Re: Listening

[Robert Kunath <kunath@hilltop.ic.edu>]

Dear Bob & Judy, and fellow Gouldians,

	Oh, the Penguin Guide!  Like many of you, I suspect, I read
classical cd reviews as a kind of brain candy, and the Penguin Guide is a
lot of fun in that regard: gigantic, often informative, sometimes
irritating.  Having started on my first one back in 1978, I've worked
through 4-5 editions, and I've developed a sense for the strengths and
foibles of it.  On the whole, I think the editors have wide and
enthusiastic tastes, and the Guide is unbeatable reading at about 1:30
a.m. when my brain isn't up to the challenge of anything longer than 300
words.  But the editors do have what seem to me to be discernible biases
rooted in their English nationality, a bias often on display in
_Gramophone_ Magazine, for which the editors of the Penguin Guide do (or
did) write.  Their love and understanding of the English music scene is
immense, and I have learned a lot from it (their recommendations for
Beecham performances are dead on); their views about North American
performers, by contrast, sometimes seem tinged by a stereotypical view of
American "shallowness" or "showiness," and a tendency to regard US
orchestras as exemplars of "soulless perfection."  I am happy to say that
Gould saw exactly this tendency in the English reviewers--check out his
superb pastiche "Phonograph" (i.e. _Gramophone_) review of his recording
of the Liszt arrangement of the Beethoven Symphony No. 5.  The reviews of
Gould in the Penguin Guide are one of the things that I find irritating:
they sound stuffy and schoolmasterish ("tiresome vocalise," "far too
mannered to merit a general recommendation," etc.).
	I've also found very revealing the way their attitude towards
certain American performers changes over time.  Born in Cleveland, I have
a bias for the Cleveland Orchestra, whose recordings under George Szell
are often dismissed as exemplars of soulless music-making.  Back in 1978,
Szell's "Ring" cycle excerpts got a 2 star rating.  By the mid-80's it was
up to two and half. By 1990, it was three stars, and, in the current
edition, it's three stars and a rosette (to my great pleasure).  One has
to take it all with a grain of salt, and, last year, even the _Gramophone_
'fessed up, when a writer acknowledged the magazine's general lack of
interest (in the '50s and early '60s) in Dmitri Mitropoulous with the
comment "all criticism is parochial."  One does wish that we could hear a
few parochial North American voices, though: quite a lot of the classical
music commentary is produced by the English (Gramphone, BBC Music, Classic
CD, HiFi News and Review are all English, I believe).  It really shouldn't
be so hard for them to include a reasonable number of North Americans on
their reviewing staff, especially given that we do buy a significant
percentage of their magazines.  But at least one stereotype of Americans
seems to be true: we're more than willing to pay to be patronized!

	With apologies to U.K. list members, whom I hope I have not
offended,

Robert Kunath

On Mon, 28 Apr 1997, Bob & Judy Williams wrote:

> Alun, that's a good idea. That we all like Glenn is a given but what
> do we listen to otherwise and what comments do we have regarding
> label practices and other related horror stories.
>
> I want to trash Deutsche Grammaphon as severely as I can for short
> measure and for repetition from one disc to another. I recently
> bought by mail - a necessity where I live - L'nuit d'ete with Anna
> Sophie Van Otter. It came with several songs to be found on the same company's 2
> disc set of Berlioz Melodies. Was I unhappy? Oh, yes. What really
> adds to my discontent is the Penguin Guide which praises record
> companies for doing this! What is the opinion of the members of this
> guide? The worst (as well to be fair the best) CD's that I own had
> the Penguin's approval.
>
> I got to listening to performances of Beethoven's Op 111, one of the
> late sonatas. I compared Brendel, Roberts and Edith Vogel and I
> liked Vogel's the best for warmth and nice joining of the edges.
>
> Otherwise I like Takemitsu, Messiaen, Lutoslawski and Shostakovich.
>
> Best regards
>
> Bob Williams prospero@netins.net
>