5 comments about Anton Bruckner: The Symphonies.

1. Lately I have been reconsidering the work of Georg Solti, a conductor often maligned by music critics. Frankly, those negative reviews have until recently kept me from hearing some fine performances, like a number of those in Solti's Bruckner cycle.
   
   Solti's penchant for brilliant orchestral execution and vivid dramatic effects could be seen as ill-suited to a composer whose music, even when grandly rhetorical, evokes a mystical sense of transcendence as apprehended in states of ecstatic contemplation. Solti would seem too down-to-earth, and too operatic, for such religiously-inspired music. And yet that is not the whole story as this variably successful Bruckner cycle reveals.
   
   The first thing one notices in each of these performances is the vital rhythmic impulse borne aloft by the superbly crisp playing of Solti's virtuoso band. Such outstanding execution alone gives pleasure, even where the conductor is less sensitive to Bruckner's introverted qualities than he ought to be. It should also be noted that these recordings came out during the last fifteen years of Solti's career, and show considerable progress in his assimilation of this composer's distinctive sound-world. The later recordings (particularly Nos. O, 1, 2 8 and 9) can be said to rival the best of the competition, even if some of the earlier ones (4, 5, and 6 especially) are rather less perceptive than versions by Jochum, Karajan (in 4 and 5), Klemperer (in 6), and Celibidache (in 4).
   
   Here are some thoughts on individual performances in this set:
   
   No. 0: The last symphony to be recorded in the series, and one of the best. The lyrical impulse of this extra-canonical symphony flourishes under Solti's direction; if the seams begin to show now and then, that is more Bruckner's fault than Solti's. An exciting performance--rhythmically snappy and alive in every bar.
   
   No. 1: Solti superbly captures the sprightliness of Bruckner's most carefree symphony and manages to conceal any awkwardness in a piece which is less than fully characteristic of the composer. This is Bruckner's most whimsical symphony, and Solti makes the most of its shifting moods and droll humor.
   
   No. 2: Though not as incisive as Karajan or as lyrical as Haitink, Solti holds together a work that can seem disjointed and rambling in lesser hands. The slow movment flows better in other versions, but it's hard not to enjoy the visceral excitement Solti brings to the finale. A very good, though not outstanding, account.
   
   No. 3: Solti's account bristles with energy, though one could do with greater sensitivity in the *Gesangsperiode*. At times Solti gets carried away with the Wagnerian rhetoric. This is the 1877 version, and it is difficult for even the most seasoned Brucknerians to hold together. Solti doesn't succeed in this regard well as some of the competition. Haitink, Sinopoli or Vanskä are more cogent, and also more yielding in the lyrical sections. Taken on its own terms, an exciting performance, but one can do better.
   
   No. 4: After an effectively atmospheric opening, Solti unfolds the grand structure of the first movement with evident care, though without much affection. The slow movement is somewhat aimless, and only the hunting-horn scherzo and finale spring fully to life. The silken strings and burnished brass of the CSO give much pleasure, however.
   
   No. 5: Solti misses the hushed, intense atmosphere of the opening, and of the pizzicato-chorale episodes in the first movement. The slow movement goes well--Solti brings out its proto-Mahlerian pathos as to the manner born. Other conductors have held together the vast, episodic finale more convincingly, though Solti is predictably exciting in a visceral way.
   
   No. 6: One of Bruckner's greatest symphonies, and yet few conductors seem sympathetic to it. Solti does his best, and the CSO play spendidly, but in the end it adds up to less than the sum of its parts. The slow movement, in particular, seems sluggish.
   
   No. 7: A surprisingly effective performance, raptly intense from beginning to end. Solti prepares the expansive codas of the first and last movements superbly, and the opening is as ecstatic as one could wish. The slow movement, an elegy on the death of Richard Wagner, proceeds inexorably to its shattering climax. One of the best Sevenths ever, in my (probably minority) opinion; deserving to be ranked alongside Karajan/EMI, Jochum/DG and very few others.
   
   No. 8: Another surprise. Solti's earlier account of the mightly Eighth (with the VPO, from the late Sixties) was an exercise in unremitting *Sturm und Drang*; little of Bruckner's sense of exultation got through--even the brooding first movement was too extrovert in its tensions. Solti's digital remake is quite another matter. Though it does not quite convey Karajan's majesty or Furtwängler's scorching intensity, it is nevertheless a deeply considered, beautifully proportioned account, gorgeously played and vividly recorded. One of the better Eighths of the digital era.
   
   No. 9: Solti is at his best in this symphony. He has the measure of its uneasy eloquence and does not shrink from its crushing weight and grinding dissonances. Solti is clearly alive to the expressionistic aspects of the piece, and vividly underscores its modernism. A success, though not the way I would always want to hear the Ninth (for a more consoling view, try Bruno Walter).
   
   In sum, this box--though now rather expensive--provides a variably successful tour of Bruckner's symphonic canon, including "Die Nullte" (but minus the youthful "study" symphony designated "00"). In several instances (0, 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9), Solti distinctive approach to the composer--richly textured, strongly determined, and vibrantly dramatic in a Wagnerian way--works surprisingly well. On other occasions, his interpretive decisions can misfire, though seldom do they go so far astray as to negate the the splendid virtuosity of the CSO, whose contribution is one of the chief assets of this set. The recording quality is mostly excellent. The sonics are wide-ranging and allow the CSO to make maximum impact (though no. 5 is beset with the somewhat clinical sound of early digital; and no. 8, recorded on tour in Russia is not ideally well balanced--the timpani are a bit muffled, for instance). Worth considering--and far better than some critical opinion might suggest.



2. Now I completely forget Jochum(too gentle), Karajan(worldly), Kna(countrified) and Furtwangler(strange). Solti's sound has perfect proportion and nobility like Gothic church as Bruckner music. Only one problem is symphony No.5 devided two cds. Why?



3. Anton Bruckner was as organist all his life. He so loved the instrument that he actually requested to be buried under the instrument on which he served the longest tenure. No better description can be given to his music other than "organ-like". Listen to the symphonies and youll understand why. These works, espeically the later ones (4-9) contain some of the most emotionally charged, thrilling, sonic passages you will ever hear an orchestra play. Fast changes from loud to soft, thick orchestrations and beautiful chords and harmonies make these symphonies the epitome of romanticism. Bruckner was writing music that was well advanced for his time (the adagio of the 7th symphony is a music theory student's nightmare!), many would have considered his pieces "daring" or "strange" when they were written. The CSO and Solti definately capture the essence of these pieces, and with one of the world's greatest brass sections playing some of the most brass-heavy symphonies, how could you go wrong?



4. Let me state very succinctly and unequivocally that there is no other Bruckner 9th on earth I can listen to with such rapt, undiminished joy as Solti's.
   
   The overpowering (almost terrifying) coda of the first movement hits the listener like some inexorable, demonic force of Nature, thanks exclusively to Solti's stealth-like tempo and slow-mounting crescendo, where the CSO's thundering brass suddenly takes on a life and will of its own. Once you experience (and survive) the impact of this near-cosmic cataclysm -- sorry, I tend to wax hyperbolical with this particular work -- no other recording will ever satisfy. (Psst! -- and just wait until God Himself throws open the Celestial Gates (TWICE!) in the third movement.)
   
   Although Solti is by no means my favorite Bruckner conductor -- consider Knappertsbusch's underrated, yet unparalleled, SCHALK VERSION! for the Fifth; Haitink and the Concertgebouw for the Third; Anton Nanut and the Ljubljana for the Eighth; Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony (LP only) for the Fourth; Sawallisch and the Bavarian State Orchestra for the Sixth -- I nonetheless award 5 generous stars to this boxed edition, only because life, for this listener, would lose all sense and meaning without Solti's brilliant, never-to-be-equalled interpretation of the heaven-inspired Bruckner Ninth.
   
   By the way, his beguiling (read absolutely perfect!) phrasing of the long melody line at the opening of the Seventh is quite frankly to die for. Though why he chose such a comparatively "sluggish" tempo for the energetic Scherzo is beyond my comprehension.
   
   [..]



5. 'Bruckner is brass' or at least the brass is much more involved. To hear a good Bruckner the brassplayers of the orchestra needs to be outstanding. Unfortunately many brass sections of top orchestras do not have quality brass. That's different with the Chicago SO under Solti where all brass player were superb (and maybe they still have such brassplayers)
   
   The top European orchestras do not have that extra quality brass one would expect. The Berliner Philharmoniker and the Wiener Philharmoniker even today use trumpets with rotary-valves... I even heard a top British Orchestra with a lead trumpet player using that 'weird' brassband vibrato.
   
   Further the Tuba players in Europe usually are just not good enough and lack tone and power in the low register of the instrument. But here with Solti and the Chicago SO one can enjoy the beauty of Bruckner with bass playing as it should be. Even the famous recordings by Wand are not my choice.
   
   The fact that Solti is directing must be considered as well as he is also extremely convincing directing Wagner, so he does understand (or at least that's my view) the way brass should sound.
   
   If you are looking for a box that you will play over and over again, this is the one and at a fair price.

No comments about Great Composers Collection.

4 comments about Vespro della Beta Vergine (Second Vespers for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin).

1. I will resist my inveterate wordiness, and cut to the chase: On the evidence of these splendid performances, Maria Chiara Cozzolani must rank as one of the greatest composers of the early Baroque. I would not hesitate to second the opinion (see review above) that this selection of vesper psalms and sacred concerti is fully the equal--in creativity and euphoric splendor--of Monteverdi's celebrated "Vespers of 1610." Cozzolani is a real find. If you enjoy the Venetian polychoral idiom, do not hesitate to obtain this set, which features singing of amazing virtuosity from an all-female vocal ensemble plus (engagingly realized) continuo. First-rate recording, excellent notes, and generous bonus track on second CD containing a fine scholarly presentation on Cozzolani and her context by the ensemble's director.
   
   This is one of the most extraordinary recordings of early baroque music that I have heard. It is sheer joy from beginning to end. Though ordinarily a reserved Anglican, I enjoy something of a Pentecostal experience whenever I listen to this music! You will, too, when you hear Cozzolani--whatever your religious background. Urgently recommended. Give copies away to your friends and neighbors; go out into the highways and byways. . . .



2. Have you ever wished that Claudio Monteverdi had written TWO Vespers of the Blessed Virgin in the year 1620? Well, of course he didn't; he had other projects. Chiara Margarita Cozzolani's Vespers, as reconstructed here from two publications of her motets, seem nonetheless to be the the next best thing. Cozzolani can be imagined as Monteverdi's musical daughter. She may well have been the most outstanding woman composer of the Baroque.
   
   Cozzolani spent all of her long adult life in the convent of Santa Radegonda, across the way from the Cathedral of Milan. The musical skills of her sister nuns were acclaimed throughour Europe; crowds gathered in the open portion of their church, the chiesa esteriore, to listen to the musical services through the choir grate without ever beholding the singers. As abbess, Cozzolani guided her 'house' successfully through an attack by the fanatic Archbishop Alfonso Lita, who wanted to suspend the nuns' artistic musical activities.
   
   This performance of the Vespers, on two CDs, includes both the plainchant and Cozzolani's polyphonic motets, as would have been the case in the 1640s and as is the artistic standard of such performances today. The third CD is a seventeen minute 'lecture' by director Warren Stewart concerning Cozzolani and her musical world. Stewart has a splendid speaking voice; if he ever abandons music, he might wisely consider a career as a radio commentator. This short lecture will be of great interest to listeners who have begun to enjoy early Baroque music without "knowing" much about it.
   
   The ensemble Magnificat is cellist Warren Stewart's creation entirely, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, employing the finest singers and instrumentalists of that community, drawing from the faculty and students of Stanford and UC Berkeley. Magnificant has thrilled Bay Area music lovers with three or four concert programs each year since 1989. I've been lucky enough to catch some of their performances live. This Vespers is surely the best CD Magnificat has issued, well sung by two choirs of women's voices and superbly conducted. I wouldn't hesitate to compare it to better-known full-time European ensembles in its musical impact.



3. This set of CD's offers the listener an experience of joy and beauty. The composition and the performance are both wonderful. This music reminds me of Mozart; it is dense with harmonies and counterpoints.

   I don't usually write reviews but I love this music. I heard it first on pubic radio and thought if I could encourage anyone to try it, I would. It's a little treasure in a busy world.




4. Jennifer Ellis's voice is sublime. All the voices are delightful. This is my favorite CD and I listen to it every day. It's refreshing and inspiring to me. Especially fabulous are Track 7 on the 1st CD and Track 6 on the 2nd CD. Thank you, Warren Stewart, for making this CD.

No comments about Gregorian Chants [Box Set].

3 comments about Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 38.

1. Artur Rubinstein recorded the Brahms b flat concerto six times of which this 1958 run-through with Josef Krips was the third. Although this recording was probably a big seller in its time, given that it was an early stereo release & bore Rubinstein's name, an inconsistent first movement overshadows what is an otherwise very good performance. Rubinstein speeds up here & there for no apparent reason other than possibly for effect, & there are a number of places where details are blurred, not by sloppy fingers but by the pace that he sets. This is a shame because the other three movements are prime Rubinstein: the second movement has an epic sweep with an especially effective finale & the gorgeous third movement is Rubinstein at his best. The fourth movement proves to be a rousing conclusion to a gargantuan work.
   
   Those looking for Brahms Second alternatives should investigate two great Arrau recordings (both live): one with Alexander Gibson on BBC Legends, & the other with Igor Markevitch on INA. The recording with Gibson dates from 1963 (decent mono sound) & Arrau is just incredible, delivering weight, authority & technical brilliance in abundance. The recording with Markevitch was made in 1976 (in better stereo sound) & it too has a massiveness that is unforgettable.
   
   That Rubinstein was a wonderful Brahmsian is demonstrated by the two intermezzi & op. 79 rhapsody that are tacked on to this disc. These 1970 recordings came from a beautiful RCA lp called "The Brahms I Love," which included the four ballades as well as a couple other intermezzi. It was a truly distinguished record & RCA should release it just as it was originally conceived instead of scattering bits & pieces as filler material on other cds.



2. Rubinstein's performance here isn't as well thought-out as others' are. Yet, he only benefits from that. Rubinstein's playing is of a tremendous spontaneity, in a way I hadn't heard before in the Brahms B flat concerto. There's never a lack of fire: for example, he plays the `marcato' sequences in the first movement with more panache than most others, and the last movement sounds like it runs on Spanish pepper. Even then, there's never a lack of charm and grace, both elements that are so characteristic of Rubinstein's playing in general. He plays the staccato notes after 3'38 in the first movement almost like dancing steps! Krips and the RCA Symphony are fine (but not outstanding) companions and they join Rubinstein in his wild ride. It's a very impressive performance that I definitely count among my favourites. The playing of the fillers is more aristocratic: less force and more poetry. But it works very well for me, especially in the Rhapsody which is one of the best examples of the `autumnal sadness' in many of Brahms' compositions. Rubinstein certainly feels this atmosphere well. Both Rubinstein and Brahms fans should definitely not miss this great disc.



3. Arthur Rubinstein plays the Concerto here with incredible precision and passion.

   The "message" of the Concerto is clearly communicated. The horn and piano commence with an understated grandeur -- and one can tell that the musical journey will be exciting from the beginning. Compared to Cliburn's less-polished work with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony, this "Brahms 2nd" is a better rendition on balance.

   The piece is both regal and warm; it is also thunderous and exciting in turns. A highlight is the soft and smooth cello solo in the slow movement.

   I have no complaints about the quality of sound, and the price is not bad, either.

   Has Hank Drake heard this recording?

5 comments about Edward Rubbra - Complete Symphonies / Hickox.

1. If you haven't yet encountered the music of Edward Rubbra, this superbly played and recorded set of his complete symphonies would be an appropriate place to start. Rubbra may hardly be a household word on these shores, but his reputation has been rising steadily in Britain--largely due to recording projects such as the one under review here. It is a mystery to me why these brilliantly crafted, inexhaustibly inventive, and eminently likeable symphonies have not won a wider following, though perhaps in our fast-paced culture music that requires the listener's total concentration (as does Rubbra's) is not destined to win instantaneous approval.
   
   In any case, the eleven works presented in this box chronicle the development of a highly personal idiom, from the more discursive earlier works (1-4) toward increasing terseness of expression and formal coherence (5-11). Every one of these scores proves an absorbing experience, though the later ones (particularly no. 9, Rubbra's "Resurrection" symphony) approach sublimity.
   
   Rubbra's style is as difficult to classify as that of his contemporary, Robert Simpson. Parallels between these two composers are inevitable. Both composed 11 symphonies; both were influenced by Germanic and Nordic traditions (Bruckner, Nielsen, Sibelius); both bucked the prevailing trends of their day--atonality, serialism, neoclassicism and folk-inspired idioms. Both achieved a structural and contrapuntal mastery that places them among the greatest intellects in the history of music. But there the similarities end. Rubbra is as congenial and reserved as Simpson is irascible and incendiary. Unlike most of Simpson's output, Rubbra's music remains within the orbit of the neo-modal renaissance, much influenced by Tudor polyphony, that prevailed at the beginning of the 20th century in Great Britain. On the other hand, Rubbra's symphonies bear only a superficial resemblance to those of Vaughan Williams. Rubbra is altogether more circumspect, and also tougher (intellectually as well as emotionally) than RVW. If there is any resemblance, it would be to the Vaughan Williams of *Job* and the Fourth and Sixth symphonies, but even there the comparison is misleading.
   
   Indeed, Rubbra was a unique composer, beholden to no school, least of all perhaps to the English "pastoral" tradition. His scores increasingly came to possess a diaphanous, visionary quality that bespeaks his lifelong interest in religious mysticism. Throughout his symphonic canon, one senses a keen mind at work in service of deeper spiritual verities (yet without any obvious "programmatic" element). The symphonies from no. 5 onward are surely masterpieces of the genre, with passages of striking lyrical beauty alternating with denser and darker currents. If I could single out a particular work which shows this composer's prodigious gifts at full stretch it would be no. 7 with its utterly enchanting scherzo flanked by two brooding, elegaic movements, the latter of which is an expansive and brilliantly crafted passacaglia and fugue. The two final symphonies are very brief indeed (12 minutes each), yet manage to say so much about things earthly and heavenly within their compact compass that one is reminded of "seeing eternity in a grain of sand."
   
   The great news for listeners sufficiently intrigued to explore this set is that the performances are uniformly excellent. Hickox and his Welsh BBC forces convey evident affection and intuitive understanding of this often recondite music. Even the less inspired works (nos. 1, 2, and 8 by my reckoning) receive extraordinarily persuasive advocacy. Elsewhere I have had occasion to disparage this ensemble's work (see my review of Otaka's Glazunov cycle on this website), but not here. Lustrous, beautifully shaped and pungently characterful playing from every section! The recording gives this fine group plenty of amplitude without losing clarity of focus.
   
   One would be hard pressed to imagine this magnificent achievement being surpassed any time soon. Indeed, Rubbra richly deserves such first-class advocacy, for he is among the greatest symphonists of the previous century, and his relative neglect is unaccountable.
   
   Strongest possible recommendation.



2. Twenty-five years ago I bought a LP of Rubbra's second symphony and found, after several listens, I really enjoyed his composition. Now, in middle age, my inclinations have increasingly gone to modern composers. Based upon reviews, I bought this set last month from Amazon and it has rarely been out of the CD player since. Rubbra reminds me of 20 year old scotch, a taste that must be acquired but the benefits are so many. His later symphonies are very Brucknerian in dimensions and fascinating. Chandos has, again, done a marvelleous job with the recording and Richard Hickox (who did a spendid job with the Vaughan Williams symphonies) also excels. This CD box now resides in honoured position next to my heavily used sets of symphonies by Arnold Bax, Eduard Tubin, and Gustav Mahler.



3. Edmund Rubbra's symphonies received a very mixed reception in their time. Some listeners found their contrapuntal logic absolutely riveting, and complimented Rubbra on making them fall in love with music again. Others, however, found them too single-minded and rather drably orchestrated, comparing them to reinforced concrete or brown wallpaper. Over the years, however, the musical language became more flexible in its sequence and warmer in its harmony. Strict thematic logic is combined in the later symphonies with many a wayward shift in tempo and timbre; it is the combination of logic and freedom (without the logic the freedom would produce incoherence) that makes these works so human and so endlessly rewarding for a listener who is sufficiently sympathetic to the idiom (which is akin to that of Vaughan Williams and Finzi).
   These performances do not entirely supersede the Lyrita recordings of the 70s (particularly of the 7th and 8th Symphonies). Hickox's direction of the Fifth is, however, even better than the classic recording by Barbirolli; it is the first recording, in my view, that makes the final epilogue convincing. The high quality of both playing and recording, and Hickox's complete understanding of the musical idiom, make this set worthy of unhesitating recommendation.



4. This is music. This is truly ground breaking symphonies. There is power in every measure. Rubbra was truly a 20th Century Giant. He is in the same class as Elgar. All others of his day were mere imitators, lighweights; unable to come near the heights that he climbed. When you hear these recordings you are standing in the presence of greatness. The music is performed with enthusiasm, skill and daring. Richard Hickox knows how to inspire his band of Welshmen. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales is a true world class symphony orchestra. This is music. This set must be owned.



5. I first came across Rubbra a year and a half ago. While in the Dublin Public Library leafing through the CDs I saw a name I hadn't seen nor heard of before. The Symphonies were the 1st and 3rd on another the Lyrita label. Since then I bought Hickox's rendition. I remember first hearing the music: tuneful romanticism was notably absent; but a strong unrelenting quality like an overbearing salesman first tapping, then knocking, then pounding came to my ears. The themes came streaming, constantly mutating, ever advancing, morphing over again on itself, still surging ahead. His music never rests: it is a staunch, granite dynamism. Over time, I have really come to regard Rubbra as a generally ignored genius. His music may be dry compared to the high melodies of Romantic music; but it is a dryness that one learns to cultivate like developing a taste for a good complex wine, where a myriad of complentary flavors enduring pleasantly on the palate is for what one yearns. To really appreciate Rubbra you have to appreciate his developmental mastery; and to do that you have to get him in your head, which will take more than one listening. Don't be daunted if you like him only somewhat after one listening. After getting the music in your head you will be able to step back and see the grand structure of his music, something truly awe inspiring. Give him some patience and he will reward.

1 comments about Chopin: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 15.

1. Although Chopin was more at home writing for the solo piano, the works contained on this CD are some of his finest written for the piano and orchestra. In fact I prefer these works over his two Piano Concertos. My personal favorite is his Variations on Mozart's "La Ci Darem La Mano" from Don Giovanni. Pianist and orchestra are superb. The sound recording is excellent.

3 comments about Bartók: Mikrokosmos; For Children.

1. I am a serious amateur pianist and fan for many years of the piano music of Bela Bartok. Bartok changed the tone and rhythmic world of classical music just as the 20th century began, and music has never looked back. But one thing about his music - as "modern" as it got, it always had depth and soul.
   
   Most people know Bartok from his most famous and popular works, which were on a grand scale - his Concerto for Orchestra; Dance Suite; and the opera Bluebeard's Castle. Pianists consider his Piano Concertos as some of the most difficult pieces ever written for piano (and violinists the same way about his Violin Concertos). But to those of us who have played his music at a challenging level, it is his Mikrokosmos collection of small pieces that ultimately contain the essence of his musicality.
   
   Mikrokosmos was a labor of love for Bartok, meant not only to teach his young son to play the piano, but probably also to pass on his musical soul. Among these musical miniatures one can find so many examples utilized more fully in his larger works, it would be hard to know where to start.
   
   On a deeper level, this music strives for purity and clarity, something like the Preludes and Fugues of Bartok's favorite composer - Bach. Stripped of all ornament and excess, they are not "miniatures" as much as "essences." Like the Preludes and Fugues, they are relatively eaasy to play - but extraordinarily difficult to play well.
   
   Only a pianist of extraordinary insight and sincerity can bring these pieces to life. Dezso Ranki is such an extraordinary pianist - someone who has nothing left to prove as a technical genius, but who has reached the level of maturity that he can make these little gems of pieces shine.
   
   I highly recommend these recordings, and doubt they will ever be matched by any other pianist. Listen to these little pieces with a calm and open mind, the way you would listen to the wind. You will soon find in them the microcosm of the world that Bartok had in mind.



2. By listening to this CD, I can feel the pianist's dedication and commitment to playing Bartok. Ranki is a first rate artist who has a superb technique and he understands the idiom of the composer very well. The sound of the CD is excellent and the playing is fluent, rhythmical and well controlled.



3. I've played some of this stuff myself, and I admit I'm partial to my own way of playing Bartók, but frankly Dezsö Ranki's version is pretty boring no matter how you look at it. There are some extremely mysterious, ambient pieces in "For Children" and "Mikrokosmos" -- in the hands of Ranki, they sound like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Serious. He doesn't use the sustain pedal hardly at all in places where he ought to be laying it on like wild, so most of this music comes out sounding really pingy and flat. In a couple of places, it even sounded like he was playing on a synthesizer.

   This disc would also have been better if he had just chosen the best pieces in these two collections instead of playing every single one (and there are over 200, amounting to 3 separate CDs). Some of this stuff is only twenty seconds long and not all that interesting to begin with. Combine that with a really doozy performance and you've got yourself a bombshell.

   End verdict: you could skip it and survive. 3 stars.

2 comments about Rampal: The Art of the Flute.

1. I've been listening to various selections from this album over Internet radio, and finally had to comment to prospective buyers. I have great respect for Rampal, who plays well on this album, but the recording is just, in a word, poor. Specific problems: Poor audio quality (did the engineer not know how to place microphones?) and the orchestra sounds like it didn't even tune up before the recording session began. Frankly, the recording is offensive to the ear. I won't be rushing out to buy this any time soon...



2. I picked this up in the bargain bin- why not right? Well, even with the equalizers and stereo volume adjusted, it still became very frustrating to listen to a poor recording.

1 comments about Joseph Haydn: Symphonies, Volume 2 (c. 1760-63) - The Academy of Ancient Music / Christopher Hogwood.

1. JOSEPH HAYDN: SYMPHONIES, VOLUME 2 (C. 1760-63) ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC / CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD [BOX SET]
   
   QUITE SIMPLY A STUNNER CLASSICAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE by the ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC!
   
   RATED 5-STARS by classical music critics/enthusiasts as the numero uno authentic period instrument interpretations of JOSEPH HAYDN's COMPLETE SYMPHONIES! This CD by the ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC (AAM), one of the world's first and top rated critically acclaimed classical period instrument orchestras, is a MUST HAVE CD FOR ALL JOSEPH HAYDN AFICIONADOS!
   
   The ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC on this CD BOX SET was the first orchestra to record all of JOSEPH HAYDN's COMPLETE SYMPHONIES on period instruments!
   
   JOSEPH'S HAYDN'S early first symphonies (see below) featured in this JOSEPH HAYDN SYMPHONIES VOLUME 2 CD BOX SET represent the early compositions pre-Esterházy. the ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC exhibits a stylish passionate symphonic performance with poise and vigor scored for strings, woodwinds, keyboards, percussion, and brass for all eleven (10) HAYDN SYMPHONIES:
   
   Symphony No.3 in G Major, H.1/3 (composed 1762)
   Symphony No.14 in A Major, H.1/14 (composed 1764)
   Symphony No.15 in D Major, H.1/15 (composed 1764)
   Symphony No.17 in F Major, H.1/17 (composed 1765)
   Symphony No.19 in D Major, H.1/17 (composed 1766)
   Symphony No.20 in C Major, H1/20 (composed 1766)
   Symphony No.25 in C Major, H.1/25 (composed 1766)
   Symphony No.33 in E Major, H.1/33 (composed 1767)
   Symphony No.36 in B Major, H. 1/36 (composed 1769)
   Symphony No.108 in C Major, H.1/108 (composed 1768)
   
   The majority of JOSEPH HAYDN'S SYMPHONIES are in the four-movement style (fast-slow-minuet-fast), with the remainder in the early Morzin style of three movements (fast-slow-fast).
   
   HAYDN develops his use of the concertante in his EARLY SYMPHONIES with his diversity of style, command of counterpoint, and expressive use of melody and drama shine through, all of which become highyl refined and futher developed with impeccable mastery in his future MID-PERIOD and LATER-PERIOD SYMPHONIES.
   
   
   MINI BIOGRAPHY - FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
   FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN,(1732-1809)a leading composer of the Classical Period in Western music (1750 to 1830), was called the FATHER OF THE SYMPHONY and FATHER OF THE STRING QUARTET. He used his middle name JOSEPH (NOT FRANZ) and was the brother of Michael Haydn, himself a highly regarded composer. A life-long resident of Austria, JOSEPH HAYDN spent most of his career as a court musician for the wealthy ESZTERHAZY FAMILY on their remote estate. Being isolated from other composers and trends in music, HAYDN was as he put it "FORCED TO BECOME ORIGINAL".
   
   JOSEPH HAYDN as a classical music composer epitomized the aims and achievements of the Classical Period in Western music. HAYDN'S MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT WAS THAT HE DEVELOPED AND EVOLVED IN COUNTLESS SUBTLE WAYS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLE IN THE HISTORY OF CLASSICAL MUSIC: HIS PERFECTION OF THE SET OF EXPECTATIONS KNOWN AS SONATA FORM MADE AN EPOCHAL IMPACT ON ALL CLASSICAL MUSIC WRITTEN AFTER HIM. IN HUNDREDS OF INSTRUMENTAL SONATAS, STRING QUARTETS, AND SYMPHONIES, JOSEPH HAYDN BOTH BROKE NEW GROUND AND PROVIDED DURABLE CLASSICAL MUSIC MODELS ALONG WITH WOLFGANG MOZART AS ONE OF ORIGINAL CREATORS OF MODERN CLASSICAL MUSIC. JOSEPH HAYDN'S INFLUENCE AND LEGACY UPON LATER CLASSICAL MUSIC COMPOSERS WAS IMMEASURABLE ESPECIALLY HIS STUDENT LUDWIG VON BEETHOVEN!
   
   Joseph Haydn's 108 symphonies were written between 1759 and 1795. Haydn's symphonies range from the relatively modest local court orchestra of two oboes, two horns and strings to the greater complexity of his larger full scale symphony as used in Haydn's famed twelve LONDON SYMPHONIES written for performance in London under the direction of the German violinist Salomon.
   
   As the MOST IMPORTANT CLASSICAL MUSIC FORM FOR THE ORCHESTRA, the SYMPHONY GENRE OWES A GREAT DEBT TO JOSEPH'S HAYDN'S REFINEMENT of 108 symphonies over a period of almost 40 years. Haydn's first symphonies were composed at the age of 24 in 1758 while his last symphonies for London were composed from 1791 to 1795. All of Joseph Haydn's 108 symphonies are immensely inventive classical music works that had there not been another hundred to follow every classical music lover would know and which would be widely performed and recorded!