tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post8974847254828658538..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: Eat your heart out Wilhelm FurtwanglerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-31546883316061184622011-04-07T05:15:33.607+01:002011-04-07T05:15:33.607+01:00I am a sort of confused about what is exactly both...I am a sort of confused about what is exactly bothering you so much that "Leipzig recording of Axion esti [...] and finally leaping for the stop button, all in rapid succession". <br /><br />It has some points but not that much to freak out "leaping for the stop button". <br />First of all, there was the buzuki top player Karnezis (famous player). The problem was that the excellent voice of Gunter Emmerlich had not the octave range at some points to compensate at the optimum. To be exact, Gunter Emmerlich was the right voice but with not the proper scale for the performance needed. His voice had great feeling, but not the forte.<br /><br />The other problem was the backstage of the whole story. Leipzig at the time was in DDR. DDR this period had reasons to be hasty in support of Theodorakis for political and propaganda reasons and that resulted a hasty performance work. This is obvious even today if someone will study carefully the video.<br /><br />As for the real thing now. <br />"To capture the true flavour of Axion Esti in Greek in full-on patriotic mode" you just have to listen at the edition by the folk singer G.Bithikotsis. That is the most accepted in Greece. Second comes the one by Mitsias.<br />All others are far away down the list.<br />I was surprised that you didn’t cited the original (Bithikotsis) instead you decided that "recordings of Axion esti made in Greece suffered from the limitations of the available musicians".<br /><br />I found an offhand link from a poor live recording but very good to have a sample of the original, pay more attention after 1:10 :<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv8pj10MGi0Άναυδοςhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16678867728004985240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-66316929863608677822010-08-14T08:33:21.182+01:002010-08-14T08:33:21.182+01:00Email received:
I take up the challenge and submi...<i>Email received:</i><br /><br />I take up the challenge and submit my own worst recording ever--not from a sound point of view, but a comment of the music itself: Ezra Pound's opera Le Testament de Villon (FANTASY RECORDS 12001) is, in my humble opinion, the worst piece of music ever inflicted on humankind. Yes, Pound "composed" the music. He shouldn't have. It is a colossal waste of time and sound. This LP was the only disc in my tens of thousands owned/still owned, that I could not bring myself to finish listening through (with the obvious exceptions of manufacturer's defects) lest I should suffer some form of PTSD. What I did manage to listen to made me physically ill.<br /><br />Strangely, all his music has recently been released on CD. More for a lark, I'm sure, than for any real artistic merit, other than camp can be entertaining. Not unlike watching Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space, I guess: one marvels as to why these things were done at all.<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />David CavlovicPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-12534744219757396692010-08-13T17:56:32.808+01:002010-08-13T17:56:32.808+01:00Email received:
Very interesting post. Your objec...<i>Email received:</i><br /><br />Very interesting post. Your objections to Theodorakis' work done in German are well taken. Regarding Furtwangler I can say with confidence that the recording referenced by Alex Ross doesn't make the best case for the piece. While I make no claim that the WF's quintet will displace Brahms (or even Korngold), I recommend hearing the Tacet recording with the Clarens Quintet; this performance has greater thrust and focus which creates a fine, sustained atmosphere and lends better shape to such broad architecture.<br /> <br />http://www.spinningdogrecords.com/wifupiquincm.html<br /><br />John McLaughlin WilliamsPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.com