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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by John Kim on March 13, 2025, 06:10:02 AM »

Roland,

DH's top choice for Prokofiev 5th is Jarvi/SNO? I thought he really liked Karajan/BPO/DG? Yes, Chandos gave Jarvi sound that's way too artificially reverberant and echoey eschewing details.

John

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by Roland Flessner on March 13, 2025, 05:43:00 AM »

John, I just recall, as an example, DH making a survey of numerous recordings of the Prokofiev Fifth and declaring Neeme Järvi's to be his top choice. While I have a lot of respect for Järvi I find the SNO Chandos recordings hard to listen to: artificially reverberant, acidic, and sibilant. DH praised the tamtam toward the end of the first movement, but it's one of those shallow instruments that just sounds like a big cymbal, with no depth or complexity. Few recordings convey the power of that music but Slatkin/SLSO and Kitaenko/Gürzenich, for example, are so, so much better.

One could almost turn his recommendations upside down. If he doesn't like it, give it a fair chance; if he does, run away.

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by John Kim on March 13, 2025, 04:12:32 AM »

Roland,

LOL!!^^

I hope I'm wrong about this, but it looks as though my reaction and his reaction to a new recording always seem - to borrow from Quantum Mechanics - 'entangled' each other. That is, if I like a recording I know immediately that he will dislike it, and vice versa. I am afraid hat's the feeling I had up until I saw his video review finally surfaced today. AND I was right!^

One really needs to turn the volume up to appreciate Bychkov's way with the score fairly and objectively. This is not only because Pentatone's recorded level is rather low (yes, you need to ramp the volume up!) but also there are so many subtleties and nuances in his reading as well as in the orchestra's execution that are worth paying extra attention. On a casual listening and at a low volume, these things won't come off well. I am surprised that a critic like DH who I thought were very keen on hearing small details and textural differences failed to capture them, notice them.

John

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by Roland Flessner on March 13, 2025, 03:04:12 AM »

So rarely do I find DH's reviews sensible that I am tempted to suspect that he is an AI-generated persona engineered to annoy normal people.

In this instance, I will quote an old friend. Let's call it J's Maxim: "The vehemence with which a view is expressed is inversely proportional to the chances of it being useful or helpful."

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by John Kim on March 12, 2025, 06:33:47 PM »

To Barry

Plz check the messages I sent to you.

John

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by John Kim on March 12, 2025, 06:20:34 PM »

I knew pretty well what to expect from DH (especially when I put out a review before he does). He strikes again!

https://youtu.be/w0Na5iGXddU?si=9pd94sg4KJr-4amY

PS I am relieved he didn't call it CD from hell. ^^

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by Michael2 on March 12, 2025, 05:42:59 PM »

I haven't listened to it yet, hopefully soon, but regarding the question "studio or live":
The booklet says: "recorded between 30 January and 3 February 2024 in the Dvorak Hall", Prague.
And the Dvorak Hall had the symphony played by these artists on Jan 31, Feb 1, Feb 2.
There we can also see that the originally-announced Christa Mayer was replaced by Catriona Morison.

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by Roland Flessner on March 12, 2025, 02:39:35 AM »

So many recent releases being live recordings, few match either the precision of execution or the quality of engineering that we expect from studio recordings. I just listened to the finale of Kubelik/BRSO M3 on DG and both execution and SQ are superb. That's the finale; in the first movement, the 1969 vintage is probably more apparent.

Some orchestras, after capturing a live recording, do a patch session if something went seriously awry, such as a squawking woodwind or a cracked note from the brass. The minor problems I mentioned in Bychkov/CPO probably don't rise to that level.

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by barryguerrero on March 11, 2025, 11:40:59 PM »

Good observations, Roland. Few if any recordings are actually 'perfect' from start to finish.

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Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions / Re: Bychkov/Czech Phil. M3 - I think this is a home run!

« Last post by Roland Flessner on March 10, 2025, 07:06:59 PM »

This is an impressive M3 and I'll return to it because one hearing doesn't do it justice. I am wondering, though if this is a live recording. While it is polished as we would expect from these artists, I note a few places in the finale where, for example, strokes on the tympani or bass drum are slightly late, something that would probably have been corrected in a studio recording. Also, the bass drum is lacking in weight, often typical of a live recording. The leaflet, available as a PDF of Idagio, does not specify whether it is live.