Surprising Work Performed by a Conductor

[jserraglio]

Which work or composer did you never expect to hear performed by a particular conductor?

My entry is the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem / Pierre Boulez, BBCSO, with Heather Harper and Hermann Prey July 20, 1973, London.

[maestrob]

The first idea that comes to mind is Ozawa's recording! in Boston of Mahler VIII, which shows that he simply had no affinity for Mahler at all.

This is a good question, and deserves some reflection.....

[John F]

Mossolov's "Iron Foundry" conducted by Arturo Toscanini. He included it in two 1933 concerts with the New York Philharmonic. It wasn't broadcast so I'll never hear it.

[THEHORN]

I like that Mahler 8th . Ozawa has recorded all nine Mahler symphonies with the BSO for Philips . I haven't heard 1,2, 7 and 9 , but the others are pretty good . Ozawa's Mahler is somewhat more restrained than some other Mahlerians, but not at all dull .

[Ricordanza]

Speaking of Mahler, my first hearing of Mahler 5 was at a Philadelphia Orchestra summer concert (at the Mann Music Center) conducted by someone not generally considered a Mahlerian--Charles Dutoit. As I recall (it was quite a few years ago), it was a fine performance.

[maestrob]

Several years back, I bought a DVD of Massenet's Manon with Netrebko led by, of all people, Barenboim. It's quite good, and I heartily recommend it: he had to learn the work on short notice, but all went well!

[R Gifford]

After years of HIP performances Roger Norrington turned to the symphonies of Ralph Vaughan-Williams--five symphonies in studio performances on Decca (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) and live performances of all nine, except for No. 7, and in Berlin, of all places. There may be other performances unknown to me. What surprises me is that Norrington really has the RVW sound down pat and the performances are really excellent. Now RN/RVW is a really unusual combination of conductor/composer. I also find that George Szell has four William Walton recordings to his credit. Aside from the brief Delius Irmelin Prelude, these Walton recordings are the only examples of Szell conducting any Twentieth century British works on record. I'd include Szell/Walton as an example of unusual composer/conductor combination.

[jbuck919]

Danny Kaye, who could not read music, going on the road to conduct just a handful of works, including a surprisingly good Beethoven's Fifth.

[jserraglio]

My entry is the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem / Pierre Boulez, BBCSO, with Heather Harper and Hermann Prey July 20, 1973, London.

I was wrong. Boulez performed a good amount of Brahms during his time at the Philharmonic:

Brahms Violin Concerto (1976 and 1975)
Brahms Symphony No. 1 (1976)
Brahms Double Concerto (1976)
Brahms Academic Festival Overture (1975)
Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn (1975)
Brahms Symphony No. 4 (1974)
Brahms Concerto for Piano No. 2 (1973)
Brahms Serenade No. 2 (1973)

[maestrob]

There's a funny story about Boulez/Brahms Piano Concerto I, told to me by a former cellist in the Cleveland orchestra at the time. It seems that Boulez couldn't get the introduction to work: everything was just too slow. Over and over, he tried, but he just couldn't get the right tempo. Finally, somebody spoke up, saying: "Maestro, it's in 2!" Boulez, having no sense of the music, had been conducting in 6, which dragged everything!

I saw Boulez in a live telecast of Mahler VII. The first movement dragged terribly: he conducted it in 8 (one pulse for each note), when it should be done in 4.

Obviously, he was doing his learning in public, which is no place for a "Great Conductor" to do so. His instincts were fine in Debussy/Ravel and other XXth century music, but he lacked a feel for German Romantics, not surprising.

[jserraglio]

Well, at least he learned. I heard him conduct the M7 in Severance Hall in the 1990s and it was terrific.