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Posted on 11/02/2008 2:30:23 PM PST by HoosierHawk
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Classical Music presented on the first Sunday of every month.
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Ping to First Sunday Music of Haydn.
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Haydn’s symphonies are remarkable. Even his early ones (where he was basically inventing the form) are interesting and the later ones are on a level with Beethoven.
It is in music that the superiority of Western Civilization is most clearly demonstrated. Now much of the talent playing it at the highest level is Asian.
He wrote, "...Haydn was among the least neurotic of all the great composers."
To my ear, it comes through in his music.
He also included Dvorak, as I recall, on that brief list.
His piano concerti in D major and C major were in my repetoire. They were fun to conduct from the keyboard like the Mozart concerti.
Plus they’re not played that often. Plus they’re a respite from some of the more physically demanding vehicles like the Brahms B-flat major. But you had to be careful to play them absolutely clean. Ons lil’ split note ruins everything, hehehe.
Thank you.
And, as always, I'm glad you're enjoying the music.
I always look forward now to the first Sundays. Some months are, of course, more pleasing to me than others, but I enjoy all of them.
I have noticed that I am no longer able to retrieve some of the prior months selections.
Any suggestions?
Not at this time. In June, I put together a web page that listed all First Sunday Music. I believe that was your suggestion, which I was glad to do. It made sense.
Unfortunately, I lost that domain name and much of the music that was stored there. Communication with the registrar was pretty much one-sided until I finally lost the domain name and sent them an email closing with, "You guys suck!"
The task ahead will be to restore all the music and upload it. It will take a lot of time, but I am piecing it together slowly.
I'll keep you posted.
Perhaps you should reread my comment and rethink what I said. The “highest level” is the concert stages and major record companies. My comment is true. I said nothing of interpretative power or insight.
Nor do I believe Van Cliburn’s Rachmaninoff 2d is the best. Many critics believed he was rather ham-handed. My favorite by him is the Brahms 2d, Tschaikovsky and the “Emperor”.
I must say that one of the most incredible live events I ever attended was YoYo Ma playing all the Bach Cello Sonatas. But he cannot be said to be “Asian” I suppose but American.
I never really developed much of a taste for the Concerti.
Barenbohm played Mozart and conducted them before my amazed ears a few years ago.
A lot of the reason for that criticism of his Rach Two was Reiner’s rather bombastic approach to the music. But no one produces such a warm piano tone as Cliburn does in that recording. He plays this gorgeous sounding Steinway that was several decades old and had settled very nicely. One of the most gorgeous recorded piano sounds ever is just one chord hit in the buildup to the climax of the opening Moderato.
I also like the way he, (or they), scale the tempi back ever so slightly and luxuriate in all those lush harmonies and passing tones. His pedalling is flawless, (especially in the allargando bass arpeggios towards the coda of the first movement and throughout the Andante.)
Pianists just don’t play that way anymore. Recent performances of the Rachmaninoff Second are often overly fast with clangorous marcato chords a la Prokofieff. Much like Graffman’s awful performance of it with Bernstein. I’ve even been guilty of it myself a few times in that concerto, but sometimes you hit the negative trifecta of terrible acoustics, a bad piano, and a stubborn know-it-all conductor.
Although if you want your socks totally blown off in a great performance of Sergei’s Second that is something of a throwback, listen to Andrei Gavrilov’s,,,,,if you can find it. Its worth it.
Reiner bombastic? He was a superb orchestral technician who’s intepretations were quite subtle.
Oh, I met Fritz Reiner shortly before his death when I was young. He was a brilliant conductor and actually gave the Chicago that wonderful burnished tone that Solti inherited and expanded upon.
His accompaniment of Cliburn in the Rach Second recording is a bit boomy in places. Now I’m not sure that’s because of the limitations of the available technology in 1959 or what. But he completely covers the piano in a few climaxes, and that just shouldn’t happen. I do love their choice of tempo, though. And I was speaking of one particular recording.
But even the greats make mistakes. Witness the Toscanini recording of Haydn’s “Surprise” symphony with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He rattles through the delicate minuet as if it were background music for a Keystone Kops car chase.
Without a doubt Reiner was one of the greatest maestros in history.
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