Classical Life

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1. 
   CK Dexter Haven

   Thanks for the reviews, Tim.

   Completely agree that there is “really no such thing as a bad performance of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring.’ ” Personally, I’d rather sit through a mediocre round of Sacre than a great rendition of, say, the Bruckner 6th, but hey, that’s just me . . .

   My gut was telling me that I shouldn’t spend the $$ on Dudamel and the SBYO’s take and The Rite, and your review has pretty much confirmed my gut; I will go out and use the funds towards the Haydn instead.

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   August 31, 2010 5:13 pm
   • 
     tmangan

     Thanks, CK. Probably the worst live performance of the “Rite” I’ve heard was at the L.A. Phil conducted by Zubin Mehta. It was too Romantic, even a little cheap, but even so, quite impressive in its way. He conducted from memory.

     When I was younger, I bought a recording of the Rite with the Vienna Phil and Lorin Maazel. I returned it. Just didn’t sound rite.

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     September 1, 2010 10:51 am
     • 
       CK Dexter Haven

       Are you talking about the performances that Mehta conducted during the opening season of WDCH? If so, I was at one of those concerts, and I know exactly what you mean. After hearing years of Salonen’s crystalline yet fierce renditions, Mehta’s take seemed just as you described it — “too Romantic,” with all the rough edges smoothed over, like Stravinsky by way of Tchaikovsky.

       It was so weird hearing it that way, especially after years of Salonen’s version (not to mention pretty much every other interpretation I’ve heard before or since). I can only imagine that Zubin asked for something very different and the orchestra gave it to him.

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       September 1, 2010 5:09 pm
       • 
         tmangan

         Yes, I think it was in Disney Hall, though it may have been DCP. An LA Phil musician and I had an exchange about my review back then (via telegraph). I had mentioned that Mehta stopped conducting at one point during Part II of the “Rite” — the 11 downbeats — and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his brow, letting the orchestra go on its own. All sort of nonchalant-like. Well, it turned out he did the same thing, in the same spot, during every performance. Perhaps he had “wipe brow” written in the score at that point. But wait, he conducted from memory …

         Permalink

         September 1, 2010 8:46 pm
2. 
   CK Dexter Haven

   Awesome story, Tim!

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   September 2, 2010 8:57 pm
3. 
   Dennis Bade

   Those concerts were in December 2001 at DCP (preceded by Zukerman playing the Elgar Violin Concerto); I did not attend, but I can confirm that these were the ONLY non-Salonen performances of Le sacre by the LA Phil since April 1991. Zubin had previously conducted it in 1964 and 1968 (and at the Bowl in 1969), then in 1973 and 1978, plus once more at the Bowl in 1981.

   Too romantic for you, eh? How about the awesome Bernstein NY Phil recording from 1958?

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   September 3, 2010 12:09 pm
   • 
     CK Dexter Haven

     Ah, you’re right, of course, Dennis. I’m confusing that 2001 concert with the Beethoven 9th Mehta conducted during the opening season at Disney Hall.

     Haven’t heard the Bernstein/NY recording of which you speak, but I’ll have to find a copy.

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     September 4, 2010 9:19 am
   • 
     tmangan

     Haven’t heard it in a while, but yes, the ’58 Bernstein “Rite” is a good one.

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     September 4, 2010 9:36 am
4. 
   Deborah

   I wonder if I’d agree or disagree with your perceptions of Gustavo Dudamel’s performance of Rite of Spring?

   Because of what I call the “Anthony Tommasini Phenomenon,” I tend to have less confidence in the way everyone and anyone filters things through his or her ears. When an otherwise very experienced aficionado in the field of classical music — employed by the New York Times — surprisingly not only didn’t detect a very fundamental flaw in the acoustical quality of Alice Tully Hall upon its re-opening last year, but instead raved about that auditorium’s sound, that does make me pause.

   By the way, there was a brief article about Tully Hall in the New York Times several days ago. While the story praised that concert hall, at least 2 or more respondents in the article’s online forum mentioned how the acoustics weren’t up to snuff. One said something about the sound being as “dry as dust.” I also noted that characteristic — and rather quickly too — after listening to just a few seconds of a broadcast from Tully.

   One of the major music critics based in San Francisco sniffed about — and nitpicked at — Dudamel’s season opener of Mahler’s Symphony #1 with the LA Philharmonic late last year. I’ve listened repeatedly to a recording of that and also recordings of other performances of the piece, particularly one from the Concertgebouw. When I think of how the critic grumbled about aspects of the Dudamel-led presentation, and when I can’t detect any noticeable — much less negative — differences from that and certainly the one performed by the Concertgebouw, all I can say is “What? Huh?! Interestingly enough, I do, however, hear some miscues from the musicians in the world-famous Concertgebouw orchestra—and, for that matter, from the Los Angeles musicians too.

   Here’s another reason why I’m not too confident when people who should know better express an opinion that to me is analogous to stating “the sun is hot! How can that be?!” I read this review on Thursday, from David Patrick Stearns, a music critic from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

   This time, the journey to the summit of Strauss’ Alpine Symphony is obscured by fog and slowed by mud – which shouldn’t happen when the trail guide is the Philadelphia Orchestra. The orchestra’s 2008 performance of the Strauss tone poem was highly acclaimed when recorded live in Verizon Hall…. Many significant elements of it were lost in the performance’s transition from the Kimmel Center to digital files. Whether on Amazon.com, emusic.com, Rhapsody or iTunes.com, the Fabulous Philadelphians are barely recognizable in the sound-compressed MP3s.

   Comparisons with other Alpine Symphony performances on MP3 are unflattering. Though the London Symphony Orchestra has long been hampered by its acoustically flat venue, the Barbican Centre, its version under Bernard Haitink has far more space and detail…..Is there artificial reverberation added to London’s Alpine? Audiophiles frown upon such practices, but the end product beats Philadelphia’s.

   So a recording from Verizon Hall in Philadelphia doesn’t sound too good?! Excuse me, but the acoustical weaknesses of that auditorium have been quite noticeable and highly publicized since it opened several years ago! I recall the first time i heard a performance broadcast from there, I detected inadequacies rather immediately and quickly. So an orchestra recorded in that particular space has a compromised sound?! Uh, is the sun hot, is the North Pole cold?

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   September 4, 2010 1:35 pm
5. 
   CK Dexter Haven

   OK, maybe you actually CAN have a bad performance of Le Sacre . . .

   http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2163%3Cimg%20src=

   If you’d like to hear the train wreck for yourself, you have until September 14th (jump to about 13:40 to go straight to the movement in question, though in my humble opinion, it starts to sound shaky even at the beginning of Ritual of the Rival Tribes):

   http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00tmkdt/BBC_Proms_2010_Prom_70_Debussy_Stravinsky_Part_2

   Saw the same conductor lead a performance of the same piece on medici.tv a year or so ago, was not necessarily great, but was better than this.

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   September 8, 2010 5:28 pm

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