Solti's Chicago DLvdE

[Settembrini]

If you like a quicker second Nachtmusik, I'm sure you can't stand the Sinopoli.. It's far from a favourite, but it is interesting (especially in the first movement).
How do you rate Haitink's second M7 with the RCO, the digital recording from 1982? I think it's one of the most succesful Mahler recordings he has made, perhaps the most succesful studio recording by Haitink of a Mahler symphony (although, for sentimental reasons, I kind of like his M5 with the Berlin Phil. as well, but don't tell anyone..)

I have to listen to Stenz again, he's the current chief conductor of the Radio Philharmonic and one of the least interesting conductors I've ever seen. By the way, the De Waart M7 is also with the (Netherlands) Radio Philharmonic, not the Netherlands Philharmonic, that's a different orchestra. Their chief conductor, Marc Albrecht, certainly knows his Mahler. If you want to hear truly great Mahler playing in Amsterdam, go to Albrecht with the Netherlands Phil. instead of Gatti with the RCO.

[barryguerrero]

hmmmm  .   .   .  well, I prefer Haitink's first M7 and the one in the Kerstmatinee box. The 1982 M7 has a slower than normal middle movement (reachs 11 minutes, I believe) and a somewhat 'poopy' finale for my taste. I saw Haitink/Concertgouw do M7 in San Francisco around 1981 and it was terrific. The recording was a disappointment to me. The Levine/CSO M7 came out around the same time and I preferred his. I also think the recording itself is too weak in the bass. The earlier one sounds better to me.

I thought Stenz liked to do a lot of modern music. Anyway, I have his Mahler box and I like most of it quite a bit.

The Sinopoli M7 is very interesting but I wouldn't rank it among my personal favorites either. I'm wishful that the M6 and M7 performances he did in Dresden will someday get issued by Profil.

[justininsf]

Barry what is a dining room tam-tam?

[barryguerrero]

Fred Beckman kept for himself what he felt to be the best tam-tam from a batch of 40" (100cm) Wuhan chau gongs. He literally kept it in his Chicago dining room. The word "tam-tam" is standard orchestral nomenclature for a gong of indeterminate pitch. The Chinese don't use the word ''tam-tam". In fact, they seem puzzled if you even say it to them. 

In orchestral nomenclature, "gong" refers to an instrument of a specific pitch. Generally, those are the Burmese 'nipple gongs', or the type of gongs you see in Indonesian gamelan groups.

[justininsf]

BARRY it didnt hit me (no pun intended) just how huge those tam-tams are, I did a search for Wuhan chau gongs online and they are mostly under 30". 

[barryguerrero]

Orchestras generally use them between 85 and 100cm (roughly 36 to 40 inches). I believe Wuhan now makes one 140cm. Paiste makes a truly giant gong, but I think it sounds like dog doo. Some of the 'new agers' who do 'gong baths' like those.

[Roland Flessner]

You can admire the selection at http://www.gongs-unlimited.com. Some of the Wuhans, including the 40", are not in stock.

Maybe a Zildjian is a good choice for the dining room; a 34" is just $749. The St. Louis Symphony uses a Zildian these days, and whatever they were using for the Slatkin recordings (probably the same) sounds good. Slatkin's recording of the Prokofiev Fifth is one of very few with a convincing tamtam at the end of the first movement. I've listened to many recordings and several live concerts, and that's as good as it gets. At least so far.

[barryguerrero]

Unless Zildjian gongs are now just stenciled Wuhans, I'm quite certain that the tam-tam during the Slatkin years was a Wuhan. Many different companies stencil their name upon Wuhans, Meinl being just one of them.