(CD RCA Red Seal German Press 09026 68545-2) 1996 .... recorded October 1995 @ Lukaskirche Dresden Germany .... part of a worth hearing Schubert cycle this reading of Symphony 4 is magnificent ....
Well, I've tried many times and I do have quite a few Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky CDs, but the result was the same every time: not for me, maybe with the 2 exceptions I mentioned.
Oh, boy, oh boy ! Thank god it's not just me ! In total agreement ! SF leaves me totally frigid Arctic cold. Just don't understand all the fuss - boring isn't strong enough. Oh and a correction to your post, it should read "bunch of unrelated discarded Beethoven fragments'. Phew ! Thank goodness, I will sleep tonight with the warm feeling that it is not just me that does not understand this music !!
I watched a BBC4 series about the development of the symphony in the 19th Century last year, and the presenter (don't remember her name) was drooling all over the Symphonie fantastique. She totally failed to make me understand why...
I see what you did there. Bernstein tried to make us appreciate the work in his “Berlioz Takes a Trip” by tying it to the then-current psychedelia. Unfortunately, it doesn't help (and neither does his overuse of the word “psychedelic”). Instead, he should have just called it “Berlioz takes a trip and goes nowhere”. At least, that's where the music goes for me, with its frustrating start–stop tendencies. But who knows, maybe I'll come to appreciate it one day?
Love my Tchaikovsky but in total agreement regarding Mendelssohn. I've never understood in particular why his violin concerto is rated so highly ...
No.5 today. What was already one of DG's better recordings is further improved in this SACD iteration. The playing is magnificent.
You found a sealed German pressing of that? Bravo! Back in the day (1978, according to the note I made on my copy), the only release available in my local (U.S.) record shop was an "ABC Classics" set. The vinyl is okay, but I'm sure yours is quieter. The box cover on mine looks very similar to yours: Typical of Leonhardt, the performances are very stylish. Although I can certainly think of a few others that top it, this is still a good set. One of the big attractions of this release for me (besides the small "original instruments" ensemble) was the inclusion of a facsimile of the original autographed score. Also included was a nice booklet with liner notes and photos. Here are a couple of interesting recording session photos for Concerto No. 4 (top) and Concerto No. 2 (bottom): From these photos, it appears that Leonhardt is playing the harpsichord (at rear-center) in Concerto No. 4, yet he has taken up the position of conductor (foreground-right) in Concerto No. 2.
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Yes I was certainly lucky to find it and even luckier about the price even with shipping from Germany ... The downside to my set is that it's a gatefold cover, not a box, German language notes and no score ... The upside is that the vinyl is nearly perfect - it plays very quietly indeed after cleaning and the sonics are most respectable. I have yet to play my Collegium Aureum set, so that will be an interesting comparison!
So Harry Bicket is now the conductor of the English Concert. If it was Trevor Pinnock, I would have gone for this concert. I last attended a concert by Pinnock with the English Concert in NYC in 1986. Time flies ... The English Concert
From the Charles Munch RCA Collection: Speaking of Symphonie Fantastique, I've found that Munch's recording is one of the few I've liked (Davis, Karajan and most other conductors seem to drag on the symphony for 50 minutes+). I think Mendelssohn's last 3 symphonies are fantastic (especially Maag for the 3rd, Toscanini 4th and Munch for the 5th) but do agree that after 20 + listens, his violin concerto doesn't do much for me
I am surprised to see the Symphonie Fantastique come in for this level of disapproval and dislike. I find the music....revolutionary...I love the (haunting) use of the Idee Fixe, and the innovation of the "Programme" in symphonic music. "Fantastique" is the quintessential, perhaps the archetypal Romantic Symphony, that seems to burst out of the classical structures that had (up until that point) constrained what symphonic music could be and where it could go. The "Symphonie Fantastique" seems heavily influenced by opera and points strongly to the line of musical development that led to the Romantic Tone Poem , the "Programme Symphony," the all encompassing "music of the future" as envisioned by Wagner, and eventually Film Scores. The work opened the door to and unleashed the Romantic Movement in music, strongly influencing the music of Liszt, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak, Smetana, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Strauss (and many others). If one is to understand the development of symphonic music, the Symphonie Fantastique cannot be omitted. I find the piece indispensable and hauntingly and achingly beautiful. The idea underlying the Symphonie, that of unrequited and obsessive love, seems universal and easy to access and comprehend compared to the more arcane and abstract ideas associated with other works. I love this piece and I find it endlessly moving and fascinating, but I will agree that it has not had the best luck in the recording studio. There are simply too many recordings, too many runthroughs, that just skim the surface of the music and fail to reveal its great depth, beauty, innovation and audacity. Too many ensembles do the work terrible injustice and I can understand how modern audiences might be bored and/or uncomprehending given the surfeit of mediocre sounding recordings of the Symphonie Fantastique. I can name my favorites on one hand...recordings by Leonard Bernstein with the L' Orchestre de Paris, Colin Davis with the Royal Concertgebouw and especially that of Myung Whun Chung and the L' Orchestre de L'Opera Bastille, who really seems to capture the operatic influences on the piece. It really is worth seeking out recordings by artists who share Berlioz excitement and passion and sense of revolution and zeal.
I've no problem with Debussy, on the contrary. I'm a piano lover (not a "piano specialist" like others on this board, self-proclaimed or not) and I especially like his piano music.
And the artwork is brilliant, too. The DG records from the 70s had some fantastic covers such like Mahler series of Karajan and Abbado respectively.
I didn't realize yours was a gatefold... but upon reexamining your photo, I can see that now. Ah, well... at least you have some great, unplayed vinyl! That's getting harder to find now.
Interesting question. Not sure what happened to the Leonhardt Consort... But now that you raised the point, I have compared the personnel listed in that ABC Classics' Bach Brandenburg Concertos set (a '77 release) with those in this 1976 Telefunken set of Bach Keyboard Concerti - with the "Leonhardt Consort" (recorded early-to-mid '70s): (Interesting they both use the same cover art.) I don't see the same names listed. Other than Leonhardt, the only musician common to both sets appears to be Frans Brüggen. Perhaps his "Leonhardt Consort" had disbanded by the time he got around to recording the Brandenburgs.
