Bests and busts for 2019

[barryguerrero]

I'm keeping my picks to Mahler, but I don't see why it can't be expanded beyond Mahler. Let me hear what you've got. Here are mine:

Bests: Adam Fischer/Dusseldorf M3 and M8 (C-Avi).  Vanska/Minnesota M2 (BIS).  P. Jarvi/NHK Tokyo M6 (RCA).  Gatti/R.C.O.A. M4 (RCO Live).  Dausgaard/Seattle S.O. M10 (or was that one 2018?).

Busts: I was a bit disappointed with the Vanska M6 (inner movements were great!). After starting out loving the Thierry Fischer/Utah M8, the odd sound started bugging me and I was never crazy about the fast ending to Part II.  Adam Fischer does that type of ending better - for some reason, his just works.

Honorable Mention goes to the 'live' M8 performance from Vienna's Konzerthaus with Franz Welser-Most/Vienna Phil. that can only be experienced online through Takt 1.

[barryguerrero]

'bump' - to put this back up to the top.

[ChrisH]

Here are few recording I really enjoyed this year. I'm not quite sure if all of them were released in '19 but, they were all purchased this year:

1. Both Francois-Xavier Roth Mahler recordings. His period M1 has really grown on me after multiple listens, and M3 with Gurzenich is really quite a powerful statement on the work.

2. Theodor Currentzis' M6.

3. All of the Adam Fischer Mahler recordings.

4. Alpine Symphonies by Mariss Jansons and the BRSO; this may be the best recording of the work I have heard. Thomas Dausgaard/Seattle Alpine Symphony is also really damn good, too.

5. Hong Kong Ring with Jap van Zweden. A total surprise from Naxos. Excellent playing and conducing, HK is a great Wagner orchestra. The singing was pretty good, too. Not quite silver age voices, but there are some good voices. This is a studio ring, too My only real problem is the recorded balance Rhinegold puts the orchestra too far back, this gets better with each opera. The Siegfried may be one of best versions I've heard. It's a steal at 40 bucks or so.

[erikwilson7]

Bests: new and older Ádám Fischer (especially his Das Lied and M8), Vänska M2, Blomstedt M9

Busts: Vänskä M1 (I wanted to like it; it's too weird), Roth M1 (interesting concept, engineering is poor and blurs plenty of the detail; perhaps I should give it another listen), Iván Fischer M7 (his cycle ends with a shrug)

Honorable mentions: new issue of 2013 Gielen M6, Gabriel Feltz M2 (good not great, but deserves recognition), Roth M3 (very fine, not the best IMO), Gatti M1 (just a bit too slow for my taste)

Blunder: new issue of Jansons BRSO M1: get it together, BR Klassik!

Not Mahler: Gražinytė-Tyla's Weinberg album, Michael Sanderling's Shostakovich cycle (one of the finest ever, as a set), Dausgaard's Alpensinfonie, Tilson Thomas' Ives album, Honeck's Bruckner 9, Nelsons' Shostakovich 6 & 7, Ádám Fischer's Beethoven cycle

[barryguerrero]

Interesting. Amazon has that Sanderling Shostakovich box at a really low price. It's a real 'go figure' - a Sony Classical project done in Dresden.

While I haven't been that impressed with the Nelsons Shostakovich cycle thus far, I might indulge in the S6/S7 set. How strongly do you feel about that latest release?  .    .     .    In general, I have been liking Nelsons' Bruckner cycle from Leipzig.

[James Meckley]

While I haven't been that impressed with the Nelsons Shostakovich cycle thus far, I might indulge in the S6/S7 set. How strongly do you feel about that latest release?

Although it's garnered good reviews, I found Nelsons's Seventh well played but a bit understated. It can't hold a candle to the Bernstein/Chicago version, but then no other Seventh I've heard can. I just wish Bernstein's were as well recorded as Nelsons's.

[erikwilson7]

Interesting. Amazon has that Sanderling Shostakovich box at a really low price. It's a real 'go figure' - a Sony Classical project done in Dresden.

I'd recommend sampling the recordings on Spotify first. They're all straightforward readings, and each symphony has a different recording by another team that is no doubt superior. But altogether the set is fairly strong from start to finish. It's analogous to the Bertini Mahler box set, I'd say, and for that reason it's now my "car Shostakovich set." I just received the box set in the mail a few weeks ago because I couldn't pass up that bargain.

While I haven't been that impressed with the Nelsons Shostakovich cycle thus far, I might indulge in the S6/S7 set.

I couldn't have said it better than James Meckley did. It's hard to see the Bernstein/CSO S7 beaten for the foreseeable future. That ending might have the strongest brass I've ever heard in any recording... of anything. Surely that recording is one of Bernstein's crown jewels. I actually think Nelsons' S6 is a wonderful addition to the catalogue, and there's an energizing reading of the Festive Overture to boot.

In general, I have been liking Nelsons' Bruckner cycle from Leipzig.

Despite David Hurwitz's and some others' reviews of the Nelsons Bruckner cycle so far, I think it's going pretty well. The B3 was good, the B4 slow but narrative, and one of the finer B7s I know of. I actually haven't checked out the new B6/B9 release they did yet, but I've heard pretty good things. Those are just two Bruckner symphonies I don't get particularly excited about. I see that the slow movement of the Sixth is real slow, and I'll probably like that (one of my favorite Bruckner movements even though I don't care much for the Sixth). For me that release got overshadowed by the very good Honeck/Pittsburgh B9. The creative Wagner pairings from the Nelsons/Leipzig team is also fun. I'm looking forward to their B5 and B8, though I hope he trades out some of that usual lushness for aggressiveness in both finales.

[barryguerrero]

Yeah, I know: the brass are hard to beat on the Bernstein/Chicago S7. But it's also very slow and requires two discs. It's almost too 'over the top' for me. Granted, that ending is pretty hard to beat. I'll check out the Nelsons on Spotify. The funny thing is, I really like the Chicago S6 with Stokowski.

[James Meckley]

They have—or had—a saying in Chicago that fits the Bernstein/Shostakovich 7 recording perfectly. It's often spoken sotto voce, but with a great sense of pride:

"It may have been too slow, but at least it was too loud."

I think this one's neither too slow nor too loud, but I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.

[barryguerrero]

OK, I listened to the Nelsons/B.S.O. Shostakovich 6&7 on Spotify. I can say that I really, REALLY dug it. That said, however, I can also add that I personally HATE the "Festive Overture". Regardless, the performances of both symphonies are excellent and the "King Lear" stuff is a nice addition. I love Mike Roylance on tuba.

I think I'm going to wait for the cycle to be finished and come out in a box - they're not too far away.

BTW, I really do like the Bruckner 6 & 9 with Nelsons/Gewandhaus Leipzig. It's nice to have the "Parsifal" music and "Siegfried Idyll" as well. Hopefully they'll take all his Wagner couplings and put those out on a separate disc.

[erikwilson7]

however, I can also add that I personally HATE the "Festive Overture.”

That’s fair, haha. I just find it a fun little filler piece, and it’s really well played. In no way would I rank it as a fine work of Shostakovich’s. It’s awfully kitsch. It reminds me of something I probably played in high school concert band.

[barryguerrero]

I've played the band arrangement numerous times. I think "hate" is over-acting on my part. It's just not my favorite Shostakovich. BTW, I had some credit built up at Amazon, so I went ahead and ordered S6/7 with Nelsons/B.S.O.

I was thinking of waiting for a box set. Then I realized I don't care for some of those symphonies anyway, such as S2, S3, S12 and S14.