Customer Reviews

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade/Capriccio Espagnol

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is no need to add too much to the glowing praises already humped onto this recording. This disc stands as a testament to the greatness of the LSO's virtuosity, its great violin soloist (Hulmanns) and the skilful, seductive conducting of Mackerras. If you are a fan of Scheherazade this CD is mandatory in your collection, regardless if it becomes your No.1 favourite or not.

The only quibble that could be raised is the overly w-i-d-e dynamic range of the recording. This CD is one of Telarc's audio engineering spectaculars, but listening to it at lowered volume levels late at night is a problem due to the immense -dB range, especially in the third movement. At lower volume levels, Hulmann's delicate playing is barely discernible. This rules it out as a Scheherazade for considerate late-night listening.

The performance is one in a million. Both works are played brilliantly. Scheherazade's beginning is powerfull, the first part of the second movement y lovely, soft, the rest is just great. The third movement is absolutely romantic and the fourth is breathtaking. The capriccio, one of my favorite works in the entire world of classical music is performed just as a miracle, in fact, the best performance I've heard (listen to the harp. Mackerras was great in this recording, as always in his recordings. Besides, the sound of the recording is absolutely clean and that counts too. Don't leave this recording out of your collection.

I confess, Sheherazade is my all-time favorite piece of music, bar none. You only need two four-letter words to describe this recording: FULL and LUSH. This recording is romantic to the hilt. Mackerras carresses every last drop of ecstasy out of the London Symphony Orchestra. His Sheherazade is breathtakingly hypnotic, not unlike the lady herself. It is like a fine opiate. (By the way, Mackerras approaches this piece with a technique similar to the great Sir Adrian Boult.) The soundscape provided by Telarc will absolutely blow you away! It is like an opening into another dimension. The only reason I give this 4 instead of 5 stars is the inclusion of the Cappriccio Espagnol. While it is a nice piece in its own right, it completely burns away the intangible, drug-induced haze that is woven so carefully for you by Sheherazade. By it for Mackerras' Scheherazade alone. This version kicks butt and takes names!

Sir Charles Mackerras is not as well known as some of his contemporaries, yet he is undoubtedly one of our finest conductors of symphonic and operatic music. He feels at home conducting a small ensemble such as New York City's Orchestra of Saint Luke's (He recently relinquished his musical directorship of this ensemble) or the great London Symphony Orchestra. With regards to music his conducting of Rimsky-Korsakov is as splendid as his conducting of Mozart or Haydn. Here he leads the London Symphony Orchestra in two of the finest performances I have heard of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and Capriccio Espagnol. Certainly both rank as definitive performances and are labelled as such in the Grammophone and Penguin CD guides. Telarc's sound quality is exceptional as always. If you have not yet heard a Mackerras' recording, this fine CD is a worthy introduction.

Being a big fan of this piece, I have collected a number of recordings. As far as pure sound goes, this recording has yet to be surpassed in my estimation. The detail of the orchestral colors are caught magnificently by Telarc (digitally). A favorite highlight of mine in this performance is the violin solos. The soloist is incredible. Some of the notes the Rimsky-Korsakov wrote in Scheherazade are extremely difficult even for the most accomplished concertmasters. However, here you'll find that the soloist not only gets the notes right on pitch, but with some of the most beautiful soft and rich tones that I've heard on record.

Mackerras leads an incredibly charged performance. I think one of Mackerras' favorite instruments must be the trombone, because in the many recordings I have him conducting in, the trombone parts seem to be emphasized. There's no exception in this recording of Scheherezade, and the effect is dazzling. Along with that, the sonics of bass drums banging and cymbals crashing, you'll hear glories of recorded sound that you just can't hear in classic recordings such as Karajan's, Reiner's, etc. Certainly, this recording is a classic in and of itself. As a lover of Scheherezade, I whole-heartedly recommend this recording as a great performance, a great recording, and a classic example of the orchestral colors that Rimsky-Korsakov became famous for.

I'm so happy, I've finally found the recording of this music I can live with! I've listened to Reiner's (too fast), Kondrashin's (bad brass playing), Yuasa's (bad sound), Beecham's (again, rubbish brass playing)... but finally I've found a GREAT recording that has everything. BUY this one now people! Schehererazade is reborn !!!!

Why would one give the RECORDING IN QUESTION a rating of one star . . . when the PROBLEM was entirely NOT the fault of Charles Mackerras, or the LSO, or Telarc, or even Rimsky-Korsakov, for that matter? Yeah, I don't know, either. It appears that Amazon--being run by humans--was less than perfect and just flat-out screwed up. I can't imagine that Amazon wouldn't correct the problem, if one would ask nicely.

Anyway, I own this disc, and it is wonderful. The recorded sound is vibrant and rich, befitting these lush romantic masterpieces very well. Listening to this evocative music, one is easily transported to the ancient middle-east or to Spain. The violin solo work on both pieces is crisp and immediate.

For $15 (two lunches) you get an hour of musical fantasy that you can enjoy for a lifetime. I have no problem giving this a five-star rating, and I can thank of no (sane) reason for giving it one star.


Mike

I had great hopes for this recording, but was disappointed after only a few seconds of listening. That disappointment only grew as I listened more. This recording is destined to be one of those that I put on the shelf and never bother to listen to again.

Nothing is wrong with the performance per se. At first I suspected distortion, most likely attributable to the microphones having been driven past their linear capability. This happens surprisingly often with symphony recordings. I sat and listened to the recording from start to finish a second time, and liked it even less the second time, and began to suspect the acoustics of the venue. I turned to the inside back of the pamphlet, and saw that it was recorded at Walthamstow Town Hall. I was not familiar with it. After doing a little on-line research, I learned that it is located in London, and that it is one of three "town hall auditoriums" that were built in the interwar years. It is not the most popular among the three, but it has evidently been held in good regard by some esteemed recording engineers starting in the very early days of recorded music. It evidently has a basic rectangular shape with large parallel walls on the side. It is noted for its "rich acoustics". I ran into this descriptive phrase several times. Translation: lots of reverb and echo. You may ask why recording engineers like lots of reverb and echo. I do not know why. It is a subjective thing. I have long suspected that many recording engineers went deaf sometime in the early part of their careers and that subsequently they liked whatever sounded loud. In a word, Walthamstow Town Hall is a loud venue, evidently. Personally, I have almost no tolerance for that kind of highly reverberant sound. Many older analog recordings have that sort of sound, that many people like, but that to my ear just sound grainy and nasty. If you are found of that kind of sound, you'll probably like this recording. Of all my Telarc recordings, this is my least favorite of all, by a considerable margin. I expect that if I were to attend a concert at Walthamstow town hall, I would probably have to get up and walk out.

Believe every bit of it. This album has twelve 5-star reviews for a reason. I've read so many 5-star reviews of this performance and all of them say this is the best ever and it is. believe what you read. anything less than a 4-star review is underrating it. believe the hype and believe the reviews of this performance because it is the best!

It took me quite a long time to get to this recording and was I happy when I did. Mackerras leads the LSO like I have never heard before. They sound fully committed and their performance shows. The excellent recorded sound demonstrates first-rate solo playing by all the principal members. Scheherazade can easily get out of control and it never does here. This is easily at the top of my list. Highly recommended.