Norrington's new M9

[mahler09]

I took your advice Zoltan and listened to it, starting with the last movement.... my favorite symphony was totally botched.  No thanks, I'll stick to other recordings.

[Zoltan]

I took your advice Zoltan and listened to it, starting with the last movement.... my favorite symphony was totally botched.  No thanks, I'll stick to other recordings.

So you can imagine my frustration when I listen to Norrington's "interpretation" live (this Friday it's going to be Bruckner's 9th)! I still can't bring myself to listen to this one. It wasn't a regular subscription concert so I missed it, but next year Mahler's 9th will be Norrington's last concert as a chief conductor ... I probably won't be applauding (which he'll probably see, since I'm sitting in the fourth row). It's not that he doesn't bring interesting ideas to music, but his insistence on playing vibrato free overshadows them all.

[mahler09]

Live?  Ouch.  Poor Bruckner...
On the bright side, maybe his replacement will accept standard string technique?   I can understand some people saying "I want to play Bach with an older bow" or something comparatively small like that but to take a practice that is basic to modern string playing and perform a big, romantic symphony without it is simply ignoring things you can't change.  Not to mention that he did a horrible job justifying it in what I read online.

[Zoltan]

It is going to be Stephane Deneve as of 2011/12 (who's with the Royal Scottish National Orch. now).
I would have liked Thomas Dausgaard more though, since I am interested in getting to know more Nordic composers (Langgaard for example) and he gave a very passionate account of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony.

Norrington's Bruckner has some interesting ideas, like having faster tempi like Horenstein and Walter did (and Harnoncourt does nowadays), but, as someone wrote: 'If the beginning of the Seventh is sounding like "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" then I don't care for it'. And the vibratoless playing simply makes it dull.

[GL]

I took your advice Zoltan and listened to it, starting with the last movement.... my favorite symphony was totally botched.  No thanks, I'll stick to other recordings.

... next year Mahler's 9th will be Norrington's last concert as a chief conductor ... I probably won't be applauding (which he'll probably see, since I'm sitting in the fourth row). It's not that he doesn't bring interesting ideas to music, but his insistence on playing vibrato free overshadows them all.

The great italian director Federico Fellini remembered that, in Rome, still during the 1940s, when the audience did not like a show, some spectators threw a dead cat on the stage...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiCi_QrbrPE

L.

[Zoltan]

A dead cat would be too gross for me and unrespectful. Hm, tomatoes? Nah, I think I will be able to show that I might respect his opinion even when I disagree by just not clapping.

[GL]

A dead cat would be too gross for me and unrespectful. Hm, tomatoes? Nah, I think I will be able to show that I might respect his opinion even when I disagree by just not clapping.

I can't imagine Mr. Norrington like Alvaro Vitali, that is to say pulling back the cat to the audience while replying: "Have you thrown me your lunch?" Moreover, I suspect that throw dead cats could be considered a crime...

However, I noticed a difference between the audience of opera and the one of concerts: the former is used to boo and to hiss very often (especially against directors), while the latter seems too passive. A little more passion even in concert halls would be healthy.

Luca

[Zoltan]

However, I noticed a difference between the audience of opera and the one of concerts: the former is used to boo and to hiss very often (especially against directors), while the latter seems too passive. A little more passion even in concert halls would be healthy.

I wholeheartedly agree with you!

I don't clap for example when there's a piece of Wolfgang Rihm, and *especially* not when the composer is present and comes on the stage (the Stuttgart concert-going audience can take quite a lot of such "music"). I hope he saw me every time!

I remember two boos in the past five years. One was after Mahler's 5th and the other after a Wagner piece (one of the orchestral preludes or interludes in his operas), both with Norrington as conductor.

[vvrinc]

Just heard this M9. I'm now ready: bring on M8 with OVPP.

[mahler09]

Pardon my ignorance but what's OVPP?

[James Meckley]

Pardon my ignorance but what's OVPP?

I believe he means "One Voice Per Part."

James

[Leo K]

Well, I have to admit, I've only heard the first movement of the Norrington M9 and have felt no desire to listen to the rest.  I will try to finish listening to the near future. 

After reading the liners to this release I immediately wanted to hear the 1938 Walter/VPO M9 again, and when I did I was blown away.  When I went back to the Norrington, the comparison was almost painful. 

--Todd