Search - Mussorgsky, Dvorak :: Night on Bald Mountain / Symphony 9

Absolutely Unbeatable Value

10/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In a competitive field, this is an excellent recording of what is arguably the most profound symphony ever written. Cesare Cantieri (does anyone know anything about this guy?) has crafted a performance which more than holds its own against recordings by far more illustrious conductors, not least Bruno Walther's much vaunted 1959 recording. The only significant limitation in this performance is that the quality of the brass section of the Suddeutsche Philharmonic leaves something to be desired, a fact particularly noticeable in the big climaxes in the slow movement. This, however, is more than made up for by the orchestra's excellent string tone, caught very well by a high quality digital recording. Cantieri's performance is well thought out and his sense of pacing - always a big potential problem in Bruckner - seems right on the mark. At the same time, the whole performance retains a sense of spontaneity. Cantieri is not a self-indulgent conductor who chooses to ignore what is written on the page. Rather, his reading pleasantly draws attention to some of the details which are sometimes downplayed by others. He is at his best in the quieter moments of this great work, not least in the mighty slow movement's wonderful coda, which is very satisfying in this performance indeed. Even though it may lack slightly the polish of the very best performances, for the price...this recording is truly unbeatable value."

Heinous misnomer! its Mravinsky/LPO

Will Saar | ramapo valley, NJ | 10/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a bargain. from above the thunder of abusive understatements gets ready to strike me when i leave this room. its (read the front label if you can here, i have it and have compared it to another recording, correctly labeled and it really IS) Mravinsky and the Leningrad PO.
performance, among those that can have no verbal comparison. sound, the shortcomings are reflected in the above reviewer's opinion. the violins sometimes are far off, miked badly, i guess; other times they are right where they need to be.
you just gotta hear it. by the way, take a gander at the wallet-damage it causes.
just say YES"

Mravinsky and the Leningrad live

DJ Rix | NJ USA | 11/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Cantieri & South German Philharmonic or Mravinsky and the Leningrad PO? This is certainly the latter. Media Partners (formerly Point Classics) is notorious for mis-labeling. Many of their performances float around on other bargain labels such as Pilz, Apollo, Laserlight. Two things are clear. First, this Bruckner 9th (Löwe version) is an occasionally ragged live performance, probably recorded for radio rebroadcast, with no better than adequate engineering. No going back to edit mistakes or play with microphone placement. People cough. Second, the interpretation is very different from Walter's benchmark recording with Columbia Symphony. The brass get a much looser leash here (the trumpet section has real problems in spots), the "intensifications" less subtle. I like how the "Horns of Fate" passages are handled in the 3rd Movement Sehr Langsam, although the recording doesn't give them enough presence. Walter looks forward to Mahler, as one would expect. This performance looks back, to Wagner. As an alternate version for Bruckner addicts, a bargain."