The Greatest Brahms Symphony Cycle You’ve Probably Never Heard

Gerard Schwarz is one of those conductors who, for whatever reason, just isn’t fashionable now. His sizeable discography suggests that perhaps he was at one time - or at least that the CD recording boom of the 1990s was kind to him.

His recordings have been a fascination of mine for a while, not least because of his preference for antiphonal violins at a time when hardly anyone else did it. He is mainly associated with two major orchestras with whom he held music director posts with: the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

A few years ago I stumbled across his Brahms symphony cycle, recorded with the Seattle Symphony between 2007 and 2010. Until recently it hasn’t been widely available and I bought it directly from the Seattle Symphony website. It was one of those symphony cycles I found myself listening to from start to finish - and there aren’t too many of those. Barenboim’s Schumann cycle is another such example for me (sadly deleted from the catalogue at the moment).

What marks out this Brahms cycle from the countless others out there is quite hard to describe. There’s nothing flashy: no interpretative quirks or spotlighting in the recording. Schwarz lets this astonishing music speak for itself. As a conductor, achieving this is not a passive act of simply letting the orchestra play the music with no interpretative direction - it’s far more difficult than that. Orchestral musicians each (and collectively) come with their own ideas about how this music should be performed, either from their own or others’ performing traditions. Persuading them to leave these at the door and look at the works afresh requires diplomacy, will and skill on the part of the conductor.

What we hear in these recordings is a fairly natural concert hall soundstage, albeit a touch over-resonant and lacking in the mid-frequency range (by which I mean violas). There is a Central European feel to the sound, with a generous cushion of strings founded on a firm bass and wind instruments not overly prominent. Tempi are generally broad, relentlessly so at times with Schwarz refusing to put his foot on the accelerator (or brake) where many others are tempted to do so for effect. This only intensifies the music, the counterpoint in particular.

The contrabassoon unexpectedly emerges in the sound picture where so often you don’t hear it in the first, third and fourth symphonies. You really don’t hear it in most recordings, which makes me wonder why the poor players were even booked! It’s not crude or overbalanced - just there. Trombones the same.

All the repeats are there, even sounding natural in the first symphony. The final wonder for me: that triumphant chorale passage in the finale of the first symphony. In tempo! And all the more thrilling for that. (It’s how I do it, too).

Fortunately, these recordings are now more widely available in a Naxos box set ‘The Gerard Schwarz Collection’. So go get them - though you’re probably best streaming them if you don’t want to invest megabucks. Just don’t tell me they’re boring.

PS - check out some of his other recordings as well, while you’re at it. The Dvorak 6 is also a wonder.

The Album Thing (and the beginning of a love affair)

Most of you will have come across the 'ten albums' thing on Facebook that has been circulating since lockdown began. The premise is that people post ten albums that have great meaning to them on Facebook without explanation whilst tagging friends to take part at the same time. Having now been tagged three times I feel I can't avoid the exercise any longer.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit and have decided to post the ten albums here with explanation. I know this is against the rules, sorry, but if you can drive from London to Durham in lockdown and all that...

Anyway, I wanted to include explanation as these ten albums are a fond look back at the beginning of my love affair with classical music, around the age of 18. Sure, I'd played classical instruments since childhood but I'd not really appreciated or loved the music properly until then. My story goes like this...

Film music is a way into classical music for many people and it was no different for me. It helped that I was a total Star Wars geek in my teens. The music from the films couldn't fail to make an impact on me and I had to have it to listen to in my shiny new personal CD player. Here also began my love affair with the London Symphony Orchestra. The LSO of the seventies was by then a thrillingly virtuosic orchestra and perfect for symphonic film scores like this. 

But it wasn't until I woke up to the final movement from this symphony on Classic FM one morning as I was struggling with a major relationship breakup, that my classical music journey really took off:

Apologies for the poor photo quality. I discovered this CD in HMV after hearing that amazing music on the radio. Here began my love affair with the music of Sergei Prokofiev. He remains my favourite composer to this day. I'm fascinated by his personality as well as his musical genius and those two things are inextricably linked. This is clear when you read his diaries. For me, his music is open-hearted and direct, which is perhaps why it resonates with me so much. I can't possibly document his whole output and life story here but in his later music composed in the Soviet Union it is quite obvious to me when he is being sarcastic and when he is being genuine. I don't imagine many of the Soviet officials could tell the difference, such was his genius.

Russian music has long been a staple of mine. Prokofiev's music offers a glimpse both forward into modernism and backwards into Russian nationalism. It was easy to move into the music of Stravinsky and Shostakovich from there as well as Rimsky Korsakov and the world of the 'Mighty Five' nationalist composers.

Musorgsky (oh how we love all the different spellings of Russian names) didn't write a huge amount of music. He was obviously a troubled guy. What he did write depicts, for me, a raw picture of the Russian soul (inasmuch as a random English guy like me imagines). I'm not a massive opera fan but Boris Godunov and Khovanschina contain some of my favourite music and harmonic progressions. Claudio Abbado's Musorgsky albums are so important as he really is the advocate for the composer on disc. The LSO once again is on terrific form in the above album, particularly in the fantastic original version of St John Night on a Bald Mountain (or whatever it gets called variously). You won't want the Rimsky version ever again once you hear that. No other conductor gets close.

For someone who has conducted more Beethoven than anything else, it may come as a surprise to know that I avoided his music like the plague until about 2003. I was young and naive and basically couldn't see the attraction to such 'tonic dominant' music without colour and interesting orchestration (see above). I was a postgraduate student in Manchester at this time. Then I heard Beethoven on period instruments. That changed everything. Those colours I couldn’t hear before? Right there all of a sudden. It was mostly bands like the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment I was hearing at that time on radio broadcasts but I soon moved on to the new wave of Beethoven recordings from chamber orchestras with a period feel.

This set in particular spent a long time in my car CD player but looking back now it’s a pity Harnoncourt didn’t go for antiphonal violins as that spoils things for me a bit now. Curiously, these kinds of recordings and performances helped me eventually appreciate the kind of ‘big band’ Beethoven performance style that I’d been repelled by for so many years previously. I can take Beethoven most ways now (though I’d say chamber orchestras remain my preferred purveyors).

The period instrument movement and chamber orchestra treatment of Beethoven led me to similar approaches to Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Schumann, which deepened my connection with these composers. This was all around the time I was training to be a conductor and forming my own chamber orchestra. These styles have heavily influenced my approaches when conducting these composers but I have to say recordings like the above are my guilty pleasures and I’ve increasingly swung back to broader tempi in more recent years. I have to say I’m not the greatest Barenboim fan but it is time to talk about a recording from my conducting hero who just might have had a massive influence on me.

Sir Colin really is one of my great conducting heroes and a man I was lucky enough to meet and observe in rehearsal as well as concert. As with Prokofiev, I am fascinated with his personality - something of a sharp-edged and fiery fellow in his younger days but who made the transition to a calm, wise and kindly master who was most understated about his own position in the music-making. His style is unmistakeable, however. He gave space to the music: space for it to breathe, space between phrases, space for an upbeat. He had a fantastic and unmistakable baton technique, wielding the stick like a sabre, yet with the utmost clarity.

This brings me to Elgar, not a composer I had any affinity for prior to hearing this recording. It was the way I came to know Elgar symphonies and so I was quite shocked to realise subsequently that most recordings of these works do not sound like this! Many of his ‘Indian summer’ recordings like this on LSO Live are revelatory in their own way. The sound is, of course, far from ideal in the Barbican acoustic but once your ear adjusts it’s fine. While we’re talking about late Romantic...

Here’s how I got into Mahler. This composer once seemed impenetrable to my younger self. I guess at the time Sir Simon moved to Berlin I had only recently got into attending classical concerts and so I sadly missed most of his Birmingham tenure. His somewhat god-like status around here led me to check out this recording (as well as the concert video relay). It’s Rattle at his best, finding all those fantastic crunch points in the music and playing them for all they are worth. I don’t rate his recordings generally but his Mahler is always worth a listen. It’s not my library choice now (that remains Chailly with the Concertgebouw), partly because the horns are woefully under-balanced, but I do like to go back to it every now and then. If you like it then go on to Abbado and then Chailly.

It wouldn’t be right to talk about my love affair with classical music and not mention Brahms, who remains my second favourite composer. He is still a composer who divides opinion even amongst people with a great appreciation of classical music. I can see why - it’s not music that’s easy to ‘get’ unless you’ve either played it or really found that magical recording that converts you. Two discs are particularly special for me:

Be warned, this is music that is likely to ‘get you’ if you’re feeling in any way sensitive or emotional. More than that, though, it’s the sound of the natural horn (preferred by the composer over the more modern valved instrument) that works so well that makes this first choice for me. Then there’s these:

That Gewandhausorchester sound! Rich, dark, fiery. These are epic performances by a fine and un-showy pianist. I’ve a lot of time for Chailly, too. He really transformed the orchestra into what it is today - and brought back antiphonal violins!

What to choose for my final album? I considered going for something I have been listening a lot to recently. I guess I actually have so many different recordings of the works I love that it makes it hard to narrow them down. Having cycled through many beloved composers in my head I have alighted on...Mozart.

This set was a revelation. The sound - a modern instrument chamber orchestra with natural horns, trumpets and timpani - is just spot-on for this repertoire. I don’t know any other recordings that come close to this though many have merits of course. If I could bottle this style and hear Haydn, Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven and Schubert in it I certainly would. This orchestra has, of course, recorded these other composers but none have the impact nor freshness of Mackerras here.

So, that’s my album thing. Just a snapshot of the hundreds of recordings I’ve listened to over the years. Maybe the list would look different on a different day but it’s nice to get chance to look back at my journey into classical music, which thankfully never gets tiring.

The Rise and Rise of Antiphonal Violins

I still recall the thrill of it. That CD release back in April 2006. It was revelatory in so many ways, though it's more difficult to appreciate that now. For me, anticipation was high: my favourite orchestra, one of the greatest living conductors and the start of a new Beethoven symphony cycle on disc - the first such high profile cycle in many years. What could a new cycle tell us about Beethoven that previous ones had not?

That disc.  (C) London Symphony Orchestra

Bernard Haitink's previous Beethoven on disc was sure but solid - no bad thing, but not exactly revelatory. Also, much as I greatly admired both Haitink and his orchestra for this new cycle - the London Symphony Orchestra - neither were previously acclaimed in this repertoire. And yet, with a great whacking 'thwum', the opening chord of Beethoven's seventh symphony struck me like a blow to the solar plexus. Within just a few bars, the trademark sound of this cycle was evident: hard and hefty timpani playing, a viscera-rattling double bass section and...antiphonal violins.

Haitink didn't 'do' antiphonal violins, did he? Not that I can recall. It was as though he'd been awaiting this moment to 'come out' as an antiphonalist in spectacular style. I realise 'antiphonalist' is not actually a word, by the way, but if it did it would almost certainly describe me. Back in 2006, not many symphony orchestras were arranged with antiphonal violins regularly and very few were recorded as such. At the time I was in the process of establishing my own orchestra, Eroica Camerata, and it felt like quite the act of rebellion to seat them in this way from the outset. Players and audience members alike were somewhat bemused but generally accepted the arrangement at the least as a 'period quirk'. Little did most of them know, or even recall, that almost all symphony orchestras were seated this way until the middle of the twentieth century.

After Haitink's revelatory Beethoven symphony cycle, there have followed many more. Who would have thought there was an appetite for these before this set was released? What is most notable for me, however, is the fact that almost every high profile, modern instrument, Beethoven symphony cycle since then has featured antiphonal violins. Dare I ask, but was this the moment when the traditional orchestral layout became fashionable again?

Since then, we have also seen a steady stream of conductors converted to antiphonal violins. Haitink was not the first in this respect, with Rattle, Barenboim and Gergiev before him. Nevertheless, there followed Vänskä, (Paavo) Järvi, Chailly, Blomstedt, Oramo, Dudamel, Adès, Nagano, Karabits, Collon, to name but some. Not all of these maestros adopt this layout in all repertoire but progress has been made.

It's not only Beethoven symphony cycles that have gone this way. It's the de rigeur arrangement for Schumann, Brahms, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Mahler and Elgar symphony releases these days. Sure, there are one or two sticks in the mud: Vasily Petrenko and Andris Nelsons spring to mind. Having said that, even Nelsons is having to utilise the arrangement in Leipzig where the Gewandhausorchester appear to have adopted antiphonal violins as a corporate layout since the Chailly era. Good on them.

Mirga goes antiphonal. (C) City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

I continue to be delighted by the sight and sound of so many orchestras (re)adopting this layout. Here in Birmingham, under the force of nature that is Mirga, even the CBSO has gone antiphonal, albeit only in repertoire from Mozart to Mahler. The BBC orchestras, on the other hand, remain somewhat resistant to antiphonal violins. The BBC Proms over the last five years or so are testament to this: while the proportion of visiting orchestras sporting antiphonal violins has increased dramatically in this period, the BBC orchestras mainly keep the violin sections together. I wonder if there is institutional or artistic resistance to altering the orchestral layout in these organisations?

There will continue to be a variety of orchestral layouts for as long as orchestras exist - and rightly so. I predict that the traditional, antiphonal, layout in symphony orchestras will return to predominate in the next fifty years, perhaps beyond. I doubt many will mind, the odd cellist perhaps excepted. Some, like me, will be more than happy about it.

Evidence from Sir Henry Wood's Autobiography

I have been reading Sir Henry Wood's autobiography, My Life of Music, and recently came across a revealing passage:

The book was published in 1938 and so this is compelling evidence that violins were still predominantly antiphonally seated in orchestras at this time, given his reference to "so few conductors" agreeing with his own "disposition".

I am slightly perplexed by his description of the placement of cellos opposite basses, however, as I can't picture what he meant by this. Perhaps this photograph of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from 1936 illustrates his point:

(from http://www.stokowski.org/Principal_Musicians_San_Francisco_Symphony.htm)

Here it can be seen that the principal cellos are located centrally while the double basses are situated to the right of stage (conductor's view). This is the nearest to opposite placement of cellos and double basses I can find evidence of or imagine. If anyone is able to shed any light on this, I'd be most grateful.

A quite bizarre orchestral layout in Birmingham

Having noticed in recent reviews that the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra had tinkered with their strings layout, I was keen to get along to a concert to see and hear how it was working out in practice.

For those readers not familiar with my blog posts, I am a nerdy student of orchestral layouts and a proselytiser for the use of antiphonal violins. As far as conducting is concerned, these matters are hardly unimportant though there are seemingly some practitioners who do little to demonstrate their engagement with them.

Anyway, I gathered that the CBSO had relocated their double bass section from the right hand side of the stage (conductor's view), behind the celli, to the rear of the stage. This change can be illustrated (very roughly) as follows:

From...

 to...

The concert I caught, conducted by Edward Gardner, featured a programme of Mozart and Elgar. For the Mozart, the smaller double bass section (represented by 'CB' in the diagrams above) remained on the right behind the celli. For the Elgar, featuring the full section of eight basses, the new formation was adopted.

Theoretically, this layout makes very little sense to me. Having rear-ranged basses like this is actually ideal as far as I am concerned, though my own orchestra has too few basses to make this a practical possibility. However, this is in the pursuit of making the bass the foundation of the orchestral sound, upon which everything else is built. As such, one would also ideally locate the celli in the centre of the sound picture and stage. This can either be centre-left (as Boult favoured) or centre-right (as Monteux favoured). If one is to follow this to the logical conclusion then the bassoons would be situated on the same side as the celli and the bass brass instruments would be situated more centrally also. My own hypothesis is that locating the celli on the same side as the horns creates the added benefit of underlining their melodic role in Romantic music when playing in unison.

Returning to the new CBSO layout, the bass sound would be expected to lose focus with the celli on the right and their bass colleagues disconnected and relocated to the rear of the stage. This was, indeed, the case in practice. Though the writing for celli and basses became more and more independent through the late Classical and Romantic periods, their co-ordination is still of great importance. At one stage in the concert I attended I saw a front desk cellist, seemingly vexed, straining to see his bass colleagues in order to co-ordinate simple unison pizzicato notes. Of course, when basses are situated behind the celli the latter cannot look at their bass colleagues in order to do this. However, the opposite is certainly possible and the two sections would tend to move as one in that telepathic way that cannot be fully explained in rational terms.

The CBSO previously had a focused and punchy bass sound in their previous formation, even if I did not approve of it being located away from the centre of the orchestra. I feel this was compromised in their new formation. I do hope that the new formation is a mere experiment and that they will either revert to their previous layout or, even better, consider going the whole hog and relocating their cellos to the middle of the orchestra where they can be reconnected with their bass colleagues whilst allowing the violins to be arranged how Elgar would have expected them to have been.

Mendelssohn in Birmingham: Volume One

Having attended the corresponding 'Mendelssohn in Birmingham' concert, I was eagerly awaiting this release by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under their Principal Guest Conductor (and possibly next Music Director, according to me and others), Edward Gardner. 

It is an exciting prospect for a number of reasons. One of which is the fact that the CBSO, arguably, hasn't been recorded in its own right for a major record label for quite a number of years now. It certainly hasn't been recorded by Chandos for a long time. And so what a treat to hear them recorded with such splendid engineering! However, the recorded sound turns out to be both a blessing and a curse.

Now, the field of Mendelssohn symphony cycles is not a desperately crowded one (Abbado's 1980s LSO set was my favourite for a long while) and the first thing to say is that few people will be disappointed by these energetic and zesty performances of the 4th and 5th symphonies (coupled with the Hebrides overture). The 'Italian', in particular, is characterised by a welcome drive. The inner movements move forward, as they should, with tasteful shaping of phrases just as I remember from the live performances that accompanied these studio recordings. This 'Italian' is superb.

The 'Reformation' is actually the second of the full orchestral symphonies that Mendelssohn composed - a fact that aids the listener's understanding of the piece as well as helping explain why it doesn't quite hang together as well as the composer's later works, though its more experimental features are deliciously inventive. In view of this, the work really needs a good advocate, as Gardner proves to be here. The finale, with its working out of a hymnal theme, is particularly thrilling as Gardner injects fresh energy into each new section. My own taste is for a less swift tempo in the Scherzo but that would be my only complaint from an interpretative point of view. This movement really is one of Mendelssohn's most delightful and louche, even, in the Trio section. 

The overture is also thrillingly executed though I doubt the composer himself would approve of the less than subtle tempo changes liberally applied where none are marked in the score, but that is neither here nor there. This performance will appeal to most, I daresay. 

What of the orchestral, and recorded, sound? The disc had me turning to its main competition in this field, Andrew Litton's cycle with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, curiously enough whose music directorship is to be taken on by Gardner in 2015. Though there is little difference in the interpretations, the difference in orchestral and recorded sound is significant. Firstly, the renowned Chandos reverb ensures that the Birmingham Town Hall acoustic is as anonymous as any of their other recording venues, though doubtless the acoustic did not hinder the sound terribly, accommodating and spacious as it is. Prominence is given to the martial trumpets, horns and timpani as well as the strings, meaning that the 'middle range' of woodwind is difficult to make out in the tutti sections. This is a shame, as Mendelssohn's orchestration really is quite delightful in these works. You'd be hard pressed to identify the orchestra, too, aside perhaps from Peter Hill's characteristically enthusiastic and thrilling timpani flourishes! I hope it's not too cruel to say that the sound of the orchestra conforms to the brilliant but anonymous standards of the label's flagship Royal Scottish National Orchestra of the 1980s and 90s. 

The Bergen Philharmonic have the benefit of a rather more characterful wind section (those tangy bassoons, in particular!), which are ever-present in the recorded blend, and antiphonal violins. I can't emphasise the importance of the latter in this music enough. Now, Mr Litton is not one to arrange them as such regularly but he must have realised that for his Mendelssohn recordings to be competitive nowadays they'd need this arrangement to aid contrapuntal and fugal clarity. Curiously, Mr Gardner used to arrange his violins thus earlier in his career. I do hope that he does not feel afraid to institute this with the orchestras he works with now and in the future. Finally, the BIS sound is a little flatter and drier, which does seem to suit the music a little better than Chandos's resonance but this will be a matter of personal taste.

I suspect that this series will represent an important addition to the Mendelssohn discography and it is thrilling enough on its own terms, so I would not hesitate to recommend it. However, Litton's cycle remains the modern benchmark for me and I'd urge you to have both in your collections. 

On orchestral layout at the BBC Proms 2013

Readers of my previous blog posts will need no reminder that I have something of an interest in orchestral layouts. This summer (2013) I took it upon myself to try to document how the string players were seated in all of the BBC Prom concerts. Though I did not attend a single one of these concerts, I did listen to the majority on the radio or online. I was kindly assisted in my task by various Twitter colleagues including Mark Berry (@boulezian) and Jane Shuttleworth (@altojane), who attended some of the concerts in question and so I am grateful for their help. There are a few concerts for which I was unable to reliably confirm the seating plan and they are indicated with a question mark in the 'layout' column. If anyone is able to supply the missing information then please feel free to comment and I will modify the table.

You can access the data here. I have named the various string layouts according to conductors I strongly associate with them, as follows, as arranged left to right from the conductor's working point of view:

Adrian Boult*                1st Violins       Cellos/Basses        Violas                 2nd Violins

Pierre Monteux             1st Violins       Violas                   Cellos/Basses      2nd Violins

Henry Wood                 1st Violins       2nd Violins            Violas                  Cellos/Basses

Herbert von Karajan       1st Violins       2nd Violins            Cellos/Basses      Violas

Some Facts and Figures

Antiphonal violins featured in 38% of the concerts included in the study vs. 62% in which the first and second violins were seated together. Of the two antiphonal violin layouts, the 'Boult' was most often employed (16/22 concerts). Of the two violins together layouts, the 'Wood' was most often employed (28/36). This seems somehow appropriate considering that Wood and Boult were towering Proms figures in the first half of the 20th century.

Henry Wood in 1908 as painted by Cyrus Cuneo

Of the twelve British conductors featured in the verified concerts, seven employed antiphonal violins. These were: Jonathan Nott, Donald Runnicles, Daniel Harding, Mark Elder, Robin Ticciati, Andrew Davis and Antonio Pappano.

All of the Wagner Operas were performed with antiphonal violins.

Of the thirteen orchestras performing with antiphonal violins, seven were British. Of the seventeen British orchestras performing, seven employed antiphonal violins some or all of the time.

Curiosities

Two conductors generally not associated with antiphonal violins employed them in at least one of their concerts: Andrew Davis and Marin Alsop. I daresay that they were respecting corporate layouts as I doubt the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment would be too happy about seating their violins together, particularly in the music of Schumann and Brahms. Also, the production of Billy Budd was part of a Glyndebourne tour and the orchestra was laid out this way for the tour, I believe.

Arch-antiphonalist, Valery Gergiev, opted for the 'Karajan' layout with the recently-formed National Youth Orchestra of the USA (Prom 13). Again, this may have been a corporate layout that Gergiev was respecting.

On two occasions, two conductors, François-Xavier Roth (Prom 4) and Sakari Oramo (Prom 52), opted to switch layouts halfway through concerts. This may have been due to the particular repertoire. Roth was certainly justified in employing the Monteux layout for the Rite of Spring, which was premiered by that late French conductor using that layout. Quite why he opted for the 'Karajan' layout in the French Baroque music I don't know. String layouts were changeable and frequently experimental in the Baroque period but I am not aware of this particular layout being employed from any of the schematic drawings I have seen. Oramo, a more recent convert to antiphonalism, likely employed the 'Wood' layout for the contemporary piece in the programme rather than for the Sibelius.

Violin seating flip-flopper, Mariss Jansons, presented the great Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Proms 33 and 35) in the 'Karajan' layout, which was introduced into orchestras long after the composers whose music was performed (Berlioz, Beethoven and Mahler) were dead. This was a disappointment, frankly, even if the concerts were not.


(Rafael Kubelik conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the 'Boult' layout)

Trends

This is the first year I have documented the layouts for the Proms and so I cannot comment on the difference between this year and last. However, I did take a keen interest in this matter last year and I'm pretty confident that there was a significant increase in the number of concerts featuring antiphonal violins. I will endeavour to conduct the same study next year so that a comparison can be made. The Proms is a unique music festival in that it features so many concerts and so many orchestras from around the world. It is, therefore, a useful indicator of trends in orchestral string seating.

I find the fact that more British conductors than not utilised antiphonal violins quite interesting, as well as the significant number of British orchestras deploying them. I think this represents a trend towards our orchestras restoring this layout more generally.

Please feel free to interrogate this data, modest in scale as it is. 

@musicdirektor

*strictly speaking, Sir Adrian preferred his double basses to be ranged along the back of the orchestra.

My (unsolicited) advice for the CBSO

This post is going to be short (-ish) and to the point. My opinion on these matters counts for very little but I have the following advice for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: sign up Edward Gardner to be your next Music Director and spend no more time searching for the 'next big thing'.

The following is an extract from my most recent review of the orchestra under Gardner (from Bachtrack.com). The concert featured Mendelssohn's fourth and fifth symphonies:

"I was struck, as on previous occasions, by the way in which Gardner generates excitement in symphonies: choosing an over-arching tempo that is just right for a movement with subtle, if any, deviations, ensuring that the architecture of the music is very much in evidence through careful balancing and then really injecting energy and drive into climactic moments."

Earlier in the review I compared him favourably to Bernard Haitink in this respect. I do not make that comparison lightly and there are few younger conductors worthy of it. As with the elder conductor, Gardner is conservative in his gestures - there is nothing flashy or superfluous. 

In contrast with the majority of the Birmingham audience and critical press, it has taken quite some time for me to warm to the present (and now outgoing) Music Director, Andris Nelsons. I had difficulty overlooking his extravagant podium manner (jumping, grunting, leaning on the rail and baton passing are just some of the mannerisms I continue to disapprove of) as it is so alien to my own training and influences. However, it became clear that Nelsons has an extraordinary rapport with the orchestra and an obvious passion for music that is not at all self-serving. His way with dramatic and Romantic music is quite astonishing. I don't think I will ever witness finer accounts of Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances or Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony than his in my lifetime.

Where I think Nelsons is least successful, so far, is in the symphonic repertoire. I have seen and/or heard his Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak and Mahler and not been terribly convinced. His unique ability to lovingly draw out the singing quality of phrases that many of us might overlook can be at the expense of the overall architecture of symphonic music. The results are often ravishing and spectacular, but not necessarily organic.

I do not wish to bring these two conductors into direct comparison. For one thing, I have not seen or heard Gardner in Beethoven, Brahms or Dvorak. However, his way with symphonies is uncommonly good, which is no mean feat in combination with his fine reputation in the opera house. Excellence in both the symphonic and the operatic is actually rather unusual. It was also obvious on Saturday that Gardner has a good rapport with the CBSO players, who played magnificently for him.

These are just some of the reasons why I offer up my (unsolicited) recommendation. I am sure there are logistical reasons why the choice would not be straightforward. For instance, Gardner begins his Principal Conductor post with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015 and he remains Music Director at English National Opera so he may well be too busy. Also, I don't suppose it would be the 'done thing' for an orchestra to promote their Principal Guest Conductor in this way. Nevertheless, think of being able to have homegrown talent once again at the helm of this very fine British orchestra, not to mention the prospect of having a well-known British record label at hand to record their adventures.

Well, that's my twopence worth. I have no conflict of interest to declare. I have no connection to Gardner whatsoever and have never met the man. My only interest is in my local orchestra making the right choice! Of course, there may be some unknown, hot property waiting in the wings to be snapped up by the orchestra over the next year or so. Who knows - perhaps they already have been...

Sakari is back, and not before time.

It seems like an age since Sakari Oramo was announced as the next Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In fact, it was only back in February 2012. My impatience to see/hear him take up his new position, which commences in the 2013/14 season, has been tamed by his recent appearance at the First Night of the BBC Proms this year with the orchestra. It was an impressive showing and offered an intriguing preview into what we might expect from this formidable partnership in the years to come.

My enthusiasm for the understated Finnish conductor has only grown since his tenure in my home city of Birmingham. My first visit to Symphony Hall as a teenager happened to be to one of Sir Simon Rattle's last concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. As such, I did not witness the orchestra's oft-trumpeted transformation at his hands. After becoming hooked on concert-going (no surprise given the splendid local hall and fine orchestras performing there) I was fortunate to observe how the sound of the orchestra evolved under Oramo's leadership.

It is true that following in Rattle's footsteps would never be easy but I seem to remember that Oramo was welcomed quickly and warmly by local audiences. His experience as a violinist helped him and the orchestra to develop their string sound in particular. This influence is still keenly felt to this day, under the present incumbent. Oramo also endeared himself by frequently addressing the audience over the PA system, despite his spoken English not being entirely perfect. This is something that Andris Nelsons has been feted for but he is evidently not the first here to have done so.

Oramo's Birmingham Sibelius cycle: an underrated classic

Oramo developed a reputation for excellence not just in Scandinavian repertoire but also in English music, well known and otherwise. His work with Elgar's music has earned him a medal from the Elgar Society. He presided over a gargantuan Stravinsky cycle and recorded one of the finest Sibelius cycles I have heard. There was nothing flashy about his style or performances and this, perhaps, explains why audience numbers during his tenure in Birmingham dipped to middling levels. It is my feeling that he was not liked by all orchestra members and that he was under-appreciated by local audiences. This is, however, my own perception and probably not the whole story.

I was particularly intrigued when Oramo began to experiment with seating the CBSO violins antiphonally in some of his later concerts. I remember a very good Mahler 2 towards the end of his tenure in which this arrangement was employed. It also brought to mind Rattle's own experimentation towards the end of his own stint there. The orchestra very rarely employs this layout these days; only under the baton of more enlightened conductors. This is most frustrating when the programmes often feature two juxtaposed photographs of the modern-day orchestra, sporting violins together, with the orchestra under one of its earliest conductors, Sir Adrian Boult, with the violins very much divided. It's all terribly disingenuous.

Since leaving Birmingham, Oramo has worked with a number of different orchestras. His principal position has been Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he has made a number of very successful recordings. His Schumann symphony cycle is, to my ears, one of the very best digital full orchestra versions available - no mean feat given that excellence in 'core' repertoire is so elusive among the younger generation of conductors. It is splendidly recorded and there are, as one might expect in these more enlightened times, no concerns regarding any 'difficulties' with Schumann's orchestration. A recent Elgar 2 is also well worth a listen. All of these recordings benefit from antiphonal violins, Oramo's now-preferred orchestral layout.

Sakari Oramo with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in his favoured 'Monteux' layout

I was delighted to see that he has imported this layout (incidentally the 'Monteux' layout with, left to right, 1st violins, violas, celli/basses, 2nd violins) to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which his First Night concert confirmed. The layout for this concert is significant as the programme featured contemporary, modern and Romantic works. Clearly, Oramo perceives modern and contemporary works, quite rightly, as no barrier to antiphonal violins. As I have argued before, there are surely very few composers who have written their music specifically for the 'violins together' layout and so why should antiphonal violins (with all the aural benefits they bring) not be employed more universally? I am currently listening to a fascinating new recording of Seppo Pohjola's first and second symphonies, performed by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Oramo, in which the violins are divided to good effect and no detriment. The same goes for a recent recording of Prokofiev's fifth symphony with the same forces.

I feel sure that the use of this layout, at least, will help to inject some much needed personality into the sound of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which is undoubtedly a great orchestra. Like many of its BBC, and indeed British, colleagues it needs particularly inspired leadership to develop a distinctive sound. That is to say, whilst an orchestra can be very good, brilliant even, it can still be wanting in personality. I look on, hopefully, at my local orchestra with this sentiment in mind.

Exciting times lie ahead then, hopefully, at the BBC Symphony Orchestra. So, welcome back Sakari, and I hope to see you conducting in Birmingham again soon!

@musicdirektor

Lovely DVDs worthy of your attention

Just a short blog to share my thoughts on two wonderful recent DVD releases that have a few attributes in common. Both feature conductors and players passionate about the music they are playing (and it shows!), both feature behind the scenes documentary sequences that offer real insight and both, er, feature antiphonal violins.

First up is Schumann at Pier2, which features performances by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, one of my favourite chamber orchestras, and their music director, Paavo Jarvi. The film documentaries their project of taking the four symphonies of Robert Schumann and performing them at a warehouse that is mainly used for exhibitions and rock concerts. Pier2 turns out to be an ideal concert space and an informal one, too, with the front-most audience members sitting in sofas.

I was a little disappointed at first that the DVD did not feature complete performances of the symphonies (I will seek out the CD releases). It does, however, follow the symphonies in chronological order. The concert performances are interspersed with footage of Jarvi (clearly a passionate advocate of Schumann) talking about the composer, rehearsals and, most interestingly, sequences of individual players (or combinations of them) talking about their parts and playing them. These played parts are very cleverly segued into the concert performances and offer a fascinating insight into Schumann's writing. As if further evidence were needed that Schumann was not a poor orchestrator then it can be found here. Though, I have to say, Jarvi does make the odd alteration to Schumann's parts. But such is the commitment in these performances that I can forgive this.

Highly recommended, particularly if you want to see passionate and democratic music-making in action.

Next, we have a performance of Smetana's Ma Vlast, performed live at the Prague Spring Festival in 2011 by the Prague Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Jiri Belohlavek. This masterwork is performed at the opening of the festival each year by different orchestras. Memorably, it was performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Czech exile, Rafael Kubelik, in 1990. Kubelik was a co-founder of the festival in 1946 but he defected in 1948 when the Iron Curtain came down.

Belohlavek is a fine conductor and is revered much more in his native Czech Republic than here in the UK, where he was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra until last year. He made the BBCSO into a very fine sounding ensemble but his lucid and serious technique was clearly not what the classical music industry were interested in here. They tend to prefer more frantic podium antics, these days.

Anyway, in the accompanying documentary the conservatory musicians were clearly delighted to have had the opportunity to play for Belohlavek and their admiration is obvious both from what they say and how they play. The film also highlights the incredible amount of behind the scenes work that goes into organising such an event, including the intensive courses that the young musicians go through.

The performance itself is a very fine one. It has the essence of an 'event' as tends to be inherent in concerts such as this featuring young musicians after such preparation. The playing is of a very high standard. The string sound is not as refined as in the classier established ensembles but then these musicians are unlikely to have the more expensive instruments that their professional colleagues have, not to mention the years of experience in corporate 'blending'. There are occasional wind intonation issues, which would be expected when using quadruple wind forces (anyone who has tried to tune four flutes will empathise). These are minor quibbles, however. The ensemble and passion are things of wonder here, particularly the opening bars featuring no less than five harps playing more or less in unison. I wonder how much rehearsal time that took?!

A heartwarming experience, then, and a cracking performance. This group displays their enthusiasm for music and nationalistic fervour without the need for coloured jackets and twirling double basses!

A Tale of Two Tchaikovskys and One City

If you are a lover of Tchaikovsky's orchestral music then you are spoilt for choice with some of the recent releases on disc. The two that have featured most on my musical radar seem to have been well co-ordinated in their release timings. One combines Tchaikovsky's fourth and fifth symphonies while the other features his rather less well-known first, second and third symphonies. The curious thing is that these discs have been released at the same time by two of London's 'rival' orchestras, the LPO and the LSO, respectively.

Let me tell you, you will not regret purchasing either of them. In fact, I would go as far as suggesting that they are essential listening for those who think they know their Tchaikovsky symphonies. I do not imagine for a moment that the two orchestras communicated about the timing of the release of these discs but the fact that there is no overlap allows us to enjoy these highly distinctive readings without direct comparison.

Since my 'thing' is orchestral sound, it is interesting to note the difference between the recorded sound of these two wonderful orchestras. Clearly, neither orchestra records in halls noted for their acoustic brilliance. Nevertheless, the engineers recording in the Barbican and Royal Festival Halls have become adept at making the most of them. The two conductors here have cultivated very different orchestral soundworlds from their respective orchestras. 

The LPO under Jurowski have a more realistic 'concert hall' sound on their disc with a better overall balance. They have a wonderfully dark and 'chilly' sound that better suits the darker, later symphonies. The LPO brass are clearly very good but they are never spotlit in the recordings for the sake of it in these works where many a conductor has been content to simply let these sections rip in order to get the most thrills. The string sound is fine but relatively lean sounding, which actually makes the most tricky of figurations sound like very little effort indeed was required to execute them. One of the secrets to the success of these readings is Jurowski's intelligent musicality in somehow making every line of counterpoint heard. So often one hears important string lines in these works come to the fore and simply disappear, which curtails the wonderful musical logic contained within.

Gergiev's LSO have a less distinctly 'Russian' sound and we hear a much 'fatter' string sound. How different an orchestra they are to that which we hear in those discs from the 'golden years' of the 60s and 70s when audiences were treated to Tchaikovsky symphony cycles under, say, Dorati and Markevich. The virtuosity remains, of course, but the string sound is muscular and very much 'Central European'. We have much to thank Sir Colin Davis for in that respect. May he get well soon. This full sound helps to add weight and credibility to these works that lie somewhere on the scale between masterpiece and jolly good romp. I tend towards thinking of the former, particularly in the case of the first symphony. Besides, it's about time that these earlier pieces had the 'luxury' treatment! 

Common to both these orchestras is their orchestral layout with antiphonal violins and powerhouse double bass sections underpinning everything from the centre of the orchestral picture.

The word 'lugubrious' sprung to mind when I was listening to the readings of the first three symphonies. When I heard the radio broadcast of the first symphony I remember feeling that the slow movement was taken far too slowly. On hearing it on disc it sounds quite right - perhaps they went for the other take! Whatever one feels about the tempo, we are given time to really enjoy the lovely string sound (close up and vivid in the Barbican) and the hauntingly beautiful wind solos - lovingly indulged here. The real climax of the whole piece is to be found in this movement and it is given to the finest effect I have heard on disc. Goose pimples are guaranteed as the horns blast away the lonely melody above tremolando strings. I wondered if the horns may have been spotlit in the recording until I realised that the rest of the orchestra was being held back until finally letting rip moments later. Just try it! The finale really is terribly exciting and the 'liveness' is fully evident. Like Jurowski in his earlier release of this symphony, Gergiev takes Tchaikovsky's tempo markings quite literally in the transition from the andante to the main allegro, even if this seems to jar the flow a little. It is something I have become accustomed to.

If the second and third symphonies seem less remarkable it is not because of any lack of commitment on the orchestra's and conductor's part. They are highly enjoyable but, ultimately, less inspired works. Nevertheless, they demand to be known. What is interesting about this reading of the third is that it was recorded while the orchestra were on tour in the Tonhalle, Zurich. So, a rare chance to hear an LSO Live recording outside of the confines of the concrete Barbican!

I have never made a secret of my loyalties when it comes to British orchestras. The LSO has always been my favourite. However, if I had to choose between these wonderful discs I would have to opt for the one by my second favourite London orchestra, the LPO. Perhaps it is because I love the darker fourth and fifth symphonies more than Tchaikovsky's earlier ones. Still, I have heard plenty of uninspiring readings of these works. Jurowski is surely one of the most intelligent and interesting of today's more famous young conductors and he engages with these works with unflinching intensity. That is not to say that there is any over-emoting, there is plenty enough anxt and emotion in these works without the need to point these up. 

My earlier point about counterpoint is an important one in these readings. Every line is heard, giving these highly contrapuntal works a sense of remorseless intensity and tragedy. Jurowski does not hold back, either, in terms of tempo. The tempi in the fifth symphony, in particular, are swifter than I have heard for quite some time. There are no happy endings to be found in these readings either. After a lithe and exciting final movement, the final three chords are ground out in a broader tempo suggesting quite the opposite of a victory. Jurowski suggested that he found more darkness in these works than others have when he was discussing them around the radio broadcasts. That Jurowski imbues these works with such a tragic intensity is no surprise given that he has also gifted us one of the most exciting renditions of Mahler's 'Resurrection' symphony ever on disc.

The reading of the fourth symphony is probably the most successful of all those discussed so far. The tempo of the first movement is just 'right'. It is in no hurry and yet never feels laboured. The second movement is definitely forward moving but with wonderfully musical phrasing, particularly in the opening plangent oboe solo. The relaxed tempo of the scherzo again feels just right when so many conductors feel the need to see just how far they can push their string players in the pizzicato perpetuo! The finale positively whizzes by and leaves the virtuosity of this fabulous orchestra beyond any doubt. There is no victory to be found at the close here, either, which is fine by me.

On orchestral sound and warhorse concerti

This post, I suppose, follows on from my previous one, in which I tried to explain why I feel so strongly about the seating of violins in orchestras. However, I need not labour that point any further. In this post, I wish to explore further how orchestral sound has changed in modern times and why we, as listeners, should care.

As I write, I am listening to a new recording of the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn violin concerti, performed by Ray Chen and accompanied by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding. Not long into the Tchaikovsky I realised that, whenever I listen to new concerto recordings or performances, I am far more interested in the orchestral accompaniment than the soloist's contribution. Given that I am a conductor, I don't suppose many will find this to be a surprise. I tend to find that if a soloist is particularly special then my attention can be prized away from the accompaniment to their star turn, whether they are serving the music at hand or detracting from it.

Daniel Harding (courtesy of www.danielharding.com)

This disc is very good, I should add. However, I am most impressed in this case by the orchestra and conductor. The jury seems still to be out in the critical press about Daniel Harding but I have always been impressed by him both on disc and in the concert hall. He seems to be one of the wunderkinds who sensibly withdrew from the initial limelight to go and brush up their skills with 'lesser names' in Europe, such as the Bremen Kammerphilharmonie and now the Swedish RSO. My impression is that he takes great care over orchestral sound: dividing his violins is de rigeur for him, bass sound is full but lithe, mid (viola!) sounds are ever present, string articulation and phrasing in Romantic repertoire is punchy yet cultured, timpani sticks are generally on the hard side and woodwind contributions have personality. All of this adds up to my preferred sort of orchestral sound. 

Now, some of these things are relatively easy to achieve as a conductor (eg. seating plans, timp heads/sticks) and others will take much more time and skill and will, of course, depend on the orchestra both in terms of their 'usual' corporate sound and the individual players. Some of these things will require the conductor to be a very good communicator of their vision as not all orchestral musicians conceive the totality of what their orchestra sounds like. Why should they? However, the conductor can at least reassure him- or herself that they have an important role to play in this regard.

The Problem of Orchestral Homogeneity

Commentators often bemoan the fact that orchestras sound much more similar today than they did, say, fifty years ago. I do not disagree with this. Nevertheless, I can still play 'guess the orchestra' when listening to Radio 3 with some success. Many of the great orchestras still have traces, to lesser or greater degrees, of their 20th century personalities. I am going to pin the blame for the apparent trend towards homogeneity of sound on one Herbert von Karajan. This is an oversimplification, of course, but here's why:

Firstly, I should declare that, whilst I do own several recordings by Karajan that I treasure, on the whole I tend to steer clear of buying them. That is largely because I dislike the conception of orchestral sound that he cultivated, particularly in his later years. He was a most prolific recording artist and the 70s and 80s were choc full of recordings from him and the Berliners. His idea of 'perfect' orchestral sound seemed to be this homogeneous, blended sonority. Sure, the 'phwum' of the BPO sound is truly a wonder of nature but, on disc at least, it is often terribly opaque.

Herbert von Karajan - a conductor who knew what sound he wanted and how to achieve it.

As Karajan and the BPO became recording artists par excellence, so others began to emulate this idea of the 'perfect' orchestral sound. Other orchestras that were prolific on disc in the 80s, such as the CBSO and Oslo Philharmonic, fell into this trap of homogeneity and, whilst many of their recordings are exciting for other reasons, the orchestral sound is bland and uninteresting - devoid of personality. These ensembles have only in more recent times begun to redress this situation. It may be that the recording engineers, venues and/or early digital sound did them few favours, of course. In fact, most recordings from this era document the journey of many orchestras into homogeneity of sound.

The Berlin sound is still rather opaque on disc (EMI do their best, I'm sure, to work miracles with the acoustic of the Philharmonie). Combine this with the fact that I have never really been a Rattle admirer and the result is that I am uninspired with many of their recent releases. However, I am very impressed with their Digital Concert Hall, which allows everyone with a decent internet connection to see and hear many of their concerts past and present. For all that I have said about their sound, they are truly a force of nature and a joy to behold as musicians (not many orchestras will feature as many smiling and visibly 'feeling' musicians as this!).

I do not perceive the BPO to have the quintessential 'German' sound; that is, dark and warm string sonority and fruity woodwind (particularly clarinets) contributions. For this, I rely on the still-distinctive Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Dresden Staatskapelle, amongst others. Riccardo Chailly, who conducts the former, is well known for caring for and cultivating an orchestra's traditional sound, as exemplified by his tenure with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He really has made the LGO Germany's current best and one whose recordings I have been lapping up. Many of Germany's 'provincial' orchestras retain a great deal of character, too.

Riccardo Chailly and Nelson Freire preside over a recording of the Brahms piano concerti in which the  Leipzig Gewandhausorchester really show off their sonority. Heartily recommended!

Other distinctive orchestras to listen out for include the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, now under the direction of our very own Andrew Manze. Take a listen to their new Brahms orchestral works set to hear some gorgeous bassoon playing and, wait for this, horn vibrato! What a difference such details make in today's so-called homogeneous orchestral sounds. You can find perky bassoonists in Andrew Litton's Bergen Philharmonic, another ensemble growing in personality and stature. The more familiar examples of distinctive sound include, of course, the Vienna Philharmonic (the original period instrument orchestra) and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, whose sound has developed in symbiosis with their wondrous hall acoustic. Chailly's Mahler cycle is a demonstration of their delicious woodwind sound and brass vibrato.

What of the UK Orchestras?

Closer to home, we now have the LSO not afraid to sport a wonderfully strident trumpet vibrato (usually under Gergiev but more generally adopted now) and a double bass section full of personality. Check out their Strauss Alpine Symphony recording under Bernard Haitink to hear all this in action. The LSO has always been the great chameleon orchestra, combining a trademark virtuosity but soaking up various sound cultures (European, American, Russian) as required by the repertoire and demanded by the conductor. The 'next best' (IMHO) LPO now has no less a cultured sound but an element of welcome grittiness as imparted by the ever-thinking Vladimir Jurowski. Their ability to switch their instruments for period-influenced performance is also second to none in the UK. The Philharmonia retains a solid and cultured European-ish sound but is sonically uninteresting to me.

The BBC orchestras this side of the Irish Sea tend to sport a punchy sound as imparted by their respective timpanists but tend to lack warmth, which can be useful in some repertoire. The BBCSSO is becoming warmer, however, under the direction of Donald Runnicles. I am excited about the return of Sakari Oramo to these shores to take to the helm of the BBCSO, which has largely been caretaken in more recent years. The Halle, under Sir Mark Elder, has cultivated a lovely string sound - reminiscent of Vienna in some ways. Lyn Fletcher, their excellent and approachable leader, informed me once that this was mostly unconscious but I did notice that the players sported a particular and similar vibrato that newer members probably absorb through osmosis.

American, French, and Russian Accents

Here I expect that I am descending into lazy stereotyping: American orchestras retain their reputation for machine-like precision imbued with a certain amount of European warmth. The Philadelphians are always worth a listen for their trademark lushness of string sound. You can still detect a bit of horn vibrato and the distinctive French woodwind sounds in French orchestras. A recent release of the Orchestra Nationale du Capitole de Toulouse under Tugan Sokhiev of Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony reminded me of this. More disappointingly, the stridency of brass sound that was once a feature of Soviet orchestras has been somewhat 'filed down' in their modern descendents, such as the Russian National Orchestra and the St Petersburg Philharmonic.

Elsewhere

It is perhaps a little glib of me to suggest that Scandinavian orchestras have an element of 'coolness' to their orchestral sound. However, this is true to a certain extent and can lend a certain amount of objectivity to the music. I find it works well in 'indigenous' music such as Sibelius and Grieg. The Lahti Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic have produced some of the finest Sibelius symphony cycles in recent memory.

Finally, I should mention that there are a number of young orchestras that have sprung up in Asia, in particular, that sport a rather clean and clinical sound but some, such as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, do at least opt for a tasteful amount of trumpet vibrato in the Russian repertoire - nice! 

The fact that so many orchestras have retained their personalities, albeit somewhat diminished over the years, is one surely to be celebrated. It gives the listener much to enjoy and listen out for and is certainly a reason to keep buying their respective records. And, with all due respect to some fantastic instrumental soloists, it is reason enough to continue buying recordings of some of those 'warhorse' concerti that keep popping up!