Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Music Lane ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Stern's Saint Saens Organ Symphony on Reference Recordings: best final pages ever, if you're still awake by that point

Posted by jdaniel@jps.net on December 5, 2016 at 07:14:33

Yes indeed: the final pages just expand, expand, expand. Everything is very well shaped and paced from the trumpet fanfares to the end; not too rushed, not too stately. Stunning, deep bass. Organ and orchestra are as smooth and perfectly-blended as I've ever heard. Put a huge smile on my face.

However, IMHO the first mov't is a bit too carefully articulated; too much tree, too little forest. Where's the nervous, kinetic energy?

In the second half of part one, the Cellos/Violas start off gorgeously but when the organ takes over the theme, there's not enough hall atmosphere to blend with the upper strings which hover above. (Who can forget Ormandy's Philadelphia strings at this point on Telarc?)

The Scherzo is relatively plodding compared to Paray's and especially Toscanini's.

The finale starts off well, especially when the organ takes over the stately theme-Wow!-but then we go back to pastel mode: IMHO not enough incisiveness and energy to keep the listener riveted.

I've been looking at other choices, and the one that keeps coming up (apart from the early Paray and Munch) is Barenboim's Chicago on DGG, for both performance, and (gasp) sound. Hmmmm.

Edits: 12/05/16

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---