Good performances of Rossini overtures of the kind taken for granted by a previous generation whenever men like Beecham, Gui, Serafin, or Toscanini stepped on to the rostrum are something of a rarity these days. Too often, conductors, orchestras, and engineers turn poor Rossini into what Scott Goddard once called that "obese old gallant". (Not always very gallant, either.) Happily, in these pieces as in much else besides, Claudio Abbado is a cut above the average.
No doubt, this is one of the pinnacles of Abbado and the LSO recording collaboration; these symphonies are presented with a keener sense of joy, bite and forward momentum, perfectly executed throughout by the orchestra. As supplement, the set brings the Scherzo that Mendelssohn orchestrated to become a new 3rd movement of the Symphony no.1, as well excellent performances of 3 overtures, including the famous Hebrides. Note that this is the first edition of the set; there's a recent one that comes with more overtures, that were originally released in a separate cd.
Though Serkin isn`t concertizing a great deal these days, he remains a fascinating pianist on disc. Some listeners (this one included) find Serkin`s playing occasionally too pointed and harsh. Yet for those who tire of the delicate, jewel-box Mozart that is fashionable among pianists today, Serkin surely represents a compelling alternative. His performances of the Concertos Nos. 15 (K. 450 in B-flat Major) and 22 (K. 482 in E-flat Major) are expansive, thoughtful and pleasantly unhurried. In slow movements, he`s never less than thoughtful, creating some exquisite pianissimos in the process. Abbado is ever the sensitive accompanist.
The Italian conductor Claudio Abbado is one of the most outstanding conductors of the 20th century. It was his unique ability to make sound and music shine (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), for which he was celebrated internationally by both the press and the audience. In addition to his long-standing relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Vienna Philharmonic, he has also been chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra for many years (1979 to 1986), with which he has recorded a rich discography over the years.
The sad thing about this 2008 Deutsche Grammophon disc is not the music, which is unfailingly bright and cheerful, nor the program, which is consistently surprising and delightful, nor the performances, which are unendingly smiling and life-affirming. The sad thing about this disc compiled and conducted by Claudio Abbado called Marce & Danze (Marches and Dances) is that the Italian maestro is no longer performing or recording as nearly much he used to owing to the swift decline of his health.
Mendelssohn's reputation is solid as a "happy" Romantic; if (as some have claimed) he lacks passion, he makes up for it with exquisite sensibility and controlled emotion. These qualities are featured in Claudio Abbado's take on these seven overtures. …Fair Melusina Overture, inspired by a Kreutzer opera in which a husband learns his wife must turn into a mermaid once a week, and condemns her to her mermaid state forever. Gendered passages (sweet and then stern) compete with each other in a piece which gives oboes a workout. Melusina is a solid entree; the other six are desserts.
Abbado’s mature style ‘in embryo’ together with a fairly impressive example of what Decca could achieve at the Kingsway Hall back in February 1968 (the odd conspicuous edit notwithstanding). The Janacek is basically quite similar to Abbado’s 1987 BPO remake, save that the opening Allegretto is slower and rather less assured that it later became and the Moderato has a more incisive attack from the brass, especially at around the central climax.
Composed in 1803, while Beethoven was also writing the ‘Eroica’ Symphony, Christ on the Mount of Olives (Christus am Ölberge) is the composer’s only oratorio and combines the emotive force of his later Missa Solemnis with the theatre of a Bach Passion. With orchestra, chorus and soloists, it tells the story of Jesus’ prayer and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and also reflects the emotional pressure Beethoven was under at the time.