Posted by well . . on July 09, 2003 at 01:11:49:
In Reply to: New take... VPO tubist. posted by Billy M. on July 07, 2003 at 22:13:29:
. . two wrongs don't make a right, so perhaps you should stick to your convictions (?). I buy VPO recordings because I personally have no problem with them being an all anything ensemble. They could all be pygmies, for all I care. If you like Mahler, you might start with their Pierre Boulez led Mahler #3 that just came out. In the next few months, DG will also release Gilbert Kaplan's remake of the Mahler "Resurrection" (#2) with the VPO, with numerous corrections to the score made by Mr. Kaplan and co. Simon Rattle just did a "historically correct" Beethoven cycle with them on EMI that's kicked up quite a bit of dust in critical circles. DG's reissue of the Karl Boehm Brahms cycle is quite tasty. Then there's the tons of Johann Strauss, Richard Strauss, Wagner, and Bruckner that they've recorded. I like the Boulez Bruckner 8th. The Abbado Bruckner 9th was pretty disappointing, I think, but the Zubin Mehta led B9 for Decca got reissued on the Decca Legends series. You'd have to order that from overseas, but it's worth it. The horn playing on there is just an outrage. The DVD of R. Strauss' "Die Frau ohne Schatten" is also an outrage, and you get a few close-ups of Ron Pisk . . (I can never spell or pronounce his last name) playing his HB2P in the opera pit. Solti conducts on that one. I also like the New Year's Concert video with Ozawa conducting from two years ago. He does much better on that stuff than you might imagine.
Barry Guerrero