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Gaffigan's performance and recording gives us a dollop of Prokofiev's bold colors and voluptuousness, Litton's delivers the necessary incisiveness and attitude. I listened to Gaffigan's first, and while the recording is very rich and pleasing, (if a little diffuse),IMHO the conducting is a bit too laid-back: the brass and gong climax of the first mov't needs to be more audacious, and the overlapping unison horn calls that follow should "feel" like the aftermath of being whapped in the head, but they don't. Same with the two angry outbursts in the last pages of the finale; for my tastes, they're not emphatic enough. Gaffigan keeps his distance.
In comparison, Litton's pacing and incisiveness feels just right: lean, mean, but just a little too clean. If only Litton could have been standing in front of the Netherlands group! The Bergen's corporate sound is a little too faceless and relatively bland, (remember, we're talking Prokofiev here), to make the composer's music "pop" when it needs to, especially in the passages listed above. I hasten to add that Litton's musicians play with enthusiasm and charm.
Strangely enough, everything comes together in Litton's "Orange" and "Kije" Suites: the recorded 2 channel sound--a bit dry and "no man's land-ish" in the Symphony-- opens up, and the Bergen players suddenly find themselves at home in Prokofiev's sound world, thuddy bass drum aside.
Jarvi with the Scottish National, or any of the old Melodiya gang, are preferable in the 6th.
"Ouch!" My first thoughts when Podger joins Cooper's fortepiano in the exquisite opening of Mozart's Sonata in G. I don't want to enable the anti-hipster brigade, but here goes: I'm not a big fan of fortepianos, (even those reported to be as listener-friendly as Cooper's). No matter how much I try to push the imagery out of my head, I'm always reminded of a saloon piano with obligatory lady of the evening sitting on the lid. The biggest issue of all though, is Podger's violin sound, which is decidedly *not* flattering. Surprising, considering how much I enjoyed her Biber, Bach and Vivaldi Channel recordings.But back to Mozart's exquisite creation: if you think Mozart's music is 99% V-I chords, this Sonata should surprise. I've provided a link below to sample, if you'd like. I'm very happy with Hyperion's warm recording featuring Tiberghien and Ibragimova.
I picked up Rana's download specifically for the Prokofiev 2nd. My go-to performance has always been Frager's old RCA with the PCO: a vivid and wide-ranging recording which captures the young pianist's wild abandon--and mid-century French orchestra sound--remarkably well for its vintage. Rana and Pappano do indeed get me in the "zone" but not right away: the pianist takes her time in the infamous 1st movt cadenza, which is more probing and nuanced than Frager's and at first I missed the latter artist's sense of spectacle. It isn't until the 3rd and 4th mov't that Rana really unleashes her own brand of fury and abandon. No complaints about the accompaniment at all: Pappano's Italian low brass and percussion snarl with the same smile-inducing enthusiasm as the Paris orchestra throughout. The recording leaves nothing to be desired.
A very good Shostakovich 7th! Jarvi's preoccupation with transparency, (sometimes a liability), really pays off as the 1st movt's infamous march progresses from humorous whispers to terrifying spectacle: the conductor brings out a lot of harrowing polyphony and chord progressions of which I wasn't previously aware. I wish Jarvi had done more with the stark, unison theme following the climax of the march, before the return of the pastoral material: he simply plays it straight. (I guess it will take another world war before most modern conductors figure out how to interpret Shostakovich!) The extended 4th movt finale is paced just right, IMHO; not too slow, (Petrenko) and not to fast, (Jarvi Sr/Jansons EMI). For me, a little slowing of the tempo (rit.) during the percussion crescendi really adds a sense of drama. There's always Bernstein's with the Chicago on DGG, too. For me, the 1st Symphony on that CD set is the true jewel.
Finally, one of those heavenly experiences: Ravel's SQ played by the Arcanto Quartett. Beautiful, elegant, idiomatic. As a recording I can't recall even one passage not perfectly cushioned by the hall. No halos of wispy distortion during forte passages, just warm but detailed sound throughout. Will be downloading their Debussy without delay.PS: Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to most! My extended family is watching a "Pawn Stars" marathon and I had to get away. A guy came in their shop with a box of records and, well, you know....
Holidays can be an emotionally trying time.
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Edits: 12/25/16 12/25/16 12/25/16Follow Ups:
Dmitri Dmitriyevich at his best, IMNSHO.
And yes, I think Jarvi gets it right.
Might I take this opportunity to put in a good word for Semyon Bychkov?
OK, not Hi Rez and with an orchestra that's not the least bit Russian, but German, and not even East German at that.
Not bad, but the next time I visited the 11th, it was on Lp with Berglund in Bournemouth, and the package knocked me for a loop.
I haven't downloaded anything from the same forces yet, but I really liked the venue as captured by EMI, and Berglund has his moments.
I look forward to Alsop's Bartok Wooden Prince, and I hope they captured the old-time magic.
Look no further!
This one is on SACD.
Also just about my favorite #4.
I like the Petrenko on Naxos, Royal Liverpool not very Russian either!
And, I guess Gergiev, with the Kirov or is it the Mariinsky?
Now I gotta go back and listen again.
Jarvi was my first 4th, happened to be on sale What exciting times, when just about any mystery CD was a gem.
I haven't run across a 1st mov't as similarly astonishing ahs that old Chandos issue, but Wigglesworth's was far more interesting in the 2nd and 3rd movts. I'm not sure I'm sold on his 1st, though I can't complain about recording or execution.
May try Petrenko's next. I don't think Bychkov's is available as a download yet.
Too bad we don't know someone with an old Sony Playstation with the 'right' old software version, as I have the SACD. :-(
We do. :-)
emphasize pacing, for that is, in my opinion, the sine qua non of this work. And that's where I think Bernstein nails it- he makes it sound like we're on a long, difficult, but ultimately satisfying and necessary journey. I especially like his slower (slower than any others I've heard), more ruminative second movement, closer in feel to the Tenth's equally emotionally ambivalent third movement. The Seventh is such a misunderstood symphony; it's vital, IMO, to have the backstory on it, and understand that for DDS, it was about the insidious banality of totalitarianism in general, not "marching Germans". He is on record, from his family's friend Flora Litvinova, as having said just this, an unusually direct comment for him on one of his works.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
Edits: 12/25/16
Back in the days when I chose music based upon the pictures on the album covers, (or the how meaty the percussion mentions in the liner notes), it didn't take long for the 7th to enter my humble collection: Haitink's Decca/London 2 lp set was my first exposure, though the back cover notes dealt more with a fantastic new technology called "digital." : )
People do indeed obsess over the march, but I humbly think it works when --as you say-- people accept the back story as part of the experience.
Very good, and well recorded as you say. As you also correctly say, clarity is all-important in this music. Nothing does it more harm than smudgy pseudo-impressionist haze, in performance or recording.
However, enough listening in your briefs. Put some pants on, for goodness sake.
: )I actually Googled "listening to music" + "briefs" to provide you with a multi-media retort, but all that came up was pics of half-naked women writhing in headphones. Inappropriate.
Anyway, I was originally vacillating between samples of Arcanto's and Talich's Ravel, but in the end, the Talich Quartet seems just a touch heavy-handed.
Edits: 12/25/16
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