BaL 1.06.19 - Mendelssohn: Symphony no. 4 "Italian"

[edashtav]

RVW London?

Indeed,Goon.
Hamilton Harty Irish Symphony

[Maclintick]

Surprised to see few comments on CBSO/Gardner here

Maybe there are enough "old-style" (for want of a better term) non-Hipp bigg-ish band versions out there, for which boarders have a great deal of affection, to the extent that they don't feel a compelling need to add another which offers something essentially similar.
I heard something fresh & vital in COE/Nézet-Séguin which pushed a button, so I've downloaded.

[jayne lee wilson]

Maybe there are enough "old-style" (for want of a better term) non-Hipp bigg-ish band versions out there, for which boarders have a great deal of affection, to the extent that they don't feel a compelling need to add another which offers something essentially similar.
I heard something fresh & vital in COE/Nézet-Séguin which pushed a button, so I've downloaded.

Point well taken, but I haven't heard another full SO recording which handles both music and orchestra so sensitively (especially in tuttis)....if heard at a high-ish level, that acoustic is a pleasure in itself too. So I don't hear it as essentially similar.

I've been listening to the other symphonies in this CBSO cycle recently, and I add it enthusiastically to my favourites, along with YNS, LSO/JEG and Musikkollegium Winterthur (a musical triumph despite or because of using three different conductors...).

Still, if Gardner seems too trad (he isn't, but...) or YNS or JEG too radical.... try those idiosyncratic Swiss - any Mendessohnian will be well rewarded.

[Mal]

I heard something fresh & vital in COE/Nézet-Séguin which pushed a button, so I've downloaded.

What did you think about the whole performance? Does he provide a compelling religious procession in II? Does he provide something different and interesting enough to join your playlist alongside your favourite big band outing?

[BBMmk2]

Point well taken, but I haven't heard another full SO recording which handles both music and orchestra so sensitively (especially in tuttis)....if heard at a high-ish level, that acoustic is a pleasure in itself too. So I don't hear it as essentially similar.

I've been listening to the other symphonies in this CBSO cycle recently, and I add it enthusiastically to my favourites, along with YNS, LSO/JEG and Musikkollegium Winterthur (a musical triumph despite or because of using three different conductors...).

Still, if Gardner seems too trad (he isn't, but...) or YNS or JEG too radical.... try those idiosyncratic Swiss - any Mendessohnian will be well rewarded.

I’ve come to like these works very much. I think my favourites would be Gardner, JEG and YNS. All three I think be favourites.

[Maclintick]

What did you think about the whole performance? Does he provide a compelling religious procession in II? Does he provide something different and interesting enough to join your playlist alongside your favourite big band outing?

Sorry for late reply, Mal. My response to the whole performance is that it fulfils and even exceeds any positive expectations I might have had before hearing it (JLW has described its virtues admirably in an earlier post of 25.5). Tempi are spot-on, the playing is glorious, and the whole is suffused with a warm, songful, joyousness that is totally captivating. Chamber-musical clarity and exemplary recording ensure well-nigh perfect balance of instrumental lines.The andante con moto treads purposefully. I remain unsure of the particular denomination of pellegrini, but they are lucky enough to be serenaded on their way by beautifully dovetailing flutes & violins. Trumpets and timps dominate the saltarello to exhilarating effect, and the articulation of the whole ensemble in this concluding movt is miraculous. COE/YNS are now my “go to” in this life-enhancing piece.