Posted by Chuck Jackson on February 13, 2001 at 09:45:59:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Best Orchestras? posted by Aubrey Foard on February 13, 2001 at 00:29:36:
Aubrey, the Kleiber 7th is a discount item on Amazon. I should have been REAL specific in my first post. I wouldn't touch any VPO Shostakovich recording with a ten foot pole. Please remember that these comments are purely personal concites. Although I am only 40, when I was a teen I remember orchestras having their own voice. The difference between the so-called Big 5 was SO pronounced you could tell what orchestra was playing by they way certain instruments played. Now, unfortunately, we have lost that regional flavor and orchestras have become so homogenous as to be boring. This is why I gladly buy re-issues rather than new products on the market. With the exception of the aforementioned Brendal/Rattle Beethoven set, I haven't bought a cd that was recorded after 1991. And committing the final sacrilege, I find most of the CSO recordings to be mono-dynamic and poorly performed POST REINER. 1951-1961, CSO was the greatest orchestra on earth for the standard, Germanic Repetoire. Since then, well, my views are well preserved in the archives. As for Shostakovich 5, my choice is the 1959 Bernstein/NYPO disk made when they got back from their Soviet tour. Perfection!!!