Zinman M3, first movement (very good!)

[barry guerrero]

OK, Zinman exceeded my already high expectations for the first movement as well. The woodwinds are fantastic, as are the horns. I think that the percussion detail is very good. Zinman stretches well beyong 34 minutes, and it's mostly in the trombone solos that he loses time. Normally, I don't like for the trombone solos to dilly-dally. But this guy plays them very, very well, with a lot of attention to phrasing. Unlike the Haitink/CSO M3, you can hear the big tam-tam smash at the end of the trombone trio, which caps off the first big trombone solo (just before the first "happy" march in major). I feel that the percussion detail is pretty good at the "southern storm" fantasy passage. I really like the faster tempo that Zinman employs throughout the development section; leading up to the "southern storm" itself. And, just like Chailly, Zinman takes the offstage snaredrum solo at the same tempo as the reprise of the opening horn fanfare. In other words, much slower than it gets played on the Haitink/CSO M3. To me, that makes a lot more sense!  Again; this is just very musical, and very well thought out. I believe that this Zinman M3 might very well shoot to the top of my already long list of favorites. It helps that the sound is fantastic; at least in normal two-channel stereo. Birgirt Remmert is great, and the chorus is much bigger sounding (or closer) than it was on Zinman's "Resurrection". I love how Zinman does the last five minutes of the final sixth movement, but some folks might feel that it's too subtle (I don't).

Barry

Barry

[sperlsco]

I feel that the percussion detail is pretty good at the "southern storm" fantasy passage. I really like the faster tempo that Zinman employs throughout the development section; leading up to the "southern storm" itself.

Barry

I was actually a little disappointed in the southern storm section.  Although the tempo selection is excellent (as I stated in my prior comments, Zinman's tempo choices throughout the performance are superb), I would like a bit more timpani and bass drum.  However, overall Zinman beats Haitink in this section. 

I burned a copy of this for my car, and the sound is less recessed/reverberant when the speakers are a few feet from your ears.  In essence, I enjoyed this more in my car than in my home listening room (where the sound was off-putting). 

 

 

[barry guerrero]

Well, there's really only one "southern storm" where ALL of the polyphonic percussion parts are clearly audible, and that's the Chailly one. But I like Zinman's slightly faster tempo. The truth is, that little one-measure kettle drum lick near the end of the southern storm, is almost unplayable at a really fast tempo. To me, it's always a slightly disappointing passage, because the music just fizzles out anyway. That's why it's important that you be able to hear all the little solos at the end of the southern storm passage, such as snare drum doubling the tuba and bass trombone lick; the horns doing their low snarly notes; the clarinets doing their loud bird chirp noices (low voiced birds, I guess), etc. On the Zinman recording, even the low rumblings in the double basses - located just before the offstage snaredrum solo - are perfectly audible. And for my taste, Zinman gets the tempo for the offstage snaredrum solo just right as well.

As if all of that weren't enough, I like how Zinman - back near the start of the development section - gets the low brass to really kick their "cuckoo" like figures:  short downbeats and afterbeats (while the clarinets are playing the tune above them). I just feel that Zinman does the entire development section, including the "southern storm" itself, really and truly well. I like it.

Barry