Schubert 'Unfinished' favorites?

[vih...@protonmail.com]

I like HvK's early 60s DG recording best of those I've heard, including Walter (stereo), Monteux, Wand (good!), and quite a few others. Any other recommendations would be appreciated.

C.

[Randy Lane]

One I really like is a 1967 live Ormandy recording from Amsterdam in the RCO anthology. Ormandy made only one stereo studio recording, a 1966 version for RCA. There is a Columbia mono version from 1956, never on commercial CD to my knowledge. PLEASE GIVE US A COMPLETE ORMANDY BOX SONY!!!!

Münch on RCA is excellent. Available in a Sony Masters box, 886978267320.

Krips/VPO coipled with a stunning 9th on Decca in many CD versions. I have the Classic Sound remaster, a desert island disc without question

Many Günter Wand recordings. The studio version with NDR Symphony is probably a good one, but only available in boxes AFAIK.

Blomstedt SFSO on Decca 028943307222 is good too, and good digital stereo.

[vih...@protonmail.com]

Thanks for all these recs. The Wand I have is coupled with the Fourth, early 80s / Cologne RSO, and I think it's very good. Will probably look for the Krips you mention next.

[vih...@protonmail.com]

As an aside, I got the Böhm Schubert set a few years ago and found it uniformly dull, though I like his
Beethoven VPO set a lot. Too bad; I had hopes.

C.

[msw design]

On Friday, June 5, 2020 at 4:48:26 PM UTC-5, vih...@protonmail.com wrote:
> I like HvK's early 60s DG recording best of those I've heard, including Walter (stereo), Monteux, Wand (good!), and quite a few others. Any other recommendations would be appreciated.
>
> C.

Szell/Cleveland/Sony has been my long-time favorite, but when I heard Jochum' '52 Concertgebouw recording, I was mesmerized. Epic, dark drama that is as intense as any recording, period. You won't even notice it is mono. It's on Tahara and in a Philips box, if I recall.

Great LP cover.

https://www.discogs.com/Fr-Schubert-Eugen-JochumConcertgebouw-Orchestra-The-Unfinished-Symphony-No-8-B-Minor/release/4729446

[vih...@protonmail.com]

That sounds good to me.. another aside: the late Jochum / Bamberg Mozart symphonies have some
powerful performances too, esp the Prague (once they get going). I'll try to find this mono Unfinished.

[gggg...@gmail.com]

On Friday, June 5, 2020 at 2:48:26 PM UTC-7, vih...@protonmail.com wrote:
> I like HvK's early 60s DG recording best of those I've heard, including Walter (stereo), Monteux, Wand (good!), and quite a few others. Any other recommendations would be appreciated.
>
> C.

The following on the Unfinished may be of interest:

http://classicalnotes.net/classics5/great.html#unfinished

[sfr...@nycap.rr.com]

On Friday, June 5, 2020 at 5:48:26 PM UTC-4, vih...@protonmail.com wrote:
> I like HvK's early 60s DG recording best of those I've heard, including Walter (stereo), Monteux, Wand (good!), and quite a few others. Any other recommendations would be appreciated.
>
> C.

Favorites of mine are Sinopoli/Philharmonia (coupled with Mendelssohn's 4th), Bernstein/NYP on Sony (coupled with the 9th) and Carlos Kleiber/Vienna. The complete set of Schubert's symphonies by Blomstedt/Staatskapelle Dresden contains an excellent Unfinished too.

MIFrost

[sfr...@nycap.rr.com]

Let me also add Munch's BSO recording. A great one. This box set includes it

https://www.amazon.com/Charles-Munch-Conducts-Romantic-Erworks/dp/B004H6P2LK

and many other excellently played pieces. It's one of my favorites.

MIFrost

[vih...@protonmail.com]

Lots to check out- I've heard no Munch at all, considered getting an Eroica of his, once.

Thanks for all the recs.

[Bob Harper]

Agreed re Sinopoli and Kleiber; don't know Blomstedt. Another that I
find very powerful is Vegh/Camerata Salzburg.

Bob Harper

[Néstor Castiglione]

In no particular order:

- Furtwängler (BPO 1953)
- Mengelberg (Telefunken)
- Ruhlmann
- Meyrowitz
- Klemperer (studio EMI)
- von Schillings

On Friday, June 5, 2020 at 2:48:26 PM UTC-7, vih...@protonmail.com wrote:

[Kerrison]

As a matter of interest, the first movement is marked "Allegro moderato" but which performance observes the "Allegro" rather more than the "moderato"? ... ie: whose is the speediest first movement? Because the second movement "Andante con moto" is also in triple-time, some - perhaps all - conductors play each of them in much the same tempo. However, I'd be interested to know if any make a specific contrast, such as treating the first movement as a fast opening allegro and making the second a kind of slow movement in what would have been a traditional four-movement symphony.

[Lawrence Kart]

Peter Maag, Philharmonica Hungarica

[ways]

https://www.designday.fr/images/2/2/concertgebouworkest-mozart-jupiter-schubert-unfinished.jpg

[markm...@gmail.com]

The studio stereo Ormandy/Philadelphia Schubert 8 was recorded in 1968, not 1966. After many years with Columbia, Ormandy and his orchestra switched over to RCA in 1968 and the Schubert 8 was one of the first recordings made under the new contract.

Mark M

[ro...@verizon.net]

> As a matter of interest, the first movement is marked "Allegro moderato" but which performance observes the "Allegro" rather more than the "moderato"? ... ie: whose is the speediest first movement? Because the second movement "Andante con moto" is also in triple-time, some - perhaps all - conductors play each of them in much the same tempo. However, I'd be interested to know if any make a specific contrast, such as treating the first movement as a fast opening allegro and making the second a kind of slow movement in what would have been a traditional four-movement symphony.

Of course I have better things to do on a sunny Saturday morning (well, not better, but more pressing) than pulling out my Schubert 8s and entering the rabbit hole. If you're looking for a first mvt with forward momentum and clear contrast between the tempos of the two mvts, sample Toscanini:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYFfRMtsGLI
Striking contrast between lyric and dramatic. Unfortunately, no first mvt expo repeat.

Scanning my collection I just realized I have nothing recorded after 1970 for this work. Sinopoli always intrigues me; it and the Carlos Kleiber have been on my wish list for a long time. I would love to find a modern non-HIP recording in which the first mvt tempo is similar to Toscanini's.

Robert

[cooper...@gmail.com]

It seems ridiculous to pick out a favorite, but I do agree about the excellence of Jochum/Concertgebouw. Others that I've enjoyed recently include Maag/NHK and Rodzinski/RPO. One that came as a bit of a surprise is Schuricht/Stuttgart, from the set of unreleased radio broadcasts on M&A. Normally I find Schuricht stolid and uninteresting, but occasionally something lights a fire under him. This Schubert is a case in point; ditto his Brahms Symphony #3 (originally Audio Fidelity LP; reissued on Ades CD).

AC

[msw design]

On Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 8:25:53 AM UTC-5, markm...@gmail.com wrote:

> The studio stereo Ormandy/Philadelphia Schubert 8 was recorded in 1968, not 1966. After many years with Columbia, Ormandy and his orchestra switched over to RCA in 1968 and the Schubert 8 was one of the first recordings made under the new contract.
>
> Mark M

Is it on CD? Don't have it and don't see such a release at Amazon or Discogs. Thanks.

[Randy Lane]

The 1968 RCA was issued in Japan only by JVC and is still available as ArkivCD from ArkivMusic.com

[markm...@gmail.com]

I don't know if the 1968 Ormandy Unfinished ever made it to CD. My recording of the piece is on the original RCA LP, LSC 3056.

Mark M

[sfr...@nycap.rr.com]

On Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 11:03:23 AM UTC-4, markm...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> I don't know if the 1968 Ormandy Unfinished ever made it to CD. My recording of the piece is on the original RCA LP, LSC 3056.
>
> Mark M

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown;jsessionid=BC7A219A09789F64FECF01E4CA043A50?name_id1=10889&name_role1=1&comp_id=3778&bcorder=15&name_id=56111&name_role=3

Here it is.

MIFrost

[barthol...@gmail.com]

Schubert Unfinished Concertgebouw Orchestra Jochum
avalable for 7 days
https://easyupload.io/79a46y

[Tatonik]

Some would be shocked to see that I have only one performance of this
symphony on my shelf. Indeed, I myself am shocked. One might say that
my collection is unfinished.

The one I have is Sinopoli with the Philharmonia, which I believe I
bought on the high recommendation of the trio from the Penguin Guide. I
like it in many respects, though sometimes I wonder if it is too lacking
in tension.

[ro...@verizon.net]

Addendum: I just heard the Carlos Kleiber on youtube and I think he really gets it. The first movement has the intensity and thrust that I think this work needs.

And I have an observation: I listened to quite a few 8ths today both from my collection and others on youtube. Some were better than others but I didn't encounter any that failed to move me. Yet when it comes to the 9th I find so many performances unsatisfactory. Does anyone else feel the same about these two works?

[sfr...@nycap.rr.com]

On Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 12:40:42 PM UTC-4, Tatonik wrote:
>
> The one I have is Sinopoli with the Philharmonia, which I believe I
> bought on the high recommendation of the trio from the Penguin Guide. I
> like it in many respects, though sometimes I wonder if it is too lacking
> in tension.

For one definitely *not* lacking in tension, try Lenny/NYP on Sony. Might be my favorite.

MIFrost

[Frank Berger]

On 6/6/2020 12:40 PM, Tatonik wrote:
>
> Some would be shocked to see that I have only one
> performance of this symphony on my shelf.  Indeed, I myself
> am shocked.  One might say that my collection is unfinished.

I was perhaps equally shocked to find about 80 in mine.

>
> The one I have is Sinopoli with the Philharmonia, which I
> believe I bought on the high recommendation of the trio from
> the Penguin Guide.  I like it in many respects, though
> sometimes I wonder if it is too lacking in tension.
>
>

LOL! I don't have that one.

I can't remember how I felt about all of these, but one I
remember I liked that I don't think has been mentioned is
conducted by Fischer-Dieskau. Another is by Casals.

[Kerrison]

Thanks for the YouTube Toscanini link. He adds "agitato" to the 1st movement marking, though some might feel he's too a bit too relentless in his approach.

His great rival Stokowski recorded the 'Unfinished' acoustically in 1924, the work's first American recording, and in 1969 at the age of 87 he recorded it again in "Phase-4" Stereo. I'm not sure how he compares in this work with the other conductors so far mentioned here but he's on YouTube too, if anyone wants to find out! ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9GWnKXXuiU

[vih...@protonmail.com]

Thank you for that link! Downloaded, listened, and think I have a new favorite..

Realizing that what I like about Karajan's is the well-captured, ominous lower
range in the beginning of the first mvt.

C.

[Frank Berger]

On 6/7/2020 3:06 PM, vih...@protonmail.com wrote:
> On Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 8:34:53 AM UTC-7, barthol...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Schubert Unfinished Concertgebouw Orchestra Jochum
>> avalable for 7 days
>> https://easyupload.io/79a46y
>
>
> Thank you for that link! Downloaded, listened, and think I have a new favorite..
>

Assuming this is the 1952 recording previously released on
Tahra, it will be interesting to compare it to the transfer
in the forthcoming (?) Philips Jochum box.

[Kerrison]

On Sunday, June 7, 2020 at 8:56:32 PM UTC+1, Frank Berger wrote:

The picture on the YouTube Jochum upload shows an LP and the info under the video says mono (p)1955 ... It's had only 13 "views" in the last 2 years! ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-XF4zN3T4o

[vih...@protonmail.com]

I don't know the provenance, but it sounded very adequate to me- maybe missing a little at top and (esp) bottom.

[number_six]

Has Ludwig been mentioned? Cantelli?

I like Sinopoli also.

[fomalhaut]

By alphabetical order :

Andre Cluytens/Berlin Philh (EMI/Warner)
Eugen Jochum/Concertgebouw (Philips, mono)
Rafael Kubelik/Vienna Philh (EMI/Warner)
Willem Mengelberg/Concertgebouw (Philips Live, mono)
George Szell/Cleveland Orch (Epic, mono recording)

fomalhaut

[vih...@protonmail.com]

Hadn't thought of Cluytens! Thank you.

[Gerard]

Op zondag 7 juni 2020 21:06:08 UTC+2 schreef vih...@protonmail.com:

> Realizing that what I like about Karajan's is the well-captured, ominous lower
> range in the beginning of the first mvt.
>
> C.

That's exactly what I remembered from the LP. It took me more than 25 years before I ordered the CD - because of this ;-)

[vih...@protonmail.com]

Yes, it's effective, isn't it? Love to have the mono Jochum but with that weight.

C.

[Kerrison]

On Monday, June 8, 2020 at 6:48:39 PM UTC+1, vih...protonmail.com wrote:
> On Monday, June 8, 2020 at 10:30:13 AM UTC-7, Gerard wrote:

> > Op zondag 7 juni 2020 21:06:08 UTC+2 schreef vih...protonmail.com:

> >
> > > Realizing that what I like about Karajan's is the well-captured, ominous lower
> > > range in the beginning of the first mvt.
> > >
> > > C.
> >
> > That's exactly what I remembered from the LP. It took me more than 25 years before I ordered the CD - because of this ;-)
> Yes, it's effective, isn't it? Love to have the mono Jochum but with that weight.
>
> C.

Stokowski's 1941 US Columbia recording of the "Unfinished" with his then newly formed, short lived All-American Youth Orchestra, rather curiously has more dramatic intensity than his 1969 "Phase 4 Stereo" performance with the London Philharmonic ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thxCRMSqUAU&t=351s