Charles Munch recomendations

[Willem Orange]

I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

[wanwan]

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 8:23:48 PM UTC-10, Willem Orange wrote:
> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. Either/both of his Ravel Daphnis. The Mother Goose suite. Franck's Le Chasseur maudit. Tchaikovsky Romeo. Above all else his Berlioz, esp the Requiem. All BSO on RCA. On video live his VAI/BSO DVD of Berlioz, Debussy, Ravel.

------------------
Eric

[music...@gmail.com]

Symphonie F.--the 2nd Living Stereo recording:

http://www.shadeddog.com/images/rca_lsc-2608.jpg

[Norman Schwartz]

Although it hardly contains all that's recommendable, if I were starting out
I'd buy this box:
http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Munch-Conducts-Romantic-Masterworks/dp/B004H6P2LK/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1383752000&sr=1-1&keywords=charles+munch

and then add to it buying separate individual recordings. I recall liking
one or more of the Mendelssohn Symphonies in it.

[Sol L. Siegel]

Willem Orange <ivanm...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:ed9adcea-5a55-4d50...@googlegroups.com:

> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews
> about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other
> recommendations????

OTTOMH: Honegger 4 and Dutilleux Metaboles with ORTF

Roussel 3 & 4 with Lamoureux

Honegger 2 & 5 and Milhaud Creation du Monde & Suite Provencale
with BSO

Availability may be spotty, but Amazon marketplace should be
able to provide.

- Sol L. Siegel, Philadelphia, PA USA

[music...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 10:00:52 PM UTC-10, wanwan wrote:

> On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 8:23:48 PM UTC-10, Willem Orange wrote:
>
> > I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????
>
>
>

> Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. Either/both of his Ravel Daphnis...

Concerning DAPHNIS..., has anyone heard the following live 1961 recording?:

http://208.71.46.190/search/srpcache?ei=UTF-8&p=%22But+both+studio+efforts+are+thoroughly+eclipsed%22&fr=yfp-t-165&u=http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=%22But+both+studio+efforts+are+thoroughly+eclipsed%22&d=4969720724324546&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=Db5Ww-fHRODT94ZlY67u2sF1_bZiAjaR&icp=1&.intl=us&sig=wCTzXbhEQ9Csj.ESgShlEQ--

(Alternate link): http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics4/daphnis.html

[Bastian Kubis]

Absolutely. Munch is often recommended for French repertoire, for which
I am no expert (in at least the sense that I haven't heard many
alternatives), but for me he is also second to none in some of the core
German-Austrian symphonic repertoire; I would emphasize in particular
Schubert 9, Mendelssohn 3, and Brahms 2 from the box Norman recommends
above as having no obvious superiors in my book. (And then there is the
Mendelssohn violin concerto with Heifetz, for which this may also be
true, not least for the soloist...)

Bastian

[westover]

בתאריך יום רביעי, 6 בנובמבר 2013 08:23:48 UTC+2, מאת Willem Orange:

> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

I think that A Munch Box would make a bookend to the Reiner one that just came out. Here's to hoping....

-Mike

[Kerrison]

On Thursday, November 7, 2013 7:46:54 PM UTC, westover wrote:
> בתאריך יום רביעי, 6 בנובמבר 2013 08:23:48 UTC+2, מאת Willem Orange:
>
> > I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????
>

Another French RCA coupling from Munch was D'Indy's 'Symphony on a French Mountain Air' and the Ravel Piano Concerto with Nicole Henriot-Schweitzer. It came out on Pristine Audio last year along with a 1958 Boston stereo broadcast of Vaughan Williams's 8th Symphony. This has popped up on You Tube where the comments below include "easily the most persuasive performance of RVW8 I've ever heard," "a wonderful performance," "splendid and sensitive", etc., so it's a pity he didn't record it commercially ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Two4qjxmw

Here's a review of the Pristine release ...

http://audaud.com/2012/12/vaughan-williams-symphony-no-8-ravel-piano-concerto-in-g-dindy-symphony-on-a-french-mt-air-nicole-henriot-schweitzer-p-boston-sym-orch-charles-munch-pristine/

[Sol L. Siegel]

Kerrison <kerrison1...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in
news:4fe42471-48a3-4323...@googlegroups.com:

> Another French RCA coupling from Munch was D'Indy's 'Symphony on a
> French Mountain Air' and the Ravel Piano Concerto with Nicole
> Henriot-Schweitzer.

There was also a Prokofiev PC 2, which was my imprint of the work.
It's been available in Japan, I believe.

I've sometimes wondered if the three would make it on one CD.
Not that I'm holding my breath.

[christ...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 11:17:48 PM UTC-5, music...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 10:00:52 PM UTC-10, wanwan wrote: > On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 8:23:48 PM UTC-10, Willem Orange wrote: > > > I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations???? > > > > Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. Either/both of his Ravel Daphnis... Concerning DAPHNIS..., has anyone heard the following live 1961 recording?: http://208.71.46.190/search/srpcache?ei=UTF-8&p=%22But+both+studio+efforts+are+thoroughly+eclipsed%22&fr=yfp-t-165&u=http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=%22But+both+studio+efforts+are+thoroughly+eclipsed%22&d=4969720724324546&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=Db5Ww-fHRODT94ZlY67u2sF1_bZiAjaR&icp=1&.intl=us&sig=wCTzXbhEQ9Csj.ESgShlEQ-- (Alternate link): http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics4/daphnis.html

I have a CDR available from the original Stereo broadcast tape, with all the post performance applause and announcer William Pierce too. $8.99 + 3.00 shipping to anywhere in the US.

[christ...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 1:23:48 AM UTC-5, Willem Orange wrote:
> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

I have two Live Munce/BSO performances in Stereo on one CDR available; 1961 Tanglewood and 1963 Guest conducting in Symphony Hall. Both have a certain extra electricity that are missing in the studio recording. Available for $8.99 + 3.00 shipping to anywhere in the USA.

[Tassilo]

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 1:23:48 AM UTC-5, Willem Orange wrote:

> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

Don't miss the spectacular Eroica with the BSO on RCA. It strikes me as being the very best of his RCA recordings of Beethoven symphonies with the BSO, although all of them are good. The Eroica is as good as it gets. (Also love his Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, & Debussy.)

-dg

[gggg gggg]

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 10:23:48 PM UTC-8, Willem Orange wrote:
> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

Upcoming radio program featuring recordings of Munch in live performance:

https://www.wfmt.com/2021/05/09/conductor-charles-munch-in-live-performance

[gggg gggg]

On Monday, May 3, 2021 at 10:11:52 PM UTC-7, dan....@gmail.com wrote:

> Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique -- if you like the work.
>
> dk

https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2014/aug/19/symphony-guide-hector-berliozs-symphonie-fantastique

According to the following:

- ...Ii is quite possibly the finest stereo disc of an orchestra that has been made in the US...This is one the record industry in general might do well to look to as a new standard of excellence by which future orchestral stereo discs can be judged:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/recording-november-1962-berlioz-symphonie-fantastique

[MELMOTH]

Dan Koren a formulé ce mardi :

> Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique -- if you like the work.

The Fantastic ? : *MONTEUX Orchestre Symphonique de Paris 1930*...
Munch has recorded this work many times...

- National Orchestra 1963 (Montaigne)
- Orchestre de Paris 1967 (EMI)
- BSO 1954 (RCA)
- BSO 1962 (RCA)

Paradoxically, Munch was never _really_ at ease with this
symphony...The 1963 Lisbon recording seems to me to be the best:
spontaneous, abrupt, improvised...Practically on the level of
Beecham...
With Paris, in spite of some reading incidents, the dramatic image is
there...
The two versions with Boston...Poor...Moreover, the sound recording is
not great...

[gggg gggg]

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 10:23:48 PM UTC-8, Willem Orange wrote:

> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

Concerning his stereo recordings of DAPHNIS...:

- By reputation a French specialist, Munch actually was Alsatian and injected considerable energy into his readings of a wide swath of the traditional repertoire. Although recorded and eventually reissued in "Living Stereo," initially his 1955 taping was published only in monaural format on vinyl. As had the Dorati record, the Munch album added an artistic element, here with its booklet containing five rather straightforward sketches by a very young Andy Warhol. Munch and the Boston Symphony LIVE (and how!)(Music and Arts CD)Andy Warhol illustration for the Munch mono LPMunch and the Boston Symphony (RCA LP)Munch and his Boston forces rerecorded Daphnis in 1961, but the effort hardly seemed worthwhile, as the two versions are barely distinguishable (and in fact all the CD reissues so far are of the earlier one, as if to suggest that the successor was superflouous). In both performances Munch has his chorus vary their sounds - rather than a uniformly bland (and emotionally inappropriate) "aah," they cry out "hi-ya" in the pirate abduction and intone a soothing "loy loy" in the a capella interlude. But both studio efforts are thoroughly eclipsed by a staggeringly vital July 28, 1961 concert that was issued all too briefly on a 1988 Music and Arts CD (before it was forced off the market under the apparent fear - highly justified - that it would overshadow the authorized studio products) in which orchestra and chorus, despite a few unavoidable slips, play their proverbial hearts out. The intensity is not derived from interpretive exaggerations or bizarre eccentricities. Rather, everything fits together just as it should, but with a heightened attention to expression and added jolts of vigor that have an overwhelming cumulative impact. Just consider the sunrise that opens Part III - it's not just a glorious wash of sound, but Technicolor, 3-D and I-Max. The fidelity is spectacular and the final minutes are emotionally draining. While we all fantasize over how we would improve a performance if only we were in charge, in this instance I simply cannot imagine a more effective rendition. And I'll give critics who still drench the Munch studio recording in superlatives the benefit of the doubt that they've simply never heard this live one. It's one of those astounding, soul-shaking experiences after which no other recording ever sounds quite the same. Beg, borrow or steal a copy (but not mine, please).

http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics4/daphnis.html

[Alex Brown]

On 2021-05-04 06:11, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 at 1:23:48 AM UTC-5, Willem Orange wrote:

> Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique -- if you like the work.
>

> dk
>

Mendelssohn's "Reformation" Symphony.

--
- Alex Brown

[mswd...@gmail.com]

When Munch was just another conductor to me, The French Touch (RCA) was one of the first discs of his that I really enjoyed, especially Le Chasseur Maudit. I recall buying a disc of his Ravel and not enjoying it- this was likely a period when I was listening to a lot of Karajan and I couldn't countenance the open, extrovert quality of the orchestra. Gotta laugh at that now. I can't recall any of his RCA recordings that let me down, even if I did think them too fast sometimes (but they were always effectively played for fast, so that's a quibble). I just checked out his Brandenburgs- you'd think they'd be far too slow due to contemporary performance manners, but they aren't all that bad.

Let's not forget the Chesky Bizet Sym/Francesca da Rimini disc- nearly perfect!

[mswd...@gmail.com]

Munch's Daphnis et Chloe is also wonderful- I like the way the chorus is handled in the later recording, both they are both great.

[MELMOTH]

mswd...@gmail.com avait écrit le 05/05/2021 :
> I can't recall any of his RCA recordings that let me down

"His" 8th by Schubert on RCA is really not a success !...

[MELMOTH]

Marc S a couché sur son écran :
> Otoh his Schubert 9 was quite fine, but it is not a work

????...It is _the most beautiful symphony_ of all times!...

[MELMOTH]

Il se trouve que Marc S a formulé :
> In my eyes that award would go to some Mozart Symphony ;)

Let's say that out of the 40 or 50 symphonies he wrote, there are at
most ten or so that are _really_ interesting!...

[Ed Presson]

"gggg gggg" wrote in message
news:a98a62d8-dbf8-4613...@googlegroups.com...

______________________

I completely disagree. I have all three (2 RCAs, "Live"). The live sound
is from a taped performance broadcast. The sound is not good (limited
dynamic range, limited frequency extremes, and
muzzy bass). Don't waste your money as I did on this Live performance.

[gggg gggg]

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 10:23:48 PM UTC-8, Willem Orange wrote:
> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

"Charles Munch in New York":

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/aug09/Munch_cd1208.htm

[gggg gggg]

I can't read these reviews, but all 6 reviewers gave this cd 5 stars:

https://www.hmv.co.jp/en/userreview/product/list/2544549/

[Ed Presson]

"gggg gggg" wrote in message
news:a98a62d8-dbf8-4613...@googlegroups.com...

>glorious wash of sound, but Technicolor, 3->D and I-Max. The fidelity is

>spectacular and the final minutes are emotionally draining. While we all
>fantasize over how we would improve a performance if only we were in
>charge, in this instance I simply >cannot imagine a more effective
>rendition. And I'll give critics who still drench the Munch studio
>recording in superlatives the benefit of the doubt that they've simply
>never heard this live one. It's one of those >astounding, soul-shaking
>experiences after which no other recording ever sounds quite the same. Beg,
>borrow or steal a copy (but not mine, please).

>http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics4/daphnis.html

I have both RCA CDs of Munch/BSO, and I bought the LIVE recording
recommended above. I strongly disagree with the recommendation. It is copy
of a live radio broadcast and has all the limitations you might expect
(limited dynamic range, limited frequency response, muzzy bass). I used to
tape FM broadcasts of live BSO performances when I was young, and I concur
that Munch could be more electrifying in front of an audience than in his
commercial recordings. I don't find that the case here. Stick with the
1961 performance (by the way, "barely distinguishable" is not at all true.
The later performance captures the weight of a full orchestra in a way that
the earlier recording doesn't approach.)

I pretty much disagree with almost everything in the long paragraph quoted
above by gggg gggg.

[gggg gggg]

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 10:23:48 PM UTC-8, Willem Orange wrote:
> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

(Recent Y. upload):

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suites, Munch & BSO (1957) プロコフィエフ「ロメオとジュリエット」組曲(抜粋) ミュンシュ

[gggg gggg]

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 8:23:48 PM UTC-10, Willem Orange wrote:
> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

(Recent Y. upload):

Studio vs. Live--Is The Dichotomy Real? (Preview to Charles Munch's 10 Best Recordings)

[gggg gggg]

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 8:23:48 PM UTC-10, Willem Orange wrote:
> I don't know his work all that well but have read glowing reviews about his recording of the Franck Symphony. Any other recommendations????

(Recent Y. upload):

RESPIGHI: PINES OF ROME / BOSTON SO / MÜNCH (LIVE)