What are you Listening to Right Now? Febus XXII - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Album Art Exchange - PXR5 by Hawkwind - Album Cover Art

Jared wrote:

Atavachron wrote:

I love Mozart's Requiem... David, if you fancy contasting this more traditional version with heavier forces, with something with lighter textures, try Gardiner's version...

I'm not saying one is better than the other, but the latter would be a little more like how Mozart would have heard it and of it's style, it remains one of the best in its field...

Indeed, in fact when I ordered the Von Karajan I also ordered a Karl Bohm version to compare & contrast. I will consider the Gardiner as well.

My intro to Requiem was when my Dad took me to Amadeus in '84. Fascinating how unwell Mozart was when he was writing it, and how much you can hear when his pupil took over composition halfway through.

Thanks Jared.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy

Kenso - II

RIO/AVANT/ZEUHL - The best thing you can get with yer pants on!

Atavachron wrote:

Indeed, in fact when I ordered the Von Karajan I also ordered a Karl Bohm version to compare & contrast. I will consider the Gardiner as well.

My intro to Requiem was when my Dad took me to Amadeus in '84. Fascinating how unwell Mozart was when he was writing it, and how much you can hear when his pupil took over composition halfway through.

Thanks Jared.

I think you'll find the Bohm and the Karajan (I know both) quite similar in terms of style and forces used... if you can tell them apart, you've got a fine ear. Their style is very typical of how Mozart was interpreted post-War, thru the 80's; large forces, heavy instrumentation, with a thick, velvety texture. Now don't get me wrong, they are fine interpretations in their own right, but nothing like Mozart envisaged. During this era, there was an idea that you could interpret Mozart and Mahler in a similar vein... well, to a degree you can do that with most Romantic composers such as Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schumann, but when you go back to the Classical era of Mozart & Haydn, who played on older instruments with a smaller orchestra (remember Haydn's Orch was in the pay of the Esterhazy household and even they couldn't have afforded the Berliner!) the sound, how they understood it would have been much lighter, without several heavy layers of varnish?

Gardiner was among the pioneers of what came to be termed 'HIP' or 'Historically Informed Performance' in an attempt to re-create that sound. In many ways he has now been superseded, but his Requiem remains a cornerstone recording and one I'd love you to hear, when considering different versions of a piece you evidently love?

Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson

^^ yes, you are spot on... Bohm tended to be a little slower in tempo than Karajan, but then a little quicker than his predecessor at the helm of the Wiener, Otto Klemperer. All of their interpretations have great artistic merit in their own right.

however, there tends to be a 'best avoid' in these things, and here we have it:

Karajan thought it would be a good idea to release an album of Baroque bon-bons (ie music from 1650-1730) using the Berliner forces.. and frankly, it's ridiculous...

Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson

anyone with Karajan's profile and personality had his supporters and his detractors. he died in 1989 and with the passage of time, a more level-headed view of his artistic achievements have been taken.

Karajan was a first-rate conductor and anything you buy of his, will have something to say about the piece in question, but the common view held is that he was at his very best when it comes to the Germanic late romantics... his interpretations of Bruckner, Richard Strauss, early Schoenberg and the Mahler he did are all absolutely top drawer.. in fact, it is such a terrible shame he only recorded 4 Mahler symphonies (4,5,6 & 9), of which, the last three are amongst the very best.

His 1964 Beethoven Symphonies and his 70's Brahms are also extremely good, but after that, there tend to be more satisfying interpretations out in a crowded marketplace than those achieved by Karajan at the height of his powers in the 60's and 70's...

Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson

Landmark recording....

Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson

Cristi wrote:

their best, by some way....

Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson

Cristi wrote:

yes, it's surprisingly good.

(Euro-power is very hit and miss with me, although I made a list on a metal site and still listed 41 bands. LOL

so far, but considering it's such a huge scene, i guess it's not that much Tongue

)

my experience with European PM is very limited as I could never get past the double-kick drumming, which I found as off-putting as growling... I always remember this album to be surprisingly good though.. superior to any of their offerings I tried? I also tried a couple of Hollow Haze and DGM among others, but wasn't that fussed.

Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson