike in deamnd, there is the later Philips performance, as in:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kod%C3%A1ly-J%C3%A1nos-Suite-Dances-Gal%C3%A1nta/dp/B00000JLEW/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1490964205&sr=1-1&keywords=kodaly+dances+of+galanta+ivan+fischer

They are not the same performances as the timings are different. I have this CD - which is excellent - but haven't heard the earlier performance. .

.

[Dave2002]

... was it in the end the Ivan Fischer / Budapest on hungaroton / brilliant, or the Ivan Fischer / Budapest on philips?

The former seems available on disc -

http://amzn.eu/1kzNUJh

as does the latter

http://amzn.eu/iS3AWUq

- which as Highland Dougie points out is a different recording -

I think it was the Philips, and for some reason seems only to be available as a download - or at least that's what was said.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Ivan+Fischer+Kodaly

[BBMmk2]

It was on the Phillips label but only available on a download. Why do these BaLs choose a download but incidentally a very good programme today from Sarah Walker.

[HighlandDougie]

I think it was the Philips, and for some reason seems only to be available as a download - or at least that's what was said.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/sea...Fischer+Kodaly

It was the 1998 Philips recording - still available on Amazon or, if you are feeling slightly more adventurous, on a reasonably priced Japanese SHM-CD (excellent remastering BTW), as in:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/UCCD-2206

I'm still wondering why Makropoulos - see #31 above - found this recording to be wanting in comparison with Kertesz et al. I much enjoyed SW's straightforward approach and didn't mind the odd rhetorical flourish.

[visualnickmos]

I'm still wondering why Makropoulos - see #31 above - found this recording to be wanting in comparison with Kertesz et al. I much enjoyed SW's straightforward approach and didn't mind the odd rhetorical flourish.

I have to say that I find something a little lacking in the recommended version - (based, of course on only the extracts played, admittedly) compared to the solid and necessary extravagance and sheer lushness of say, Kertesz (LSO) or Dorati (Hungarica Decca) - especially Dorati - which I feel is what this music demands. Somehow to my perception, Fischer is just that bit too 'polite' - maybe formal..... just my own thoughts, for what they're worth. Such a pity that Solti didn't re-record this in stereo with better sound...

Yes - a good performance from SW - that's for sure. I enjoyed the BaL, and was pleased to have more lengthy exerpts played.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Well done, Alpie, but surely only modified rapture, as yet again it is a download-only winner!

Yes, but I can feel doubly smug, as I have on CD.

[jean]

You could have caught this work in the Philharmonic Hall Liverpool, last Thursday or Friday. But you're too late now, unless they plan to broadcast it later.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I was saying earlier, MickyD, why do the reviewers pick a download?

I presume it's because it's the best version available.

I've downloaded a few recordings over the last few years - mostly the same work, but I feel short-changed whenever I pay for something I don't actually get, other than permission to redesign the surface of my hard drive (which I already own). I then have to pay for blank CDs to enable me to listen to the virtual purchase in the car or in other locations. Not exactly win/win.

[MickyD]

I presume it's because it's the best version available.

I've downloaded a few recordings over the last few years - mostly the same work, but I feel short-changed whenever I pay for something I don't actually get, other than permission to redesign the surface of my hard drive (which I already own). I then have to pay for blank CDs to enable me to listen to the virtual purchase in the car or in other locations. Not exactly win/win.

I couldn't agree with you more...there surely cannot be the same feeling of ownership when you just have a recording on a hard drive.