Worst Recordings

[Luke]

Do we have a thread for 'worst recordings'? My current vote is for Geoffrey Saba's Stravinsky

(Of course this is insanely difficult repertoire, but if you can't do it, Geoffrey, don't opt to record it for posterity. It's as crazy as an 11 year old sightreading the Hammerklavier... )

[Mandryka]

Do we have a thread for 'worst recordings'? My current vote is for Geoffrey Saba's Stravinsky

(Of course this is insanely difficult repertoire, but if you can't do it, Geoffrey, don't opt to record it for posterity. It's as crazy as an 11 year old sightreading the Hammerklavier... )

It's just too subjective. By coincidence yesterday I listened to an old recording, Konstantin Igumnov playing Chopin op 58. And I said to myself, I can't tell whether this is very good or very bad! It is very inspired though -- just not maybe good inspiration! Dunno.

[Brian]

The first thing my mind went to was the British prime minister Edward 'Ted' Heath's recording of the Cockaigne Overture with the LSO. But he is an amateur, so perhaps that explains why his tempo gets gradually slower and slower over the course of the piece. His arms were getting tired 

The second thing that sprung to mind was this error-filled live recording that was for some reason released anyway:

Don Juan only. Why? Because this Don Juan f*$%#ing sucks. Sorry, but it's the kind of thing I would expect from, say, the Colchester Philharmonic, not the Philharmonia. Rouvali is mostly to blame. He stretches the piece to 19 minutes, but speeds through some of the big climaxes; it's long because the slow love scenes are soup. At their two big moments, the French horns are not prominent enough (try Previn/LSO!). The very first statement of the theme has a wrong rhythm, which sets the tone for the rest. Oddly, the oboe solo is so bright and shrill it sounds like a trumpet!

Add in tepid playing and rather shallow live recorded sound - it sounds like a radio broadcast - and there is no reason this should have ever been released to the public. Put it in the orchestra's archive where it belongs, and leave it there.

[Roasted Swan]

Do we have a thread for 'worst recordings'? My current vote is for Geoffrey Saba's Stravinsky

(Of course this is insanely difficult repertoire, but if you can't do it, Geoffrey, don't opt to record it for posterity. It's as crazy as an 11 year old sightreading the Hammerklavier... )

Its curious because there is another Saba disc of piano showpieces that he plays very well (a VERY early CD);



so he clearly does have the technique for this kind of music - I wonder why it went so wrong in the Stravinsky?

[Roasted Swan]

The first thing my mind went to was the British prime minister Edward 'Ted' Heath's recording of the Cockaigne Overture with the LSO. But he is an amateur, so perhaps that explains why his tempo gets gradually slower and slower over the course of the piece. His arms were getting tired 

The second thing that sprung to mind was this error-filled live recording that was for some reason released anyway:

I saw Santtu do some Strauss with the Phiharmonia very soon after his appointment as principal conductor.  I disliked just about every moment of it!  No sense of a "bigger picture" just lots of musical incidents along the way which did not cohere at all.  The orchestra played well enough with Santtu prancing around on the podium like the love child of Harry Potter and a Hobbit.

[Mandryka]

   

[Mandryka]

   

Actually, I'll take this back. I've actually started to play it and it amazingly good. I'm not sure I'll get through the whole thing but still!

[(poco) Sforzando]

I would say anything by Arthur Schoonderwoerd, doubtless the worst pianist alive.

[Todd]

I would say anything by Arthur Schoonderwoerd, doubtless the worst pianist alive.

You might just have given me a new listening project.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Actually, I'll take this back. I've actually started to play it and it amazingly good. I'm not sure I'll get through the whole thing but still!

So, had you heard it before and didn't like it?  Or just initial thoughts upon looking at the compositions and the performers? 

PD

[DavidW]

I would say anything by Arthur Schoonderwoerd, doubtless the worst pianist alive.

You've found something to agree with Hurwitz about!

[(poco) Sforzando]

You've found something to agree with Hurwitz about!

Stopped clock twice a day . . .

[(poco) Sforzando]

You might just have given me a new listening project.

I admit Riccardo Schwarz has given him some competition.

[(poco) Sforzando]

The first thing my mind went to was the British prime minister Edward 'Ted' Heath's recording of the Cockaigne Overture with the LSO. But he is an amateur, so perhaps that explains why his tempo gets gradually slower and slower over the course of the piece. His arms were getting tired 

Wait until you hear his Sibelius 5.

[Mandryka]

I would say anything by Arthur Schoonderwoerd, doubtless the worst pianist alive.

Have you heard his Winterreise? I think it is outstanding.

[Mandryka]

So, had you heard it before and didn't like it?  Or just initial thoughts upon looking at the compositions and the performers? 

PD

I had no memory of the variety. To me now it sounds like an immersive set of variations.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Have you heard his Winterreise? I think it is outstanding.

Does he sing too?

[San Antone]

I would say anything by Arthur Schoonderwoerd, doubtless the worst pianist alive.

I doubt that is true.  I am a fan of period instrument recordings, and have enjoyed his that I've heard. But his recordings as a conductor I find even more enjoyable; his recent Mozart Requiem is a refreshing interpretation, one which has become my favorite.

[AnotherSpin]

I would say anything by Arthur Schoonderwoerd, doubtless the worst pianist alive.

I generally like the recordings of Arthur Schoonderwoerd.

[AnotherSpin]

It's as pointless to name the worst recordings as it is to name the best. In any case, it's entirely subjective. Personally, I find some of Richter's recordings very bad, and nearly all of Pletnev's. In Richter's case, I hear some sort of vulgar and excessive voluntarism. The Liszt concertos LP with Kondrashin disgusted me so much that I broke the vinyl and tore the cover into small pieces. Though that was about forty years ago; maybe now it would be different. With Pletnev, I always end up in a bad mood, like I'm being sucked into some kind of Black Hole.