Jurowski M4

[Prospero]

For those interested there is a new M4 with Jurowski and the LPO reviewed favorably in the September Gramophone.

[erikwilson7]

I really liked this one. The amount of dynamic nuance and tempo shifting that Jurowski achieves in the first two movements is pretty amazing, similar to the recent Gustavo Gimeno and Ádám Fischer recordings. The third movement is hypnotic, but I don't think the E Major outburst is overpowering enough. I think it's something about the way it's recorded. Sofia Fomina is nearly ideal for the finale, but she's no Barbara Bonney or Miah Persson.

Actually, contrary to what I have stated previously, I've lately been feeling like Miah Persson's interpretations of the finale are a bit over-stylized; she's incredible, but there might be a bit too much parody in her style. I admire Barbara Bonney and Barbara Hendricks (Salonen/LAPO) for their softer, childlike tone but without parody, as Mahler intended. Like I said, Fomina captures that well here too. She's sort of a healthy mix of Persson and Bonney without being entirely like one or the other.

[barryguerrero]

I wish they'd release the other Jurowski/LPO Mahler performances that I'm aware of: M3, M7 and M8.

[erikwilson7]

I’m sure a Jurowski M8 would be fantastic; his M2 is great.
I’m still eagerly awaiting a Nézet-Séguin M8, likely from Philly on DG. I just subscribed to the Medici.tv concert service and watched the N-S Rotterdam M8 and it’s very, very good. He takes the ending extremely slowly—slower than Bertini and Stenz—and it works so well. Great tam-tams and crashes, too.

[barryguerrero]

Yes, I think that Rotterdam M8 is very good. I think he had a somewhat stronger cast for the Phlly performances, but I may wrong on that.

[Prospero]

I heard a live very impressive DLvdE in London with Jurowski and the LPO last September. Wonderful individual playing from the orchestra, often something like an orchestra playing chamber music much of the time. Stuart Skelton was the best live or maybe even recorded tenor I have heard in it. He could be heard live over the orchestral fortes in the first song and expressed whimsy, pathos, and humorous verve. Sarah Connolly was very good and sensitive, though perhaps a bit too "English." For me Christiane Stotjiin in Boston with Harding was much more soulful and moving. Still a fine performance to hear live with Jurowski and the LPO of today. In passing, Jurowski split the violins as almost all the great past conductors did, and he brought out the separate second violin part very effectively throughout.

The first part of the program was a sublime Mozart 27th piano concerto with an inspired Uchida.