Your Favorite Symphonies

In my case, the favourites must also be the greatest.

One per composer (with definitive interpretation in parentheses):

Haydn 104 (Jochum, DG)
Mozart 39 (Harnoncourt, Teldec)
Beethoven 3 (Furtwängler, EMI)
Schubert 8 (Furtwängler, DG)
Brahms 2 (Mengelberg, Naxos)
Bruckner 8 (Karajan, DG -- 1977 version)
Mahler 9 (Walter, EMI)
Shostakovich 15 (Haitink, DECCA/London)

I'd like to place Henze here as well, but more time is needed. Prokoviev almost made it, though some weird combination of 5th and 7th would be required.

Sibelius is a sissy. Korngold and Barber are even bigger sissies. I find Todd's inclusion of these second-rate hacks the most offensive thing I've encountered on the forum to date. Paul Stephenson shall be informed of it.

Vuk.

These I consistently come back to:

Vaughan Williams 3, 4, 5, 6
Shostakovich 5, 8, 10
Sibelius 1, 2, Kullervo
Tchaikovsky 4
Saint-Saens 3

The only symphonies I still listen to with any regularity are the Dvorak 5th-9th symphonies with Kubelik and the BPO, and occasionally the Sibelius 4th and 6th.

Ross

The symphonies I do play and enjoy would be,

Mahler 2 LSO Solti Decca
Beethoven 9, BPO Karajan DG 1977 version
Sibelius 4, VPO Maazel Decca,
Schubert 3, RPO Beecham, HMV
Vaughn Williams, London Symphony, LPO Boult, HMV
Mozart 25 ASFM Marriner Decca

Paul Duerden

Yes, it's funny: Beethoven sort of defined the concept of the symphony as a major genre. And yet how often does one sit through an entire Beethoven symphony?

My favorite Beethoven: 4. LvB's love-song to the orchestra. (Giulini / La Scala, or Colin Davis / Dresden)

Mozart: 39 comes first. The finale is just one huge party. Next Jupiter and Paris. Then Prague and Linz. (Böhm and Harnoncourt)

Schubert: big C, obviously. How did he do it? again there's so much love for the sheer sound the orchestra can make in this piece, and the piece wound up in a drawer, only to be saved by Schumann.

Schumann: 4 is just loads of fun (Gardiner).

Brahms: 4, 2, 3 (Haitink / Boston). Have listened to these works for more than twenty years on a regular basis. Never a dull moment.

Bruckner: 6 (Blomstedt) The last three of course are loftier, but am I going to listen to the entire 8 in the comfort of my home?

Dvorak: 8 (Kertesz)

Sibelius: 6 (Ashkenazy); fascinating from start to finish.

Rachmaninov: 3

Stravinsky: Symphony in 3 Mvts; Jeu de Cartes

Prokofiev: 6

Shostakovich: 6 (Haitink: also for the sheer beauty the Concertgebouw unfurls the orchestral colors, one after another). Next 5 and 8.

I'll add Debussy's La Mer and Images (Boulez) and Bach's first Orch Overture (Koopman).

Why? I think conceptually the symphonic genre is no longer about the compositional structure. Symphony is about celebrating the orchestral sound. Maybe that's also why I'd rather go to a concert than expose myself to these big canvases at home on a daily basis. Chamber music and piano music works much better at home.

Herman

[This message was edited by herm on SUNDAY 24 February 2002 at 13:49.]

[This message was edited by herm on SUNDAY 24 February 2002 at 13:59.]

I love Schosta 5, but actually still need a copy. Suggestions please?

Pete.

I find it beats the Morrissey version ("The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils" from the "Southpaw Grammar" album) into a cocked hat (enjoyable though it is).

Hi Pete,

Haitink with the Concertgebouw is a clear recommendation, and it's probably still around inthe midprice single disc version. (The entire 1 - 15 budget box is pretty attractive too.)

Another good one, also on Decca, is Ashkenazy with the Philharmonic. It's a little faster and not as luxurious.

Herman

I would look for Mravinsky (on Erato) for the Shostakovich 5th. The man owns this symphony.

Vuk.

In reality, however, there's conflicting stories about Mravinsky's claims on Shostakovich's Symphonies.

According to Kurt Sanderling, who used to conduct the Leningrad Phil all the time, Mravinsky showed up to conduct the first nights and make the recordings, while K.S. performed these works more often, which would make for a more intimate grip on the music.

The Leningrad / Petersburg recordings are interesting for the special sound world of this orchestra - clarinets almost sounding like saxophones. Mravinsky's recordings are interesting - if they're not too badly recorded and sloppily performed - for a very Spartan take on Shostakovich. (The idea that you have to do Shos. in a rough, satirical way, is also just a notion. Why would Shos have orchestrated his work so sublty and delicately, if he wanted it to sound like a military band?)

Ownership? That's just myth.

Herman

Have you actually heard the recording that I've suggested?

IMO, the lack of subtlety in many Mravinsky recordings has to do with with the technology used to capture/master them, not with conductor or orchestra. This Erato release doesn't suffer from such problems.

Vuk.

I have the recording we're talking about - along with D.S. 5 by Haitink, Ashkenazy and by Maxim Shostakovich on Collins (kinda boring) - and I find I don't play it when I want to hear this piece.

So, I'm not saying Pete shouldn't get it; it just wouldn't be my first or only choice. And, as I said, I don't really believe Mravinsky has the exclusive inside dope on Shostakovich.

The orchestral characteristics are a plus of course.

Herman

For what it's worth here's a few of my favorites:

Beethoven 3: Klemperer
Beethoven 9: Furtwangler 1942 or Bayreuth (1951?)
Brahms 3: Walter
Bruckner: 5: Furtwangler 1951
Bruckner 8: Van Beinum or Wand or Karajan or Guilini or Barbirolli or Horenstein
Haydn: Late Symphonies: Colin Davis
Mahler 9: Barbirolli
Mozart 41: Charles Mackerras
Nielsen 5: Bernstein
Schubert 9: Wand
Shostakovich 4: Rattle
Shostakovich 15: Haitink
Sibelius 7: Karajan (gulp)
Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms: Stravinsky
Vaughan Williams 4: Vaughan Williams
Vaughan Williams 5: Vernon Handley

David

Beethoven 1 and 8

Schubert 3 and 6

Copeland 3

Have you heard the "new" version of London? It's the original (much longer) version. Those that know these things say it isn't as good, but I heard it on R3 the other day and it was wonderful, more of the good bits!

I bet that's the Chandos recording by Richard Hickox of the London Symphony.

In all fairness I have to say I checked my Liz Wilson Shostakovich Remembered (Faber), a kind of oral history of the composer, with a long quote by Mravinsky, recounting how the Fifth Symphony was one of his first big premieres. So he prepared meticulously, checking with D.S all the time.

We're supposed to think this is what Mravinsky did with every next symphony. That's what M. suggests. Others suggest different things - but they have a special interest, too.

This, of course, is not where it ends. My personal experience has been that often interpretations get more interesting and expressive as they move out of the composer's control. So the composer's seal of approval is not necessarily a recommendation.

So, back to favorite symphonies, please!

Herman

Shostakovich 11

Brahms 3

Beethoven 7

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Dozy

looking at your excellent list I'm kind of intrigued. There's these American orchestras, in pretty deep central European stuff: Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'd expect a music lover from Poland to prefer Berlin, Vienna or what have you...

Of course Leinsdorf and Solti were only part time Americans.

BTW I forgot Nielsen 4 / Blomstedt on my Sissy List

Herman

Shostakovich - 5th - Bernstein Columbia
8th - Kondrashin Angel
10th - Karajan DG

Mahler 1st - Walter Columbia
4th - Berstein Columbia

Tchaikovsky 5th - Ashkenazy London
6th - Solti London

Beethoven 7th - Reiner RCA

The same goes for:

Mahler 3, Hortenstein/LSO (Unicorn/Nonesuch)
Beethoven 3, Monteux/VPO (Decca/London)
Schubert 9, Furtwangler/Berlin Phil O (Decca/London)

In fact, the comparison of the Furtwangler performance with Solti's well-praise reading with VPO offers an exquisite example of the contrast between mere note-perfect competence and a more rarified level of achievement where the music is realized as a flowing, organic force of nature.

In fact

What's the sound quality like on the Mengelberg Naxos?

David

Considering the era of the recording, I'd say the quality is no worse than what other labels do and quite possibly a bit above average (certainly better than most of what Music & Arts offers). Given how inexpensive Naxos discs are, it's not really a big risk and, at the very least, I'd be surprised if you didn't come away wishing everyone handled the opening movement of the 2nd the way Mengelberg does. When looking for the disc, note that the work in question is paired with the 4th symphony.

BTW--I heard the conductor's Brahm's 1st on the radio a several weeks ago and it's well worth having too. For a few bars, I thought it was Furtwängler! Actually, this is the work I had intended to get initially, but my friend, who looked for it on my behalf on a recent visit to Toronto (releases like this are not common where I live), mistakenly purchased the 2 & 4 disc.

Vuk.

Beethoven 3,7,9
Berloiz (Fantastique)
Dvorak 7,9
Mahler 2,5,9
Mendlesohn 3
Mozart 40, 41
Saint-Saens 3

But I rarely listen to symphonies. Talk to me about a mass of Masses.

Jonathan