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In Reply to: RE: Not Blomstedt San Francisco posted by Mike Porper on January 13, 2015 at 09:36:40
Mr. Porper: You never listened to it and you're making negative comments about it based on some other recordings of this conductor that you didn't like?
With all due respect, I don't see why your opinion about these recordings would have any validity. Nothing personal, but at least listen to it before opining. I've heard the Sibelius set and like these recordings a lot. Oh, and BTW, I like his Nielsen symphonies as well. I have seen Blomstedt conduct the Cleveland Orchestra twice in the last three years, and he got well-deserved standing ovations both times (including for a Nielsen Symphony 3).
Follow Ups:
I was out of place, speaking about performance I'd never heard. I hate it when people do that with recordings about which I'm enthusiastic.
Since I can't delete the post at this point, let me try to amend it by saying that I haven't heard the Blomstedt set, and that my only experience with it are comments others have made about it.
Thanks for your reasonable response. However, please include my enthusiastic thumbs up among the comments you have heard others make about the Blomstedt set.
Also there are these comments from David Hurwitz at classicstoday.com:
"Herbert Blomstedt was both lucky and unlucky on disc during his tenure in San Francisco. He was lucky in that he made no bad recordings, and wisely stuck to repertoire that he felt strongly about and conducted extremely well, such as Nielsen, Sibelius, Hindemith, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Schubert, Strauss, and Brahms. Even his rare forays into (for him) uncharted territory, such as his Mahler Second or Bartók Concerto for Orchestra, turned out surprisingly well thanks to his inherent musicality allied to fine orchestral playing...
"So it's great to welcome back his outstanding Sibelius cycle, one of the finest available, right up there with Davis (Philips), Vänskä (BIS), Segerstam (Ondine), Berglund (pick one), or any other of your personal favorites. There isn't a weak performance here. Granted, No. 2 doesn't offer Szell's combination of excitement and discipline, but then no one else does, and Blomstedt's performance at least culminates in a truly powerful account of the finale. Everything else is wonderful, from the vital and energetic First, to the seamlessly managed transitions in the Seventh.
"Particularly outstanding are the middle symphonies, Nos. 3-5, where Blomstedt's control of structure and knowledge of where the music is going produce extremely impressive results. This Third, for example, certainly is one of the finest ever recorded, a performance of real inevitability and dynamism, with no hint of an anticlimax at the very end. The Fourth is aptly dark and gaunt, but it never bogs down thanks to flowing tempos and acutely observed dynamics (chimes in the finale, by the way, instead of the more usual glockenspiel).
"In the Fifth, Blomstedt captures the music's heroic demeanor with total confidence. The brass and timpani play magnificently, and the strings sustain the music's tension through their acres of tremolo and ostinato as if they really believe in the cause. This is similar to the kind of commitment the Vienna Philharmonic routinely brings to Bruckner, and it's rare. Blomstedt doesn't, however, take Sibelius' very quick tempo marking seriously in the finale of the Sixth--but then aside from Bernstein, virtually no one does. The interpretation is nevertheless persuasive, nowhere more so than in the careful balances between strings and winds that Blomstedt maintains in the opening movement, allowing the melodies to "float" atop a strong underlying musical current. Beautifully detailed sound, a deliberate and atmospheric Tapiola, and a wistful Valse triste round out this desirable package. If you missed it the first time round, don't hesitate now.' "
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