review33.com: 影音天地: Any classical fans here?

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[#6438] "Englishness", whatever that means Hello deaf4dumb, Let me at the outset confess that I cannot pretend to be able to identify "Englishness" in a rendition. This is despite the fact that I attended a number of concerts and recitals (Sheldonian Theatre, Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, St John's Smith Square, and Blackheath Town Hall etc) in my UK years. What is common in those experiences? Almost none of them were played by large-scale orchestras. Amidst the generally eloquent expressiveness, refined taste, and a huge sense of humour, there is often a hint of dark drama somewhere, so much so that things are afterall not as smiling as they sound. And when a big, rapturous sound is called for, somewhere before those eventual moments of ecstatic outpourings, a question will usually be asked, out of the players' collective wisdom, "now, wouldn't it be over-the-top if we are to squeeze out every drop of it?" The experience is rich and fulfilled in its only way. Like bungee-jumping, you have the sensation of reckless abandon, but really you are safely tethered. At its worst, this would appear too circulating, with eyes too-close-together. But, isn't that only human? It's a vernacular voice, derived perhaps from the English playhouse and the music-hall. My own profoundest, and most delightful, musical experiences in England were, however, in college halls. If some of them show less strength than sweetness, or more thought than mastery expression, it should not be imagined that they do not possess superb music-making skill, a sympathy with beauty, a tenderness of feeling or seriousness in reflection. That there is a middle path which is everyone's duty to find, and to keep, is widely acknowledged. No doubt I would want some of the renditions to be not so 樂而不淫哀而不傷怨而有節, but then the English are not seen as the coldest fish in Europe for nothing. I am recalled to my memory what Richter says after listening to a recording of Britten conducting his own Cell Symphony (with Rostropvich as soloist), "With Britten, spectacular powers are always combined with human feelings – he's a representative of what's called 'human music' – and you notice this both in his choice of subjects for operas and in his other works." (The two musicians to whom you are now indifferent were more interesting in the 1970s.)		trollope 正式會員 202.xxx.xxx.133	2007-03-24 16:55

[#6439] "Englishness", whatever that means
Bought this CD in the afternoon, Noye’s Fludde/ The Golden Vanity by the English composer Britten.

erictang

正式會員
218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-25 00:22

[#6440] Beethoven Piano Sonata
最近開始搜集 Beethoven Piano sonata.
Will focus on Hammrklavier, Appassionata, Moonlight, Pathétique.

Ashkenazy is always a safe choice to me.

erictang

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218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-25 00:36

[#6441] Beethoven Piano Sonata
Moonlight, the third movement, Davidovich's tempo is not as fast as Buchbinder.

erictang

正式會員
218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-25 00:39

[#6442] Beethoven Symphony on the Piano
Beethoven Symphony transcribed for Piano.
Listened to No.9 today, hardly believe the piece can be played by 10 fingers on the piano.

erictang

正式會員
218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-25 00:43

[#6443] The Holy City - Jessye Norman
Closing of tonight's concert.

http://www.amazon.com/Jessye-Norman-Sacred-Songs-Amazing/dp/B0000040VJ/ref=sr_1_3/102-2769393-3080926?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1174754628&sr=1-3

erictang

正式會員
218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-25 01:04

[#6444] "Englishness" from Mozart to Mahler
Hi Trollope:

You have a wonderful way with words, and although I am not a musician, I think I get your meaning. On reflection, I seem to enjoy English artists particularly on certain genres of music, and small ensembles for classical period is one of them. As in Sinfonia Concertante by Iona Brown and ASMF, one can feel that the lead soloists refrain from going all out and let the music flow as a sinfonia. It is Mozartian beauty tinged with appropriate melancholy.

I am listening to Mahler's 5th by Simon Rattle (but w/ the Berliners) over and over again. It has gorgeous architecture and coherence with immaculate finesse; but I keep wondering if that's truly Mahlerian. As you put it, shouldn't it be a bit over the top? I am awed but not mesmerized.

Thank you and the English artists for enriching our musical world.

deaf4dumb

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218.xxx.xxx.42

2007-03-25 11:12

[#6445] Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1
I bought this CD at $33 from ProSound yesterday.
A highly recommended CD.

http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Cello-Concerto-No-Violin/dp/B000KRN07I/ref=sr_1_1/102-2769393-3080926?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1174821931&sr=8-1

erictang

正式會員
218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-25 19:31

[#6446] Mahler 5
I also have the Sep 2002 Rattle + BPO live Philharmonie recording of the Mahler 5, both on CD (Oct 2002 first Japanese pressing: EMI TOCE-55463) and on DVD. It's a very expansive rendition aided by the atmospheric recording. On the DVD, the vividness and richness of the colour is stunning. On the whole I find it sweet-sounding rather than spectacular, which is just as well for this work.

But the highly-praised Barbirolli's 1969 Witford Town Hall analogue version remains my favourite, mainly for the reason that it is through this recording that I first got acquainted with this work, after which I have been eternally charmed. Barbirolli's is a fine combination of warmth and power – intensely passionate in his noble way. It's been reissued in EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" series, which critics say offer better sound than this 1988 EMI "Studio" transfer.

The "Adagietto (Sehr langsam)" in Haitink's 1988 BPO version (Philips 422 355-2) is mesmerically prolonged (almost 14 mins), not a bad idea the way it's played. The other movements are eminently lively, as vivid and dynamic as one has come to expect from either Haitink or the Berliners or both. Comparison with the Rattle + BPO doesn't necessarily tell us which is better, but surely we won't fail to notice that this orchestra and its concert hall offer the natural voice of Mahler.

My Tennstedt is not the one in his EMI cycle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra recorded in the late 70s early 80s. It is a 1988 live recording with the London Philharmonic from the Royal Festival Hall. Tennstedt's uninflected rendering is likeable but I wouldn't recommend this CD with strong enthusiasm. This is a biased opinion, but not against the conductor and his orchestra; rather, it's got to do with the hall. The acoustics of the Royal Festival Hall is known to be NOT suitable for large-scale works.

trollope

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202.xxx.xxx.133

2007-03-28 23:41

[#6447] Royal Festival Hall
"Building for Music: The Architect, the Musician, and the Listener from the Seventeenth Century to the Present Day", by Michael Forsyth.

Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1985.

trollope

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202.xxx.xxx.133

2007-03-28 23:43

[#6448] Royal Festival Hall
"Concert and Opera Halls: How They Sound", by Leo Beranek.

New York: The Acoustical Society of America, 1996.

trollope

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202.xxx.xxx.133

2007-03-28 23:45

[#6449] Royal Festival Hall
Beranek's splendid piece of research is available in Chinese.

《音樂廳和歌劇院》，王季卿譯。上海：同濟大學出版社，2002。

trollope

正式會員
202.xxx.xxx.133

2007-03-28 23:50

[#6450] Royal Festival Hall
Just learn from the website below Royal Festival Hall is under refurbishment and will be re-opened in Jun2007. They are "committed to achieving acoustical excellence".

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/about-southbank-centre/transforming-southbank

http://www.kirkegaard.com/about.htm

erictang

正式會員
218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-29 01:54

[#6451] Royal Festival Hall
I placed a carpet between the speakers and my listening position since a few days ago, and there is improvement acoustically. Although, I'm not as serious as Royal Festival Hall having committment to achieving acoustical excellence.

Anyway, I'm excited by the "Noye’s Fludde", "Shostakovich Cello/Violin concerto" and "Martha Argerich and Friends Live from the Lugano Festival 2005: Chamber Music" CDs.

http://www.amazon.com/Martha-Argerich-Friends-Lugano-Festival/dp/B000FHYI3S/ref=sr_1_1/102-2769393-3080926?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1175104713&sr=1-1

erictang

正式會員
218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-29 02:03

[#6452] Royal Festival Hall
Martha Argerich and Friends Live from the Lugano Festival 2005: Chamber Music"

erictang

正式會員
218.xxx.xxx.110

2007-03-29 02:04

[#6453] Royal Festival Hall
trollope:

Thx for the reply on the Yung's.

I envy your Tennstedt live 5th, difficult to get these days. Haitink is indeed much more electrifying now than when he was with the Concertgebouw.

樂而不淫哀而不傷怨而有節 strikes me as a good description some of this music, also used in "Tout Les Matins du Monde".

doctorjohn

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219.xxx.xxx.73

2007-03-29 13:27

[#6454] Royal Festival Hall
trollope & doctorjohn,

Thanks for your precious information and comment.

正式會員
202.xxx.xxx.41

2007-03-29 14:42

[#6455] Tennstedt's 1988 live Mahler 5th
I envy your Tennstedt live 5th, difficult to get these days. ＜＜

There is a 2004 Toshiba-EMI reissue in the "決定盤 1300" series.

http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/classic/release/200406/toce13014.htm

trollope

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202.xxx.xxx.133

2007-03-30 10:19

[#6456] Today in history
Mozart's Piano Concert No. 16 in D major, K.451 was premiered in Vienna, with the composer on the keyboard, 223 years ago.

trollope

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202.xxx.xxx.133

2007-03-30 17:15

[#6457] Today in history
It just so happens that I am listening to Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 10 (K. 330) by Arthur Balsam on King's FM Seattle (a great Internet classical station). Before that it was the "London Symphony" by Vaughan Williams conducted by Andre Previn.

This is the first time I come across Arthur Balsam and I think he is a great Mozart player. Will explore more of his works. Any recommendations?

deafndumb

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202.xxx.xxx.95

2007-03-30 19:47