BaL 22.04.23 - Schubert: Symphony no. 5 in B flat D. 485

[Alison]

I think she mentioned the ICA classics set with Harnoncourt . I was also taken with the Bernstein Al- second hand copies are not cheap though.

Another one of those shabby nothing before 1985 counts BALs though - one might have thought Beecham at least required a mention even if a dismissal.

It was pretty obvious she favoured Abbado from the outset. It’s a lovely performance but for me the orchestra just sounds a tad too far from the mikes.

It’s just a little suave for me. I quite liked the Norrington and Dausgaard recordings. No mention of my beloved Ed Gardner CBSO CD.

[Pulcinella]

I'm quite happy to stick with my CfP LPO/Pritchard version (mentioned in post #9 inter alia).

[visualnickmos]

And as far as I can tell no one has really started the piece with a genuine pianissimo. The Abbado has too much acoustic for me.

Too noisy?

[visualnickmos]

I’m very taken with the Bernstein which was a version I hadn’t heard . Lovely sprightly string playing.

Yes. I have both his recordings. I love 'em.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Too noisy?

Listening to further excerpts think the mike placement makes the orchestra sound a bit too distant. But it’s all a matter of taste really.

[vinteuil]

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... I was very taken by the Gottfried / Concentus Musicus Wien extracts - I have ordered.

I already have their Schubert 7 -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Unfinished-F/dp/B07HBYLQDP

and look forward to this companion volume -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Symphony-No-Haydn-99/dp/B08T8HJLGV

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[vinteuil]

Oddly, they already have the 'runners up' on the web page:

Concentus Musicus Wien, Stefan Gottfried

Svenska Kammarorkestern, Thomas Dausgaard

... tho' curiously they refer to the Concentus Musicus Wien / Stefan Gottfried recording of the Schubert 7 rather than the 5 -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Unfinished-F/dp/B07HBYLQDP

.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Symphony-No-Haydn-99/dp/B08T8HJLGV

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[Eine Alpensinfonie]

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I already have their Schubert 7 -

There are three Schubert 7s:

The B minor Unfinished, usually called no. 8, but not in Germany;
The Great C major, once so numbered, but moved to no. 9 to get the order correct(
This one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symp...._7_(Schubert)

[vinteuil]

There are three Schubert 7s:

The B minor Unfinished, usually called no. 8, but not in Germany;
The Great C major, once so numbered, but moved to no. 9 to get the order correct(
This one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symp...._7_(Schubert)

... thank you : the Gottfried / Concentus Musicus Wien Schubert 7 I refer to in #233 and #234 above is what the Austrians and Germans call 7 and we call 8 - to be unambiguous, D 759. My point in #234 was that the Gottfried/CMW Schubert referred to on the BBC website was not Schubert 5, D485, the subject of today's BAL...

.

[french frank]

I'm not sure why they referred to it as the 'Unfinished' at all. Aparté AP247 is Symphony No 5 coupled with Haydn's No 99.

... thank you : the Gottfried / Concentus Musicus Wien Schubert 7 I refer to in #233 and #234 above is what the Austrians and Germans call 7 and we call 8 - to be unambiguous, D 759. My point in #234 was that the Gottfried/CMW Schubert referred to on the BBC website was not Schubert 5, D485, the subject of today's BAL...

.

[Lordgeous]

RPO Beecham is a favourite of mine, so much so that I have neglected exploring other performances. Elegantly detailed, simple and spontaneous; gets across the carefree nature of a youthful composer without trivializing the music. From what third ear says, it might be a good "middle ground" BAL choice. I think I'll try the extremes next - VPO/Bohm for richer romance? Mackerras/OAE for period crispness?

Having grown up with it it's difficult not to regret a mention of the Beecham 'Classic' in this rather mixed BAL.

[Retune]

My point in #234 was that the Gottfried/CMW Schubert referred to on the BBC website was not Schubert 5, D485, the subject of today's BAL...

The catalogue number, AP247, is correct on the BBC site for the record that includes D485. The 'Unfinished' title is also used by Presto for this release (maybe that's where the writer got it from?):

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8903219--schubert-unfinished

I assume this is spurious and they've just confused the two recordings (it's not on the AP247 sleeve image), though it might make an appropriate series title, referring to Harnoncourt's never completed plan to 'record the classical and romantic repertoire with the Concentus' they are now taking forward under Gottfried.

[Barbirollians]

I find there is a Barbirolli version with the Georges Enescu philharmonic - have to hear that .

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It’s a work that suffers from being played daily on CFM in snippets.

[Barbirollians]

It’s a work that suffers from being played daily on CFM in snippets.

I think it was one of the works that Alan Bennett said in his Private Passions interview with Michael Berkeley that he had heard too often.