Word: tempi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Singers like Levine's spacious pace. Ekkehard Wlaschiha, the excellent Alberich, says that "to sing this music fast, you have to be Superman. Levine fulfills the tempi and he gives you time to phrase -- you can better form a musical arch." Adds Manfred Jung, a properly servile Mime: "It's no secret that the orchestra plays more quietly if the beat is not fast...
True, the playing in the Schumann was emotionally engaging, but I found the recording in its entirety to be remarkably free of real musical tension. The tempi were upright, and as a result, there was little momentum in either the forward or reverse directions. The individual playing was impressive, but I didn't find myself entirely convinced by the final product. By no means was I expecting tear-jerking renditions, but I did expect a recording that was more engaging than this...
...music makes the evenings a worthwhile proposition. In spite of dreadful limitations, Teresa Marrin, the music director, has managed to come up with a compelling reading of Mozart's score. Her tempi are brisk throughout (occasionally creating problems for some of the singers), and betray a wager on the comic rather than the mystical. The playing is controlled, and some roughness in the brass is more than forgivable given the splendid delivery of the all-important flute part...
...Francisco Ballet have recently restaged the work; Britain's Royal Ballet, the Soviet Kirov and Bolshoi companies have versions they consider historic. "Tchaikovsky's score markings are very close to what I want," notes Martins. "But people have been selfish through the years and accommodate themselves with slow tempi...
Mingus took meticulous care with the orchestrations, and Epitaph, as Schuller measures it, was "98% complete." Nonetheless, reconstructing the score involved some musical cryptoanalysis by Schuller and his associate, Andrew Homzy. Phrasing and tempi had to be established, and the endings of several sections were fragmentary, reflecting Mingus' common practice of working out finales with his musicians at rehearsals. One section called Interlude (The Underdog Rising) was in such chaotic shape that Schuller spent days cutting the unplayable score into 40 separate parts and then piecing it back together like a picture puzzle...