Post by Ernani71 February 6, 2011 (1 of 50)
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A mediocre performance of Bruckner's 8th. An underwhelming Allegro coupled with the worse Scherzo I've ever heard. There are a few felicitous moments in the Adagio, though not many. I must admit the finale has its fine points, but it's too little too late. It's not Polyhymnia's best moment, either. On SACD, of the ones I've heard, the order of recommendation for this symphony is as follows:
1. Tie for best: Blomstedt (Querstand)/Thielemann (Profil)
2. Tie for worst: Janowski (PentaTone)/Haitink (RCO Live)
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Post by seth February 7, 2011 (2 of 50)
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Ernani71 said:
A mediocre performance of Bruckner's 8th. An underwhelming Allegro coupled with the worse Scherzo I've ever heard. There are a few felicitous moments in the Adagio, though not many. I must admit the finale has its fine points, but it's too little too late. It's not Polyhymnia's best moment, either. On SACD, of the ones I've heard, the order of recommendation for this symphony is as follows:
1. Tie for best: Blomstedt (Querstand)/Thielemann (Profil)
2. Tie for worst: Janowski (PentaTone)/Haitink (RCO Live)
Interesting. I've seen a lot of reviews saying it is one of the best Bruckner 8's in years and that the sound is excellent.
My copy is in transit...
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Post by Domimag February 7, 2011 (4 of 50)
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This Janowski's release is the best I heard since years (technic and performance).
I'm very happy to have it !
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Post by jdaniel February 7, 2011 (5 of 50)
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GROOT GELUID said:
Not that I always agree myself, but Classics Today has a very different view: http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=13088
Yes, I too have this coming.
I always felt Decca did wonderful work in the Geneva Hall. Did you record it there?
I also look forward to the Rodrigo Harp Concerto from the archives. A wonderful work which I hope will surprise those who haven't heard it.
Any chance of releasing some of the rest of the legendary Mercury recordings, such as Dorati's Wooden Prince, etc. Call your company "Tritone?" : )
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Post by Ernani71 February 7, 2011 (6 of 50)
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GROOT GELUID said:
Not that I always agree myself, but Classics Today has a very different view: http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=13088
Classics Today plays too free and easy with their 10/10 ratings in my opinion. Sorry, Erdo -- I like a lot of your work. I think you were involved in the Caro Mitis Bach Oboe trio of discs? Everyone who loves Bach should have those. They are wonderful. It's very possible that this Bruckner recording might have just had bad synergy with my headphones, but it seemed too dark and muddy to me. If it sounds better (brighter) to others, then everyone should take my opinion with a grain of salt, which they probably already do anyway.
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Post by Ernani71 February 7, 2011 (7 of 50)
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Domimag said:
This Janowski's release is the best I heard since years (technic and performance).
I'm very happy to have it !
Have you listened to Thielemann?
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 - Thielemann
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Post by jdaniel February 7, 2011 (8 of 50)
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Post by seth February 7, 2011 (9 of 50)
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jdaniel said:
On Amazon Santa Fe listener reports some harshness in the strings.
You do realize that Santa Fe Listener listens to mp3 downloads. It is unclear if he/she uses computer speakers, headphones, etc. -- but based on his/her comments, it's clearly not any kind of hi-fi system, let alone multi-channel SACD.
Not to thread-jack, but Santa Fe Listener is a charlatan. He/she is oblique about this, but admits when pressed that he/she only listens to the downloads despite giving the impression that he/she has the discs in-hand. So any comments on sound quality are totally bogus.
And there are many instances where this reviewer makes judgments about the physical discs based on faulty information because they only have the download -- such as complaining about something that is explained in the liner notes (the downloads don't always have liner notes) or complaining about the short run time of a disc when it turns out that the download he/she purchased didn't provide all of the tracks on the disc.
Santa Fe also transparently dislikes certain artists and goes out of his/her way to write ludicrously negative reviews.
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Post by Domimag February 7, 2011 (10 of 50)
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