I Listened to Building a Library this morning to see if Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations got a mention in its review of Beethoven’s 9th and was delighted to hear that Tom Service so nearly chose them for his top recommendation. What did others take from his review?
2 Likes
I was rather surprised that the Petrenko/Berlin PO account was chosen. I was even more struck that so many famous recordings didn’t even merit a mention.
Karajan made four or five recordings, Haitink three or four, Erich Kleiber’s account in Vienna was part of a putative Beethoven cycle that was not finished because of his (comparatively) early death, and what about famous accounts from the USA, such as Szell in Cleveland, Reiner or Solti in Chicago, Munch in Boston, Ormandy in Philadelphia? Closer to home, Barbirolli, Boult, Rattle and Tod Handley surely deserved consideration.
I could (but won’t) list lots more. Overall I found the broadcast very disappointing. I realise that the format means that the reviewer is constrained by timings, but why couldn’t Radio 3 relax their schedule for this of all symphonies on Christmas Eve?
I guess it is all but impossible to adequately cover a piece with so many recordings
Well, they set out to do it every week (except when they have a summer break when the Proms are on).
I accept that there aren’t many pieces of music with so many famous recordings, but that’s why I suggested that they might have thrown off their self-imposed constraints on this special occasion.
I won’t lose any sleep over it, but I think that it was a chance missed - and not a very satisfactory programme as a result.
1 Like
Don’t forget that this segment of the programme is really about music that is available to “collect” to add to your library, so although they do occasionally mention unavailable recordings if they are special enough, they do tend to stick to recordings that the listener may come across or successfully seek out.
1 Like
Changing theme totally, hoping that today is as good as possible and next year is a whole lot better than this
All the very best
Ian
4 Likes
I understand that it’s difficult to cram in too much in a comparatively short time, but that’s why I mentioned the possibility of tweaking the format for this very special piece of music on a special day in the year. But I’m not the Controller of Radio 3 - which I don’t think that the world would be quite ready for yet, anyway!!
I hope that you have a joyful day today, David.
1 Like
Thank you so much, Ian. I’m tempted to say that I can’t imagine any year being any worse, but I must preserve a positive outlook, even though the b*stards are doing all they can to grind me down!
A positive attitude will be maintained at all costs, at least until it becomes clear that there’s no point in that.
4 Likes
Maybe many of these famous recordings are somewhat “romanticised” but don’t really cut it anymore?
Petrenko and his Berlin Phil are spectacular — what a match! We regularly enjoy them in their Digital Concert Hall.
1 Like
I agree with the general feeling that this was a rather strangely unadventurous episode.
We seemed to spend a lot of time listening to 2 “historic” recordings, one delivered live to a coughing audience. The latter clearly seemed to be the guest reviewer’s favourite, but he seemed too embarrassed to admit it given its historically incorrect nature.
Very little attention paid to Karajan.
All in all a disappointing episode.
I would far rather listen to some of the older recordings than those being recorded by the fashionable pygmies of our modern age (Theodor Currentzis may be a perfect illustration of so much that is wrong).
I do not agree that any of the conductors that I listed above produced ‘romanticised’ readings, and I’d have liked to be there to see you present that charge to George Szell or Fritz Reiner in particular! To pick another titan from the past, I’m pretty sure that Yevgeny Mravinsky would have looked down with disdain at what passes for proper conducting today.
But you pays yer money and you takes yer choice!
As I already said:
Don’t forget that this isn’t a programme about what were the best performances ever.
It’s what is the best recording for you to buy today to add to your “library”. Wonderful recordings/performances that are not available any more are essentially out of scope.
You’re right, David. But anyone of my sort of age will remember a Radio 3 programme many years ago called ‘Interpretations On Record’, which tried to encompass the very best recordings of a piece, regardless of age, recording quality, or even availability in the catalogue.
Anthony Hopkins also broadcast a terrifically erudite weekly programme’ on Radio 3 called Talking About Music’, which also covered the same territory in part. He also published a book with the same title, and someone posted a photo of the front cover somewhere on these pages quite recently.
1 Like
Possibly also worthwhile to distinguish between performance and recording — might not necessarily be the same… 
In any case, I am glad I am not caught in the past but can also enjoy what is produced in the current age — and there’s lot of good stuff to enjoy. 
2 Likes
Then let people make their choice?
I have no idea why you’ve addressed that to me. (Not that I care.)
With a lot of geat music and Beethoven 9 is certainly that then its almost impossible to choose the “best”. This work must be open to a number of interpretations which work: some more valid than others. So down to preferencies?
It would have to be a pretty poor recording which did nothing for me.
I am really enjoying this topic and I have just ordered a second-hand copy of “Talking About Music by Anthony Hopkins”. Thanks for the suggestion.
1 Like
The whole point of the ‘Building A Library’ segment of the programme is to guide listeners to a ‘best’ recording for their personal listening at home.
You may take the view that you just want a (that is, any) CD or LP of, say, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which is fair enough - just go into your local music shop and grab the first CD or LP that you see, or pick the cover that you find most pleasing, or choose the cheapest, or the most expensive.
Or you could listen to music experts (often academics, practising musicians or whatever) who know the music better than (just about) anyone on this Forum, who are chosen because of their intimate knowledge of the composer/the music, ask them to listen to all available (within reason) recordings of the piece, and come up with a recommendation for repeated listening.
As I said, you pays yer money…
But it’s entirely up to you, if you prefer to take the pot luck route.
As long as you don’t imagine that it’s the same music, so they must all sound the same. They don’t!
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.