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In Reply to: RE: Look at what I listen to so that you don't have to.... posted by Ivan303 on August 13, 2016 at 19:24:18
My usual CD supplier (Europadisc) have it on offer this week. They too mention the excellent orchestra and fine recorded sound and say " Alsop's performance of the Sixth Symphony is a compelling one: level-headed and finely balanced, it refuses to wallow in the more reflective passages, instead allowing the music to speak for itself".
So, hmmmm. Will I go for it? The series may be a way to familarise myself with the lesser known symphonies like this but I suffer from having too many records!
Follow Ups:
So. . . Alsop's performance is "level-headed and finely balanced, it refuses to wallow in the more reflective passages, instead allowing the music to speak for itself." Man, if that doesn't sound like the proverbial "damning with faint praise", I don't know what does! And the Sixth is a WW II symphony evoking the tragedy of all the horrors and losses of that monstrous time in history - if you don't wallow here, where CAN you wallow? ;-)
As always, I refer back to the post three years ago here on AA by an anonymous member of the Baltimore Symphony for the "up close and personal" scoop on Alsop.
For me, the most interesting part of that post is the cryptic comment about Ms. Alsop's fundraising:
--Regarding fund raising, the BSO has not received a million dollar gift directly to our endowment or annual fund for many, many years. The only one recently went to Alsop's childrens urban program, Orchids. When we ask management how she is as a fundraiser they clam up and won't answer directly.
So, she raises millions -- for her own projects, not necessarily the BSO. Looks like the orchestra has to beg for crumbs from her table, and give her whatever she wants, including what is essentially a lifetime contract. Meanwhile, the players had to take a 20 percent salary cut and personnel cut from 96 to 80. Sure, they get to appear on her many Naxos recordings, but she now has a second orchestra she can use, the Sao Paulo Symphony, so they will have to beg for that too. No wonder this poster was so eager to slam her.
It's all about the money. Reminds me a bit of Gerard Schwarz, who was bitterly disliked by some of the players in Seattle, but who was a successful fundraiser and had a very long career there that included the building of a fine new concert hall.
Well I am truly shocked. Nearly three years since that posting on an orchestral player's direct experience of working with Alsop. Time goes by far too quickly.
I am certainly no Alsop fan ( BTW- why on earth did she conduct the Last Night of the Proms - that's always a date for the chief conductor of the BBC SO?). However despite all of the surrounding negatives these do not give any indication of the worth or otherwise of this particular Naxos disc. Every work of art has to be judged on its own merits and not by the creator's personal characteristics or abilities otherwise IMO.
I go with Ivan3003 - "I would say it's worth a listen, Alsop and all.""
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