I juts hate that band.

I hate everything about them – their tone, their sound, their idiotic Tanglewood, did I mention the BSO brass! The BSO during 30s and 40s was the orchestra that not only was able to play but was able to play phenomenally. Nowadays, they are juts a bunch of the overplayed hoodlums (the most paid orchestra in US) who performance after performance keep screwing consents and annoy me even more then CNN news… I do not know what it is about BSO. Is it some kind of orchestral internal ingredient, or perhaps the 29 years of the Seiji Osawa’s moronization but my lead hometown orchestra keep insulting me week after week. I have to admit that when James Levine come over in Boston the BSO hade a few better performances but  then begin they slide back to nothingness..

I am listening now the “live” Tanglewood broadcast with BSO lead by assistant Ludovic Morlot. The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto played by Stefan Jackiw. What a phenomenal play from Mr. Jackiw and how the freaking BSO keep raping the performance! Sometimes they sound like the orchestra is trying to play a different concerto!!!

Some people say the BSO is the most "European" sounding US orchestra. Well, when listening to the recordings of the orchestra under the baton of Charles Münch it sounds truly wonderful and... indeed like a fine European orchestra. The Deutsche Grammophon recordings with the Ravel and Debussy orchestral pieces with Pierre Boulez are also very good. I must admit though, I had a recording of Sibelius 5th symphony with Colin Davis (yes, the famous Philips recording) in which the playing of the BSO was quite sloppy, especially in the crucial first movement (the part with the French horns). But even top symphony orchestra's experience less inspirational moments from time to time.

Chris

Koussevitzky 1924-1949

Beethoven 2, 3, 5, Egmont
All Brahms
Mendelssohn 4
All Mozart
All Scriabin
All Shostakovich
All Prokofiev
All Sibelius
All Rachmaninoff
Tchaikovsky 4
Haydn # 94
Strauss  Don Juan
Liszt  Mephisto

Munch 1949-1973

Schubert  2, 8, 9
Ravel  Daphnis
Chausson Symphony
Saint Saens 3
Tchaikovsky with Szeryng
Bloch Cello with  Piatigorsky
Berlioz Harold in Italy
Brahms 2 and 4
Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev Violin with Heifetz
Beethoven 3
Dvorak Cello with Piatigorsky
Elgar Serenade
Rachmaninoff 3 with Janis
Franck D Symphony
Mendelssohn Symphony
Debussy La Mer
Walton Cello with Piatigorsky
Berlioz Requiem and Fantastique

I hardly remeber anything good from Ozawa. The begging of his service with BSO was positive (reportedley) but I hardly can recall any recording that I know. The same is with Levine since he took the BSO.

The Cat

If you are interested in “better” BSO recordings then here is a  wonderful site that that list BSO recordings. The wonderful about this site that it has the catalog of the Transcription Trust’s broadcasts as well as the know “live” off-the-air recordings:

http://www.koussevitzky.com/

From 1973:

"The BSO Transcription Trust recordings and broadcasts use condenser microphones: a main array of four omnidirectional mikes, plus a cardioid accent mike for soloists when concertos are played, plus a supercardioid accent mike for the woodwinds (especially flutes). The accent mikes are mixed in at a typical level of 15 dB below the main mikes. Of the main mikes, the front pair are Neumann SM-23s and the rear pair are KM-56s; the soloist mike is a KM-54 and the woodwind mike is a Sennheiser "shotgun." As of February 1973 the rear main mikes and the soloist mike are being changed to Neumann KMS4s. The rear mikes are' about 10 feet from the front mikes (diagonally back and up). Concerts are dubbed simultaneously on several recorders: 4-chapel discrete with Dolby A on an Ampex 440; 4-channel discrete without Dolby on an Ampex 440; 4-channel SQ matrixed on a 2-channel Revox and 4-channel QS matrixed on a 2-channel Revox. Also straight 2-channel dubs are done on a Revox. The sound is of course also relayed via phone lines to WCRB (whose phone line is Dolbyized) and to WGBH. The quality off the phone lines is typically poor in the fall, better later in the winter and spring."

The Cat

I do not know how “extraordinary experience” it will be but the BSO for the first time with Levine went to European Festivals Tour. The Brits, French and Germans will be able to catch it.

http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/content1.jsp?id=27900124

Romy the Cat wrote:

I hardly remeber anything good from Ozawa. The begging of his service with BSO was positive (reportedley) but I hardly can recall any recording that I know. The same is with Levine since he took the BSO.

What the show BSO put out this week! It was a real treat.

Levine lead Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in open air (Koussevitzky Music Shed) with entire two days production of  Berlioz's Les Troyens . The BSO this time was just wonderful. Here is a 90Meg fragment in 44/20 of the today’s BSO Sound. Bravo, James Levine, Bravo, BSO. When it’s good then it is good! It's after 5 hours of play....

http://www.mediafire.com/?ibp16hmmqmp

I have to admit that I do not like the trip to Tanglewood – sitting for hours at the damn turnpike exit is not my definition of fun. The few times I was in Tanglewood I never was able to get the sits where I appreciate sound a strange place for to listen music.

I scheduled the Saturday live recording from WCRB and Sunday broadcast from WGBH, I never was able to get WCRB from my location with the level of quality sufficient to record it but this time the Rohde & Schwarz broadcast relay did the magic.

It was not exactly the music that I know and my initial interest was about the recording but listening the BSO play I was more and more sucked into the work and ended up listening up to 4AM on Sunday- it was stunningly good!  You are right the Tanglewood Chorus was out of this word, the singers were phenomenal; the Levine is unquestionably the most able opera conductor alive and the Boston sounds like nothing else. The paste with which the orchestra was drifted across this Tanglewood opened spates was nothing short of brilliant. It was so harmonic and so mnatural that I would say I never heard BSO played like this in Tanglewood. It is imposable to get this lash sound from a Chorus in closed space. The voices do not mix in closed space properly; the notes pops up from Chorus and then we as the unfortunate result have the morons-electricians to “fix” it all via DSP during the stupid “mastering” stage. Here it was 5 light years away – it was LIVE and it was large chorus in semi-open air… BTW, the microphone balance was exceptionally good. It is so rare situation when audio element did not vaoleted but rather benefited the glory of the performance – and boy, what a performance!!! BTW, stop by another day - if you behave I would play to you this broadcast to show off how FM might be done.

Anyhow, in august Levin lead BSO and Tanglewood Chorus with Onegin. I should not mention that I adore the Pushkin opera and the interaction between cello section and chorus from beginning of the second act is one of the most stunning and difficult “to do right” pieces of music that I know on opera. So far only Khakin was able to do it right in 1955 – not one else even dear to do play like this. I would LOVE to see what Levin would do with BSO and Tanglewood Chorus. I have Levin’s Onegin on Tape from MET 1980s and it was not very good. Let see what happen now – after the Trojans I am VERY excited.

BTW, as the courtesy to French folks: if the French-speaking GoodSoundClubers would like to have a copy in 88/24 then let me know and I would be happy send you. This is not the Georges Bizet’s gay paradise musical entertainment – this is the truly great piece of French opera – your will be proud for your cousins…

Romy the Cat wrote:

Anyhow, in august Levin lead BSO and Tanglewood Chorus with Onegin.

 This morning on my way to my client, in subway, I was reading Metro newspaper and they said that James Levine will not be to the end of this season at Tanglewood as he is going to a kidney removing surgery. It looks like he will be back in September for MET opening. Very sad news indeed. I wish to Levine to do well in his medial sabbatical, I hope he will be with us active as productive as long as possible…

clarkjohnsen wrote:

With that Levine/BSO concert at Tanglewood, I should say that Trojans has now entered the rarefied world of the Ring, Mozart's Da Ponte trilogy, Fidelio, and of course Verdi and Puccini.

Actually it is a very good point and I would agree that Levine/BSO concert at Tanglewood “could” be an excellent propelling point to make Berlioz's Les Troyens as the accepted and fashionable  repertoire as the Ring. I can see now clearly that “Les Troyens” does have the value that I would never recognize without what I heard from the Tanglewood event. However, I said “could be an excellent propelling point” not the “will be an excellent propelling point”. The difference between “could” and “will” is in the opportunities of the Tanglewood even to become public and this is a very big and complex subject. I do not know if the Levine’s Tanglewood endeavor from last well will be released publicly – there are so many artificial of sometimes idiotic reasons why it might not take place. Even if it were released than the question would be how it would be marketed – there is a different if it was the small scale local Tanglewood-level label (I have some of them) vs. the main EMI/DG release, sponsored by main publications and marketing spieling . That all will impact the success of the “Les Troyens”.

The problem that I see that industry (and I sell not remind you that the in my vocabulary the word “industry” is insulting word) owns the recording, or they believe that they do. I am sure they will not loose a chance to fuck up whatever they own.  From this perspective my proposal of the alternative audio:

http://www.romythecat.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=6917

Sound to me as a very liberating way of looking at the music distribution…

Sometimes in July WCRB broadcasted  something life from Tanglewood and in the break they after running the normal commercial they played a fragment from James Levine leading BSO with Mussorgsky-Ravel’s “Pictures…”. It was Promenade 3 and it was not just good but it was fantastic!  It is know that I am not big fun of the orchestrated “Pictures…” but what Levine did was so different then it really took my attention. I was recorded that WCRB broadcast and frankly the fragment of the “Pictures…” during the break was much more interest that the BSO concert that day. I called to WCRB and they told that it was this own receding, not available commercially.

Anyhow, James Levine look like is returning from his “health vacation” to conduct the opening nigh of the 2008-2009 season with an exciting Russian program:

http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/perf_detail.jsp;jsessionid=XNDZRLSBODPGYCTFQMGSFEQ?pid=prod2290019

The “Pictures…” are there and it might be very interesting, particularly in context of what I heard during the “Bydlo” fragment of the third Promenade. The “Bydlo” is my absolutely favorite part in “Pictures…” and Levine did it very interning. People play “Bydlo” ether overly slow and monumental or fast and “overly-exciting”. What herd at that recording from Levine and BSO had that “wow” effect. It was fast, exciting but Wgner-like massive at the same time. Also, Levine moved up front some sections that I never heard before - it was not just the Bruckner-like tubas pumping the pressure it was more with some freakish and “different” intermingling between the small instruments, and that all “worked” right alone and very purposefully. I was listening that recording perhaps a dozen times and I absolutely loved it. Well, let see in 3 weeks if it was a lucky accident of just the James Levine new reading.

The WCRB  will most likely broadcast it live and the WGBH will broadcast  the concert Live-to-Tape in the coming Sunday September 28:

http://www.wgbh.org/playlists/date?day=28&month=09&year=2008

The BSO’s session was opened today, welcome back James Levine.

The concert was ridicules in a way. It stated early. The fist past was  Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila Overture. The Overture was a nightmare. The dull and boring orchestra was juts rendering notes, half of the notes were juts openly wrong, there was very badly made phasing and accents, all woodwind sections were juts 5 light miles away from anybody else – the BSO just juts was not able to play together. It is a pure cacophony, the nightmare worth for a high school orchestra. Then there was the Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin. It was sung by Russian Maija Kovalevska in her BSO debut – it was another nightmare. The BSO was flooding over Ms. Kovalevska without any regards what she sings. The orchestra screwed up anything imaginable, the Tchaikovsky's brilliant string-woodwind moves were played with sensibly of rap music. Ms. Kovalevska was not much better. I true do not get her diction. The stunning Pushkin poetry sound from Maija like Dostoenvsky’s prose – I truly did not get it. I was literally ready to go as to last the last piece – the orchestrated “Pictures at an Exhibition” would not be possible with this level of play.

I would leave if then have a break but they did not. After a few minutes when more musicians come to the stage the BSO’ trumpetist was already playing the celebrated opening thyme of the Pictures.  I closed my eyes as I know BSO very well as I know where BSO dreaded cupper sand woodwinds would screw up. In a few minutes I opened my eyes completely astonished – the BSO played fanatically good. It was like absolutely different orchestra - well balanced, very well played together, with very high capacity to do “complex thighs”- I literary did not believe how good they suddenly turned to sound. I whispered to a friend of my asking him: “What the hell going on. Where the BSO suddenly got THAT sound?” The friend of my replied: “Romy, you would not believe – they just changed the leads of most of BSO’s groups.” I do not know if it is true, I did not pay attention if the musicians were changed but regardless, it was WAY different sound.

With the BSO’s Sound and capacity to play the James Levine’s reading begin to shine. It was all together not the best Pictures at an Exhibition that I heard but it was very-very good Pictures at an Exhibition. Some of the moments were just extraordinary. My favorite “Bydlo” fragment Levine mane so stunning that I almost flew away from the balcony. It was not powerful all the way but it was soft sand genital opening with blossoming of full orchestral power as the Bydlo progresses. It was juts amassing and I would love to have it recorded.

On Sunday the WGBH will broadcast it live-to-tape. I bell my tuners and my recorded will be on… welcome back James Levine, it was good return. I have no idea what kind experiments you did with Glinka and Tchaikovsky but I hope you will not be doing it in two weeks during BSO play of Mahler’s VI

 If you like the Nanut’s Mahler 6 then you must hear what BSO did last night. Levin lead BSO Boston Symphony over 3 days Mahler 6 concert. I am going to the last one that will be on Tuesday but yesterday I decided to listen and to record a live FM broadcast. I thought I heard them all, holy cow!

I turned the recorders and went to do something else. I was not impressed with BSO opening but they were warming up and in the end of first movement I was glued in front of the speakers. The BSO was suddenly playing like a mad dog that runs away from his chin. I did not expect that at all. In Mahler 6 you need killer bras and cupper section – BSO never had it. However, last night BSO show off not only the amassing bras/cupper but the entire orchestra sound so much different then usually. Suddenly BSO had tone and aptitude to USE the tone. Suddenly BSO got balls to play with balls and with great enthusiasm and eagerness. The BSO squirted out itself the Mahler’ music and it was so natural as it always was living there. The last 3 movement was like nothing else. I was listening the broadcast and I was clearly realizing that I was experiencing a truly historical play of the Mahler 6.

This morning I decided to re-listen the fist movement again and… you know I like it much more then last night. I can wait to hear them live on Tuesday. I know the “magic” usually does not happens twice but I still hope…