revisit: Salonen/LAPO M3 (Sony)

[barry guerrero]

Wow! - this is a great and exciting M3. The only real problem is that the sound is just a tiny tad on the muddy side. An increase in volume helps to clean up ANY distant sounding, midrange muddiness. The bass and treble are both very firm. Highlights include a fabulous "southern storm" - the climactic, fantasy-like passage that caps the development section of the first movement - as well as the fastest and most exciting coda to M3/1 ever! To get the coda up to that speed, Salonen simplifies the timpani part at the end. As a result, you can actually hear the fast runs in the (French)horns - something that you can never hear behind those kettle drums. I also like Anna Larsson, and I like the addition of the bass drum - doubling the timpani - on the last five timpani strokes of the entire symphony. That's very effective.

My only complaints are very, VERY minor. In the first movement, I think that the first "happy" march section (in major) could be just a tiny tad slower (then do the last "happy" march section - the one before the coda - at the faster speed; thus making a nice contrast). My other very minor complaint, is that the childrens chorus could be a bit bigger. The first "bim, bam" exclamations sound a wee bit anemic to me. Other than that, everything's great! I would have liked a bit more of the bass drum roll that underpins the climax of the long brass chorale in the sixth movement - the location of the final cymbal crash. But hey, there's seldom a good bass drum roll there; for some reason (in most cases, you can hear the two sets of timpani, but the bass drum doesn't match them).

Overall, I'd give this Salonen M3 a 10/8 or 10/9 rating (performance/sound). It's truly a "feel good" performance of the symphony - I like that.

[techniquest]

as well as the fastest and most exciting coda to M3/1 ever!

If Salonen beats Zander / Philharmonia (Telarc) then I would really like to hear it as I fail to believe that it can be done! 

[barry guerrero]

For me, the posthorn solo is waaaaaaay too distant sounding on the Zander M3. I can barely hear it all. Also, Anna Larsson has much more of a deeper, earthmother-ish voice than Paasikivi does. But other than that, I do think that Zander's M3 is pretty good. But as is so often the case with London orchestras - particularly the Philharmonia, these days - it's a bit weak in the bass. As proof, just take a good listen to the very last chord of the entire symphony on the Zander M3. You hear a lot of the third and fifth degree intervals, but very little of the fundamental "D". That bothers me. By and large, their double basses are rather weak. They're supposed to have a solid tuba player, but I often times have trouble hearing him clearly as well. Still, the Zander M3 is a huge improvement over the Sinopoli, which was also with the Philharmonia.

Barry

[techniquest]

Yes, I agree about the post-horn - nice idea to make it distant, but it doesn't work in this recording. However the question is: is the first movement coda as fast / faster / slower than the Salonen?

[barry guerrero]

They're both very fast with M3/1's coda. The Salonen might be a smidgeon quicker. Then again, he simplified the timpani part, as mentioned.

Barry

[bluesbreaker]

I remember that nearly the end of the first movement Salonen slows down a bit, the place where theres' a big cymbal crash. To me that adds a bit of dramatic effect. I like it.
It's a great preformance,  but the sound is a little "artificial", apart from the muddiness.

[barry guerrero]

Unfortunately, the Salonen M3 wasn't recorded in UCLA's Royce Hall, but at that god-awful Dorothy Chandler Pavillion instead (and please, no offense meant towards god). I believe that Royce Hall was shut down due to earthquake damage - something like that. Since it wasn't a "live" recording, I imagine that they probably did extend the stage out a bit, and had the orchestra play more "into" the hall.

I only saw/heard the LAPO once at the Chandler Pavillion, but once was more than enough! It was just a terrible symphony space. I might be hearing the Concertgebouw do Mahler 5 at the new Disney Symphony Hall in late January. Eschenbach is doing Mahler 6 with the LAPO shortly after that. I wish some L.A. Mahler folks would join in once in a while.

Barry