Catégorie : Discographies & Comparisons
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Wagnerian musical drama in the orchestra, the virtues of lightness
It is true, Wagner past his conductor life a to make the adversary of Mendelssohn, apostle of an approach all in vivacity and light tempi. No, Wagner was not an advocate of fast tempi, any more than he was an advocate of lightness. But what Wagner wanted above all was to place singing at the…
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50 versions of Schumann’s Fantasy
Schumann’s Fantasy is a work truly apart in the composer’s oeuvre. It is perhaps the least illustrative and the least programmatic of the composer’s works, but the most contemplative as well as the most passionate. Composed in two distinct phases – first the first movement, to be played with intensity and passion, composed for Clara,…
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Blind listening to Brahms’ first Piano Concerto
When preparing a blind listening session, there is always the question of which versions to choose. In the case of Brahms’s First Piano Concerto, there is no shortage of versions. I have chosen not to select the really old versions, recorded on 78 rpm. It’s not that they don’t have a place in the selection…
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Interpretations of Mozart’s symphonies, from the Golden Age to period instruments
Mozart’s symphonies seem to be imbued with a certain idea of perfection, a quest for intelligibility. There’s no denying that these are works with a certain physical impact – and it’s no coincidence that Mozart’s harmonies even have beneficial effects on plants, and are even used in New Zealand to cradle the vines. So how…
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Brahms’ fourth, a discography
Table of content THE HISTORICAL VERSIONS: Fiedler, Weingartner, Mengelberg, De Sabata, Toscanini, Furtwangler, Kletzki, Abendroth, Busch THE GOLDEN AGE: Karajan, Walter, Beinum, Jochum, Stokowski, Klemperer, Reiner, Knappertsbusch, Schuricht, Bohm, Mravinsky, Schmidt-Isserstedt, Kempe, Szell, Kubelik, Gielen, Rosbaud, Bernstein, Sanderling, Celibidache, Giulini THE MODERNS: Kleiber, Haitink, Muti, Wand, Abbado, Mackerras, Chailly, Rattle, Ticciati, Blomstedt THE HISTORICAL VERSIONS…
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Beethoven’s Seventh : a discography
The historical versions Felix Weingartner delivers a sharp, and in a sense rather acidic, vision of the Seventh in a complete work that was a landmark because it was the first. The chords are marked, there is a remarkable clarity of line and the ensemble sings rather well. For all that, and perhaps this is…
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Comparison : Schubert’s « Great » Symphony
This is a symphony that has unleashed passions. Although it was Mendelssohn, to whom Schumann entrusted the score he had come across on a trip to Vienna, who premiered the work in Leipzig, the symphony, which lasts almost an hour, was no less revolutionary. The Austrian composer’s masterpiece marks a boundary between two worlds in…
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