Music Lane

Exactly as expected

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Amphissa

In Reply to: RE: "Recapturing the Excitement of Beethoven" -- WSJ posted by clarkjohnsen on March 12, 2008 at 11:47:20

Clark, I'm going to assume you haven't actually heard these recordings. Unfortunately, I have heard several of them - at least, I've heard as much as I could stand of them.

He did it to Rachmaninoff, both as pianist and as conductor. He did it to Tchaikovsky, both as pianist and as conductor. He did it to Mussorgsky, Schumann, Prokofiev, Taneyev ....

At least he is consistent.

Pletnev may very well go down in history as the worst combo pianist/conductor ever. He certainly gets my vote as the worst living classical "performer" (although Gergiev is giving him a close race for that title).

What's surprising is not that Pletnev's Beethoven sux, but that someone like Sandow would be duped by this classical charlatan.

And don't get me started on Pletnev's Rachmaninoff. I get apoplectic.

Follow Ups:

Something about Pletnev's LvB... - M. Lucky 15:28:32 03/13/08 (0)
... really pisses me off. Unlike Mengelberg, who applies all sorts of unexpected tempo changes and accents, yet still sounds coherent, Pletnev doesn't sound as if he's thought these pieces through. It all comes off to me as almost random speeding up and slowing down, with little regard for phrasing, let alone how one tempo should relate to another. And for some reason, it actually makes me angry, probably because so many people seem to think this is something "new and different" in Beethoven interpretation.

If you ask me, there's nothing "new and different" about bad musicianship.
Agree with your assessments. - sser2 12:36:44 03/13/08 (0)
Esp. on Gergiev. The guy created such a cult that you hardly ever hear a word of critique. Pletnev has a nice set of Scarlatti, though.
Pletnev's Tchaikovsky #6 is regarded as one of the best recordings... - TWB 22:19:21 03/12/08 (2)
of that symphony...I have countless recordings of that piece and I have to say that is one that I like the least...just proves that everybody hears things differently...
- RE: Pletnev's Tchaikovsky #6 is regarded as one of the best recordings... - layman 23:37:56 03/12/08 (1)
  It was so awful that I thought that the person who had recommended it to me was playing a practical joke on me.
  - Oh that's *really* bad! nt - clarkjohnsen 08:27:50 03/13/08 (0)
    c

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