Mahlers 5th is good, but I think his 4th is better.
But my personal favorite is Beethoven’s 5th. I used to HATE that symphony when I was a kid, my grandmother loved it and it bored me to tears.
Turns out the version she had on CD that she always listened to was the worst recording you can find of it. It was WAY too slow, it made the whole thing drag on. That symphony works best when it’s damn near rushing. When I got back into classical a few months back I found the Berliner Philharmoniker playing it directed by Simon Rattle, and the sprint through that symphony, and it works SO MUCH BETTER. It was very clearly intended to be played fast, so many of the parts feel way more interesting and there’s sections where each part of the orchestra feels like it’s tripping over the others to be heard.
Since you look much more knowledgeable than me, could you help me understand how to navigate the overwhelming amount of different versions for every piece of music? For now I’m completely ignoring who’s playing and conducting and sometimes I timidly try to listen to another version, usually just to come back to the comfort of the first version I listened
Mahlers 5th is good, but I think his 4th is better.
But my personal favorite is Beethoven’s 5th. I used to HATE that symphony when I was a kid, my grandmother loved it and it bored me to tears.
Turns out the version she had on CD that she always listened to was the worst recording you can find of it. It was WAY too slow, it made the whole thing drag on. That symphony works best when it’s damn near rushing. When I got back into classical a few months back I found the Berliner Philharmoniker playing it directed by Simon Rattle, and the sprint through that symphony, and it works SO MUCH BETTER. It was very clearly intended to be played fast, so many of the parts feel way more interesting and there’s sections where each part of the orchestra feels like it’s tripping over the others to be heard.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Since you look much more knowledgeable than me, could you help me understand how to navigate the overwhelming amount of different versions for every piece of music? For now I’m completely ignoring who’s playing and conducting and sometimes I timidly try to listen to another version, usually just to come back to the comfort of the first version I listened