Top 10 Symphonies

Bernstein
Nielsen Symphonies 1-6, SB3K89974, 3CDs (now seemingly without the concerti) £11.50

Ormandy
Shost 4&10, SB2K62409, £9.50

I grew up with (and still have) a few Ormandy Mono LPs: a couple of Tchaik ballets, Rimsky's Scheherezade, Peer Gynt and l'Arlesienne (which I remeber really liking). His rendition of Beethoven 5, though, bored the pants off me, and is one of the reasons it actually appears fairly low down my list.

 

Yep, the one where they did the theme tune from Dallas an encore, that's the one! :lol:

The Barber I found a bit tedious in places, although I do enjoy the piece as I've heard different recordings of it and it does appeal as a whole under the right performer(s).

So were you there in the audience too or were you watching on TV?

 

Ok, after extended thought and much soul-searching I'm going to go for:

1) Brahms 4 (Harnoncourt / BPO - bit controversial perhaps, but you can keep your Haitinks, Karajans, Abbados and whatever else as far as I'm concerned)
2) Mahler 9 (Karajan / BPO - the studio one, haven't heard the live remake)
3) Brahms 3 (Harnoncourt / BPO - yep, I'm very attached to that set...)
4) Mahler 2 (Rattle / CBSO possibly, although IMO the first Gilbert Kaplan was exceptionally good too - haven't heard the new one)
5) Dvorak 7 (Davis / LSO)
6) Rachmaninov 3 (Previn / LSO)
7) Bruckner 9 (Dohnanyi / Cleveland SO, though I've been meaning to check out a few others)
8) Mahler 4 (Szell / Cleveland SO)
9) Szymanowski 3 (Rattle /CBSO)
10) Walton 1 (Rattle / CBSO - hmm, I seem to be some kind of Rattle groupie )

Good Lord, that pained me. No Vaughan Williams? No Nielsen? No Dvorak 8, Rach 2 or Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich anything? And no Beethoven

 

Oh - Dvorak 7..... Ok, my top 10 now goes all the way up to 12.

You've got to hear Guilini's Bruckner 9 with the VPO.

 

No Mozart either - even better

Michael.

 

Re: Alwyn

In the last section of the Schumann Cello Concerto there's a flourish in the orchestra which is exactly the same as Knight Rider And the end of the scherzo of Walton 1 suddenly turns into Superman.

 

The Adagio (opening movement) from Hanson's 2nd ("The Romantic") sounds just like the music for Alien....no wait, it is the music for Alien

Cracking little symphony IMO (I bought it after liking the Alien soundtrack so much).

Michael.

 

Really?! I remember thinking Alien had particularly good music - that'd be why

 

Must listen to it again with my ears open - although I may need reminding what "Alien" sounds like as I've probably heard the Hanson more often than Alien (I've actually got the full set - those two double CDs from Schwarz/Seattle/Delos)

P.S. - no need for any bright spark to tell me to listen to the Hanson....and that's what Alien sounds like

P.P.S - if we're doing obscure Americans, then there's also some grand stuff from Walter Piston (6 IIRC), and Creston's 3 are pretty fun too - I don't have any David Diamond or Ernest Toch atm.

 

Thought fairly long about trying to sneak that one in too - although I have the Previn/RCA (LSO?). Cracking first movement, not quite so convinced about the rest. Love its coupling with "The Wasps" though.

Really can't see why people rave so much about St Simon's Mahler 2 - OK the last movement is great, but in the rest the interpretation is so mannered it completely obscures the music

 

It's the "big tune" from the Adagio which starts gently with the horn over a gentle string accompaniment - about 4 and a half minutes into the movement on my recording (Slatkin, St Louis Symphony). Very apt "lost spaceship tumbling through space" music IMO.

BTW, it's Alien (the Ridley Scott film) not Aliens or any of the sequels.

Michael.

 

Prokofieff's Third symphony wins hands down.

 

I was promming. The one and only time I've persuaded the Missus to do so. Normally she requires a seat and a cushion!
I thought Bell was very tedious. His playing is much like an automaton. Beautiful but no soul. I grew up on Isaac Stern playing that piece. He plays it wonderfully well.

 

Actually I really think that Mahler 2 benefits from a bit of TLC - the digital Solti from the set I've got is a very straight reading and IMO misses some of the nuances that Kaplan in particular really brings to life. The first movement of the Rattle in particular I'd have said is superb, really monumental and awe-inspiring - especially the crashing climactic chords (you know the ones if you've ever heard the piece ) which in Rattle's hands are just unbearably painful to listen to, exactly the intended effect IMO; the biggest weakness of the recording is that the organ entry on the final 'Auferstehn' chorus is nowhere near loud enough.

You lot have reminded me that I bought the Schwarz Hanson 5 / 7 / Piano Concerto on Delos a few weeks ago and never opened it. I'm hoping it'll be fun, don't know any Hanson

And FWIW I don't really rate Joshua Bell - his Brahms was rated as the best thing as sliced bread IIRC but I thought it was dull dull dull.