Chopin: Waltzes (Ott)

Chopin: Waltzes (complete)
Alice Sara Ott, piano
Deutsche Grammophon 477 8095 | Stereo DDD

So I'm not even going to lie to you about this. Yeah, I was pretty impressed with Alice Sara Ott's Liszt Transcendental Etudes, her debut on disc. She wasn't on the Arrau/Gekic/Cziffra level, but she was good. But the main reason I ended up buying this disc is... because as far as looks go, I find her to be the bee's knees. Yes, dear reader--sheer animal desire drove me to buy the disc at hand. I was sitting on the proverbial fence about buying this disc, but her looks won me over. Thank you DG marketing team! But don't stop and just admire her pretty pic in her waify, hipster Red Riding Hood garb on the cover. Take a look inside the booklet and you'll find plenty more glamour shots of Ms. Ott with a scant, puff "interview" that does insult to the name "liner notes." A rambling, cutesy little thing that tells you nothing about Chopin and makes Ott sound like a clueless ditz. But she is a cutie, no doubt about it. But what of this recital? Well...

I own at least some 20 to 30-odd Chopin waltz recitals. This may be one of the very worst I've ever heard from a major artist and label. Had you never heard what these pieces were called, you'd hardly believe they were waltzes as they barely dance at all. Galumph about is more like it. Ott's perverse rubato and leaden tone must be heard to be believed. I'm not at all against a more romantic approach to these gems. Cortot's recital is numbered among my favorites. But what sounds magical and sparkling in Cortot's hands sounds lumbering and mannered here. The famous opening fanfare of the E-flat waltz sounds sounds as if the waltzers at this particular salon imbibed the champagne and absinthe a bit too generously. Another pirouette and these dancers will spin themselves away into a drunken stupor. Yes, not everything is so bad. She does a fine stab at the A minor waltz. But the highpoints, modest as they are, cannot compensate for this recital's general mediocrity. A portentious ritardando and a sudden accelerando every few bars does not romantic pianism a la grand manière make. After listening to all this herky jerky, stop-and-go routine, I was fumbling around my medicine cabinet for some Alka-Seltzer to stave off the motion sickness.

As I said, Chopin waltz recitals can be found a-plenty. My personal favorites are Anda, Anievas, Lipatti, Cortot, Tharaud, Darré, Brailowsky, and Rubinstein's 1950's era set. You'll have your own favorites, I'm sure. Whatever they are, stick to those ones and don't bother with Ott. Yes, I've uploaded it, but you'd best toss this turkey. Don't tell me I didn't warn you.

Furtwängler: Pre-war Polydor Recordings (DG Japan)

Wilhelm Furtwängler: Early Polydor Recordings
(Disc 1) Mendelssohn: Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream; J.S. Bach: Air from Suite No.3; Wagner: Prelude to Act I from Lohengrin, Prelude to Act I and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde; Schubert: Overture to Rosamunde; R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks

(Disc 2) Mendelssohn: The Hebrides Overture; Berlioz: Hungarian March from The Damnation of Faust; Schubert: Interlude no.3 from Rosamunde; J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.3; Rossini: Overture to La gazza ladra; Brahms: Hungarian Dances Nos.1 and 10; Weber: Invitation to the Dance (arr. Berlioz); Wagner: Siegfried's Funeral March from Götterdämmerung

(Disc 3) Beethoven: Overture to Egmont; Mozart: Overtures to The Marriage of Figaro and The Abduction from the Seraglio, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik; Rossini: Overture to The Barber of Seville; Weber: Overture and Interlude to Act III from Der Freischütz; J. Strauss, Jr.: Overture to Die Fledermaus; rehearsal excerpt from Till Eulenspiegel recording sessions

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler
Deutsche Grammophon Japan POCG -234214 | Mono ADD

Sorry for the long delay between postings as of late. I hope you can at least appreciate quality over quantity.

In my post of Furtwängler's second recording of the Beethoven Fifth, I had mentioned how temperamental he could be when in the studio. Like many of his generation (Otto Klemperer was another notable example), he had a profound distrust of recordings. Part of it was based on the relatively primitive recording and playback equipment available back then. He often complained that what he heard on record was not what he had heard on the podium. And he was probably right. Peter Andry had commented on this phenomenon in his recent autobiography, Inside the Recording Studio. While recording Furtwängler and the Vienna Philharmonic in Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Andry was completely bowled over by the luscious and powerful string sound that Furtwängler could inspire from his orchestra. But on the finished record, Andry was dismayed to find that the sound captured on the mikes was only a shadow of what he actually heard. It's a mystery why some conductors are more "phonogenic" than others. Beecham, Karajan, and Stokowski were born recording artists. Furtwängler turned out some excellent studio recordings, but was at home in the concert hall before an audience.

The collection I have here are all studio recordings from the pre-war era. They constitute his complete pre-war Polydor recordings. Most of it is very good, but a great deal was superseded in quality by later HMV recordings and airchecks. Still, this collection is a valuable snapshot of Furtwängler and the superlative level of playing of his Berliners. The collection is programmed in chronological order.

There is so much to talk about here, so let me just touch on the highlights and down points of this set. First the bad news. Or not really bad news. Even the worst recordings here would still be considered very good. Abendroth quality, let's say. But some leave a bit to be desired. The Midsummer Night's Dream Overture that opens this set starts off in fine fashion, but is then hampered by a decidedly un-Mendelssohnian heaviness. Berlioz's Hungarian March sounds curiously prosaic here as do the Freischütz excerpts.

But the best of the best here is absolutely stunning. The Berliners' hearty romp through Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.3 may be too much for those reared on more smaller scaled recordings. But what a heady delight it is! What sheen and body those strings had. The Wagner items are also outstanding. No surprise from the one of history's great Wagnerians. But what is a surprise is how deftly and wittily Furtwängler sashays through the two Rossini overtures. Rossini and Furtwängler seem about as mismatched as Toscanini and Bruckner. Yet it works! These recordings abound with great comic timing and with superlative playing from the BPO. Incidentally, Toscanini and Bruckner make for a surprisingly effective combo too. Remind me to post that CD some time.

Sound quality is fair on this set. Opus Kura is finally getting around to releasing their own set of the complete Furtwängler Polydors. That set should be one to watch out for. Koch released a more comprehensive set in the early 1990's that included some of Furtwängler's pre-war Electrola and HMV recordings. The transfers by Ward Marston and Mark Obert Thorn are very good; slightly more plump than these transfers, but also a little more diffuse. I had a difficult time choosing which one to post, but I think I made the right choice by going with the DG.

To fully understand what made Furtwängler great, you must hear his war-time recordings and his late HMV recordings. As great as these are, he would go on to outdo himself in time. But for a portrait of the "artist as a younger-ish man", this set can't be beat.

Emil Gilels plays Grieg's Lyric Pieces

I think everybody has them in their collection. Those few choice recordings that have brought you boundless joy over the years. A recording so good, you would sooner part with [insert family member or loved one here] than part with that beloved disc. For me, this recording is one of those. If my house were to catch on fire, I would gladly run back in and suffer first degree burns in order to save this CD. Of course, this CD is still generally available so I could just buy another one. But what can I say? I have a penchant for the dramatic gesture.

I don't think I need to remind everybody here of the greatness of Gilels. His reputation is secure. Suffice to say that this recording occupies a very special place in his superlative discography. His noble golden tone is captured wonderfully here thanks to DG's warm engineering. Every piece here stands up in relief as a miniature masterpiece. From the opening bars of the Arietta to the closing cadence of the gently wistful Reminscence, this album is a quiet triumph. Indeed, you're hardly made aware of Gilels' work here--only the genius of Grieg. If there is one thing wrong with this recording, it's that he never recorded all of the Lyric Pieces.