Post by Néstor CastiglionePost by Phl MaestroPost by Néstor CastiglionePost by dkPost by dkPost by Al EisnerBy the way, I was rather taken with the Mravinsky approach to Francesca
(I have yet to listen to any of dk's mystery tracks, which I intend to
at least dip into.) But not so much in his non-pathetic Pathétique.
Thanks! I do not find Mravinsky's Pathetique(s) as convincing as
his 4th and 5th Tchaikovsky symphonies. incidentally, one of the
7 "finalists" is a Mravinsky performance. Can you figure out which?
Just to clarify -- I was referring to the 7 Francesca "finalists", not the
Pathetique ones, which have not been posted yet!
Yes, that is how I understood your response. I expect to have time
soon to listen to at least some of the Francesca's. I doubt if I
would have similar time for the Pathétiques, at least not all the way
through. (But do try to audition that Fricsay Orfeo before you decide.)
The Pathetique I posted is broken into individual movements so
one can sample and listen to smaller bites. I have the Orfeo disc,
and it is also available on YT in the Bavarian Radio Symphony
Orchestra - Topic channel. It sounds too "driven" to my ears,
and the orchestra does not sound "Russian". While this may
be difficult to explain, anyone listening to the one I posted
will not fail to notice the difference.
Thanks again for the advice.
What would be a "Russian" sound? Are you talking about the old Soviet sound, or what Russian orchestras sound like to day, which is basically indistinguishable from their Western counterparts? Recall that Tchaikovsky was often criticized by The Mighty Five and their partisans for being an un-Russian cosmopolitan, more European than anything else. So one could argue that the sound of a Western orchestra would be more "authentic" or "truer" to his intentions (whatever those were).
I recall there being some excitement on here some years back
(maybe 8-10 years?) when Gergiev led a live Tchaikovsky symphony
cycle with his Russian orchestra that was broadcast or uploaded for
people to hear and that the sound of the orchestra was part of the
discussion.
I've had the pleasure of hearing Gergiev conduct several times, both
as guest conductor and at the helm of the Mariinsky. The sound he
draws is gritty, brawny; definitely a unique sonority. Whether one
could call it typically "Russian" is up to the beholder, I suppose. It
certainly sounds like no other Russian orchestra I've heard, whether
from today or yesteryear.
Oh boy, are you inconsistent! Didn't you just tell us a moment ago
that "Russian orchestral sound" was "practically indistinguishable"
from the sound of Western orchestras? The Gergiev Tchaikovsky
Symphonies series is available on YouTube on the wocomo Studio
channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/wocomoStudio. And yes,
that sound is closer to what I mean by "Russian orchestra sound".
Post by Néstor CastiglioneThe sonority that Temirkanov gets from his Peterburgers,
How do his peterburgers taste? Are they drenched in A1 or in
Worcestershire?
Post by Néstor CastiglionePletnev from the RNSO, or Sladkovsky from his Tatarstan
ensemble all sound quite different from Gergiev's;
Obviously. He is also a far better conductor.
Post by Néstor Castiglionein turn, they all sound much more Western than what
Kondrashin, Svetlanov, Golovanov, Gauk, et al conjured
last century.
A large fraction of which is definitely related to recording
technique rather than interpretive choice. Would anyone
expect Kondrashin's or Mravinsky's orchestras recorded
by Melodiya during the 1950s to sound the same as
Pletnev's recorded by DG in 2010? What one hears in
a recording is almost never the same as what one
hears in the hall during a live peformance.
dk