Posted by Rick Denney on February 13, 2001 at 13:11:19:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Best Orchestras? posted by Chuck Jackson on February 13, 2001 at 09:45:59:
Was Shostakovich really as romantic as Bernstein made him out to be in that recording? I keep thinking "Let's keep it moving, folks" when I hear it. Of course, Bernstein could romanticize Schoenburg.
My favorite Shostakovich series is with Haitink conducting the... Concertgebouw? (They say memory is the first thing to go...) His 5th is my favorite. And it was recorded before 1991, so you are allowed to like it, heh, heh.
(I think part of the homogenization that you are hearing applies to the conductors, rather than the musicians. Conductors in the modern aren't allowed to be as eccentric and autocratic as they once were.)
Rick "where is that Nomex fire suit?" Denney