In Reply to: Budapest Music Center label and Disbelief posted by Mike Porper on July 9, 2012 at 13:00:55:
I am not one to instantly dismiss a conductor just because he was once a performing/recording soloist. Abbado is an example of a pianist turned consuctor who has been quite good over the years, IMO.
Perhaps you missed Ashkenazy's recordings of the Rachmaninoff Symphonies, Symphonic Dances and other orchestral works with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. IMO, one of the better traversals of this wonderful music. And I've been present when he conducted Sibelius, as well as hearing the CDs, and it is definitely not so easily dismissed.
And of course Rachmaninoff was, himself, an outstanding conductor as well as one of the greatest pianists of all time. So I'm not one to generalize.
However, I cannot say the same about Kocsis. His recordings of the Rachmaninoff piano concertos left much to be desired, IMO, and I'm not enamoured of this take on the Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 1.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
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Follow Ups
- Ashkenazy? - Amphissa 15:44:36 07/11/12 (3)
- RE: Ashkenazy? - Chris from Lafayette 18:31:50 07/11/12 (2)
- RE: Ashkenazy? - Amphissa 19:06:20 07/12/12 (1)
- I was very, very much turned off Ashkenazy - jult52 13:20:33 07/23/12 (0)