BaL 22.01.11 - Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

[HighlandDougie]

In trying to re-locate the elusive Lubeck performance on amazon.de (it seems to have disappeared - ??), this appeared:

http://www.amazon.de/Ausklang-Eine-Alpensinfonie-Ueli-Wiget/dp/B0030C12XY/ref=sr_1_43?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1342910939&sr=1-43

Interesting pairing

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

"Interesting", indeed! Two c50 min pieces on two CDs - I wonder why they're being sold as a pair? To get Straussian's "into" Lachenmann's "soundworld" or vice/versa? I love both pieces (and I don't think Ausklang is otherwise available on CD, but at this price I'm not tempted.

[french frank]

fhg

A lurker contributes:

"ferneyhoughgeliebte might like to know that Lachenmann's Ausklang is available in a recording other than the Ensemble Modern's - this one http://www.mdt.co.uk/catalogsearch/r...lang&t=general

& that Lachenmann asked for the work to be prefaced in concert by Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie. I'm sure of that but can't find a reference."

MESSAGE ENDS

Btw, in case it matters: I'm having internet connection problems today and am mostly offline.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thank you, lurker! - and frenchie, too!

I have an off-air recording from the Huddersfield Festival, but had missed this col legno release.
Fascinating that HL specified Eine Alpensinfonie as a coupling: I shall listen to both works with renewed attention.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Honestly, this is becoming ridiculous. yet another recording to add to the list, an SACD with Frank Shipway and the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra.
The classical audio market has been super-saturated for many years, yet still it goes on. Will anyone buy this new version, apart from Brazilians, Petrushka and myself?

[Bryn]

Honestly, this is becoming ridiculous. yet another recording to add to the list, an SACD with Frank Shipman and the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra.
The classical audio market has been super-saturated for many years, yet still it goes on. Will anyone buy this new version, apart from Brazilians, Petrushka and myself?

It's safe from me. Wit, Nagano and Zinman are more than enough in my book. Shame there is no Reiner that know of, however.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Reiner didn't rate the work at all, but the three you mention are excellent, though the camera work on the Nagano is a bit OTT.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Shipway was the conductor of the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra for many years: an amateur group based in Waltham Forest, they gave many concerts in Walthamstow Town Hall (which many Forumistas will know from many excellent recordings). He got ravishing sound from them and their repertoire was very advanced for a non-professional ensemble - Mahler #9, for example and a concert consisting of Sibelius #4, Strauss' 4 Last Songs (with Jill Gomez singing the wardrobe off all the sopranos who've "done" them at the Proms in the last ten years) and Brahms #4: a concert that put to shame many a professional group going through the motions that I've heard. AFaIK, Shipway has only recorded once before with professionals (the RPO on their short-lived "own label") - but if the Brazilians match the London amateurs in their authentic Straussian sound, this will be a disc well worth adding to the collection!

[LeMartinPecheur]

Honestly, this is becoming ridiculous. yet another recording to add to the list, an SACD with Frank Shipway and the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra.
The classical audio market has been super-saturated for many years, yet still it goes on. Will anyone buy this new version, apart from Brazilians, Petrushka and myself?

Frank Shipway, who he?

Think I've heard the name, but is he really up to the weight in carrying a long mountain through yet another recording?

One might think that in a really overloaded market they'd only look to megastar Strauss conductors for a new one, but what do I know? Maybe he is clearly the next Kempe, Karajan or Reiner, or all three rolled up in one

EDIT Thanks for the info fhg: I should have typed a bit faster, or checked before posting (if 'tis possible without losing one's 'homework').

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Frank Shipway, who he?

Think I've heard the name, but is he really up to the weight in carrying a long mountain through yet another recording?

One might think that in a really overloaded market they'd only look to megastar Strauss conductors for a new one, but what do I know? Maybe he is clearly the next Kempe, Karajan or Reiner, or all three rolled up in one

EDIT Thanks for the info fhg: I should have typed a bit faster, or checked before posting (if 'tis possible without losing one's 'homework').

Shipway is a little too long in the tooth to be considered "the next" anybody - but he was a "pupil" of both Barbirolli and Karajan. (His RPO CD was of Mahler's Fifth. Alas, like everyone else, I didn't buy it and it's no longer available, AFaIK.)

[Bryn]

Shipway is a little too long in the tooth to be considered "the next" anybody - but he was a "pupil" of both Barbirolli and Karajan. (His RPO CD was of Mahler's Fifth. Alas, like everyone else, I didn't buy it and it's no longer available, AFaIK.)

You have not bothered looking on amazon.co.uk then? It's there in four different guises including download and SACD.

[Flay]

It's safe from me. Wit, Nagano and Zinman are more than enough in my book. Shame there is no Reiner that know of, however.

I have the Wit. I find some of it terribly plodding: far too slow.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have the Wit. I find some of it terribly plodding: far too slow.

If you want "fast", why not try Welser-Most? The Epilogue is like a rush to the pub after descending the mountain.

[Flay]

No, somewhere in between would be nice. Nelsons' CBSO is just about right.

Later pub closing times do have their advantages!

[ostuni]

I know the Wit has many fans, but I, too, find it lacks momentum in a few vital places - most notably, after the big climax in Auf dem Gipfel (just before fig 82 in the score).