- Posted by SnaggS (A) on July 05, 2007 at 02:26:43
Lets get the recording out the way.. brilliant! DSD direct and good mike placement really shows. Now to the performance...Very nimble performance, not pacey, not rushed, nimble. Very interesting use of the strings, which make a truly swirling sound. Full sounding orchestra, peppy clarinet. He's got the swirling spiral sound in the flute sections too in parts. Bouncy drums, he really has everyone in a very upbeat mood, and the music really does waltz along.
Of course, its languid and smeared where it needs to be, a change they're up and the result is something effortless like a ballerina. This is in contrast to Bruno Walter, which is like a sun setting slowly.. more romantic.
Now listening to the Karajan, obviously very capable, but he's too pacey for liking and without the romanticism of Walter. Great technique, shades etc builds up climax's.. but I don't want big climaxes in this movement. Karajan had me in the concert hall, Walter and Numajiri had me outside in the garden on a glorious day. Furtwangler is somewhere between the Karajan and Walter, starts nicely, but gets easily excited! First movement goes to Numajiri, Walter then Furtwangler.
Whilst Numajiri's approach is really succesfull on the first movement, I'm not completely convinced on the second. This is where Bruno Walter is really in his element, sweet and sentimental. Numajiri does however come back on song two thirds in.. but then looses it again.. Karajan puts in a good performance, but Furtwangler just has a few extra flourishes and shimmers in the strings which make it more endearing. The chequered flag clearly goes to Bruno Walter. Second place to Furtwangler and then Karjan.
Now to Coriolan, the "Tokyo Mozart Players" nimble performing comes to their aid here.. and it sounds very promising at the start.. but then they loose the sense of frantic urgency and power that Furtwanglers performance has.. there are glimpses of this in the performance, but they're not sustained. Just a little loose at the onset of the bombastic parts compared to Furtwangler who has the orchestra in the grip of his palm and rips them left and right as he pleases.
However, Numajiri's performance of Coriolan is no worse, and better than many of performances I remember (Bohm), so might suit some people, but I just can't get excited after having heard Furtwangler.
So there you have it.. a very interesting Pastorale and a so so Coriolan. Sorry if I get the odd term wrong.. I am relatively new to classical music!
Daniel.
Edits: 07/05/07 07/05/07
