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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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In Reply to: I wish I could remember exactly how a performance sounded when I sampled it 40 years ago. : ) posted by jdaniel@jps.net on August 21, 2016 at 11:37:47:
It was when DG reissued all that Westminster stuff in their vaults - maybe only 15 years! ;-)
As I mentioned, I no longer have the recording, so, for the most part, I can't provide the measure numbers, but just as a general rule, I do remember a general sloppiness and lack of clarity to the playing that, at least to me, really stood out, not to mention a lack of weight in the orchestra's tone. And if there's one piece that needs weight, regardless of how fast you're going, it's the Eroica - think of inspired spot where the first violins linger, sotto voce, on that solitary A-flat at measure 157 in the slow movement, followed by a powerful fortissimo A-flat in cellos and basses in the next measure. That's one place I do remember as being wimpy and lame in the Scherchen performance - at least compared to other performances.
BTW, there's a story about Kempe rehearsing that same spot (measures 157-158 in the slow movement) with the RPO, where, instead of just giving the downbeat at 158, he moved his arm from side to side too (a gesture, I would think, that encouraged the players to go for maximum tone at this point). This confused one of the double bass players, who raised his hand and asked Kempe if he could avoid all that side-to-side motion because it was confusing for the double-bass player to determine exactly where the beat was at that point. Kempe kind of smiled at him and promised to be more clear at that spot in the actual performance. The actual performance rolled around, they got to measure 158, and Kempe conducted it exactly the same way he had in rehearsal! (This story was related by another member of the orchestra who said that Kempe was entirely right to conduct it this way and got exactly what was needed from the orchestra!)
BTW, if I have to go mono, I'd much prefer the Markevitch / Symphony of the Air performance (also on a DG reissue). Regarding those Karajan 60's performances on DG, I agree.
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Follow Ups
- This was more recent than 40 years ago - Chris from Lafayette 13:48:13 08/21/16 (2)
- "General sloppiness and lack of clarity" Love you and no offense but that's completey, absurdly inaccurate - jdaniel@jps.net 14:13:24 08/21/16 (1)
- Nah - it's the rumble and the surface noise on the LP! [nt] ;-) - Chris from Lafayette 14:19:29 08/21/16 (0)
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