Customer Reviews

Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are top notch-recordings.

Recorded in 1985, after Solti had already been with the CSO for 15 years, the Orchestra is playing in top form under the direction of a world-class maestro at the peak of his career. The Orchestra plays with precision and verve: fast movements like the Italian's first and last movements, and the scherzo of the Scottish are unbelievably crisp without any sacrafice of energy. At the climax in the scerzo of the Scottish, when the orchestra is playing at the loudest, you can still hear every note and every rhythm and thus fully appreciate the genius of Mendelssohn's incredible counterpoint and orchestration skills. You get the feeling that the members of the orchestra are playing on the edge of their seats, something that one hardly hears any more on recordings and a virtue that is often lacking in live performance, even from the best orchestras.

In the slow movements, the Orchestra sustains the lines wonderfully even at soft dynamics and paces the phrasing (crescendos and diminuendos) wonderfully. I must say, however, that the orchestra often seems to be playing on the loud-and-fast side throughout. If I had to put forth a critique, I would say that the recording doesn't ever maintain those mystical soft textures in the quietest and most reserved sections and often is a bit too fleet in the grand tutti sections. The first criticism is more directed at the recording engineering than anything else, as the room sounds quite live, while the second can only be attributed to the conductor.

These are great overall performances; you will not be disappointed. They are performances that are amazingly crisp and full of details and, at the same time, the orcehstra does not lose sense of the big picture. And you get to hear both pieces on the same disc--two truly great symphonies played by a great orchestra. Highly recommended.

Sir Georg Solti did a magnificent job conducting the two popular pieces. The sound is wonderful...it's Chicago what else do you expect. The pieces are interpreted well. The quick tempos are played comfortably and the slows are lyrical and beautiful. This is an excellent choice for a music collection. I just wish The Hebrides was added to this recording.

There is some kind of "get hurry!" on the Scotish symphony, specially in the first movement, which is a non-grace surprise given the director's reputation.

There are some major improvements in the Italian symphony, which is more convincing.

The quality of the sound is very good, as we usually expect from Decca (London).

The average score (which could be summarized as Scotish 1; Italian 3; Sound Quality 5), in my opinion, has averaged a 3.

I am a Solti's fan, but I have to be honest, I was sadly disapointed with the Scotish; I only can imagine Solti being pursued by a monster, or something like that, in a race he ran playing this symphony. There are better choices for this one...

I personally love this CD. The tempos are brisk and the execution is meticolous. I like Solti's fast tempos for the Scottish Symphony. The sound is the best of all the Mendelssohn recordings I own(Abbado LSO, Karajan BPO, Haitink LPO). I like Karajan very much as well, but I do not particulary like the balance of his recording. The violins are very well present but the lower registar is very muddy and I believe Mendelssohn dramatic and exciting music needs crystal clear base. Like what Decca offers us here. I highly recommend this very poweful and exciting Chicago/Solti version of the Scottish and Italian Symphonies

Solti recorded everything in the orchestral repertoire, basically, and where his fiery style didn't apply, he was mostly lost. That's certainly true in these Mendelssohn readings, which replace grace and charm with cautious, routine conducting. There are spurts of fire, as in the finale of the Scotthish, but that, too, misses the mark. There is such lovely Mendelssohn from Karajan, Bernstein, Abbado, and many others that i would skip this one.