RE: Ashkenazy?

RE: Ashkenazy?

Posted by Chris from Lafayette (A) on July 11, 2012 at 18:31:50

In Reply to: Ashkenazy? posted by Amphissa on July 11, 2012 at 15:44:36:

I'm replying to your post, but I'm trying to include ideas from other posts too.

The whole issue of Ashkenazy as a conductor is very interesting. I must say I'm not convinced by his conducting prowess at all, and I didn't think much of those Concertgebouw Rachmaninoff recordings. There have been a couple of posts in this thread indicating that the players love him as a conductor, and that certainly counts for something (and I know that Sir Adrian Boult made some very positive comments about his conducting), but from the excerpts I've seen of his rehearsals, I'm just not that impressed, nor am I impressed by the resulting performances, many of which suffer IMHO from terminal blandness.

In fact, the whole phenomenon that certain conductors are beloved by their orchestras has no correlation IMHO to their resulting performances. I was just thinking about this during the last week in connection with another conductor who, by some accounts, is beloved by the orchestras he works with, and that would be Jiri Belohlavek. For instance, Ivan Moravec spoke very highly of him in a conversation with me, and I had a friend who had an administrative position in the Detroit Symphony who told me that the orchestra members loved working with him. And yet, I was just comparing Belohlavek's performance of Suk's early E-major Symphony with Neumann's, and, to me, the difference was night and day, despite the far superior engineering on the Belohlavek recording. Sometimes, it comes down to the most basic things, such as deciding where the main line (Hauptstimme) is and where the secondary lines (Nebenstimmen) are. When Belohlavek conducts this work, it's all one big mishmash - nothing is differentiated, and it makes Suk seem almost incompetent as an orchestrator. (I'm exaggerrating, but not as much as you may think.) It's as if Belohlavek has no sense of texture at all compared to Neumann in this work. And yet, Belohlavek is a beloved conductor and is even admired by musicians I highly respect (such as Moravec). Go figure.

I feel much the same way about Ashkenazy as a conductor. As I mentioned, I do like many of his earlier recordings as pianist, such as the EMI's now on Testament, and the very early Deccas. But I haven't been moved or excited his performances for quite some time now.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Wonderful CD's you may have forgotten about in your own collection? - Chris from Lafayette 12:58:14 07/07/12 (28)

Askenazy's Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances - Chuck Y 11:09:50 07/15/12 (3)

Does that Imogen Holst recording - jult52 13:16:28 07/23/12 (1)

RE: Does that Imogen Holst recording - Chuck Y 15:17:26 07/23/12 (0)

RE: Askenazy's Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances - Kal Rubinson 13:08:09 07/15/12 (0)

I can't remember... nt - SambaMaster 09:19:12 07/14/12 (4)

Hey - you guys are stealing each other's gags! [nt] ;-) - Chris from Lafayette 13:13:33 07/14/12 (3)

Yeah, and both parties in Congress equally are responsible for gridlock. - tinear 18:48:53 07/14/12 (2)

OK, OK - He stole your routine! Geez, tin! [nt] ;-) - Chris from Lafayette 23:40:26 07/14/12 (1)

I'm a consistent guy! nt - tinear 17:30:04 07/22/12 (0)

Let's see.... there's ..... I mean.... Damn, I forget. nt - tinear 19:03:10 07/13/12 (0)

Kocsis - Amphissa 15:31:08 07/11/12 (1)

Thanks - I was hoping you'd comment - Chris from Lafayette 17:57:12 07/11/12 (0)

Budapest Music Center label and Disbelief - Mike Porper 13:00:55 07/09/12 (11)

Ashkenazy? - Amphissa 15:44:36 07/11/12 (3)

RE: Ashkenazy? - Chris from Lafayette 18:31:50 07/11/12 (2)

RE: Ashkenazy? - Amphissa 19:06:20 07/12/12 (1)

I was very, very much turned off Ashkenazy - jult52 13:20:33 07/23/12 (0)

Ashkenazy - pbarach 15:14:28 07/09/12 (3)

I've played in SF Sym with him, he is a great musician in every respect. His - oldmkvi 10:43:43 07/11/12 (0)

I agree re Ashkenazy as a conductor - Chuck Y 09:48:51 07/10/12 (0)

Yes, It's a mental block - Mike Porper 07:35:36 07/10/12 (0)

RE: Budapest Music Center label and Disbelief - Chris from Lafayette 14:39:23 07/09/12 (2)

Thanks for the Berkshire Tip and that Schoenberg/Brahms - Mike Porper 07:44:06 07/10/12 (0)

I have the Kocsis Hungaroton and it's good - srl1 16:41:02 07/09/12 (0)

I didn't really forget them........ - Chuck Y 17:35:31 07/07/12 (1)

The "Babe" category - Chris from Lafayette 17:49:46 07/07/12 (0)

RE: Wonderful CD's you may have forgotten about in your own collection? - MichaelV8 16:46:05 07/07/12 (1)

Perfect example - I'd forgotten about the CRD label myself! [nt] - Chris from Lafayette 17:31:49 07/07/12 (0)

Follow Ups

RE: Ashkenazy? - Chris from Lafayette 18:31:50 07/11/12 (2)

RE: Ashkenazy? - Amphissa 19:06:20 07/12/12 (1)

I was very, very much turned off Ashkenazy - jult52 13:20:33 07/23/12 (0)

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