I listened to it a couple of times and I’m slightly surprised by your comments. I’ll have another go.
I know Jack and his father David is a good friend. We were playing golf the week after he recorded this, David was at the recording sessions having retired a couple of years ago, and they were very happy with it. It was recorded at the BBC Maida Vale studios where the BBC Symphony have been recording since the 1930s, and they know what they are doing. Jack is also quite experienced, having made quite a lot of orchestral recordings with Hyperion, who are also a serious outfit.
I’d be interested in what you think. Couple things, first I am no expert, and second I was not feeling good when I listened. I will also give it another go and see if I get a different impression. Last, I streamed it off Qobuz so that may have had an effect but that’s what I mainly listen to in my current circumstances.
Recording a soloist with stereo mics has become somewhat common as some performers move a great deal rapidly changing the perceived balance of soloist and orchestra. One needs to be careful with how the signals are panned in the sound stage when you do this as most want the soloist’s position pretty stable. It seems the mixing engineer’s concept of good sound staging does not match yours, and your preference would be to pan the two mic’s signals in the same place, eliminating the movement.
It’ll be late tonight … the main purpose of the disc was the Schoenberg concerto, but Brahms is paired because Schoenberg considered him something of a radical, although moreso in his his chamber works. It may be a 12-note piece, but is in classical form. Other pairings made are understandable (Verklarte Nacht, the Sibelius or Berg concertos), but the Brahms makes more sense from Schoenberg’s point of view, rather than looking back historically.
So have a listen to the Schoenberg. I’ve not yet got round to listening to the Faust version. She’s one of my favourites and I’ve heard her perform many times, including all the Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas.
Most of the recordings have been done for radio orchestras, this one was done for broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
The part of the recording they apparently liked the most was the Adagio of the Brahms, done in the last 10 minutes at the end of a session.
Incidentally, these recordings are done fairly quickly. The BBC SO has a huge repertoire, being the main orchestra in the BBC Proms, the largest classical festival in the world, even with the Schoenberg they wrapped this whole thing up in 3 days.
Interesting. It may be that the perceived distance between center left and wide left is wider in my system than in the studio so to me it seems unnatural whereas to someone else it would be the normal movement of the player.
I have much to learn. That is a good thing.
Schoenberg is the much more interesting character. When he went atonal he took up teaching for a living and taught many of what became the Second Viennese School. He also took up painting, also to bring in some money, and received tuition from Richard Gerstl. It’s a long story, but Schoenberg’s wife had an affair with Gerstl and then ran off with him, then went back to him, still seeing Gerstl on the side.
Unsurprisingly Schoenberg was disinclined to invite Gerstl to musical soirees which he found difficult to take so committed suicide his studio. No ordinary suicide, he hung himself and repeatedly stabbed himself at the same time. Clearly not a call for help, even if he needed it.
Here’s Schoenberg’s famous self-portrait, from a catalogue of Viennese Portraits post 1900.
Gerstl was a complete psycho by that point. Anyway, all interested parties were apparently around at Alexander Zemlinsky’s place playing or listening to music.
Schoenberg’s wife Mathilde was Alexander Zemlinsky’s sister. Zemlinsky was the only music teacher Schoenberg ever had. Zemlinsky was highly regarded by Brahms, who promoted Zemlinsky’s music, and Schoenberg played cello in his orchestra. So there is a direct link between Brahms and Schoenberg.
I would also like a piano or drums sound as a whole, not the keyboard from left to right…same with marimba or vibraphone. Realistic sound starts at the recording and is quite rare.
I don’t have any problems with there sound at all. The first movement of the Brahms is a bit lugubrious to start. He plays the Kreisler cadenza, hardly surprising as Jack’s done a whole disc of Kreisler pieces on Hyperion.
I was listening near field with P3ESR and I’m listening again with headphones (MrSpeaker Aeon). Only issue was I got a new Samsung phone yesterday and the sound through my Chord Mojo was dreadful. I downloaded something called USB Audio Pro and all is go. In fact excellent in 24/192.
Jack Liebeck organises a 6-day music festival in Oxford, meant to have been last weekend, which is a mixture of music and science lectures. It’s fabulous. Please everyone fly to Oxford next May.
