This morning (Day 18, and the last day of the first leg of my journey) represents a bunch of firsts for me, to wit: I’d never heard anything conducted by David Zinman. I’d never heard the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich perform. I’d never heard of an Urtext edition. I’d never heard of the Arte Nova Classics … [Read more…]
This morning (Day 17 of my 18-day exploration of Beethoven’s First), under storm-threatening skies, I sit once again at Panera Restaurant – a place to which I keep swearing I’ll never return, although the reasons why seem to escape me at the moment. Sloppy service, so-so food, and a Light Roast coffee pot that seems … [Read more…]
This morning’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 will introduce me to conductor George Szell (1897-1970) and The Cleveland Orchestra, which means today’s recording is the first I’m hearing by an American orchestra. Frankly, I didn’t know Cleveland even had an orchestra, let alone a great one. Yet, according to its bio on Wikipedia: The … [Read more…]
This morning’s conductor of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major is Liverpool-born conductor Simon Rattle (1955- ) working his magic with the Weiner Philharmoniker. Warner Classics is the record label. At 63, Rattle might very well be the youngest conductor to which I’ll listen during my exploration of Beethoven’s nine symphonic works. He was … [Read more…]
This morning’s conductor of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major is a fellow I had never heard of before, Frenchman (Pierre Monteux), on an Italian record label I’d never heard of before (Memories Reverence). And those two reasons are precisely why I chose this no-frills box set. And I do mean no frills. There … [Read more…]
As with Otto Klemperer, I first encountered German conductor Franz Konwitschny when I explored the symphonic works of Anton Bruckner a year or two ago (see My Year-Long Project for details about my musical explorations, including Anton Bruckner). The orchestra for today’s recording is the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Wikipedia entry for which tells us … [Read more…]
When I explored the symphonic works of Anton Bruckner a few years ago, I came across Otto Klemperer (1885-1973) and was surprised to discover a lot of fun thing about him, first and foremost of which is that he was considered one of the great conductors of the 20th century. I had never heard of … [Read more…]
This morning’s conductor of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major is, once again, Herbert von Karajan – this time from the legendary 1977 cycle. As with his performance in the 1963 cycle, the orchestra for the ’77 is still the Berliner Philharmoniker. (I wonder if any musicians from 1977 were present at the recording … [Read more…]
Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) scares me. The Cult of Karajan is a powerful one, with many music aficionados revering him and the ground he walked on. I’ve tried to separate that – with varying degrees of success – from my listening experiences with the late Maestro. His bio on Wikipedia doesn’t make it … [Read more…]
If I recall my conductors correctly, German Eugen Jochum (1902-1987) was one of the best of the best when it came to Anton Bruckner’s symphonies. I know because I listened to Jochum 18 times as he conducted Bruckner’s nine symphonies from two different box sets. (See 144 Days With Bruckner And Me.) I think I … [Read more…]