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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #15 on: 21:41:53, 09-02-2007 » |
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After being in charge for some 25 years, Dutoit and the Montreal SO fell out big time, with members of the orchestra unhappy about his leadership/ approach in rehearsals.... there were letters of complaint about him sent to the newspapers from players and it all got rather ugly, eventually forcing him out. I think the combination of Dutoit, the orchestra and the marvellous acoustic of the St-Eustache Church which the Decca engineers found for them to record in was pretty unbeatable, especially in the French orchestral repertoire.
There is a view around that Dutoit can be pretty ordinary on the concert platform, but saves his best performances for the studio. I'm not sure I share that view...maybe it depends on the repertoire.
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #16 on: 21:46:51, 09-02-2007 » |
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Who is in charge in Montreal now? Do they have a new conductor?
May be musicians don't understand it when they have it good.
In Toronto it was awful.
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #17 on: 21:51:47, 09-02-2007 » |
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Kent Nagano's in charge now. I don't know if they have a recording contract at all... I doubt it in today's climate.
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #18 on: 21:55:45, 09-02-2007 » |
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It is a bad time to be a conductor now. I liked Dutoit a lot.
In Toronto I had been to a few concerts when the last rows of violins were literaly asleep, the orchestra as a whole had no life to it.
I feel bad for Dutoit. May be opilec heard the concert when he was down.
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #19 on: 22:00:40, 09-02-2007 » |
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Yes, Mark, "ordinary" is a word that could be used to describe the concert I went to. But it wasn't even that good, really: the least exciting Flying Dutchman overture and Bartok Concerto for Orchestra I've ever heard.  Wasn't at the Anvil was it, opilec? About this time last year? It certainly wasn't overly memorable. |
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #20 on: 22:01:48, 09-02-2007 » |
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Martinon's La Valse, however, is a different matter altogether! Am going to give it another spin ...  Is that the 8 disc Debussy/Ravel set on EMI? |
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #21 on: 22:05:44, 09-02-2007 » |
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I thought it was Repin playing the Sibelius? I'm sure we didn't get Vengerov in Basingstoke!!
Think I might have to investigate that Martinon set, especially if HMV have it in their Sales section...
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #22 on: 22:06:37, 09-02-2007 » |
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It is awfully difficult to conduct when you know people want your blood.
And it is after 20 (was it 20) years reputation building for the orchestra. This must be heart breaking.
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #23 on: 22:10:30, 09-02-2007 » |
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I have to say, this Boulez Ravel is very good indeed. I'm sure Wilf (wherever he is) would heartily approve!  |
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #24 on: 22:13:57, 09-02-2007 » |
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Repin is very different from Vengerov. I think Vengerov is more outgoing and passionate. May be Repin is more serious.
They look very different too. I don't know much about Repin. Some violinsts prefer him to Vengerov.
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #25 on: 22:20:46, 09-02-2007 » |
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Spinning here - Mahler 5, USSR State Symph / Kondrashin.
A very odd box, those Kondrashin Mahlers. It's as though he'd never heard anything else that had happened in the world of Mahler performance up to then. Which I suppose he probably hadn't.
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #26 on: 22:27:49, 09-02-2007 » |
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He doesn't make the interpretative points you expect. On the other hand he just went round one rather tight corner in the second movement of Mahler 5 without bothering to change gear. Hanging on for dear life I was. 'Doesn't he know you're supposed to slow down there?', I thought. Rather exhilarating.
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Tam Pollard
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« Reply #27 on: 00:31:51, 10-02-2007 » |
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Prompted by the other threads:  |
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Anna
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« Reply #28 on: 00:35:28, 10-02-2007 » |
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Well, I seem to be the only one listening to Radio Three.
But, I want to be alone ..........
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harmonyharmony
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« Reply #29 on: 00:50:13, 10-02-2007 » |
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I'm listening to some Lars Hallnäs (possibly Die Sternsherin Lise) on a cassette sent to me six years ago by a really good friend, my predecessor running the gamelan, and an inspiration for my performing activities (Vexations, Christian Wolff, Cornelius Cardew and the like), who sadly died very suddenly in 2002.
Time for bed.
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'is this all we can do?' anonymous student of the University of Berkeley, California quoted in H. Draper, 'The new student revolt' (New York: Grove Press, 1965) http://www.myspace.com/itensemble |
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