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Very brief report on Paavo Jarvi/NHK Tokyo (RCA) M6 recording

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barryguerrero:
I love it. I think it may be my favorite overall M6 in my collection, as all four movements are really solid. It's in scherzo/andante order and with two hammer-strokes in the finale. The timings are quite similar to Boulez/V.P.O., only Paavo Jarvi makes a bit more contrast between fast and slow sections. The playing of the NHK Tokyo is outstanding throughout, while RCA's colorful sound quality is equally outstanding.

The beginning of the scherzo starts almost immediately after the coda to the first movement. I got to run - I'm falling asleep.

shawn:
"I got to run - I'm falling asleep."

Probably not because of this recording, I trust :D

That's great news, the conditions you describe are very promising (S-A order, two hammer strokes, good sound, contrast).

I'm really tempted  ::)

barryguerrero:
No, no - I wasn't listening and falling asleep   :o

No matter how you slice and dice it, it's going to run $40 or more!  A friend of mine who deals with Japanese imports got it for me through Amazon Japan. With the shipping, it came to pennies above $40.

The good news is that I can jettison the Vanska/Minnesota M6. It's excellent in the inner two movements, but much less so on the outer two (good offstage cowbells, however). The P. Jarvi is nearly almost as good in the inner two and far better with the outer two. I'm reluctant to recommend purchasing the Paavo Jarvi, based on its outrageous cost. It might be worth seeing if it eventually gets a U.S. release - maybe.

Another option would be to get the dvd of Jarvi doing M6 with the Frankfurt R.S.O. You can get that used through Amazon. It's also very good, but was performed in a rather 'boomy', reverberate church. 

shawn:
Just kidding about falling asleep  ;D

40 bucks is a great deal of money indeed... But I always say, if it's worth the outlay, what the heck. I haven't listened very much to Vanska's performance...

Maybe the Frankfurt/Järvi performance is a good alternative, but I have to confess that I don't know that cycle very well. In addition, I always prefer CD audio (or some other variation) than a DVD performance. Maybe those performances should also be issued on a separate CD, or even in a duopack accompanying the DVD. This is why I also haven't payed much attention to Chailly in Leipzig...

How do you feel the Frankfurters have developed in their Mahler, ranging from Inbal to Järvi? Inbal, to my ears, had very good sound, and the orchestra was certainly excellent, but not essentially characterful in Mahler. How does Järvi's orchestra rank in that regard?

barryguerrero:
That's difficult for me to say. They strike me as being somewhat similar to what one hears in Koln. As far as 'characterful' playing in Mahler from a German orchestra goes, I think the Dusseldorf people are hard to beat - at least for the moment. That may have a lot to do with the acoustics and the way they're recorded. It obviously has something to do with Adam Fischer's influence as well. The Dusseldorfers seem to get a mix of the 'Jewish'/New York sound that Bernstein got, and the more 'dark' hued yet controlled playing that we normally associate with German orchestras. Obviously, the Bavarian R.S.O. and the Dresden Staatskapelle can provide 'characterful' playing as well. Anyway,   .    .    .

You can see much of Paavo Jarvi's video cycle from Frankfurt on Youtube. Virgin Classics issued a very good "Resurrection" symphony with P. Jarvi/Frankfurt R.S.O. on CD. I really feel that Paavo is a better conductor than his father.

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