Streaming Classical 21-2 Berlin Bruckner Bach

Streaming Classical (21-2): The B-List

First, I shall give you further glimpse into how I listen to classical music in China. I can stream NML here, but normally (without VPN) Spotify is not available (Tidal neither, but I don't use it). Youtube is not available, same as everything Google, including this Blog. For things not available on NML, what to do? Yes, I can use VPN, but I keep it to a minimum, only for necessities (including publishing here). This is not for legal or security reasons, just to save data cost, that's all. To have Priorities actually yields Directions. My view has always been that "everything at your fingertips" hinders more than helps, and stunts one's growth. Keep that in mind.

Biliblili and the Classical Music Scene This is one of the video hosting sites in China, and it is by far the best (for classical music). If you go to its Homepage, you will be shocked by the infantile layout and its pandering to the wanton and listless nature of today's youth (these are after all elder cousins of Tik Tok), but then that is typical of the echt commercial Chinese internet (like Tencents) and their almost comically commercial interface, with attendant total disregard for aesthetics. That said, once you input your search (even in English, say Kirill Petrenko or Daniele Gatti), everything changes. Immediately, you get a Youtube-like layout, with relevant suggestions. As in youtube, almost no ads, as classical music doesn't make money. It is a wonder that classical music fans in China, an infinitesimally small minority among minorities, work so hard to upload all the riches. Most of these are from Youtube (some have links!), others perhaps from recordings and other digital platforms (like BPO). Now, if you input in Chinese (say, 基里尔·别特连科 for K Petrenko), you will get a few more, including an excellent 2012 BPO concert of Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy, and rare Rudi Stephan pieces; this one is particularly notable for a very good, indeed even moving, interview of the conductor, harbinger of things to come, tagged at the very end). This one is a must (link is Bilibili, but surely it is on youtube).

No, Bilibili does not have close to everything I want (youtube it is not), especially the case with less famous names, but even then it has enough to take me in all directions, including many that I did not plan on (that's the beauty), and I am very pleased. Yes, when I cannot have Champagne, a dry Cava would do (but not the usual Prosecco, sorry). Another great thing is that I get to watch many "second-tier" (but upcoming) Chinese orchestras (like Sichuan, Harbin, Fujian and Zhejian) and young Chinese conductors. As one who frowns upon superficial facility and treasure dedication more than technical aplomb, nothing would please me more than watching them struggle valiantly through Bruckner (well, hasn't happened yet...). At some point I plan to write about some of these.

Berlin Since I mentioned Kirll Petrenko, let's talk about Berlin. I have been to Europe many times, but most regrettably have yet to visit Berlin, one of my dream destinations (in contrast, I have been to Vienna and Venice three times). As one who had started to listen to classical music long before the Wall came down, I not only knew about East Germany orchestras but admired them greatly. I still remember vividly the Beethoven cycle in Carnegie Hall by the Leipzig Gewandhaus under Masur. Now, THAT was Beethoven, period; and what a great orchestra should sound like! And I don't expect to hear anything close to that these days. I bring this up because of Berlin's "other orchestras". The BPO casts a tall shadow and is supposedly one of the best, but these days I consistently find them disappointing. One only has to look at the "legacies" of Abbado and Rattle. Now, I am not necessarily always a Karajan fan, but he had a personal sound and vision for sure. Not so Abbado and Rattle. Abbado made a ton of BPO (and VPO) recordings, but few of them stand up to scrutiny (never bad, but seldom insipring, just as the many VPO concerts I attended in NYC), less so than his early years with the LSO. But at least he worked wonders in his sunset years with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Orchestra Mozart (achieving more than he earlier did with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, itself better work than with the BPO), but for me Rattle still has to prove himself. I did listen to one of his concerts with the BPO in Carnegie Hall, and the Webern and Brahms were very good; otherwise his recordings uniformly disappoint (true too for his Birmingham recordings, which I almost never found inspiring, including his absurdly highly rated Mahler 2; another ridiculous one is Gilbert Kaplan). These top self-governing orchestras just like to sabotage themselves. Like, the Bavarian Radio Symphony is I think in top form these days despite having had conductors like the hopelessly idiosyncratic Maazel. Long time custodian Mariss Jansons, who had passed away, was not exciting to me but I have to say he always delivered solid work, a thorough professional. Now, for some reason, the BRSO has picked Rattle as the next director, and I wish them luck. Yuck. Back to Berlin and Kirill Petrenko. As Petrenko had few commercial recordings, I started to watch the videos on Bilibili (quite a bit, not only the BPO, but also his older Bavarian State Orchestra, second in the city). Although not everything is to my liking I do think he will be much more interesting to follow than Rattle. What bothers me is the playing of the BPO. Great technical ability for sure, but no soul, and not much dialogue between the sections. Follow a BPO footage with one by the Concertgebouw (or Munich and Frankfurt etc) and you will know what I mean, the sound of the latter being so rich and complete. The BPO is over-rated in my opinion. I much prefer Barenboim's (formerly East Germany) Berlin Staaskapelle, who play with great color and the musicians listen to each other intently. Berlin has so many orchestras it is astonishing. And their names keep changing that it is utterly confusing. There is now the Berlin Radio Symphony, now headed by Vladimir Jurowski, the Deutches Symphony Orchestra (previously RIAS), the Konzerthaus Orchestra (formerly East German Berlin Symphony, who made memorable recordings under Kurt Sanderling and others). Dresden (formerly in East Germany) is another city with multiple orchestras. Everyone knows the great Dresden Staaskapelle, now headed by Christian Thielemann (who reportedly was really wounded by Petrenko's BPO appointment, especially since the latter, despite his name, is Jewish), but know nothing about the Dresdner Philharmonic, an excellent orchestra with many illustrious previous directors, which Michael Sanderling, son of Kurt, who has just departed, has brought to the fore with prestigious recording contract on Sony (and their Shostakovitch and Beethoven series were superb). Well, one day I hope to write more about the much missed East Germany (in musical terms; and let's not forget the astonishing films made by various directors behind the Iron Curtain, like Kielslowski in Poland, and the immortal Tarkovsky).

Bruckner How I got into Bruckner was quite a tale. circa 1974: I just transferred to Chemical Engineering at Columbia University. I discovered the lounge, which had a ping pong table (and an early microwave). Many players hanged out there, including a very nice old man named Kauderer (John, I think), who was once a ranked player I believe. Very soon, I spent more time there than in class. So I met Tim, a third-generation Chinese-American (who speaks no Chinese), who is still a friend, and he was seminal in my formation in more ways than one. Often he'd show up with a few LPs and, should I felt interest, he'd let me borrow them. The two I remembered are both by the Concertgebouw (Philips); the white jacket has a black line frame with contains a sliver of Egyptian art. One was Haitink/Bruckner 9, which started me on my never ending Bruckner quest (in case you wonder, the other was the legendary Szell/Sibelius 2). Bruckner was so ingrained in Tim that he made a film Adagio (more info here), using the whole Adagio of the 9th and filled it with images of the turn of century period, ranging from Caspar David Friedrich to Secessionist art. It was low budget and necessarily crude but it is highly sincere and I am still proud to have been part of the crew! Come to think of it, it's really not that far removed from Hans Syberberg's masterpiece Parsifal, which is a must for anyone with affinities for Wagner and tumultuous German history.

As a Bruckner fanatic, I grew up in an age when there were not that many recorded cycles. What has happened in the past decades has been astonishing, and delightful, and frustrating at the same time. The proliferation of recordings is astonishing. Once upon a time, a young conductor just had to play Mahler to get recognition, but today it seems Bruckner it is - every conductor tries it out, and those who don't get to perform Bruckner in the West do so in Japan and Asia. Arguably, Japan now probably has more Bruckner performances than the West (and many recordings, though few are inspiring). In the past decades, so many complete cycles have come out that it is astonishing. Barenboim had recorded the cycle 3 times, and the last (with the Staatskapelle) is simply the best (DG, and a great bargain), not necessarily because of him, but because the Berlin Staatskapelle makes such a lovely sound (you should also watch their videos, so committed they are). Indeed, this orchestra's other recent recordings (e.g. Brahms, Elgar, Schumann, DG) thoroughly put the BPO in the shades. Incidentally, East German Otmar Suitner was a predecessor at this august institution and he was a great conductor. Suitner did not record a complete cycle but the selected ones (Berlin Classics) rank with the best (he was also never less than very good in everything he recorded, including a Dvorak Symphony Cycle). Another sterling East German Bruckner conductor was Heinz Rogner, whose wonderful recordings are now super-budget (Brilliant Classics). The Czech Philharmonic, much loved by the Japanese (for good reason), delivered a series of wholesome performances under the little-sung previous director German Gerd Albrecht (Canyon, superb sound). Nothing "outstanding" about these, BUT the mastery, coherence and natural breath are, well, simply breath-taking and imho equal to what the estimable Lovro von Matacic had achieved previously (Supraphon). The never edgy and simply grand sound of the Czech PO is behind all these recordings, which are more similar than different (and somehow they sound better than in the very good but not quite great recordings on Decca of Czech works by Belalohvek, not to mention Russian works by Bynchov). Among cycles of the past decade, the best has to be the one by Gerd Schaller, with his ad-hog Philnarmonie Festiva (Profil). They recorded virtually all versions, plus various completions in the 9th, and there are virtually no losers among them. A fascinating cycle is by Remy Ballot and the St Florian forces (on the excellent label Gramola) These were recorded in the Linz cathedral  (Tim and I were there) and I can well understand the slow tempo as adjustment to acoustics. This is a surprisingly interesting cycle (an additional one by Ballot is by the Austrian Youth orchestra of the 8th, controversial but audiophile-related, as it was praised by Stereophile but panned by classicstoday; I side with Ralph Moore, who supported it). One to avoid is the one recorded by Mario Venzago with various smaller (and lesser) orchestras (CPO); No matter an interesting point here or there, Bruckner without a hefty sonority just doesn't work. I had high hopes for the ongoing Andris Nelsons/Leipzig Gewandhaus (DG), but even if I dig the orchestral playing I cannot be equally enthusiastic of the results. This is not meant to be a comprehensive survey, but I cannot resist mentioning Simone Young, who recorded the original versions with the Hamburg PO (Oehms), a cycle that can stand with Tintner (Naxos) and imho better than Inbal (Denon). I am not a fan of the original versions, but I certainly am a fan of her; just 2 concerts in HK (Elgar) and New York (a cataclysmic Mahler 6th) cemented that for me - I am a lifelong follower, and will try to catch her as often as I can (not often enough)! In the end, now that many women conductors have surfaced (almost a fad) I wish more of them would take up Bruckner (or be given the chance to)! However, the sobering fact is that many women classical listeners that I know don't cater to Bruckner - it seems this fellow is still as far removed from women now as he was in his own life (Simone Young being a rare exception)...

Bach It is impossible to imagine life without Bach. I particularly like to start the day with him, with his orchestral and keyboard works. I cannot think of anything that goes better with coffee than the Brandenberg Concerti (save maybe a good Vivaldi). For these works that I have listened to over five decades, I have explored almost every worthwhile version. For the past decade it has largely been the many splendid period performances. Once in a while, like recently, I'd go back and survey the older performances. You may be surprised that ancient versions by Reiner, Munch (RCA), Klemperer (EMI), and especially Horenstein (Vox) and Karajan (DG) do a creditable job and are mostly enjoyable. In the 70's I grew up with the recordings of Karl Ristenpart and his Saar Chamber Orchestra (on Nonesuch LPs but now on Decca). The Brandenburgs are still very decent in performance and sound, with depth of feeling rarely found in brighter modern travails; however, the Suites inevitably sound more plodden and less differentiated in their dance elements when compared to the best of modern period versions. Equally famous is the other Karl (Munchinger) with Stuggart on Decca (his second, stereo recordings), and the performances are broadly similar, on the stately side, and my preference has always been with Ristenpart (both have well known soloists). Another popular version, which was a real hit, was by the Jean-Francois Paillard Orchestra (Erato/RCA), which is lither than either German cycle, and a winner for its solists of the likes of Jean-Pierre Rampal and Maurice Andre (both have never been surpassed for my taste, and they also appear in the reliable later Baumgartner Lucerne Cycle, Eurodisc). However, on the streaming platform, the strings seem to be on the lean side. If you are the type who can work at home, perhaps you can spend several months streaming Bach in the morning! Of course, Harnoncourt's pioneering HIP cycle (Warner) is available for streaming.

Baltic The three tiny Baltic countries (ex-Soviet States), surrounded by Poland, the Ukraine and Russia, seem to exert undue musical influences. Ever since I heard decades ago Estonian Arvo Part's Fratres (Kremer, ECM) I became a follower. Through Part, I became very fond of of Latvian Peteris Vasks and other Russian composers like the more minimalist Giya Kancheli and Valentin Silvestrov (meanwhile being fan of the more polystylistic Schnitke and Gubaidulina). I keep a keen eye on recordings of their works. Recently, many lesser known composers from the region have surfaced. I am attracted by the music of Latvian (Canadian) Talivaldis Kenins (Ondine) more than that of contemporary Lithuanian Raminta Serksnyte (DG, Grazynte-Tyla).

The Musical Chair It is astonishing how often Artistic Directors and Chief Conductors of good orchestras have changed so much in such a short while. Above, I mentioned the basically wasted decades the once-great BPO spent under Abbado and Rattle. Imagine my utter surprise when (surfing Bilibili) I stumbled upon 24 year-old Klaus Makela, who has recently been appointed to the top posts of both the Oslo PO and Orchestre de Paris. Wow! Not much on Bilibili, but this concert with the OdP and Kirill Gerstein is definitely worthwhile (especially simce its pandemic precaution of reduced capacity and masks gave it special eloquence). Ravel's Pavane pour une enfant defunct was delicate and nuanced; the Bartok was fluent, though I'd have wished for more rhythmic flair; but the most surprisingly was a solid Bruckner 9th, not something you'd expect from this orchestra, but they delivered a cogent performance with surprisingly weighty sonority and at least some intimation of (Germanic) angst, better than many other recent performances from even Germanic forces. Grant you, this is quite an odd orchestra that has taken on more than its share of Germanic directors (including Karajan), whose reigns were however sometimes brief. Perhaps Daniel Harding and Paavo Jarvi had done some foundation work in the previous years, and the orchestra seems to be in good shape. Makela's outing with the Frankfurt SO in Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 is competent, but missing the ferocious nature of some of the music. I shall be watching this conductor, who had just been signed by Decca (first conductor in 40 years, to release an Oslo Sibelius cycle)! With his compatriot, the controversial Rouvali (soon to take up the Philharmonia post) he has a serious rival in Sibelius (having recorded the first 2 symphonies with Gothenburg for Alpha), but I'm betting on Makela.

Japanese Recordings Since I mentioned Canyon, it is just but one of the many Japanese Labels doing sterling work where major labels fail to. Denon, Exton, JVC are some others (and the likes of Altus and Green Door in historical issues). Many use Japanese Radio recordings (a treasure trove, especially for European orchestras on tour) and promote many formerly Soviet and Eastern European orchestras and conductors, like the CPO and under-rated Alexander Lazarev (I count myself very lucky to have heard him conduct in HK). Most are sonically superior.

For the Audiophile Many of the European video recordings are sonically (and musically) superior. Dvorak 9th is an Andris Nelsons special, and he conducts it well (better than his Bruckner, and Mahler for sure) and the many versions sound good (like the Gewandhaus). But for an absolute thrill, you should play Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony, one of my favorites. I have heard virtually every recording. Sonically my reference for the past years had been Chailly/Concertgebouw (Decca) until, recently, I re-discovered Ozawa/Toronto SO (RCA). Wow, what incredible energy and rhythmic panache, and exciting sound (The Loriod sisters too!). It is this conductor's best work, early in his career. Mind you, I have the original LPs, but this is a case that the digital remastering sounds superior, not surprising, given RCA's mediocre (at best) LP production value after their Living Stereo and Dynagroov periods. A must!

This one is a potpurri, but there are more exciting ones down the road - I continue to explore lesser known musicians rather than the well known. One shall be on women musicians, past and present, that I love, many of whom woefully underappreciated, even totally forgotten.