For those who aren't familiar with it www.rediscovery.us (http://www.rediscovery.us) is a free legal website that offers among other things some of the older Mercury Living Presence recordings. In particular for me I've discovered Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony. RD022 in particular really got my attention. The recordings are definitely sung works but I've discovered my favorite Cappriccio Espagnol ever. I'm really wondering from Adriano especially about this mono recording. I've got a setup where the amp switches to mono and a single speaker. There are other recordings of Paray including one where the musicians talk about him at the end of the recording.
Tom :)
The site works well. Some old favourites there (mostly Everest, aren't they?) and many others look to be worth hearing - thanks!
check out the rd022 and give me your opinion on the Rimsky-Korsakov. I think it is a grand recording.
Will do. I'm particularly fond of the Schumann pieces on RD034 (the Nonesuch LP has been on my shelves for 40-odd years). No big names here, but boy!
Hi sdtom :)
I am definitely of your opinion about Paray's "Capriccio Espagnol". I once had this LP; the coupling was Ravel's "Boléro" (if I am not wrong).
Paray's interpretation of Chausson's Symphony is also excellent!
I am a great admirer of both Paray as a conductor and a composer!
What a great time we had, enjoying those Mercury LP's fabulous repertoire and artists.
This Rediscovery site is really interesting.
Funny how we interpret things. I am a huge fan of Paray and regret never having the opportunity to hear him live. I have (I think) all of his Detroit recordings, and most of it is superb, some - like the Schumann symphonies - tremendous. But the one thing he recorded that I do not like is the Capriccio Espagnol. The opening is too fast - the clarinet is playing right on the edge of his/her ability. Then there's that Fandango with those vulgar, stupid, pointless pauses that ruin the thing. For my taste, Kondrashin on RCA still is the Capriccio Espagnol to beat.
Yeah, Kondrashin is definitely super - and more respectful, but I like such crazy and personal interpretations... They can bring a fresh wind into the musical world. Nikolai Golovanov can be considered such a "daring" conductor too. It's just the opposite of that time's solid generation à la Ansermet we are no more in a mood every day to listen to... In my opinion, "Capriccio Espagnol" is a rather vulgar piece anyway, like Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien" (not Spanish, but a meridional Capriccio too) and Glinka's "Jota" and "Souvenirs"- but I hope not to shock too much by affirming this... ;). As far as Spanish inspiration in music is concerned, let's rather stick to Ravel, Debussy, De Falla and Granados!
The gay abandonment of Paray's Capriccio Espagnol is certainly something to relish in this more "respectful" age, but those hiccups in the Fandango are pretty hard to take!
I find it well done as his interpretation is unique.
A warm recommendation for the Scherchen recording of Schumann's Faust. David Carlile Hermges's reading of Byron is rather ripe by today's standards, but the stereo staging is well engineered and shows Schumann's imaginative instrumentation to good advantage. Scherchen leads a stirring account of the overture, and there, as well as in the incidental music that follows, one can appreciate the aptness of Schumann's musical setting, not only for the light it throws on Byron but for the light Byron's text throws on it (that is, on Schumann's characteristic phrases).