Wholeheartedly agreed. A lovely disc, and in addition to Petri's contribution Jarrett plays with liveliness, grace, or sensitivity as the music demands. It makes a particularly nice companion in the car when stuck in traffic. It is, by the by, an RCA recording, issued on CD as RCA 09026-61274-2. Note that most of the pieces are transposed from their flute keys to suit Petri's recorders.
Or perhaps better put this way: "The trouble with instant gratification is that it takes too long," said Carrie Fisher, Forcefully. Which brings me to a question that came up a few days ago: why did Arthur Fiedler's recordings not get better treatment from RCA after his passing? I have no definitive answer, but I can speculate on a few things. One is that the Boston Pops latched onto a glamorous figure to replace him in the person of John Williams (composer, not guitarist); when you're pushing the composer of Star Wars music, probably a guy associated with Leroy Anderson and his ilk seems just a bit old fashioned. Second, unless my (proven faulty) memory is, well, faulty, didn't Fiedler jump ship for Philips at the end of his career? Jump ship or get pushed, one of the two? No label ever wants to promote a former member of its roster. Third, while in his prime Fiedler was a real master of "light classical" music, by the end he was doing more and more stuff like Beatles for Big Band, again pretty lame when put up against that new, exciting Star Wars type material. Fourth, but related, one of Arthur Fiedler's stocks-in-trade was orchestral arrangements of popular tunes, and by his end popular music had swerved away from anything that a "pops" orchestra could present without sounding a bit silly. Just a few thoughts. No authority behind them beyond having mulled over the matter for a while since the question came up. These views reflect the author's opinions only. YMMV. Etc., etc., &c.
According to Discogs, he did a number of recordings for DGG in the 1970s. I've also heard that the relationship between Fiedler and the musicians became downright toxic near the end of his tenure - they resented having to play what many considered hackneyed and lowbrow material. As I understand it this actually continued to be a problem under Williams, and was only ameliorated when musicians got more choice about whether or not to do Pops concerts. Also, the contemporary orchestral pop hasn't aged well at all - the stuff that's aged best is the light classical and big band type stuff. In other words, I pretty much agree.
Now playing, CD 16: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Concerto for Violin No.1 in B flat major K 207 – Concerto for Violin No.2 in D major K 211 – Concerto for Violin No.3 in G major K 216 David Oistrakh (violin) – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – David Oistrakh (EMI Classics)
In the '70s, I would occasionally watch PBS broadcasts of the Fieldler/Boston Pops concerts... and often wince. The programming was mostly light classics peppered with arrangements of some pop/rock tunes of the day. Cameras would pan down through the audience and you'd see that the seats on the floor in Symphony Hall had been removed and replaced by cafe tables & chairs. Waiters were scurrying between tables, pouring wine, etc. Hard to take any of it seriously.
I've had the Ciaccona from Partita BWV 1004 for some time now, played by Yves Rechsteiner on pedal harpsichord. It is quite remarkable. However, I was wondering about getting a version on solo violin. Can anybody recommend any especially good performances on CD (or SACD or Blu-ray or DVD-Audio)?
Now playing CD2 - featuring all those highly popular Schumann piano works from my Schumann collection ...
Going out of my mind on yet another Saturday trapped indoors by bad weather/some sort of freezing precipitation..... Been going through some NM mono DGs I picked up a couple of months ago. Particularly enjoyed this one:
That's too bad that you have crappy weather....here's it's just the opposite. Simply a wonderful spring like day. 16 C ( 60 F) , sunny...awesome. So I haven't listened to music much but now we're home and I am going to indulge On the TT.....
Well, I hope that your good weather is on its way my direction! Enjoy your weekend and great choice of music!!
I found a couple of those a few years ago Borodin, Straus, Mozart and Liszt. I had never seen them prior to that. NP Fritz Reiner and the CSO w/Leontyne Price - Spain (RCA) SACD
The weather here is always very unpredictable ...the proximity to the Rocky Mountains is the culprit. We have a saying here....' if you don't like the weather....wait 5 minutes'. I remember a lyrics by Genesis.....When the evil of a snowflake in June can still be a source of relief'.... I never understood what that meant and found it a bit absurd, until I moved here. Snow can come down ANY month of the year. It's unusual - but it happens! I hope your weather improves soon. Spring is very much needed, at least for me. I enjoy the outdoors so much.....and besides hopefully the 1 CAD record sale will start again .....can't wait to find more treasures and add to my collection.
Hahaha...so is Glenn Gould!! Well belonging to any nationality / country is definitely not a guarantee to be liked but everyone. Ms. Hewitt has many fans and followers....I am just not one of them.
These old tulip label recordings are so nice to own....there is something truly special about them. I have found only one so far during my digging. Several other tulip label, but with the more modern covers/ artwork etc...
Well, sir, they've outdone themselves, then, on #2; the orchestra just shines throughout the entire work just brilliantly. I haven't ordered the complete set yet, but I could not find a new set from Europe for that $30 price mentioned above either.
Now playing, CD 1: Franz Liszt (Sony Records) – Concerto for Piano No.1 in E flat major S.124 — Arthur Rubinstein (piano) – RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra – Alfred Wallenstein – Concerto for Piano No.2 in A major S.125 — Van Cliburn (piano) – Philadelphia Orchestra – Eugene Ormandy – Totentanz S.126 — Byron Janis (piano) – Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Fritz Reiner – Hungarian Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra S.123 — Philippe Entremont (piano) – New Philharmonia Orchestra – Seiji Ozawa