BBC Legends: Barbirolli (Box Set) [Box set]

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 4 in G major
Composed by Gustav Mahler
Performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra with Heather Harper
Conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

2. Le Corsaire, ouverture (Le Corsaire Overture), for orchestra, H. 101 (Op. 21)
Composed by Hector Berlioz
Performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

3. In the South ("Alassio"), overture for orchestra, Op. 50
Composed by Edward Elgar
Performed by Halle Orchestra
Conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

4. Partita, for orchestra
Composed by William Walton
Performed by Halle Orchestra
Conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

5. Sinfonia da Requiem, for orchestra, Op. 20
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

6. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), for speaker ad lib & orchestra, Op. 34
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Halle Orchestra
Conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

BBC Legends: Barbirolli (Box Set), Music, Hector Berlioz, Benjamin Britten, Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, William Walton, Sir John Barbirolli, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Heather Harper, 20th/21st Century Symphony, 20th/21st Century Variations, Classical, Classical Artists, Classical Music, Orchestral, Orchestral & Symphonic, Romantic Overture for Orchestra, Romantic Symphony, Suite for Orchestra, Symphonic

Symphony 3: Recorded 1969
Average customer rating:

Great Storytelling

Magical Mahler's 3rd

Shoot the Brass

barbirolli is the most speacial mahler condactor

barbirolli is the most speacial mahler condactor

Symphony 3: Recorded 1969
Mahler , Meyer , Halle Orchestra , and Barbirolli
Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Berlioz: Le Corsaire

Mahler: Symphony No7; Bruckner: Symphony No9, WAB109

Mahler: Symphony No. 1

Great Conductors of the 20th century: Sir John Barbirolli

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

ASIN: B00000I9W4
Release Date: 1999-03-23

Tracks:

Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part One: I Kraftig. Entschieden
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part One: I Tempo
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part One: I Zeit lassen - a tempo
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part One: I Immer dasselbe Tempo (Marsch). Nicht eilen
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part One: I Tempo primo. Wei zu Anfang
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part One: I Tempo
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part Two: II Tempo di Menuetto. Sehr Massig
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part Two: III Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part Two: III Sehr gemachlich, Frei vorgetragen. (Wie die Weise eines Posthorns)
Symphony No.3 in D Minor: Part Two: III Schnell und schmetternd wie eine Fanfare - Tempo I. Mit geheimnisvoller Hast

Tracks:

Symphony No.3 In D Minor: IV - Sehr Langsam. Misterioso. Durchaus ppp
Symphony No.3 In D Minor: V - Lustig Im Tempo Und Keck Im Ausdruck
Symphony No.3 In D Minor: VI - Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden
Symphony No.3 In D Minor: VI - Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden
Symphony No.3 In D Minor: VI - Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden
Symphony No.3 In D Minor: Sir John In Conversation - With C.B. Rees
Symphony No.3 In D Minor: Sir John In Conversation - With C.B. Rees
Symphony No.3 In D Minor: Sir John In Conversation - With C.B. Rees

Customer Reviews:

Great Storytelling.......2007-03-24

This is something special - perhaps Barbirolli may now be recognized as not only a great Mahler conductor, but the most underrated of all the 20th century podium geniuses. No doubt his leaving the New York Philharmonic for a backwater orchestra played a major role in this underestimating of his great talents.
In this performance we have a near-definitive first movement - not exactly anayltical as some modern versions are, but quite untouched for gripping storytelling. The works closeness to Humperdinck is manifest throughout, but this is a far more sinister and sophisticated depiction of the German Natur. Again, just as Monteux was so amazing in evoking the tale of Scheherazade so Barbirolli manages to produce the musical equivalent of a deep journey into a fantastic world of sprites and darker forces.
Some of you may wonder if that was what Mahler had in mind, but it works for me!
A fabulous recording in a style of music-making lost for ever.

Magical Mahler's 3rd.......2006-08-17

I have Berlin 3rd in mono Arkadia edition. A friend bought me the Testament STEREO reissue and this BBC edition because not sure which I wanted, and gave me both!

Mahler scholar and erstwhile conductor Deryck Cooke revered this BBC performance as one of the finest Mahler 3rds extant, recommended it to EMI for issue which they declined. Alas for EMI, it is indeed beautifully played in general and very spaciously and atmospherically recorded with some mild distortion here and there but with a marvelous sense of hall depth and clear imaging of the instruments; the woodwind outbursts in Mvmt 1 jump out of the speakers so realistically it is positively deligthful. Overall this performances possesses a cohesiveness and understanding that came out of 15 years of Sir John's rigorously and lovingly training this band of Brits to play Mahler in proper style (slurpy portamenti and all) that even the Berliners at the time could not match.

Upon comparison of the Berlin and Hallé renditions, frankly I prefer the Manchesters' playing of the piece, (inconsequential surface) warts and all; I find Miss Meyer's reedy contralto unobjectionable tonally and yet quite expressively moving. Lucretia West on Testament is not markedly superior, but certainly neither holds a candle to Christa Ludwig.

The Testament reissue for all its "sostenuto misterioso" by comparison is rather disappointingly lugubrious and bloated (especially the tubby sonics and tape dropouts right from the start), a bit too smoothly intoned by Karajan's orchestra and with recorded sound that is barely stereo, exceedingly "fat" sound lacking in detail because muffled from too much filtering. Snore...

This BBC set, on the other hand, is just terrific!

Shoot the Brass.......2005-07-07

I adore Barbirolli, and in particular his Mahler recordings. Less so with his recording of the 4th (with the BBC Symphony Orchestra) where they mar every movement, this recording with Halle suffers from God awful brass in the final movement. What was Sir John's problem with them?

barbirolli is the most speacial mahler condactor.......2001-12-02

barbirolil condactor this performance at 1969. with the Halle Philharmonic Orchestra, and the contralto Kerstin Meyer. barbirolli condactor with a big passion to mahler music. and the orchestra sound very speacial, with a very powerful vision on this mahler symphony. ther is a feeling of wonder and mistories. that are oll in the mind of barbirolli, who transition the power of his vision to his player orchestra. and that is what make this preformance to a very speacoal.

barbirolli is the most speacial mahler condactor.......2001-12-02

Schubert: Symphony No. 5; Symphony No. 8; Mozart: Symphony No. 40

Average customer rating:

Schubert: Symphony No. 5; Symphony No. 8; Mozart: Symphony No. 40

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00009IB0C
Release Date: 2003-06-24

Tracks:

I. Allegro
II. Andante Con Moto
III. Menuetto. Allegro Molto - Trio
IV. Allegro Vivace
I. Allegro Moderato
II. Andante Con Moto
I. Molto Allegro
II. Andante
III. Menuetto. Allegretto - Trio
IV. Allegro Assai

Average customer rating:

BBC Legends: Barbirolli (Box Set)

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000042NZD
Release Date: 2000-07-25

Elgar: In the South; Walton: Partita; Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem

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Elgar: In the South; Walton: Partita; Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000IYMT
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Tracks:

In The South, Op.50: Conc Ov: Vivace
Partita For Orch: I. Toccata. Brioso
Partita For Orch: II. Pastorale Siciliana. Andante Comodo
Partita For Orch: III. Giga Burlesca. Allegro Gioviale
Sinfonia Da Requiem, Op.20: I. Lacrymosa. Andante Ben Misurato - BBC Sym Orch/Sir John Barbirolli
Sinfonia Da Requiem, Op.20: II. Dies Irae. Allegro Con Fuoco - BBC Sym Orch/Sir John Barbirolli
Sinfonia Da Requiem, Op.20: III. Requiem Aeternam. Andante Molto Tranquillo - BBC Sym Orch/Sir John Barbirolli
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: I. Theme...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: II. Var A. Presto
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: III. Var B. Lento
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: IV. Var C...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: V. Var D...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: VI. Var E...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: VII. Var F...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: VIII. Var G
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: IX. Var H...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: X. Var I...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: XI. Var J...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: XII. Var K...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: XIII. Var L...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: XIV. Var M...
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell: XV. Fugue...

Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Berlioz: Le Corsaire

Average customer rating:

Shoot the French Horns
A tremendous performance of the Mahler
Fantastic!!
'Live' Mahler from Barbirolli

Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Berlioz: Le Corsaire

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Symphony 3: Recorded 1969
Mahler: Symphony No7; Bruckner: Symphony No9, WAB109
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Mahler: Symphony No. 7
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1-7

ASIN: B00000IYMS
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Tracks:

Symphony No. 4: I. Bedachtig. Nicht eilen
Symphony No. 4: II. In gemachlicher Bewegung. Ohne Hast
Symphony No. 4: III. Ruhevoll
Symphony No. 4: IV. Sehr behaglich ('Wir geniessen die himmlischen Freuden')
Overture For Orchestra: Le Corsaire, Op. 21

Customer Reviews:

Shoot the French Horns.......2005-07-06

I am a huge Barbirolli Mahler fan. His 6th is frightening. The good news on this recording is that the sound is great. The bad news is that the playing isn't great. The strings are sloppy, but unforgivably the French Horns flub entrance after entrance, movement after movement, and are out of tune the most of the rest of the time. The end of the first movement is particularly horrifying. The piece was recorded in one day, but still was there not enough time to fix such terrible errors? Skip this one.

A tremendous performance of the Mahler.......2003-06-29

Thanks to the BBC for the many superb releases in this series, of which this is an excellent example.

As with his Mahler Third and Seventh in this same series, Barbirolli's Fourth is at or near the top among recorded performances. With so many Fourths out there, that's really saying something.

Every note is played with such loving care, every moment is handled with such attention to detail, and yet none of it seems fussy. As in the Third and Seventh, Barbirolli seems to completely understand how to project the symphony as a dramatic entity. Every detail and phrase is articulated in a way that hits home and makes its point, but nothing ever seems too much. And despite the inevitable bloopers (mostly from the horns in this case) that are to be expected in a live performance, the BBC Symphony plays with exceptional beauty and feeling.

The sound is superb for a live performance from 1967. A good number of audience coughs are audible, but it was Prague in January, after all.

Much as I like several other performances of this symphony--Karajan, van Beinum (never to my knowledge issued on CD), Szell, Britten (also part of this BBC series), and Klemperer--this may be my favorite. If you like other Barbirolli Mahler you've heard, grab this one. I think you'll be very happy you did.

The Berlioz makes an excellent filler, but the Mahler is obviously the main event here.

Fantastic!!.......2001-08-18

This performace is difintely one of a kind. Though the playing is not perfect, technically, as the Halle orchestra was not yet accustomed to Barbirolli's perfectionism, as is apparent in the Mahler 5th Symphony, Mahler 7th Symphony, or Bruckners 9th, it is still very high.

But unsurpassable is the feeling and excitement that Barbirolli manages to evoke out of this score (and all Mahler scores, for that matter). He is definitely a one of a kind conductor, whose legacy has not been recognized, both during and after his life-time. Had he come in contact with New York, not right after Toscanini left the orchestra, maybe we would have had even more of possibilities of remembering him.

'Live' Mahler from Barbirolli.......2001-08-04

Sir John Barbirolli (1899-1970) was one of the great Mahler conductors of his day, but he only recorded symphonies 1, 5, 6 and 9 in the studio. Enter the BBC with studio-quality live recordings from their archives to fill in some of the gaps! (Besides symphony 4, the BBC also have released numbers 3 and 7 in this series; number 2 - the "Resurrection Symphony - is now available as part of a 2-disc set in EMI's "Great Conductors" series.) As with all of Sir John's Mahler recordings, tempos in his 4th symphony performance are expansive and phrasing is broad. If the performance is a bit untidy now and then, hey, these are real jobs, not "canned" in a studio. As far as the technical quality is concerned, all recordings except number 7 are stereo, expertly re-mastered from original source tapes using 24 bit technology. Symphony 4 comes from a concert in Prague in 1967 where Barbirolli appeared with the BBC Symphony Orchestra after touring eastern Europe and Russia. (The other BBC recordings feature Sir John's own Halle Orchestra of Manchester.) The soprano soloist is the marvelous Heather Harper. I can't imagine these performances will be with us forever, so snap all of them up while you can. Not for "digital only" audio fanatics or the "note perfect" crowd, maybe, but sheer heaven for everyone else!

Elgar: Introduction & Allegro for Strings; Symphony No. 1

Average customer rating:

ELOQUENT PERFORMANCE, TINGED WITH SADNESS
Elegance, conviction and eloquence
A live performance to make you an Elgar believer

Elgar: Introduction & Allegro for Strings; Symphony No. 1
Edward Elgar , Sir John Barbirolli , and Halle Orchestra
Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Fantasia on
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius - The Music Makers / Gedda, Watts, Lloyd, Baker; Boult
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Op35; Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Op77
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1-7
Hindemith: Mathis der Maler; Violin Concerto; Symphonic Metamorphosis

ASIN: B00006L3H9
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Tracks:

Introduction And Allegro, Op.47 For String Quartet And String Orchestra
I. Andante. Nobilmente E Semplice - Allegro
II. Allegro Molto
III. Adagio
IV. Lento - Allegro

Customer Reviews:

ELOQUENT PERFORMANCE, TINGED WITH SADNESS.......2007-03-29

Does the knowledge that Sir John was to die within a few days of this public performance at the 1970 King's Lynn Festival colour our view of it? Did he conduct that day sub specie mortis, expecting this to be his final performance? It is easy to read things into these two performances with the benefit of hindsight that may not really be there.

Nevertheless, it is hard not to hear an autumnal glow, a touch of sadness and regret, even in the amazingly virile leaping lines of the Allegro in the Introduction & Allegro that were not present in his famous recording with the Sinfonia of London strings.

And the Symphony does seem to provide us with an interpretation even more profound than his commercial recordings of a work that he loved dearly throughout his life. There is an intensity to the slow movement that is second to none. This is bred from an orchestra (JB's own Halle) and conductor who knew each other and their interpretation of this work intimately, who had years of mutual experience of the work behind them. This allows for a flexibility that is necessarily rare - those little relaxations or heightening of tension in tempi, those moments when it's hard to tell if the conductor is reacting to a particularly felicitous turn of phrase from a soloist or vice versa. It is there from the very first moments of the work when, even as the audience is still settling down, the orchestra creeps in with the pp drum roll and the initial heavy tread of the motto theme. It is still there at the climax of the Finale when even Sir John can surely never have achieved quite the same passion as the orchestra positively overflows and cascades colour over the same motto theme.

Tinged with sadness over the sad events of the next few days though it may be, this remains - objectively as well as emotionally - a great performance of this landmark symphony that held a very special place in Barbirolli's heart. I don't think he would have been sorry that this was the work that turned out to be the last he would conduct - nor that his beloved Halle produced such a magnificent performance of it.

Elegance, conviction and eloquence.......2006-05-04

After Adrian Boult, there has not been any other conductor who glorifies with such golden splendor the music of Sir Edward Elgar. His interpretative gifts, the sense of the span, the unequaled scent of the arresting melodies, the whole exposition of the enormous lyrical richness find in Barbirolli a supreme expositor.

Do not hesitate just for a second. Those recordings are pure gold.

A live performance to make you an Elgar believer.......2005-12-18

I find myself listening to the Elgar First once a decade, which is about as often as it is programmed in the U.S. In England one can hardly go a month without hearing it performed somewhere. Elgar creates pillows of sound and goes on ambling journeys without an obvious destination. Barbirolli overcomes this wooliness with an emotional, highly varied, involving performance. I heard this CD while walking through Tower Records and bought it on the spot, knowing I would never need another.

If you are already a believer, no doubt there are half a dozen performances to compare this one to. The usually rough-and-ready Halle Orch. sounds totally committed here, and the BBC has given them large-scale, though a bit hollow, sound. This performance doesn't succeed in the fine details anyway. Its sweep and drama carry the day, something Barbirolli injects into the score--I'm not sure they're really there. As the reviewer below points out, Barbirolli conducted this concert in July, 1970, a few weeks before he died at a comparatively young 71. This is a stirring farewell. Five stars.

The symphony is the main attraction, which is good since the opening Introduction and Allegro lurches too much and finds the Halle strings in less than stellar shape. Three stars.

Mahler: Symphony No7; Bruckner: Symphony No9, WAB109

Average customer rating:

Cannot be overlooked - for the collection
If the Mahler 7th never quite works for you, try this one
the john barbirolli experience: ...but beautiful

Mahler: Symphony No7; Bruckner: Symphony No9, WAB109

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Ancerl Gold Edition 33: MAHLER Symphony No. 9

ASIN: B00004SV5I
Release Date: 2000-06-27

Customer Reviews:

Cannot be overlooked - for the collection.......2004-10-08

Barbirolli's Mahler interpretations always strike me as deeply memorable, whatever the quality of playing and recording. I am not a fan, though, just a Mahlerite collector. This is certainly not the first choice among the many recordings we have of Mahler's seventh symphony. It is a live, mono recording. Hallé orchestra, here combined with members from the BBC Northern SO, is not in top form and the recording quality is less good. But then we have the interpretation: as always, Barbirolli provides a warmly humanistic and passionate interpretation, never dull and never out of focus. The orchestra plays also with convincing commitment and great enthusiasm. Serious Mahlerite collectors need to hear this moving testimony.

Collectors who just want one superb live recording of this work should probably look elsewhere. Consider, for instance, Kubelik (Audite), Kondrashin (Tahra) or Abbado (DG, with Berliner Philharmoniker). For an excellent studio account, try Gielen (Hänssler).

This twofer contains also Barbirolli's Hallé interpretation of Bruckner's no. 9. In terms of a Bruckner interpretation, it is less convincing than, say, Jochum's (DG) or Kubelik's (Orfeo). But, again, Barbirolli has always an interesting point of view. It is a fine fill up, but the main attraction is the Mahler piece.

If the Mahler 7th never quite works for you, try this one.......2003-06-10

Will Saar has it right. Although I haven't heard every recording of the Mahler Seventh, I have heard a number of them. I've always loved the symphony, but I always feel that it's a collection of fascinating sections that don't add up to a really satisfying whole.

I've always suspected that there is a way to play the symphony that makes it cohere, so that each movement follows logically from the preceding movement. I mean with emotional logic.

Barbirolli gets all of it right, and you pretty much know he's going to from the opening few bars. Every moment is strongly characterized, but in a way that always seems to be pointing toward where we're going in the end.

The orchestra for the Mahler combines members of both Barbirolli's own Hallé Orchestra and the BBC Northern Symphony. Neither was ever one of the world's greatest orchestras, yet they not only hold it together but often play with great eloquence (and most of the players had probably never played the piece before). There was obviously an extraordinary commitment to realize Barbirolli's vision of this great work. (And the Nielsen Fifth was also played at the concert from which this recording comes, presumably before the Mahler!)

As for the Bruckner, I have to admit that I've never been a great Bruckner fan. I want to love Bruckner, but I usually end up mostly bored. Occasional striking moments catch my attention, but overall I just don't get it.

Barbirolli's performance, which (to the degree I feel able to judge) seems choppier than others I've heard, holds my interest. As with the Mahler, there seems to be a dramatic throughline to this performance, with each section strongly characterized but in a way that adds up to a dramatic and moving experience. I wonder if Bruckner lovers will like it as much as I do, but I do know that I like it.

In any case, I feel firmly that this is one of the best, if not the best, Mahler Sevenths out there.

I should mention that these are both live performances. The Mahler is from 1960, the Bruckner from 1961. There are occasional slight flubs, and the mono sound is not the greatest. But the sound is actually pretty good, though obviously not state of the art even for 1960. And the performances are very special.

the john barbirolli experience: ...but beautiful.......2001-12-11

something about every recording (abbado, horenstein, that i listen to of the 7th puts its..um..essence? just out of my reach. i dont get it the way i get other mahler symphonies, say the 5th, 2nd or 3rd. then there was this.
barbirolli makes sense of it all. and the sounds that are produced on the way are nothing short of intoxicating, a song of the night, to close ones eyes to.
the bruckner, needs to be paused after the last movement of the mahler 7 drifts into memory.
bruckner's 9th is handled with care, depth, and insight, deserving of being on its own. as a two-fer, this cd combo is proof of redemption in the world. i dont know why i wrote that, but it makes sense after listening to the recordings, somehow.
(it's hard enough trying to explain sound with letters on a glowing screen, you see)

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 83; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111

Average customer rating:

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 83; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000FI903K
Release Date: 2006-07-25

Tracks:

I Allegro Non Troppo
II Allegro Appassionato
III Andante - Piu Adagio
IV Allegretto Grazioso - Un Poco Piu Presto
I Maestoso - Allegro Con Brio Ed Appassionato
II Arietta, Adagio Molto Semplice E Cantabile

Average customer rating:

The spiritual, humane Brucknerian!
Overwhelming recension of the "greatest" symphony

Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Mahler: Symphony No7; Bruckner: Symphony No9, WAB109
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1-7
Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Berlioz: Le Corsaire
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Brahms: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Haydn Variations; Tragic Overture; Academic Festival Overture

ASIN: B00005LW1G
Release Date: 2001-08-14

Tracks:

Sym No.8 in c: I. Allegro Moderato
Sym No.8 in c: II. Scherzo. Allegro Moderato - Trio. Langsam
Sym No.8 in c: III. Adagio. Feierlich Langsam, Doch Nicht Schleppend
Sym No.8 in c: IV. Finale. Feierlich, Nicht Schnell

Amazon.com

This recording of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony is from Sir John Barbirolli's last London concert, some 10 weeks before his death, when the conductor knew heart problems might overtake him at any time. What better way to say goodbye than with one of the greatest symphonies ever written? And this craggy, towering masterpiece is given as urgent a performance as you'll ever hear (complemented by vivid recorded sound). Pushing the tempi risks a grating superficiality, but Barbirolli more than gets away with it through sheer conviction (complete with podium stamping and trademark sing-alongs). The terrifying Scherzo, in particular, goes along at a lick, but what shivers are sent up the spine! The vast Adagio contains some messiness in the ensemble's playing, but give me this passion over "perfection" anytime. However, as Barbirolli's friend Michael Kennedy says in his sleeve note, the aging, ailing maestro didn't lose his sense of architecture and feeling for a phrase as the emotion flowed--the outer movements are characterized by awesome control as Barbirolli plots his course up the massive musical rock faces. Sickly swansong? No way! Favorite performances such as those by Haitink and Wand will feel a tad tame after this. --Andrew Green

Customer Reviews:

The spiritual, humane Brucknerian!.......2001-11-27

A foretaste to the highly acclaimed Boulez 1996 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO) under Deutsche Grammophon (DG)? Perhaps. Like Boulez, Horenstein, and even Jochum (though using the Novak edition), Barbirolli approaches the score with zest and a sense of urgency: a kind of dramatic exhuberence that would compel you to rise up in a hurry and say Halleluja. But are their performances emotionally and spiritually detached from this glorious score? Absolutely not. As with Horenstein, Jochum and Boulez, Barbirolli brings out the humanity of the score and of Bruckner. Since when should we look at his symphonies exclusively as musical cathedrals with its majestic structures? Indeed, the magic of Bohm, Barenboim, Wand, Karajan, Haitink, and Guilini rested in their ability in sustaining the monumental grandeur behind the symphonies. But, Barbirolli along with Jochum and Boulez give us other dimensions of Bruckner that shall equally be cherished. Horenstein approach is a wonderful synthesis of the majestic and the drama. To some extent, so is Barbirolli's.

Michael Kennedy states in his sleeve notes that "For some conductors, the architectural splendor of Bruckner is their first consideration. For Barbirolli, it was humanity and spirituality." I agree to an extent, for the architectural splendor of Bruckner is inevitably a spiritual exercise deep in one's soul and subconscious: Wand, Barenboim (with the Chicago Symphony) and Karajan (with the VPO) are proven cases in point. But, Kennedy is absolutely right on Barbirolli. In the first and second movements, Barbirolli approaches them with fiery temperament and drive. His tempi are relentless and energetic, his impulsiveness obvious but never quite austere. His warmth is without question, though. The trio in the scherzo movement is nicely sustained and going to the Adagio, third movement, that sense of warmth is even more apparent. But, believe it or not, there is something of the architectural splendor in Barbirolli's approach. The dramatic edge of the first two movements and the finale are largely absent here. However, the passion accompanies the warmth admirably going into and beyond the glorious climax remarkably well-rendered here. The finale is exhuberently and idiomatically performed; it's well paced and dramatic and the ending lacks that Wagnerian grandeur that you'll see in Karajan's recording with the Vienna Philharmonic

The performance of Barbirolli's Halle Orchestra is not entirely without flaws. The strings were not gifted with the sonority and the richness of the Vienna Philharmonic or the Concertgebouw. The brass is not particularly well-polished: a few crack notes prop up from time to time. But, the performance has fluency and commitment, especially given the fact that it was to be Barbirolli's last. The performance is not perfect. However, the insight behind it is special and Barbirolli gave us pure Bruckner without the Mahlerianism. A hyme of praise no question now or ever, no matter who you're asking.

Overwhelming recension of the "greatest" symphony.......2001-11-05

It was with some reservations that I came to Barbirolli's 1970 live performance of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, despite the excellent press it received in England (the British tend to be myopically chauvinistic when it comes to their own composers, conductors and performers, and all but canonize Barbirolli). At first the reservations seemed to hold. The sound, though remastered, remains on the harsh side, with a brash glare on the fortissimi (of which there are plenty). Any quiet passage (of which there are no lack, either) offered opportunity for much throat-clearing and hawking from the audience. The performance is on the rough-hewn side, with none of the gleaming polish one has come to expect from state-of-the-art studio recordings, with every note in place and in balance.
None of this matters once Barbirolli's vision of the symphony begins to unfurl. It's a fiercely committed, impassioned performance -- Bruckner's vast Gothic spaces lit by Italianate fire. Not only is this the most emotionally gripping performance of the 8th I've heard, it's one of the most overwhelming performances of anything I've ever come across. There is a vocal minority which considers (pace Beethoven) Bruckner's last completed symphony to be the pinnacle of symphonic literature; Barbirolli's is the performance to help convince skeptics.

Symphony 8 / Land of Hope & Glory / Street Corner

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The "new" best VW Symphony 8

Symphony 8 / Land of Hope & Glory / Street Corner
Vaughan Williams , Elgar , Rawsthorne , and Barbirolli
Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000068QW8
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Tracks:

The British National Anthem
Street Corner Overture
I. Fantasia (Variazioni Senza Tema): Moderato - Presto - Andante Sostenuto - Allegretto - Andante Non Troppo - Allegro Vivace - Andante Sostenuto - Largamente - Tempo Primo Ma Tranquillo
II. Scherzo Alla Marcia (Per Stromenti A Fiato): Allegro Alla Marcia - Andante - Tempo Primo (Allegro)
III. Cavatina (Per Stromenti Ad Arco): Lento Espressivo
IV. Toccata: Moderato Maestoso
I. Tempo Molto Moderato - Allegro Moderato - Tempo Primo - Evelyn Rothwell
II. Lento Espressivo - Evelyn Rothwell
III. Allegro Giocoso - Piu Lento - Vivace - Evelyn Rothwell
On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring
Allegro Reale - Trio
Land Of Hope And Glory - Kathleen Ferrier

Customer Reviews:

The "new" best VW Symphony 8.......2003-01-03

In a review of Haitink's RVW Symphonies 8 and 9 on EMI, I said that they were the best, "for now." The 8th has been finally outclassed--by a performance from 1967!

That this recording is by Barbirolli should not be too much of a surprise, as he was in fact the symphony's dedicatee, and a favorite conductor of Vaughan Williams himself. There is a natural rapport between the two, which allows Barbirolli to go beneath the surface of the music, and find the deeper meanings not at first evident on the page.

The first movement of the symphony is stately in its grandeur, like other recordings, yet even at its triumphant climax, the music still feels somewhat restrained. This same sense of foreboding--which Vaughan Williams himself pointed out when asked about the symphony--lasts through the defiant Scherzo for brass instruments, and the heartwearming Cavatina for strings, until the very final moments of the concluding Toccata. Even here, Barbirolli manages to make the collection of "all the 'phones and 'spiels known to the composer" even more lively and prominent than does Haitink or his other rivals. However, compared to other recordings, the final bars of this performance hold one more surprising detail, which confirms that the symphony is in fact in a minor key and also supports the idea that there's something deeper than the "Turandot"-inspired tintinnabulation. All in all, a tour de force. [Listen to this recording, and the endings of all other performances will seem like a cop-out.]

There's much more to this disc than the Eighth Symphony, and happily most of it is on the same inspired level. The Rawsthorne and Bax works are new to me, but very welcome additions to my collection. I also enjoyed the Delius, and while Walton's "Crown Imperial" is fervently played, the orchestral ensemble is not quite what it could be. And, while I'm glad to have another recording of Kathleen Ferrier, the recording of "Land of Hope and Glory" does have a lot of background noise to filter out. Without the liner notes, one would have thought that "Land" was recorded in the mid-1930's, not the early 1950's. [All the other works were recorded between 1967 and 1969, and are in perfectly good sound.]

This disc is a must-have for Barbirolli enthusiasts, RVW fans, and anyone interested in hearing British music in a non-pastoral vein. . . .

Music Track: