Review: André Previn--The (Nearly) Complete Warner Recordings
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2021
- This 96-CD set contains all of André Previn's recordings for EMI/HMV and Teldec, EXCEPT for his late recording featuring the Vaughan Williams Fifth Symphony with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra--it should have been included. Still, 96 CDs is nothing to sneeze at, and Previn's achievement here really is very impressive, especially considering his general avoidance of the standard German symphonic repertoire. This is a very long video--I consider every disc individually, except for No. 49 (Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream music, a splendid version) because it got stuck behind disc No. 50. But don't worry, it's in there, along with a fiesta of other highly recommendable performances. You may want to watch this video in bits. I sure wouldn't blame you.
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Thanks for this focus on André Previn's body of work. I've long been a fan of his, especially his amazing versatility. Looking forward to your take on his orchestral recordings (because I haven't watched it yet)!
Dave thanks again for a splendidly entertaining and informative review
My pleasure!
I splurged for this and really recommend people who are eyeballing it to make the purchase. These recordings reflect what I used to call the “FM radio” era of classical music in the 1970s: the last full flower of that buttery-smooth, highly-detailed analogue sound. And Previn’s conducting, far from conservative, is meticulous and sensitive, with the best inner sense of rhythm of just about anyone. I have rarely found myself tapping my toes or “air conducting” as much as I have listening to Previn. Even his unnoticed Beethoven 7, a bit slow at first blush, is a marvel for both clarity and detail, while fully living up to the work’s “apotheosis of the dance” reputation. Just one example of a kind of discreet magnificence found throughout this large box set that never feels like a long slog. Pure enjoyment.
Thank you very much for the coverage of what appears to be a really marvelous set. I will start tracking down the discs which most appeal to me. Please don’t fret over the length of you videos…they can’t be long enough for me!
Excellent review! I was struck by how many of these recordings I already have, and how very good they are. With so few out-and-out duds in nearly a hundred CDs, that's pretty impressive by any standards.
Andre Previn's recording of Richard Strauss's Don Juan on EMI is stunning, exciting and dramatic! His Shostakovich 5th (with the Chicago SO) and 8th on EMI, Holst The Planets, Debussy orchestral pieces, Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique are the best recordings I have ever encountered! Indeed, he was a truly outstanding conductor in all the music he had conducted. As a composer, like Bernstein, he had that great innate sense of structure and musicality with a perfection in form and content. I have enjoyed immensely this wonderful box set!
I enjoy your video's very much. I enjoy your music recordings knowledge very much. But mostly I enjoy your humor.
Andre Previn was a regular customer at the Beverly Hills bookstore where I walked.
Mr. Previn was friendly, approachable, and down to earth.
I saw Previn first in the 60s with the American Symphony Orchestra La Valse was of the works and then I remember with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the late 80s at the Hollywood Bowl with my bro
Rachmaninoff Symphony No 2.
I also saw with the LA Phil Britten’s Our Hunting Fathers with Elisabeth Söderström.
Thanks for a wonderful, entertaining and informative marathon. To quote you (David H) this box chronicles "A Distinguished Legacy"...and any conductor who has left us TEN (or thereabouts) recordings that we can all agree qualify as "reference" recordings has made a damn' impressive showing within our profession (and that's WITHOUT including his great RCA/LSO recordings from the late '60's! - Walton 1st, Vaughan Williams 5th, Shostakovich 5th, etc).
YES!-- Previn's 1975 LSO Prokofiev 5th is THE ONE TO OWN; the recording that finally (after 25 years) revealed the work's depth and power to a non-believer (me).
YES! -- Previn's 1978 LSO Turangalila is THE ONE TO OWN; every detail is there, every note of the Ondes Martenot and the cymbal/tam-tam assortment...all in perfect balance and brilliant, sumptuous sound! Equally important is Previn's shaping and delineation of this sprawling score.
I can't believe I've never heard Previn's Rach "Bells"; I'm sort of stuck on the mid '60's Kondrashin recording you mention..a true classic. Must hear Previn. But the Cover of the "Belshazzar's Feast" that Dave flashed didn't look QUITE like the LP cover that I have,. Hmmmmm..... could EMI have censored the original?? or was the cover I'm referring to for the U.S. release only, not the original British?
ALSO--- FOR ALL PREVIN FANS---find a copy of his autobiography "NO MINOR CHORDS"...in which he recalls his Hollywood career in loving, sometimes startling detail; much cynicism but GREAT WIT and charm. A very enjoyable, breezy read. LR
Hello Mr Hurwitz.
Thank you very much for making this talk about the recordings of Mr Previn.
This is what you are a master of.
The talk wasn't a second to long as far as I am concerned. Please do more of this big boxes reviews. Why not Kubelik's on Dg?
Or Solti's Chicago on Decca?
Best wishes Fred from Sweden.
Hi I just discovered your videos, very informative and lots of fun, thanks!
This Previn box is really good... actually I think I like his "Planets", agreed the first movement (Mars) - probably not his cup of tea - but the other ones I find very subtle and tasteful.
Again thank you and keep up the good work.
Best wishes for a merry Christmas and a happy new year with lots of music.
Andrea - Italy
Thanks very much, and best wishes to you too.
Thank you for another enjoyable video. By chance the box was reviewed on the UK's Radio 3 yesterday, two interesting facts came out which show how the Classical Music world has changed over the last 50 years. Firstly someone worked that while Previn was in London he was on average making a recording every two weeks! totally unimaginable today. Secondly his TV programme on music on occasion got twenty million viewers, at that time the UK population was @55 million.
Thanks for the info! Thinks certainly have changed!
My thought too: how much has changed. I watched all of this video , fascinated, and remember around 1978 being admitted late to a Chicago Symphony performance of the DSCH 5th with Previn that was fantastic (but what did I know? I was 20). But I have very few Previn recordings; I just didn't know any better, and had limited disposable income (true now too). But seeing all of those "original jacket" covers made me mournfully nostalgic for when I saw them first, in "record stores," in "malls," in places like Richmond Heights, Ohio, and there was always a shelf of classical recordings, where I found all kinds of great music. Right up to the late 90s, I could go into a suburban record store and walk out with Levine's Sibelius 4th or Pinnock's Handel Coronation Anthems. How antediluvian.
Look forward to Ormandy box review!!
Thank you for your perseverance, David. (Whew!) I agree that his EMI Gershwin is a bit blah, but, before his conducting days, he made a terrific recording of the Concerto in F, for Columbia with another Andre - Kostelanetz and the NY Phil. But what an incredibly versatile musician was Andre Previn.
Wow, that was a marathon !...brought back a lot of memories. I totally agree about Temirkanov's Rach 2.....I used to go through the same process. All because I used to read the gospel according to Gramophone. However......there is a very well recorded and played version of Lambert's Rio Grande on Decca. It is by Barry Wordsworth, the BBC Concert Orchestra. The pianist is Kathryn Stott. Well worth a listen. Cheers Ian. Leicester UK.
I’m a huge Previn fan generally, and I hope to pick this up eventually. A lot of wonderful music here. Rest those lungs and vocal cords for the Ormandy box Dave!
Enough about the Ormandy box, I'm bored already.
@@murraylow4523 if it cheers you up any, I don’t intend to but it. Great music and probably great value per disc, but the overall expense is too much for me to justify right now.
@@AlexMadorsky Same here Alex! There's just too much rushing at us.
Agree so much about THE BELLS...what a fantastic piece, and the Previn recording is top-notch. Also agree about the ALEXANDER NEVSKY
I appreciate the brief shoutout to the Fruhbeck de Burgos Carmina Burana. It conjures an atmosphere unlike any other, IMHO. And Lucia Popp is exceptionally lovely, of course.
I fully agree and was about to post the exact same thing. That has been my favorite recording for decades, its glassy sound notwithstanding.
Agreed also - it's a superb performance. There's other very good Frühbeck on EMI (complete Daphnis, Rite of Spring, Prokofiev Classical Symphony, Falla Atalantida, Mendelssohn Elijah, Schumann Der Rose Pilgefahrt, Respighi Pines/Fountains, Carmen with Grace Bumbry etc. etc.) and the whole lot would make an excellent box - he's been very unfairly overlooked and quite a few major things have never ever made it on to CD, at least not in the UK.
I think Frühbeck de Burgos discography is worthy of more attention. Agree he did a pretty impressive Pines & Fountains of Rome with the then New Philharmonia Orchestra, equally notable Ravel Piano Concerti with Louis Lortie for Chandos, and real sleeper versions IMO of Debussy's Le Mer (very exciting and impulsive), the Nocturnes and L' Apres with the LSO on the defunct IMP label.
@@richardkavesh8299 Agreed. The sound - whilst still decent - is the Frühbeck's biggest drawback. That said, I imprinted on Previn's recording, so I have a great deal of affection for it; it's one of three Carminas on my iPod, along with... Frühbeck and Muti.
I sang "Carmina" in the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (Oct., '72) under Fruhbeck; he was a wild man, paid little attention to the choral director's suggestions (the very fine Robert Page), and exaggerated tempos like crazy--FAST! (The double chorus "Veni, veni" with 2 pianos and percussion was SOOOO fast we couldn't possibly keep up with him). Audience went nuts, of course.
His 1965 Philharmonia recording has the great advantage of the (late-era) Wilhelm Pitz chorus, and the 3 Soloists are the best of all time, I think: lovely Lucia Popp, the great character tenor Gerhard Unger..in a very restrained, haunting performance, and...whatever happened to Raymond Wolanski? He was great. The recording is a bit too recessed for my taste..at least the LP was, and I felt it lacked some of the "punch" the work requires. If you like "Carmina" find 1.) The 1961 Smetacek Czech version (insanely "primal")and 2.) Sawallisch's 1956 Cologne version (mono), supervised by Orff. Unbeatable, IMHO. LR
Just manage to find a copy of the missing Curtis recording, I am hoping it's as good as you say.
I note that it was never formally released in the UK by EMI. I wonder if that might explain why it wasn't included in the box...or is that too parochial a view.
There is a recently uploaded You Tube video that might be of interest: "Andre Previn on Desert Island Discs 1996 with Sue Lawley"
I was not enamored by Previn’s second nutcracker. I imprinted on the first. But, I am looking forward to listening to the Slatkin box which I have on my shelf and haven’t gotten around to.
Thank you for a balanced and insightful survey of this impressive box. Do not worry about the second digital recording of the Nutcracker with the RPO that you may have missed, as usual, as you have often told us, it was not a necessary or better sounding venture. Britten did conduct a recording of his Spring Symphony, around 1960 for Decca, with Jennifer Vyvyan, Norma Procter, Peter Pears and the RCGO orchestra and chorus. It was produced by the legendary John Culshaw, in Kingsway Hall and still sounds great. Previn is still a very good alternative and Janer Baker is indeed wonderful. Take good care of your voice.
Thanks. Yes, of course, I have the Britten recording, but it wasn't in the overflow room and so I couldn't check and be sure. Thanks for reminding me.
I think that RPO Nutcracker came out the same year as Mackerras's on Telarc with . . . (wait for it) . . . the London Symphony!
One of Previn's first recordings was on gray-label Columbia with the St. Louis Symphony performing Copland's "The Red Pony" suite and Britten's "Sinfonia da Requiem" from about 1961 (?).
MUST TELL THIS STORY: I owned the Previn/St Louis Copland & Britten LP; I believe it was the first classical recording he made ('64, I think).
In 2001 I was conducting the Britten Sinfonia da Requiem with my Chicago orchestra, when we encountered a sudden major scheduling problem with our principal oboist, who had to bow out of the final dress rehearsal and performance. But she promised to send us a highly-qualified replacement, which she did.
At the rehearsal, while tuning up for the Britten, I said a few words to the new oboist, who asked for just a minute to check through tempi, etc with me; "it's been many years since I saw this piece", he said. It turns out that he was the former principal oboist with the St Louis Symphony, who had PLAYED AND RECORDED the work under Previn 36 YEARS EARLIER. Small world (he did a fine job, too). LR
@@HassoBenSoba That was probably Carl Sonik, who spent from 1971 -2001 teaching at Roosevelt University in Chicago. don't know if he's still alive... When he quit the SLSO in 1968, he was replaced a year later by Dick Woodhams, later stalwart great of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
@@michaelhartman8724 Yes, THAT'S the guy! My concert was in December, 2001, so he had probably just quit Roosevelt. I had no idea who he was at the time, and I've never seen him again. LR
Amazing. I never knew Previn recorded so much; and this cache was only his EMI discography! And you managed to say something about (nearly) every one of those 96 CD's. I hung on for the whole thing, even though Previn is not a conductor I have found particularly interesting (except for his fine RVW cycle for RCA). Now for something really ambitious: the newly issued Ormandy box from Sony. Can't wait to see whether you cover everything in that mammoth collection. My copy arrived yesterday. Mon dieu! I could hardly lift the thing. So far I have sampled only one CD, selected at random: a Debussy/Ravel album (#86, I think). Comparing these readings with Ormandy's later recordings of this repertoire was fascinating. The mono versions were neither as polished nor (predictably) as sumptuously recorded as his later ones. On the other hand, I found the earlier performances had greater vitality and textural clarity. But I can hardly generalize from one sample. Never has your maxim, "Keep on listening," been more apposite!
It's coming. Wish me luck.
I've always had a special place in my heart for the Previn/LSO years...maybe mostly for the LSO during that era had just an amazing "All Star " line up of musicians.
Regardless you gotta take the bad with the good.
Great to see these recordings back👍
I've always hated the "first-rate conductor of second-rate music" take on Previn. Early on I came to really value his recordings especially of Holst, Britten (his Grimes Passacaglia is cataclysmic) and Shostakovich. In the first movement of Shost. 6 he is unmatched in sustained intensity and playing--better than Berglund in my view. Perhaps the overrated high-profile recordings like "The Planets" fed this dismissive view. I've never heard his Shostakovich Fourth but will check it out since you singled it out for praise. Thanks for giving his legacy the time it deserves. I just enjoyed for the first time last night his Mahler 4.
I always thought of Previn as a highly consistent, top-level conductor, an impression this box confirms. One can also sense the overall smart choices of repertoire he made throughout his career.
What one notices is what Previn did not record. No Beethoven or Brahms cycles. Absolutely no Bruckner and practically no Mahler. His Dvorak is limited to an accompaniment for the cello concerto. No Italian opera. I could imagine him doing well much that he did not do, like Janacek, Respighi, and Smetana, as a conductor. He may have been a fine conductor of Russian music but I didn't see any Tchaikovsky symphonies (which are closer to the central-European repertory than are any other Russian symphonies). He seems to have avoided the trap of recording works just to record some masterpieces. If others can do Beethoven's symphonies better, then what was the point of making another one just because it has his name and image upon it?
It's a narrower range than someone like Bernstein, who did just about everything. Previn does not have the central-European musical tradition as his core.
@@paulbrower4265 And that at a time when churning out complete symphonic cycles hadn't become a disease.
I like his German requiem that he did on the LS old label. It put me in mind of Klemperer. I have not yet gotten to the one in this box. I am currently on about CD 35.
Just bought it. Thank you. A good Box. A Box of (mostly) delights. Thank you for reminding us of the Mahler Symphony No. 4 (his only Mahler Disc?). Would love to know (can one be bothered?) of which of 'The Nutcracker's' you liked? - Although his Gershwin was never great - would you say his version of the same works on Phillips (with the Pittsburg SO) is better, worse or the same as the one (with the London SO) on EMI?
I'd say they are equally uninteresting.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Fair point.
The Debussy Images, etc. was one of the first (if not the first) EMI digital release. Yes, glassy and light bass (not for the Brits of course)
My box arrived a couple weeks ago and I've listened to maybe 15 CDs so far. What's really impressed me is, the guy worked with the best brass sections in the world. The Pittsburgh horns in Mahler 4 and Sibelius 2 (a CD I've played twice already). Chicago in Shostakovich. And the LSO brass sounds like they have just giant lungs. The best proof is the sleepy Cockaigne overture conducted by Ted Heath. Drowsy tempos, but the trombone guys are absolutely giving it their all and they sound great.
Darn about the Manfred. I was hoping it would be awesome cuz I do need one.
I recall Solti's Mahler 1 with the LSO (late 60's), where the Trombones totally drown out the trumpets in the big D Major triumphant thing near the end.
96 CDs !!! Andrew Preview certainly was prolific.
It is quite extraordinary. The quality overall seems baffling given how many recording they made each year. I heard the same review on Radio 3 that another commentator has mentioned. Yet its not a record of the LSO given its over a short time period.
Fascintating review. Is there a lot of stuff he recorded on RCA as well?
Yes, and it's all in another box--55 CDs.
@@DavesClassicalGuide OMG!
I finally - FINALLY! - found something you didn't know about and/or hadn't heard. I was such a fan of Previn's LSO "Nutcracker" that I kept waiting for it to be released on CD. It didn't get released for a long, long time, but in the meantime, EMI released that performance with the RPO, which I found wasn't nearly as good. Of course I bought the LSO recording as soon as it became available on CD, having sold all my LP's, including that LSO "Nutcracker," when I moved. Footnote: I acquired that LSO "Nutcracker" as a "freebie" in 1975 when I was working in Boston on the Schwann Arts Issue. Imagine how fat the Schwann catalog would have to be if it were released today! And yes, kudos for mentioning that Fruhbeck "Carmina." I also love the Blomstedt/SFO recording.
Don't worry. There's a LOT that I don't know and haven't heard.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Long, long ago I read or heard somewhere that Willi Boskovsky had once made a recording of Beethoven's 9th with the VPO. Apparently he begged Decca do to this to take a break from his usual fare of the Strauss family. Is this true???
@@richardkavesh8299 Not that I'm aware of, but I really couldn't say. I've simply never heard that story. Why would anyone think that Beethoven in more important or better than Strauss?
I also love Previn's LSO Nutcracker (and that monster bass clarinet you hear in parts of Act 1). Gorgeous "Entrance into the Snow Kingdom" near the end of Act 1. LR
As always, a very informative review of the recordings of a fine conductor. However, I am slightly puzzled by this mania for releasing massive box sets by record companies. Are they economically viable? I presume they sell otherwise they wouldn’t produce them. The sales figures would be interesting to see. I can understand people buying smaller boxes with up to 10 CDs or so which are at least manageable (ie: you might actually find the time to listen to them all) but over 90! This is for the truly dedicated. How many times will people ever listen to them. As for finding the space to shelve these things.......I appreciate that some of them are beautifully put together and they are almost like works of art so I can see why people are tempted.
As they are all limited editions, and the recordings themselves have been long paid for, I think it's simply a way to earn an easily quantifiable amount of money per project on recordings that earn nothing sitting around in the vault, and which are basically unsalable any other way.
the wee coopar o fife ahahah
im scottish and this pleased me
Apologies if I just have missed it, but don't recollect the Rachmaninoff's 3rd Symphony being mentioned (it was I think originally coupled with Vocalise and two pieces from "Aleko"). Shostakovich 10th LSO also?
Shostakovich 10 I defintely mentioned. The Rach 3 possibly not. I talked about his Rachmaninoff a lot, but it's in there (Disc 48), and it's very good. A couple of discs in the high 40s got lost in the shuffle--those thin sleeves! It's like a new pack of cards where a couple always stick together.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks Dave. I was wondering about the Swan Lake and Midsummer Night's Dream which weren't mentioned but like the Rach 3 are in the high 40's. Glad they weren't missing!
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks for clarifying. Always enjoyed Previn's Rachmaninoff 3rd. Glad the Messiaen and Poulenc are there too - have them all in their original vinyl incarnation and the Shostakovich 13th too.
I have Previn's "Planets" on Telarc from the mid-80's; the sound is unusually 'dead' and rolled off, with murky treble which was certainly unlike Telarc's house sound.
Appreciated your comments on poor LP pressings. These days the internet is abuzz with testimonials about the superiority of vinyl and I suspect those are from a younger generation without first-hand experience of those days: off-center pressings; bubbles; pressings that looked pristine but were plagued with pops and crackle; Dyna-groove [a.k.a. Dyna-warp], etc., etc.
And now people pay a premium price for a product that still wears out as quickly as before, and may be even more fragile. Unbelievable.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Ive stopped downloading, as, before you know it, you cant tell whatever drive anything is on. So I want the Discs (and I guess, as they are still making them all the time, so do many people).
CDs are the best!!! I need to buy another CD player and keep it in the box for when mine breaks because I’m not sure they will make many more
@@douglashuntington408 I get the feeling. I have one of those rotring bauhaus style propelling pencils (I'm a dork) but I have another one spare in the box just in case...
Suspect they'll be making CD players for quite a while though :)
@@douglashuntington408 You might enjoy a little book by the historian David Edgerton called "The Shock of the Old" - I think there's a new edition/ print come out lately
I so like the tongue-in-cheek, no arrogance style.
Wow - quite a few old friends here, and among other things I'm specially happy to see the Shostakovich 13 which I heard Previn doing at the Festival Hall. I've always been a fan of Previn's Bells ever since going to the Rachmaninov centenary Prom that happened at about the same time as this recording. Soon after that, though, I happened on the Kondrashin performance which really is another world. Weird that the Curtis RVW 5th Symphony was left out - as you say, it's a really nice performance (and quite hard to find in England these days). Agree 100 per cent about the Carmina Burana, Romeo and Juliet and Planets which were never up to much compared with the best around, and nothing's changed. As for the second (RPO) Nutcracker, I find it a bit flat and dull (duller than the LSO one) - and with everyone from Rozhdestvensky to Mackerras bringing far more character to it, I don't think either Previn version makes my personal cut. Don't quite agree with you about the Mozart with Boult: I've always been very fond of that record. But the chamber music stuff was always undervalued and it's great to have that in here. As for that Mahler 4, it's got to be one of the best things in the box - a somewhat hidden gem. I'm still dithering over whether there's enough really good material in this box to justify a lot of shelf space for it, but your comprehensive review is genuinely helpful. Thanks for it.
@@murraylow4523 That's a very good idea, maybe starting with the Decca LSO things (Monteux, Kertesz, Solti etc), though that would leave out Previn almost entirely (apart from some concertos with Ashkenazy and the like). A Decca Solti/LSO box could work really well as I tend to think those are some of his best records he made and the orch sounds fabulous on most of them.
@@nigelsimeone9966 Yes - like the London orchestras in general, its all still so scattered among the (reduced) major labels....
I hesitate to ask Dave this though, but for all the money, when did you last hear a really interesting/ important recording from New York, Chicago, or LA? Maybe even Boston (ulp)
I love Shankar's Sitar Concerto--I think it's brilliant. Maybe I'm the only one...
I tried to buy the rights for the Sitar Concerto, but there were too many strings attached ;)
@@ftumschk I hope you didn't fuse your brain thinking that one up. :)
Genuine question, though it's probably out of place: is there a Best of Solti box? Either already in existence or imminent, if you know? I was just listening to his Beethoven 5th with Chicago -and there are, for example, horn details I never heard before. Seems to me he would be a good candidate for a lifetime achievement boxset, don't you think? Meant to say, also: great talk on Mr. Preview and not a minute too long. Another nice piece of work. Thanks.
There was a multi-box Korean set of all of his recordings called "Soltissimo," long unavailable, and then a big Decca box of all of the Chicago recordings. We could use a box of his pre-Chicago stuff, which is largely better in many cases.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you. I shall have to hunt the Japanese auction websites! Edited to add: Or even the Korean ones... (my bad!)
@@DavesClassicalGuide Very much agree. A box of Solti/LSO would be a good start. For my money, that's his best Bartók and best Mahler (among other things).
Please don't neglect Solti's Beethoven 3, 5, & 7 with the Vienna Phil, either as a 2-CD "legends" pack or on two Japanese CDs (3rd; 5 & 7). Excellent performances and recordings.
@@davidjanero3110 They're wonderful. I've loved that Eroica since I was a kid and I think it's a marvel. I have them on a 2-CD set from Eloquence and if memory serves the Eroica is also in a big Decca box but I can't remember which...
Did Warner neglect to include Previn's Shostakovich 7? I believe it was originally coupled with his Shostakovich 5.
He never did the 7th. You are thinking of the 4th.
@@DavesClassicalGuide thanks, I was getting my Russians confused!
@@joetucker2274 Don't we all?
If you ever decide to do another installment of "worst album covers" series, I suggest you include Previn's "A Different Kind of Blue" (c. 39" in on this video). Those ghastly blue fingernails...what were they thinking?
Good question...
That 1971 Cockaigne Ov. perf. isn't actually conducted by Previn, but by Edward Heath, (the UK's Prime Minister in the early 1970s). A curio if ever there was one...........!
Absolutely! especially in the current climate here
@@murraylow4523 Our most recent PMs can't even conduct themselves well, let alone an orchestra :)
@幽霊みたい thanks! that is an absolutely fascinating coincidence!
Not quite the only show in town: Shankar did a second concerto ("A Garland of Ragas") with London Phil and Mehta, but it's not nearly as fun to hear. And I agree: rehearsal clips are no bonus at all.
Previn and the LSO also backed Julian Bream in my favorite recording of the Villa-Lobos guitar concerto, but that's much more a Beam than a Previn disc and was included in the big Bream complete RCA recordings box (as well as the unwisely repackaged/regrouped BMG box).
Yes, but I was speaking of that work specifically.
@@DavesClassicalGuide It was pretty cool that Previn worked with Shankar though I think. It was way ahead of "world music" and I expect for many British people at least it was the first time they had actually listened to the Sitar. They had these Proms nights back then where they'd play Indian classical music all night, the various rags corresponding to the time of night and dawn, and even in these multicultural times they dont do that any more....
I grew up wanting to be like Andre Previn. Fortunately for him, me, and everybody else, that didn't happen.
His Shostakovich 8 was absolutely one of the reasons I became a musician.
His Shostakovich 4 - great, except the most hideous, unmusical trombone playing on record (about 2/3s through the finale). Grotesque. Not Previn's fault. It's Jay Friedman's fault (presumably). But I digress...
I kept waiting for Isaac Stern, Previn, and Pittsburgh doing Rochberg's violin concerto. I forgot that was for Columbia. That recording was a travesty. Has ever there been a worse world premiere recording by such big names?. It was cut by about 15 minutes. The cuts were the only good thing about it.
Previn's Messiaen Turantula Symphony opened up a whole new world of music to me. It also nearly caused my parents to throw me out of the house. :-)
Two comments; 1.) Previn gave me permission to attend his Chicago rehearsal of the Shosta. 4th in January, 1977. At the rehearsal break, one of the CSO violinists made a mad dash off the stage to confront me and demand to know why I was there; I calmly replied that the conductor had given me permission; the violinist said "BAH", threw up his hands, and stormed off. So I went up to the stage and
said hello to Previn, who was very kind and gave me lots of time. At that moment, Dale Cleavenger (CSO principal horn) stood up to announce to Previn that he had just acquired a new instrument or attachment of some sort for his horn, to which Previn responded "Ah, good boy!", and continued to speak with me.
My father, a well-known Chicago radio guy, had interviewed Previn back in 1957 when he was touring
with his Jazz trio, so Previn was predisposed to chat with me, for old times' sake. Previn also said that he might take me as a conducting student that summer at Tangelwood, and suggested I write to him in the spring. I did, but was informed that his plans had changed and he wouldn't be at Tanglewood at all. So that was that.
2.) Previn's EMI Turangalila (aka "Tarantula") is the GREATEST recording of that work, and I am confident it will remain so. LR
@@HassoBenSoba What a lovely story, one of the reasons this is such a nice channel :)
Mark, those two Shostakovich recordings have always been great favorites of mine as well. (How do those trombonists do it, taking over that viola line in the third movement?) I'm familiar with that Rochberg piece too, and I've always detested it. The only interesting passages are ripped off from Prokofiev. I understand that a supposedly uncut recording came out a few years ago on Naxos but I've never gotten around to checking it out because I assume it will uncover fifteen more minutes of boredom. The Penderecki concerto that Stern also introduced and recorded at about the same time is even worse.
Sorry, Mark - have to take issue with you re the trombone solos in the Shostakovich 4 finale. Those passages are like circus music, hardly demanding great musicality. Mr Friedman plays some phrases in a more polished manner, and some, as you say, in a grotesque way - exactly what the music calls for, looking at the score.
@@davidfloyd5988 Yeah, I'm sure Jay F. can pretty much decide (and control) how he plays..and then do it. I can't recall that passage from the rehearsals I attended in Jan. '77, but I can't imagine that what Mark N. describes wasn't agreed upon by both Previn and Friedman. I'll ask Jay about it the next time I see him (as soon as the CSO starts up again), and report back here. LR
As far as I'm concerned there has been no greater musician in my lifetime than André Previn. He was not only a great conductor, he also recorded many classical works as a pianist, e.g., Rachmaninoff's suites for 2 pianos together with Vladimir Ashkenazy or Mozart's complete violin sonatas together with his former wife Anne-Sofie Mutter, etc. But on top of that he was also a brilliant jazz pianist who recorded many albums together with some of the greatest, most legendary jazz musicians, people like Ray Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson--only the very, very best get to play with people like that! And if that's not enough, he was also one of the greatest composers of film music, in fact he was the only person ever to win the Oscar two years in a row for the best film music--and he did that twice! Who can you possibly think of who'd outdone that?
I can think of greater conductors and pianists, in both classical music and jazz, but he was a major musician, no doubt about it.
I didn’t hear mention of the complete Midsummer Night’s Dream. Granted, I was fixing dinner at the time and could have missed it...
I missed it too. The title was mentioned but I think it was just the overture. I love that complete recording.
Yes, read the video description. It's in there.
The awful Angel pressings came from Winchester, VA. In the record store where I worked we used to say that they were made in apple presses (Winchester is big on apples).
They would have smelled better.
What I remember about those pressings was that, on top of everying else, the LPs were put in paper slipcases with plastic lining. The LPs had obviously been stored where it was too hot, and had probably been stacked rather than stood on end. As a result, the blasted plastic stuck to the vinyl. The first time you took the LP out of the slipcase, you could hear it unpeeling from the surface. That permanently scarred the grooves, so instead of the usual "pop" from a scratch, you could hear recurring "cruunnnnccccchhh" noises repeated at 33 rpm. It caused me to stop buying Angel LPs altogether. Seraphim, however, was OK because they used ordinary plastic slipcases. And cost half as much.
Off topic but where can I get that T shirt?
Thanks, but I just had a few made to do these videos. We're thinking of merchandising at some point, so stay tuned.
Where you go my dollars seem to follow
Amazon loves me
I love the giant boxes. However I wish Warner and DG would make them as nice as Sony's. Sony users big hard cover books, front & back cover art work all in a heavy duty box. I would buy a lot more.
Another super video! Previn was a genius with the Russians and the Brits but outside of that, the majority of his work seems professional but not profound.
It’s weird, I’d expect his French music would be better…but I cannot think of anything that was better than okay.
So you can find better performances of the Gershwin warhorses, Holst's The Planets, Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony (which is a suspect piece), Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique, Nobody's perfect. Fill the gap with a single.
He was a fine pianist as well as a conductor. He may have seen himself more clearly as an accompanist if someone else (a soloist) was a star.
The rap on Previn was that he largely avoided the warhorses of the Central European repertory or (in general) opera, so you get no cycles of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorak, Haydn, Mahler, Mendelssohn, or Schubert. As a pianist he did not do sonata cycles.
So what do you do with this? You find one of those conductors who cleaved close to the central-European warhorses... maybe Otto Klemperer, George Szell, or Colin Davis.
Many of those covers are beautiful, reflecting the time when music labels (then EMI) knew that those could sell a disc. Most are from the golden age (pre-digital) of classical recording, when the recording process was an art and not some slapdash non-effort. "Hey, digital recording solves all problems!"... no, it doesn't. The compact disk is clearer and more durable, and it gets the excellence of pre-digital recordings fully.
Previn knew his limitations. That is precious. This could be a big chunk of a classical collection, but it is obviously far from complete even in the orchestral repertory.
how did nigel kennedy go crazy?
Look it up.
@@DavesClassicalGuide
i tried, so he like keeps playing at a concert till everything has to leave? he arrogantly wouldn’t play for london? i mean thats crazy i suppose ahahaha
There seems to be a lot of good stuff here. I only wish the discs were available separately. Leaving aside the price, you may not want 96 discs and there's every chance you've got a good number of them already. It's getting harder and harder to get standalone cds from the major labels. Yes, you can get the download, but then you're paying a lot for kind of nothing really. I feel this is a rather disappointing development.
Τhis is the first time i disagree almost completely with Mr Hurwitz.
I have the smaller box of cd s with the LSO conducting by Previn, issued on 2009
Most of them are superb.
Especially the Rachmaninoff , Gershwin , Walton , Orff, Holst, Britten and Tchaikovsky cd' s are top choices. Only Maazel is better for the Procofiev's Romeo and Juliet the last 50 years.
Carmina Burana has a lot of fun with an astonishing diction from the choir.
Shostakovich 8th is a disappointment, although Previn was a generally competent conductor
for the symphonies of the Russian master.
This interpretation is correct musically but hasn't the sense of depression and agony that conveys the composer.
Mendelssohn and Bruch violin concertos are generally good, but not very special. I have these on a vinyl edition. Perhaps Perlman is not one of my favorite violinists.
Well, we don't disagree about Previn's Rachmaninoff, Walton, Britten and Tchaikovsky. As for Shostakovich, well, perhaps your "depression and agony" detection mechanism is more sensitive than mine!
@@DavesClassicalGuide
When someone have listen to the two Leningrad Mravinsky interpretations of the 8th -the live one in London and the other issued about 80's - will be completely affected.
Τhank you for the answer.
@@alexandrosprotopapas That's interesting, because I have (and enjoy) those Mravinsky performances. They are excellent, but I don't think they outpace Previn in the depression and anguish department. Indeed, for all his discipline and exactitude, his total control, perhaps because of it, Mravinsky was a notably cool conductor emotionally.
Most of these giant boxes tend to have 1/3 really good performances with most of the box mediocre (and a few real dogs).
Aside from your random apportionment being just that--random--I think calling anything that is not "really good" mediocre is incorrect. There is every gradation, from excellent, to very good, to good, to fair, to poor, and it depends entirely on the artists in question. In particular, some operate at a higher level generally than others. That's why they need to considered individually.