Guys (and maybe gals as well), sorry to appear to be so behind the times on finally getting around to this recording, but though I joined this board after the recording came out and the very limited number of posts about it as expressed by a limited number of people here, and more at Amazon.com, I finally took the plunge and purchased it, despite its steep price and limited retirement funds. Happily, I find that I am very pleased with this recording, though it is not my "desert island" recording of the work (Bernstein's 1963 NYPO Sony Masterworks is my desert island recording).
This Fischer reading of the "Resurrection" Symphony is one that is the complete opposite of Michael Tilson Thomas' "abortive" (if I may use that term) reading, in both performance and sound. It took two full listenings of this recording and a third of the finale for me to come to the conclusion that Fischer has made a most valid case for an alternative way of how this symphony can sound (I use the word "can" as opposed to "should", because just as in the bushels of Beethoven symphony recordings that exist, there are alternative ways to make a given Beethoven symphony sound). Fischer has presented a truly valid argument that you DO NOT have to "wear your heart on sleeve" in every performance of this work. He has thoroughly done his homework in giving thought to an alternative way everyone else performs this work, everything is in full control, and he had to have been given extensive rehearsal time to make this alternative interpretation come to fruition. He has found a way to make sure that the details in the score are followed almost to the complete letter, without extensive deviation, plus he was given state-of-the-art recording technology, excellent recording personnel, and equipment to make this a significant recorded document. In this recording, I recall the live performances I was involved in of the work (in the chorus) 37½ years ago, and many of the particular instrumental details that stood out as I remember from those performances with Dorati and the Washington National Symphony that come back from distant memory. It is that good!
Without going into numerous details, things that stand out in my memory from listening to this recording are:
1) The high and low tam-tams. They were very prominent in the first movement, and about knocked me out of my chair at the beginning of the finale. Barry, I know you were pleased with these. Additionally, the bass drum was prominent and well-recorded.
2) Lack of sentimentality in the second movement and the sardonic clarinets in the scherzo.
3) Birgit Remmert was adequate as contralto soloist in the fourth movement; others have done better than her.
4) The huge drum roll in the finale was extremely powerful; probably the most powerful in contemporary recordings, and probably represented what Bernstein was trying to do at that point in the score with the limited recording technology of his 1963 NYPO recording.
5) The sound of the choir started initially church-like; and nicely, fewer in number. They sang without vibrato, which I believe is appropriate for this work, which otherwise I feel can muddy the choral sound. When the climax was reached, it sounded like many more chorus singers came out of nowhere, compared to what it sounded like initially. Could the choir have been divided into a smaller section initially, and the full chorus utilized at the end? From the picture of the choir in the recording's booklet, it looks like they were about 65-70 in number, not enough for a work of this scope.
6) Fischer brought the work to a glorious, well-controlled conclusion, giving power where needed and required in the score, without going overboard.
These are my impressions from memory. Maybe others have listened to this recording recently and have more to add?
Wade
Topic: FLoored by Fischer's M2...wow. (Read 9592 times)