BaL 13.11.21 - Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

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  • gradus
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 5633

    #61
    I heard a wonderful performance on R3 in the last couple of weeks but not the performers names, it was characterised by good sound, great playing and a very spacious tempo at the Summit - the opposite of Welser Most's horrible revisionist approach. It wasn't Karajan whose performance I have on LP. Any suggestions as to whose performance it might have been?

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    • Ein Heldenleben
      Full Member
      • Apr 2014
      • 6990

      #62
      Originally posted by gradus View Post
      I heard a wonderful performance on R3 in the last couple of weeks but not the performers names, it was characterised by good sound, great playing and a very spacious tempo at the Summit - the opposite of Welser Most's horrible revisionist approach. It wasn't Karajan whose performance I have on LP. Any suggestions as to whose performance it might have been?
      I know Jurowski was played recently on Essential Classics but only a section . I then listened to the rest on Qubuz - fine performance .

      Comment

      • Wolfram
        Full Member
        • Jul 2019
        • 280

        #63
        Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
        Same old story - small shortlist no time to discuss others properly due to the endless McGregor interruptions.
        I thought AMG pushed the interruptions to a new level this morning to the extent where he seemed to be vying to be the guest reviewer himself and relegating poor Mark Simpson to the role of presenter/inerviewer. I felt sorry for Mark Simpson, who's obviously a very nice bloke: he wouldn't - and doesn't - do that to the likes of Richard Wigmore or Nicholas Kenyon.

        As much as I like Karajan's performance, and I do, I find the recording too flashy and glaringly OTT. I warmed to Thielemann this time around. And for heavens sake where was Kempe?

        Comment

        • EnemyoftheStoat
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 1136

          #64
          Originally posted by gradus View Post
          I heard a wonderful performance on R3 in the last couple of weeks but not the performers names, it was characterised by good sound, great playing and a very spacious tempo at the Summit - the opposite of Welser Most's horrible revisionist approach. It wasn't Karajan whose performance I have on LP. Any suggestions as to whose performance it might have been?
          Possibly the Philharmonia's concert with their new principal, Santtu-Matias Rouvali?

          Comment

          • visualnickmos
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 3615

            #65
            Originally posted by Wolfram View Post
            As much as I like Karajan's performance, and I do, I find the recording too flashy and glaringly OTT. I warmed to Thielemann this time around. And for heavens sake where was Kempe?
            I've just listened to HvK again after a few years, and I have to say I was rather disappointed. I realised that I now find the "Karajan sound" has rather lost its appeal; I would even say that frankly, it sounds awfully dated to my ears now. As for Thielemann - I've heard his recording a while back, and was completely underwhelmed. Today I was impressed with Jansons - (not the Amsterdam one) and may invest. I also have Blomstedt, Haitink (Amsterdam) Solti and Stein.

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            • Ein Heldenleben
              Full Member
              • Apr 2014
              • 6990

              #66
              Originally posted by Wolfram View Post
              I thought AMG pushed the interruptions to a new level this morning to the extent where he seemed to be vying to be the guest reviewer himself and relegating poor Mark Simpson to the role of presenter/inerviewer. I felt sorry for Mark Simpson, who's obviously a very nice bloke: he wouldn't - and doesn't - do that to the likes of Richard Wigmore or Nicholas Kenyon.

              As much as I like Karajan's performance, and I do, I find the recording too flashy and glaringly OTT. I warmed to Thielemann this time around. And for heavens sake where was Kempe?
              Where was he indeed ?

              Comment

              • Eine Alpensinfonie
                Host
                • Nov 2010
                • 20576

                #67
                Originally posted by Ein Heldenleben View Post
                Dare I ask what would your “winner” would be ? Or are there sectional winners ?
                From his shortlist, I would’ve chosen Thielemann, followed by either Nelsons or Jansons. My only reservation about Thielemann is the recorded sound of the Vienna strings - rather dry, which is unlikely to be the fault of the players. Otherwise it’s exemplary in every way.

                But for the Ausklang, I’ve never heard a better rendition than VPO/Ozawa, which didn’t feature today.

                I’ve been asked before and have stated my preferred versions, and in my vast collection most recordings are pretty good. Rock bottom are the two Welser-Möst versions. I just don’t know what he’s playing at.

                Comment

                • underthecountertenor
                  Full Member
                  • Apr 2011
                  • 1586

                  #68
                  Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post


                  No. One's enough.

                  I did notice AMcG pushing the HvK whenever it was mentioned. I also noticed that they only discussed the good bits - nothing about the off-stage band being nothing of the kind, the suspect tuning, or the recorded imbalance of the strings.
                  By complete coincidence (not having clocked that it would be on BaL today) I happened to dust off my original vinyl of the Karajan earlier this week. Am I right in thinking that on one or two occasions a horn slipped on the ice?

                  Comment

                  • duncan
                    Full Member
                    • Apr 2012
                    • 248

                    #69
                    Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
                    ... the ridiculous Welser-Möst, who reaches the summit, ticks it off his list, and then says, “Right, pals, off to the pub”.
                    To be fair, this is usually my exact response when I've finished a climb!

                    Comment

                    • Keraulophone
                      Full Member
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 1973

                      #70
                      The blu-ray disc of the first six CDs in the ‘Deluxe’ DG set of Strauss/Karajan provides the best sound available of these recordings dating back to 1959. Disappointingly, the Alpine Symphony is on CD7 and therefore missing from the blu-ray disc. Did DG think that they had remastered the much-criticised original sonics to the extent that inclusion on the blu-ray wasn’t necessary? A bit of a lost opportunity, given that this recording apparently has its admirers.

                      Not only no Kempe/DS, but no Haitink/RCO either - his offstage horns are marvellous, as is the rest. [Someone mentioned he was included… I must have nodded off having to listen to AMG.]
                      Last edited by Keraulophone; 13-11-21, 14:46. Reason: Qualification

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                      • Alison
                        Full Member
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 6479

                        #71
                        This BaL rather disappointing; no great inclination to listen to the work at the moment. By contrast I’ve listened to Elgar’s Violin Concerto maybe 7-8 times last fortnight.

                        We needed more of the old Ted Greenfield knack of summing up a performance, the general approach, in a couple of sentences.

                        I do want to catch up with the two Jurowski discs sometime.

                        Comment

                        • Ein Heldenleben
                          Full Member
                          • Apr 2014
                          • 6990

                          #72
                          Originally posted by Alison View Post
                          This BaL rather disappointing; no great inclination to listen to the work at the moment. By contrast I’ve listened to Elgar’s Violin Concerto maybe 7-8 times last fortnight.

                          We needed more of the old Ted Greenfield knack of summing up a performance, the general approach, in a couple of sentences.

                          I do want to catch up with the two Jurowski discs sometime.
                          Good point . There was too much discussion of instrumental detail and sound which though interesting in itself left little time for analysis of how the performance hangs together ( or not ) .

                          Comment

                          • Keraulophone
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 1973

                            #73
                            Originally posted by Alison View Post
                            This BaL rather disappointing...

                            We needed more of the old Ted Greenfield knack of summing up a performance, the general approach, in a couple of sentences.

                            Comment

                            • Wolfram
                              Full Member
                              • Jul 2019
                              • 280

                              #74
                              Originally posted by Alison View Post
                              We needed more of the old Ted Greenfield knack of summing up a performance, the general approach, in a couple of sentences.

                              Comment

                              • Petrushka
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 12342

                                #75
                                That's three times that the Karajan recording has come out top on BaL. This can't be a coincidence and perhaps Karajan's detractors in this work need to consider that they might be wrong.

                                I don't know which remastering other forumites have but I bought the original LP and then CD (on one track!) and thought both sounded glassy and coarse. I've had new equipment since then and listening to the remastering done for the 2012 Karajan 1980s box was a revelation. I'm presuming that it is the same as this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strauss-Ein...rpt=ABIS_MUSIC
                                "The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard Haitink

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