"BAL PRODUCER< LET"S NOT LET THE MUSIC GET TOO LOUD< IT MIGHT WAKE THEM UP !"
I've only just listened to Geoffrey Norris, recorded from Freeview last Saturday, and found it a frustrating experience. He was interesting and very well recorded, but the musical examples bordered on inaudibility unless you cranked him up to an excessive level. To hear the opening of the 5th repeated in several examples, and almost all of them sotto voce was a very odd experience, does this trouble others ? How are we expected to feel the tension in the playing and make comparisons if the balance engineer takes such a pussyfooting approach ?
I have 20 performances of this symphony in my collection, including all those reviewed, with the exception of Jansons. I did once own the EMI collection of his recordings with various orchestras but did not like it at all, although I love seeing him conduct in the concert hall. One performance which I have always admired is Bernstein / NYPO, but not the version that Geoffrey Norris condemned. My one was recorded in Tokyo, I think in 1979. Yes, he is quite ponderous at the opening, but he is wonderful in the slow movement, especially in the passage where the xylophone reinforces those great chords. Like Kondrashin he takes the opening of the finale at a great lick, almost hysterical. Perhaps this isn't for every day, but it's very convincing.
Sorry to rant about the balance, but listening on a wide range system it does seem absurd when the spoken word is always louder than the climax of a magnificent symphony.
I've only just listened to Geoffrey Norris, recorded from Freeview last Saturday, and found it a frustrating experience. He was interesting and very well recorded, but the musical examples bordered on inaudibility unless you cranked him up to an excessive level. To hear the opening of the 5th repeated in several examples, and almost all of them sotto voce was a very odd experience, does this trouble others ? How are we expected to feel the tension in the playing and make comparisons if the balance engineer takes such a pussyfooting approach ?
I have 20 performances of this symphony in my collection, including all those reviewed, with the exception of Jansons. I did once own the EMI collection of his recordings with various orchestras but did not like it at all, although I love seeing him conduct in the concert hall. One performance which I have always admired is Bernstein / NYPO, but not the version that Geoffrey Norris condemned. My one was recorded in Tokyo, I think in 1979. Yes, he is quite ponderous at the opening, but he is wonderful in the slow movement, especially in the passage where the xylophone reinforces those great chords. Like Kondrashin he takes the opening of the finale at a great lick, almost hysterical. Perhaps this isn't for every day, but it's very convincing.
Sorry to rant about the balance, but listening on a wide range system it does seem absurd when the spoken word is always louder than the climax of a magnificent symphony.
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