Had a great time watching, the italian titles and the imitation of the orchestral instruments are legendary. You really should make your own 'Hurwitz' Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra'...i will be the first one to order !!
Chailly is a brilliant conductor. His RCO Mahler cycle is my personal favorite (yes, I even like his 2 and 7!) because of his impeccable attention to detail, especially the percussion. And like you said, one of the greatest Bruckner 7s ever. I wish he didn’t retire from full-time conducting. He had another fabulous Mahler cycle to finish in Leipzig; he only has a Third left to do, one that he’s great in.
That stunning Bruckner was recorded in JCK Berlin in 2 quick sessions as I recall - after touring with it throughout Europe. You should have heard it there.
Please , more blaaah! Blaah! & BLAAH! You crack me up and thanks for giving our Bruckner 7 the recognition it deserves. BTW, the Orff we recorded with him for Decca is also stunning, nominated for and Emmy at the time.
Looks like Decca got it right with this box. I have admired Chailly for many years for his versatility and musical integrity and own several of the discs in this box, including the Bruckner 7, Mahler 5, the Varese selections, and the Rossini overtures collection, all excellent.I have been less taken with most of Chailly's more recent recordings from Leipzig and Lucerne, with the exceptions of the outstanding Leipzig Beethoven cycle and the two superb Brahms piano concerti with Nelson Freire.
I love his Mahler with both the RSO Berlin and the Concertgebouworkest (CA). The Mahler 1 and 5 (with the CA) are possibly my all time favorite recordings of those works. His Turangalîla with the CA is just gorgeous. There is also that not well received disc of bleeding chunks from Wagner opera’s (on Decca) which I like. I have not listened to much else, I’m afraid.
Might have been the ideal replacement for Dohnanyi in Cleveland. Unfortunately nobody knew yet during that drama that Chailly would leave Amsterdam just a year later. Everybody might have been a lot happier
As you said Mr H consistently high level of performance from Chailly here'; problem is it leaves you wanting more of the good stuff - I wish they could have found space, in addition to that Rite you mentioned, for his London Sinfonietta recordings of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale suite (stunning playing particularly from Nona Liddell on violin) and an absolutely gorgeous Le Baiser De La Fee amongst other goodies. Also his Berlin, Radio Symphony version of the sames atmospheric cantata, Le roi des étoiles and Le chant du rossignol!
I heard him do the Tchaikovsky Francesca live in Cleveland at the time of the recording and the performance was much less controlled and more exciting than the recording.
Thank you for this review. I have already got several of his recordings (Zemlinsky, Mahler, the splendid Hindemith chamber concertos, some Netherlands stuff - a great Escher's Esprit!), but surprisingly the only overlap is the Messiaen. So I've ordered this box now. Does anyone know, why Chaillly doesn't seem to play Respighi or Casella?
My only guess is that he doesn't rate the music somehow. I mean, when he was at the Concertgebouw he did tons of Berio, Rossini, Dallapicola etc so you could hardly say he wasn't promoting Italian music...
I've always liked the Chailly/V.P.O. Tchaik 5 - it has a fairly fast finale (Jurowsky/LPO takes the cake with T5). Yes, it's a great Mahler 5. Varese; Berio transcriptions, etc. - what's not to like.
When you get to Ameriques, I hope you have a chance to hear the SACD recorded in performance by Franz Welser-Most/Cleveland. I was bowled over by that performance heard in the hall!
Although I agree that Chailly's Rite of Spring is a good interpretation, I'm not particularly fond of the piece itself. Of course, Stravinsky was a very versatile and prolific composer, but his music doesn't really speak to me. But, nonetheless, another fabulous commentary. Thanks Dave!
Sixteen discs is too much in one go for me. There aren’t many conductors I’d be interested in a box set of. I got the Karajan boxes you recommended since I’m still looking for the Karajan I really like.
Had a great time watching, the italian titles and the imitation of the orchestral instruments are legendary. You really should make your own 'Hurwitz' Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra'...i will be the first one to order !!
Chailly is a brilliant conductor. His RCO Mahler cycle is my personal favorite (yes, I even like his 2 and 7!) because of his impeccable attention to detail, especially the percussion. And like you said, one of the greatest Bruckner 7s ever. I wish he didn’t retire from full-time conducting. He had another fabulous Mahler cycle to finish in Leipzig; he only has a Third left to do, one that he’s great in.
That stunning Bruckner was recorded in JCK Berlin in 2 quick sessions as I recall - after touring with it throughout Europe. You should have heard it there.
Please , more blaaah! Blaah! & BLAAH! You crack me up and thanks for giving our Bruckner 7 the recognition it deserves. BTW, the Orff we recorded with him for Decca is also stunning, nominated for and Emmy at the time.
Congratulations, is fantastic Bruckner 7. Thanks
Looks like Decca got it right with this box. I have admired Chailly for many years for his versatility and musical integrity and own several of the discs in this box, including the Bruckner 7, Mahler 5, the Varese selections, and the Rossini overtures collection, all excellent.I have been less taken with most of Chailly's more recent recordings from Leipzig and Lucerne, with the exceptions of the outstanding Leipzig Beethoven cycle and the two superb Brahms piano concerti with Nelson Freire.
"Chromatic sludge time..." I laughed and laughed (and have to agree...)
I love his Mahler with both the RSO Berlin and the Concertgebouworkest (CA). The Mahler 1 and 5 (with the CA) are possibly my all time favorite recordings of those works. His Turangalîla with the CA is just gorgeous. There is also that not well received disc of bleeding chunks from Wagner opera’s (on Decca) which I like. I have not listened to much else, I’m afraid.
Might have been the ideal replacement for Dohnanyi in Cleveland. Unfortunately nobody knew yet during that drama that Chailly would leave Amsterdam just a year later. Everybody might have been a lot happier
As you said Mr H consistently high level of performance from Chailly here'; problem is it leaves you wanting more of the good stuff - I wish they could have found space, in addition to that Rite you mentioned, for his London Sinfonietta recordings of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale suite (stunning playing particularly from Nona Liddell on violin) and an absolutely gorgeous Le Baiser De La Fee amongst other goodies. Also his Berlin, Radio Symphony version of the sames atmospheric cantata, Le roi des étoiles and Le chant du rossignol!
I heard him do the Tchaikovsky Francesca live in Cleveland at the time of the recording and the performance was much less controlled and more exciting than the recording.
Thank you for this review. I have already got several of his recordings (Zemlinsky, Mahler, the splendid Hindemith chamber concertos, some Netherlands stuff - a great Escher's Esprit!), but surprisingly the only overlap is the Messiaen. So I've ordered this box now.
Does anyone know, why Chaillly doesn't seem to play Respighi or Casella?
My only guess is that he doesn't rate the music somehow. I mean, when he was at the Concertgebouw he did tons of Berio, Rossini, Dallapicola etc so you could hardly say he wasn't promoting Italian music...
He has recently release a Respighi disc with the Filarmonica della Scala
I've always liked the Chailly/V.P.O. Tchaik 5 - it has a fairly fast finale (Jurowsky/LPO takes the cake with T5). Yes, it's a great Mahler 5. Varese; Berio transcriptions, etc. - what's not to like.
When you get to Ameriques, I hope you have a chance to hear the SACD recorded in performance by Franz Welser-Most/Cleveland. I was bowled over by that performance heard in the hall!
Although I agree that Chailly's Rite of Spring is a good interpretation, I'm not particularly fond of the piece itself. Of course, Stravinsky was a very versatile and prolific composer, but his music doesn't really speak to me. But, nonetheless, another fabulous commentary. Thanks Dave!
Sixteen discs is too much in one go for me. There aren’t many conductors I’d be interested in a box set of. I got the Karajan boxes you recommended since I’m still looking for the Karajan I really like.
I always liked Chailly and really wish he had been music director of Cleveland, but that's ok🙂
PapaGEEna?
Yes, that is her name.