[Lee Scoggins]

From SACD web site guru Stephen at Audio Asylum:

Time to save up some money.

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Posted by Stephen (A) on March 12, 2004 at 06:33:17

A few selected highlights:
The first three SACDs from Naïve, out the end of the month:
Vivaldi: Vespri per l'Assunzione di Maria Vergine - Alessandrini
Accentus - Transcriptions
Schumann: Cello Concerto etc. - Anne Gastinel

The first of a complete cycle of Shostakovich symphonies from Capriccio:
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8 - Kitajenko

LOTS more from DG, including these in the coming months:
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 - Abbado
Handel: Messiah - McCreesh
Mozart: Don Giovanni - Bryn Terfel/Claudio Abbado
Verdi: La Traviata - Carlos Kleiber
Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice - Marc Minkowski

These from Hyperion, both out this month:
Francois Couperin: Keyboard Music 2 - Angela Hewitt
Monteverdi: The Sacred Music 2 - The King's Consort/Robert King

The latest from Harmonia Mundi:
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro - René Jacobs

The first title from CPO, out now:
Ries: Symphony Nos. 7 & 8 - Griffiths

The second title from Farao Classics:
Barber: Symphony No. 1, Schumann: Symphony No. 4 - Sawallisch

Three titles now from Ars Produktion:
Shostakovich: Cello Sonatas - Friedrich Kleinhapl
Pietro Torri: La Baviera - Christoph Hammer
Romantic Cello - Kerstin Feltz

Also to come, more SACDs from BMG on the Arte Nova and DHM labels. Avex Classics (in Japan) are starting out with lots of titles including Shostakovich symphonies from Sanderling. I gather Artemis Classics will begin on the Vanguard remasters as well.

And let's not forget the first five Mercury remasters, out June/July.

This is in addition to on-going releases from Chandos, Audite, Telarc, Decca, Linn, Tacet, Praga, Naxos, BIS, PentaTone Classics, Proprius, Channel Classics, Caro Mitis (in Russia), FIM, Lyrinx, Exton, Cybele, NorthWest Classics, Fone, Albany etc.

Stephen

[Seth--L]

DG never ceases to disappoint.

Mahler 5: Abbado - What a remarkably routine recording. Has DG forgotten about their Bernstein cycle? Bernstein's Mahler wasn't always my cup of tea, but his 5th is quite special, and by general consensus is among the best.

Mahler 4: Boulez (not on your list but coming soon) - again, where is Bernstein? (better question: will Sony ever releases Szell's brilliant 4th? Hopefully Sony Japan will get around to it since Sony USA has seemed to stop issuing stereo recordings from their back catalogue).

Don Giovanni: Abbado - When will the madness stop? This is yet another unenergetic Abbado recording when energy is much needed. I guess DG still hates John Eliot Gardiner too much to release his Giovanni which features a better cast, better playing, smarter interpretation, and the required drama.

Kleiber's La Traviata is about the only exciting release in the lot.

I'm surprised about the total lack of Karajan (and the already mentioned Bernstein).

[Lee Scoggins]

Geez Seth, you never seem happy about the titles. Maybe you should join the labels and issue what you want.

Many of these titles are highly regarded. Grammaphone has been very positive on the Hyperions, the Mozart Figaro, and the Sawallisch is considered very good as well.

Smile.

[Mike Broadman]

Ok.

I've never heard Schumann's cello sonatas having only recently fallen in love with his 4 symphonies. That and my general love of the cello (I don't know why) makes me eager for this.

I've also started listening to Shostakovich (most recently Hillary Hahn's performance of the violin concerto on Sony SACD, what do you guys think of it?) and am thrilled that the whole symphonic cycle is coming out. I have Telarc's 5th and I've listened to is many times but have yet to decipher it.

Seth, I didn't even realise Szell did Mahler. Didn't figure it would be his cup of tea, but I'd love to hear it.
But you have to be fair about the Boulez: a controversial conductor, but he has his fans. I find the Bartok SACD of his to be... compelling.

And I think operas being released on SACD is freakin' cool.

Quote:

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro - René Jacobs

Has anyone heard this, or his work with this music? What's the verdict? I'd love a great version of Figaro on SACD, preferrably surround.

[Seth--L]

Lee,

I'm bitter about what Universal has been doing with SACD, or rather the lack. Many of their analog recordings would greatly benefit from DSD transfers (as Sony has demonstrated), but instead they seem to be deciding what makes it to SACD based on if the recording can be mixed to surround sound.

At this point I rather see BMG make their plethora of Japanese only CD releases available in the states than release SACDs here. Ordering from Japan gets expensive quickly.

The Sawallisch release is interesting, only he just recorded the Schumann Symphonies with Philadelphia last year.

I've also started listening to Shostakovich (most recently Hillary Hahn's performance of the violin concerto on Sony SACD, what do you guys think of it?)

Hahn is quite the virtuoso, but I find most of her interpretations to be lacking. With the Shostakovich violin concerto she can't even begin to compete with Oistrakh's recording (the premiere recording).

Seth, I didn't even realise Szell did Mahler. Didn't figure it would be his cup of tea, but I'd love to hear it.

It wasn't his cup of tea, and that's why his Mahler is so great. He approached the music as an outsider without any preconceptions or agenda of how it should sound. Szell's recording of the 4th is among the very best - only Gielen offers real competition. Szell conducts the 4th as if it was Mozart. Phrasing is exceptionally clear and delicate, Szell exerts total control over the texture, and the orchestra as always is technically superb. He also perfectly captures Mahler's playfulness and ironic wit.

Szell has an equally brilliant (live) recording of the 6th. His tempo in the first movement is the most convincing I've heard (slightly faster than Boulez). Szell sees the whole symphony as one long march to the death, so, the Scherzo is taken at the same exact tempo, which makes the movement out to be an ironic parody of the 1st. Interestingly, recent research has shown that is what Mahler intended. The finale is tour-de-force with a great interpretational touch I have yet to hear repeated. Right before the first hammer blow Szell abruptly slows the tempo. It produces a great dramatic effect. This recording was never intended for commercial release - it was made for the orchestra's weekly radio broadcast. So it offers an interesting chance to hear Szell live.

Szell made an excellent recording of Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the LSO, Fischer-Dieskau, and Schwarzkopf. The disc is worth buying just to hear Fischer-Dieskau in the opening Revelge. His projection and clarity are awesome (thanks in part to EMI's fine work). Schwarzkopf is just ok. Her voice was clearly getting old at this point in her career. Szell and the LSO offer very strong support.

Finally, Szell made a fine recording of the Adagio from the 10th.

There's actually more. The Cleveland Orchestra has issued live recordings of the 9th and Das Lied. I'd have to call the 9th another brilliant interpretation and performance. Too many conductors and orchestras are afraid to make an ugly or awkward noise when playing Mahler (especially the VPO). Szell's Landler is by far the ugliest, most awkward, most grotesque that I've ever heard. The orchestra even shrieks in places! But this is exactly what Mahler wants. It's supposed to be an ironic parody that mocks how Mahler viewed the Landler being "the dance of life". Few conductors seem to be willing to get their hands this dirty. The Rondo-Burlekse is wonderfully fierce with some amazing playing from the brass, and Szell effortlessly fades into eternity in the Adagio. This recording, made in '69, was only the third time Szell had conducted the work with Cleveland. This recording really deserves wider circulation.

I have not heard his Das Lied. Very few copies were issued. However, through some back channels I have obtained a copy which should arrive from Europe in the next week or so.

And I think operas being released on SACD is freakin' cool.

So am I, but if Universal is going to do Mozart, I would much prefer Gardiner's. I guess it's only a matter of time until Solti's Ring makes it to SACD.

[Mike Broadman]

Quote:

The Sawallisch release is interesting, only he just recorded the Schumann Symphonies with Philadelphia last year.

I wonder what the difference is, of if there is any, in interpretation.

Quote:

Hahn is quite the virtuoso, but I find most of her interpretations to be lacking. With the Shostakovich violin concerto she can't even begin to compete with Oistrakh's recording (the premiere recording).

This is not surprising. Oistrakh is just a master in every sense of the word, and I'm hesitant to even compare these two players. It remains to be seen if Ms Hahn has that potential in her.
But I sometimes think it can benefit a listener to hear an adequate or good interpretation before hearing a personalised, masterful one, in order to get familiar with the work, especially with a composer like Shostakovich. But I'm in a minority on this.

Well, you certainly piqued my curiosity with Szell's Mahler. I have nothing to compare the 4th against, but I have Tilson's 6th, and hearing a that back-to-back with the Szell recording you speak of would be quite a treat.

[Seth--L]

I wonder what the difference is, of if there is any, in interpretation.

His interpretation changed little from his cycle that he made with Dresden in the '70s, so I'm sure it will be pretty much the same again.

But I sometimes think it can benefit a listener to hear an adequate or good interpretation before hearing a personalised, masterful one, in order to get familiar with the work, especially with a composer like Shostakovich.

I think that there is a very big difference between "personalized" and "masterful." With Shostakovich for instance, I would call Ormandy's recordings masterful, while not personal, and the lack of his own personality in the music works to its advantage.

Tilson's 6th

[DanFe]

Here's Stephen's own website url:

www.sa-cd.net