Musicweb's recordings of the year

Chris J.

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Dec 14, 2022, 5:42:15 AM12/14/22

to

(q)This is the twentieth year that Musicweb International has asked its
reviewing team to nominate their recordings of the year.(/q)

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2022/ROTY/ROTY-2022-1.htm
(Still no https web address!)

Of the recordings listed on that page, I have only heard Berlioz's Requiem
by the RCO and Antonio Pappano on RCO Live. And it's very good imho.

Chris

Dan Koren

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Dec 14, 2022, 8:37:47 AM12/14/22

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On Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 2:42:15 AM UTC-8, Chris J. wrote:
>
> (q)This is the twentieth year that Musicweb International has asked its
> reviewing team to nominate their recordings of the year.(/q)
>
> http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2022/ROTY/ROTY-2022-1.htm
> (Still no https web address!)

Why don't they ask real listeners instead?

dk

Graham

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Dec 14, 2022, 11:19:39 AM12/14/22

to

After reading that list, I agree!

Andrew Clarke

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Dec 14, 2022, 5:29:42 PM12/14/22

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And who are the 'real listeners'?

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

Dan Koren

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Dec 14, 2022, 5:36:11 PM12/14/22

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On Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 2:29:42 PM UTC-8, andrewc...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 3:19:39 AM UTC+11, Graham wrote:
> > On 2022-12-14 6:37 a.m., Dan Koren wrote:
> > > On Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 2:42:15 AM UTC-8, Chris J. wrote:
> > >>
> > >> (q)This is the twentieth year that Musicweb International has asked its
> > >> reviewing team to nominate their recordings of the year.(/q)
> > >>
> > >> http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2022/ROTY/ROTY-2022-1.htm
> > >> (Still no https web address!)
> > >
> > > Why don't they ask real listeners instead?
> >

> > After reading that list, I agree!
>
> And who are the 'real listeners'?

Anyone not on their staff!

dk

gggg gggg

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Dec 14, 2022, 6:48:45 PM12/14/22

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It seems that in the world of movies, critics and audiences are disagreeing more and more as to what is to be considered praiseworthy.

Could that also be happening in the classical music world?:

(Y. upload):

"My Issue With Film Critics Today"

Andrew Clarke

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Dec 15, 2022, 2:33:03 AM12/15/22

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Does the same prohibition apply to Fanfare, Diapaison d'Or, etc.? Or, indeed, Classics Today?

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

Dan Koren

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Dec 15, 2022, 2:50:10 AM12/15/22

to

On Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 11:33:03 PM UTC-8, andrewc...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 9:36:11 AM UTC+11, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 2:29:42 PM UTC-8, andrewc...@gmail.com wrote:
> > > On Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 3:19:39 AM UTC+11, Graham wrote:
> > > > On 2022-12-14 6:37 a.m., Dan Koren wrote:
> > > > > On Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 2:42:15 AM UTC-8, Chris J. wrote:
> > > > >>
> > > > >> (q)This is the twentieth year that Musicweb International has asked its
> > > > >> reviewing team to nominate their recordings of the year.(/q)
> > > > >>
> > > > >> http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2022/ROTY/ROTY-2022-1.htm
> > > > >> (Still no https web address!)
> > > > >
> > > > > Why don't they ask real listeners instead?
> > > >
> > > > After reading that list, I agree!
> > >
> > > And who are the 'real listeners'?
> >
> > Anyone not on their staff!
>

> Does the same prohibition apply to Fanfare,
> Diapaison d'Or, etc.? Or, indeed, Classics Today?

Obviously, in my view. However, no
one is prevented from reading
anything they like, penned by
anyone they like.

In case you did not notice, music
review magazines have become
largely unnecessary since most
recordings can now be sampled
electronically. One does not need
anyone else's opinions to figure
out what they like or don't like.

dk

gggg gggg

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Dec 15, 2022, 3:02:02 AM12/15/22

to

Are you saying that critics are becoming irrelevant?

Dan Koren

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Dec 15, 2022, 3:15:01 AM12/15/22

to

> Are you saying that critics
> are becoming irrelevant?

Not "becoming". They never
were in the first place.

One understands however
how this is a concern for
quote bots -- their feed
would run out.

dk

Message has been deleted

Andrew Clarke

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Dec 15, 2022, 10:21:05 PM12/15/22

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This raises the question of what reviews of classical music recordings are/were intended to achieve. They are of course useful as publicity - we thereby know that a new recording exists, although the people at Linn and Hyperion are very good at doing this, and regular visits to Presto Music are very informative too, as they usually have a survey of new releases on their home page. A review can give us an overall picture of the recording - tempi, HIP or square, any particular feature when it comes to interpretation, use of orchestral colour etc. Evaluation is much, much more difficult. I've learnt mistrust utterly damning reviews, or indeed to regard them as recommendations and buy the recording as soon as possible. I tend to assume that reviewers who universally damn the recordings of particular conductors, ensembles or soloists are motivated by extra-musical considerations ...

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

simonelvladtepes

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Dec 16, 2022, 8:00:37 PM12/16/22

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> I've learnt mistrust utterly damning reviews, > Andrew Clarke > Canberra

As opposed to the usual flood of glowing reviews? Even well reasoned negative reviews are met with distrust, and even anger. OTOH there are many benefits to praising something. It's partly a cultural issue - French and German reviewers are less prone to giving glowing reviews the way Americans do (in any context, actually).

I am not familiar with half of the works on MusicWeb's list, the choice of works smacks of posturing. I am familiar with Verdi's Falstaff from Sir John Eliot Gardiner on Dynamic, which is on the list, and found Gardiner's sluggish tempi unbearable. When the score indicates ♩= 80 he conducts ♩ = 60 - I believe it's the slowest Falstaff recorded.

Simonel

Andrew Clarke

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Dec 17, 2022, 4:00:06 AM12/17/22

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I admit the choice of British piano concertos is a bit eccentric, as generally speaking, the only British classical music of any kind that British audiences will listen to is Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Holst and Britten. People who composed between, say, 1940 and 1970, the Baxes, Berkeleys, Rawsthornes, Rubbras, etc., never seem to get played. I suppose the reviewer wanted to drum up some interest: I have a lot of this music as recorded by Naxos, and, really, only Rubbra continues to hold my attention.

As for rave reviews, I never seem to hear of any ... I suppose I'd be a bit suspicious of rave reviews too, as one extreme is really no better than the other. What I'd prefer is something that sounds reasonably balanced (rather than hystrical) which gives me some idea of why this particular recording might be worth a listen.

Andrew Clarke
Canberra