WCVB in Boston, Massachusetts did a piece on Keith Lockhart yesterday, and you can check out the links that I posted over on the Classical Music Corner thread.
I have that same 6-CD Warner box set and it is a great resource for anyone wanting to explore Holst. I never considered him a "one hit wonder" and have collected many of his works. Holst was quite popular in his day, but his music faded from the concert scene rather quickly after his death. Not sure why, but it might be because much of it is deeply rooted in English folk music and international orchestras (and radio stations) are looking for programming with broader appeal. Thus, they play the wildly popular Planets as their nod to Holst and move on. (Just my speculation.) For the adventurous, though, there are some real gems to be mined among his choral works and orchestral suites. Box sets like this (and the Chandos series) have fortunately made it easier to sample this wonderful music.
That could very well be the case. I wish the nod to Holst would include more than The Planets, but I guess we’re lucky to at least be able to hear something from his oeuvre in concert. I’d also say that a part of The Planets appeal is the outward nature of the music itself. This work is really unlike anything he had written and if one goes for a deeper exploration into his oeuvre, they will find this to be the case or, at least, this is what I have found out for myself many years ago. I wouldn’t put Holst up there with any of my own favorite composers, but I do enjoy his music on occasion and he has composed some real gems.
Duitoit's The Planets is a favorite of mine, too. A really stunning performance and recording that sets the bar high among the many available. Have you ever heard a recording of Holst conducting his own work? That is a real revelation! Naxos put out a CD copy of a 1926 recording, painstakingly transferred by Mark Obert-Thorn from shellacs. The performance is a real barnburner; Holst rips through the movements at a frantic pace and the London Symphony Orchestra can barely keep up. Talk about a benchmark! Some modern conductors should have a listen to this. As you would expect from a 94-year-old recording, it's no sonic wonder, but it's remarkable we have this at all.
This 2 LP set( still sealed) arrived while I was still in hospital. Later today I plan to spin it on the TT.
I listened to this again late last night, and I think it lacks too much drama and character to recommend it, especially at the $28 price regardless of the sound. It's also mastered at a low level, so I have to turn up the volume a good 20% to get the same level compared to many other recordings. His late Beethoven, Bach/Chopin or Chopin/Mozart releases are more enjoyable.
This whole disc --- every work: Tveitt taps into that folky idiom that I love so dearly but yet, like any composer with such an individual voice, puts his own spin on it. This music is wonderfully atmospheric and I’m completely drawn into the sonic world the music inhabits. The entire Tveitt series on BIS is definitely worth exploring.
This entire week has been cloudy/rainy, so I'm playing a rather fun piece to lighten this afternoon: Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite. On the the LP's flip side is another orchestral classic: Stravinsky's Song of the Nightingale. This album is pure delight and both works are given superlative renditions by Reiner and the CSO. The warmth and clarity of the recording is also a reminder of why RCA's "Living Stereo" era is still revered. My '81 "Gold Seal" repress sounds great and has served me well, but I'm sure an original '58 (or a remastered CD edition) would sound even better. Highly recommended.
This will take up the rest of my day for a third listen. I listen to one disc (of 7) at a time, with a 20-30 minute break in between to process what I just heard.
Mozart on the turntable: Symphonies 35 & 41. George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra bring such vitality and precision to their performance of the Symphony No. 41 that it is my favorite recording of this extraordinary work. They also give an equally exciting and polished performance of No. 35; however, I also like Bruno Walter's performance with the Columbia Symphony just as well, where his personal touches keep me coming back for more. It's always great to have choices! This is a Columbia re-issue (originally released on Epic) and mine is a former radio station copy. Someone at the station noted "April 1967" as the date they added it to their library.
Yes, I admit it: Bax's music is problematic, and this even though I've been listening to it since Thomsen's recordings started being released, beginning with the first of two CD's of Tone Poems in 1983. It's a very similar issue to the one I raised a few pages back when we were all discussing Bruckner (which I'm brand-new to): that the music has flashes of beauty and of genius - but with stretches of tedium in between. Bax and Brucker were both very ambitious, and wanted to 'paint' on large canvases; the problem for me is that they both seemed to run out of inspiration (or couldn't maintain an even level of inspiration) before they filled up the canvas. But, oh!, the flashes of beauty... Just two examples from Thomson's recording of the Second Symphony (with the LPO, Chandos CHAN8493): in the first movement, at the 13' 38" mark, and in the second movement, at the 4' 11" mark. It's all very personal and subjective, of course, but in sections like these, I just close my eyes and enjoy a moment of bliss. The Tone Poems are perhaps better, as they tend to be shorter and a bit more focused. A glowing Gramophone review of 'Tintagel' (along with Symphony No 4 on CHAN 8312) brought me onboard for Bax in 1983. You listen to Tintagel, and can just hear the waves crashing against the Cornish coast. It's been recommended to me that I should spend more time (lots of it, apparently) with Bruckner, and I will. But I'll take breaks for Bax as well. My rambling here may not help you enjoy Bax, but at least you'll understand where I'm coming from. Cheers!
Recent find: I have not listened to this yet. I have not found too much information about this recording. I am familiar with the Decca recording with the same forces and wonder if it's the same recording issued by both labels or different recordings issued by each label. I did not know that Solti had ever recorded for the Living Stereo label. Just read that this recording on the RCA Living Stereo label, which was produced by Richard Mohr with engineers Lewis Layton and René Boux, won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 1962. Update: it looks like this and the Decca recording are one and the same.
Thanks for the feedback, @sherrill50. It’ll be quite some time before I get the courage to listen to Bax again, because each time I do, I find myself not able to engage with the music. It seems all a bit too diffuse to me. Anyway, I know several Baxians from another forum and they’re all delightfully psychotic.
Listening to "Beethoven - Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5" performed by The London Classical Players led by Roger Norrington on EMI.
