Word: szell
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...some he is the link between Schubert's lyricism and Brahms' grandeur. But The New Grove Dictionary dismisses his symphonies as "inflated piano music with mainly routine orchestration." Because of their melodic fecundity and power, they remain widely performed and recorded. Still, conductors from Gustav Mahler to George Szell have edited their working scores, attempting to compensate for Schumann's putative deficiencies: amateurish orchestration; opaque, overdense textures; a shaky grasp of symphonic form...
...Wagner and the opening of the Brahms 2nd, was here also reminiscent of the tense introduction to the finale of the "Symphony Fantastique." The offstage trumpets and cuckoo-like clarinet were truly awesome. The strings sounded as tight and together as they do on recordings from the legendary Szell era, but much more joyous when they got to the main theme. It comes from Mahler's "Songs of a Wayfaring Lad" (the lied seemed to be the organizing principle of the whole concert) and is simply charming. Much of the pleasure of this movement is in the anticipation...
...could certainly gain immense quality and repertoire from a music director of Haitink's skills. It's true that Seiji Ozawa hasn't been talking about retirement, but Haitink gave the orchestra glimpses of Herbert von Karaian's Berlin Philharmonic, Carlos Kleiber's Vienna Philharmonic and George Szell's Cleveland Orchestra. If they could also strengthen their sound with a few more powerful players, the BSO would catapult itself back to the stature it knew under Charles Munch--that of the foremost symphony in the nation...
With 42 players remaining from the Szell era, the orchestra has lost none of its famous precision. Yet as buffed by Pierre Boulez, who became musical adviser after Szell's death in 1970; by Lorin Maazel, music director from 1972 to 1982; and now by Dohnanyi, it has added a voluptuousness that sets it above its stiffest American competition -- principally, Daniel Barenboim's Chicago Symphony, Leonard Slatkin's St. Louis Symphony and Kurt Masur's New York Philharmonic...
...Beginning with the Frankfurt Opera, where he was Georg Solti's assistant, Dohnanyi spent time in Lubeck, Cologne and finally his adopted hometown of Hamburg before heading to the shores of Lake Erie. He has ended any doubts about his abilities as a symphonic conductor with performances that combine Szell's rigor, Boulez's unerring ear and a controlled interpretative fire...