Mengelberg is by far the best represented already in the 19th century active conductor on record, and so it is mandatory to familiarize with his work if one is even vaguely interested in historic performance practices with direct links to Mahler and Brahms and for whom even Beethoven and Bach was something of novelty.
As "Ultrarunner" suggested, the best is to listen to these recordings with headphones, a rare feat with historic recordings. The selection may contain most of the substantial music recorded by Mengelberg, but it omits e.g. Tchaikovsky and Kodaly, which is a pity. It is also regrettable that in Beethoven's Eroica no master tape was available but instead a shellac copy. My own copy on C-cassette was in much better sound. Also the classic account of Mahler's fourth is available in better sound elsewhere.
Nevertheless, Mengelberg is always interesting, never dull and his performances seldom routinely. Mengelberg the agogic trickster is mostly in his best behavior here, only spicing up things a little with occasional ritardandi, sforzandi and glissandi. His oddities are always permeated with musical conviction, and in general he is frequently surprisingly modern. Despite the above mentioned reservations this selection contains his most substantial output and is thus mandatory.
My review is also released at Amazon.co.uk.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti