I couldn't disagree more. Goes to show how much tastes and preferences diverge here and how deep the gap is
That depends, debating tastes can be a tricky business and can lead to unpleasant exchanges. But let's not start a debate on tastes and things like that
Tastes can be tricky . Of course my tastes have changed from time to time and sometimes when I have been introduced to something I never thought I would like or appreciate.
Right, but calling some orchestra's playing sloppy ain't an issue of taste. It's a factual satement: do the second violins come in one by one, or as a unity; do the XXX group come in a half bar too late or don't - if "yes", then there's sloppiness. The major Moscow and Leningrad/Petersburg orchestras have had occasional issues (can't know the reason - perhaps they just believed that Shostakovich should be played that way? ) but I certainly won't generalise and call them sloppy orchestras as such. The audio quality of the reocrdings was quite poor in the fifties, but luckily has gotten better afterwards. PS. It's no accident that, in the nineties, the Russian National Orchestra chose Paavo Berglung to be one of its "artistic councellor" (or somesuch).
Yes, but liking (or at least not disliking) orchestras that are occasionally or regularly playing like that or not is a matter of taste and that's what I meant
At the office: playing Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto 2, 6 Preludes for piano. Wislocki conducting Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Sviatoslav Richter, piano. From the large combined DG 111 box set. Originally issued during 1959. Excellent.
Playing sets of 78s this morning on my vintage Magnavox. Here is a beautifully played and recorded set of Chopin Mazurkas by Rubinstein. Dan c
I have learned through trial and error over the years that debating taste is pointless. If you like chocolate ice cream and I like vanilla, who am I to say that you should like vanilla? Or for that matter, why should it even matter to me if you like what I like? As long as I enjoy it, that should be enough. On the subject of music taste, I have found it very useful to find other people who share my taste in classical music performance. These people can be quite useful when buying new CDs.
I'm with you except for saying recording quality is mostly excellent for pre-2000 recordings. But that's not necessarily a disqualifier for me.
Another set, this Masterworks pressing of Budapest String Quartet doing the Revel. I've got a number of 78 sets I'm going through as we prepare to move. Making difficult decisions on what to keep... Dan c
The subject of orchestral tightness versus feeling versus recording quality is quite subjective. I recall reading one particular review in the American Record Guide whose writer deplored a certain French orchestral disc that was one of my favorites. This reviewer decried the sloppy musicianship, including bad tuning - I never heard them. I'm not denying they had, but perhaps I'm not as sophisticated a listener as they are. I admit there are discs in my collection that seem badly recorded and this is a more common listening distraction for me than poor musicianship or either overzealous or boring conducting. I've certainly heard live recordings with obvious clams in them, as well as historic recordings that are just so bad sounding they are only interesting to hear how differently orchestras sounded in different time periods. Obviously, the longer and more familiar I become with a piece, the more jaded I become as well. I become a critic (and fan) of minor details. I hope never to become so familiar with any work that I become numb to its overall effect. I still get a spine tingle from Beethoven's 9th, and feel Bruckner's awe of the Almighty from the adagio of any of his symphonies.
Oh yeah, these easily made the cut. Victor shellac from this era was also amazingly quiet, these are no different. And I've always been a Rubinstein fanboy, as was my grandfather and dad. Dan c
Now on the turntable, record 1 from "Beethoven String Quartets Op. 127, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135" performed by the Amadeus Quartet on DG. Op. 127 & 135
Now on the turntable, record 2 from "Mozart - The Complete Piano Concertos Vol. 3" performed by Murray Perahia leading the English Chamber Orchestra on CBS Masterworks. Concertos Nos. 18 & 19
Now on the turntable, "Bach - Cantatas 131 & 149" performed by the Heinrich Schutz Choir of Heilbronn and the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra led by Fritz Werner on MHS.
Now listening to "Verdi - I Vespri Siciliani" performed by the Orchestra E Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala led by Riccardo Muti on EMI. Featuring: Cheryl Studer Chris Merritt Giorgio Zancanaro Ferruccio Furlanetto
