BaL 25.06.22 - Rachmaninov: Symphony no 2

[pastoralguy]

The Loughran did reappear on CFP on CD briefly- I got a copy secondhand not long ago and jolly good it is too. Still not heard anything to top Previn in uncut versions - there are some splendid and exciting cut versions like Sanderling and Ormandy but they are cut and that rules them out surely as library versions - and in fact I still prefer Previn to them.

It’s still available on Amazon for a few pounds. It got a very good review in the September 1974 Gramophone.

[Opinionated Knowall]

I have and I think it’s one of his weakest recordings - some of the phrasing (and orchestral balance) is perverse .
Isn’t Svetlanov supreme in this ? Not sure how well he is recorded but I saw him do a performance once with the Phil at the RFH which was one of the very greatest performances iVe ever heard of anything. The Previn is excellent and has the bonus of the peerless Jack Brymer.

I'm pretty sure that the clarinettist on the Previn recording was the LSO's 'other' principal, Roy Jowett. If I remember correctly, Edward Greenfield went on tour with the LSO prior to the recording, when Brymer was playing, and based his sleeve notes on that experience, and hence Brymer got mentioned, and the assumption stuck. Can anybody who was there confirm or deny?

[richardfinegold]

I’m tempted to give this one a miss. I love the work, but ES’s name-dropping can be irritating.

No Bernstein for him to default to?

I like the piece but don’t listen to it much. I had Ormandy on lp, never got around to getting it on CD. I believe I have Previn on the shelf but haven’t spun it in years

[Ein Heldenleben]

I'm pretty sure that the clarinettist on the Previn recording was the LSO's 'other' principal, Roy Jowett. If I remember correctly, Edward Greenfield went on tour with the LSO prior to the recording, when Brymer was playing, and based his sleeve notes on that experience, and hence Brymer got mentioned, and the assumption stuck. Can anybody who was there confirm or deny?

Interesting. Would Roy have been like JB and Reginald Kell of the vibrato tendency?
Roy’s obit on the Eaton Clarinet website (he played Eaton clarinets ) credits him with Rach 1 and 3 but not 2.
Perhaps a keen listener could listen to all three and note any differences?

[Keraulophone]

I'm pretty sure that the clarinettist on the Previn recording was the LSO's 'other' principal, Roy Jowett.

'André Previn’s first LSO recording (RCA, 11/66) is generally forgotten. Only after the orchestra’s 1971 visit to Russia and the Far East were the last excisions dropped. Robert Hill, clarinettist on the tour, was playing with the LPO by the time the LSO returned to the recording studio in January 1973, appearing instead on Walter Weller’s rival account... Where Hill had navigated the Adagio’s endless cantilena with ease, Jack Brymer does so now with unparalleled subtlety. Rachmaninov’s unusually detailed markings confirm that here at least he rejected plainer, less inflected treatment.' (Extracted from David Gutman's Gramophone survey of Rach 2 on 12 March 2015.)

However, a clarinetist named Robert Hill does not appear on the LSO's list of past members. Perhaps he was a guest player on that tour, which could explain his absence from the members' list, which includes:

Jowitt Roy Mr Clarinet 1969-1988 Principal

Brymer OBE Jack Mr Clarinet 1972-1988 Principal

IMO as a former clarinetist of lowly status, it does sound like the 'unparalleled subtlety' of Jack Brymer; but it could also be Roy Jowitt emulating him!

[Goon525]

ES has just set a new record, going a full quarter of an hour without mentioning Leonard Bernstein. I hadn’t expected the absence of any Lenny recording of Rach 2 to stand in his way.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Well Seckerson thinks it’s Jack Brymer. I’m in the unusual position of agreeing with just all about his thoughts so far.

[jch48]

I bought Andrew Litton's version a long time ago on the basis of a recommendation somewhere. I can't put my finger on why but it didn't do it for me. A few years later, I bought Jansons. So I'm pleased he's doing well - not that I view music as a competitive sport. Often there can be many satisfying versions.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I bought Andrew Litton's version a long time ago on the basis of a recommendation somewhere. I can't put my finger on why but it didn't do it for me. A few years later, I bought Jansons. So I'm pleased he's doing well - not that I view music as a competitive sport. Often there can be many satisfying versions.

Must give it a listen . Though the description “hard and polished “ in the Qubuz review is exactly what I don’t want in this symphony !

[Alison]

Boring. Calculated.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Boring. Calculated.

The review or Jansons ?

[Alison]

Review.

[mikealdren]

AMcG was at his worst today for interruptions.

As to the programme, I was surprised at how good the sound quality of the Previn is, indeed I preferred it to the Jansons, possibly because that was replayed at a lower level?

[EnemyoftheStoat]

ES has just set a new record, going a full quarter of an hour without mentioning Leonard Bernstein. I hadn’t expected the absence of any Lenny recording of Rach 2 to stand in his way.

Well played, sir/ma'am. If the review was boring, as per other comments, then this absence probably accounts for a lack of enthusiasm on ES' part.

[Ein Heldenleben]

AMcG was at his worst today for interruptions.

As to the programme, I was surprised at how good the sound quality of the Previn is, indeed I preferred it to the Jansons, possibly because that was replayed at a lower level?

Yes the Previn sound was way better in my view .. You raise an interesting question . As commercial recordings are (sometimes) mastered at different levels what level should they be broadcast at? It could just be that one conductor takes a passage louder than another.