|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
A fellow trombone player was talking about a fantastic recording by the Pittsburgh Symphony brass called A Christmas Concert for Brass. Which can be found here if you look hard enough:
http://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/curtaincallSo I thought I would look for anything by them at the library. I found two, Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 etc. and Sibelius Symphony No. 3 etc. These are very well recorded with great performances by the orchestra. Maazel is a little lethargic for me at times but they are involving enough for me to enjoy them. I would say overall for the Saint-Saens I prefer my Ormandy/Phi. recording partly because the organ is done perfectly but the Pittsburgh rendition was worth it to listen to. I like the balance of the recording, with brass being heard more to my liking although the brass was a little too much in the mix in the Maestoso.
So if you overlook the Pittsburgh Symphony like I used to, don't rule them out. You might not like them or the interpretations as much as I do but I think it would be good to consider them.
Oh and BTW, be sure to look for the CD versions if you can because they will have perfect digital quality sound forever and ever. :)
Jeff
Follow Ups:
on the Capitol and Command labels. Steinberg was the man with the German composers in particular. I was fortunate enough to see him conduct the PSO (circa 1970, on tour) in the Brahms #1, Schubert #8 and Mahler #4. Baton-less, as I recall; still THE highlight of my limited concert-going experiences.
...and one of the best sounding CDs I've heard. I also like Previn's Mahler 4th (EMI) and his Saint-Saens "Carnival of the Animals" and Ravel "Mother Goose" (Philips). And don't forget the wonderful historic Reiner recordings (no longer available, I think) on CD (Sony Masterworks Heritage).
"Shhhteinboig and the Pissboig Orchestra?"
Who probably once listened to the Lord, Pete Franklin... (He coined the term "Pittsboigh"....) Or maybe Mike Trivisonno...Fritz Reiner once led this band... The Pittsburgh Symphony has had a solid history, if not flashy like the Big Five...
Oh, and from an ex-Clevelander- GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLEEEERRRRRRSSSSSSZZZZZZ!!!!!
the worst ten years of my life were the four months I lived in Cleveland!
They call it Buffalo!p.s. Try the Shostakivitch 8th with Jansons. I was there the night it was recorded.. great performance.
Maazel gave some stunning performances while he was here. Unfortunately he never chose to record those.
"They call it Buffalo!"Except for the symphony orchestra... The one thing I can say positive about Cleveland... From 1965 to 1985, Cleveland had one of the best ever, in my humble opinion.
:-)
were one of the great ensembles, in my humble non-musician's (Singers don't count as musicians. If you protest, you don't know many singers.) opinion.
s
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: