# hr/Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra



## Strange Magic

Just a brief note boosting the video (YouTube) live concert performances of this fine orchestra, mostly seen/heard conducted by Andres Orozco-Estrada but also by others. I am addicted to YouTube videos of classical music delivered up as concert "You Are There" experiences as they help focus and clarify my involvement in the music in addition to being, well, just so satisfying. The Frankfurt Symphony is top-notch, as is the conducting under any of its several guests and Orozco-Estrada, and the recording of the orchestra is uniformly about the best you'll find on YouTube video.


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## Heck148

This orchestra seems to have recorded just about everything for YouTube!! It's just flooded with Frankfurt RadioSO performances...

These are good - well-recorded, decently played, but certainly not top-level orchestra performance...I've heard/seen many of them, and I'd put most in the B - C+ range of rating.....the orchestral solo work is OK, solid, not brilliant, and the section work is adequate...but not up to the level of the very top orchestras....but the ready availability of so much music for free is certainly a plus...if one wants to check out some music before purchasing, it's a fine source, and again, the performances are certainly decent....


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## Strange Magic

Heck148 said:


> This orchestra seems to have recorded just about everything for YouTube!!....These are good - well-recorded, decently played, but certainly not top-level orchestra performance...I've heard/seen many of them, and I'd put most in the B - C+ range of rating.....the orchestral solo work is OK, solid, not brilliant, and the section work is adequate...but not up to the level of the very top orchestras....but the ready availability of so much music for free is certainly a plus...if one wants to check out some music before purchasing, it's a fine source, and again, the performances are certainly decent....


Here is yet another occasion when I am grateful for being just an ordinary auditor of CM, and not consumed by the often fatiguing and laborious task of finding the very best performance of a piece of music and then purchasing it for repeated future awed listening--I'm just not suited to be an final arbiter of taste for others. Viewers and auditors of so many of these Frankfort Symphony Orchestra videos, especially those conducted by Orozco-Estrada (and similar such videos of so many 2nd or 3rd-tier bands) like me, will delight in the self-same shared delight and joy expressed by the performers, soloists, conductors of such ensembles--it is good to find oneself part of such an outpouring of live, grateful enthusiasm for a real performance while "one was there", actually experiencing it. It is surely, for me, enough to counterbalance whatever deficiencies a professional musician may discover lurking amid the radiance of the realization of a general audience's expectations


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## Strange Magic

i return to my specific subject of the excellence of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony as seen/heard on YouTube. and broaden it to say a little more about the general utility of experiencing CM via YouTube: Music, like enjoying food (or sex) is better when several senses are brought to it, the more the merrier. Watching CM on YouTube brings sight into play along with sound--as in a concert hall, only better. One sees and hears the music in a holistic manner which enhances, for me, the entire experience, It can also revive pleasure in old warhorses by rekindling the appreciation for both the music itself but also the effort and skill to bring it to life. 

One also has the benefit, in many circumstances and certainly with the Frankfurt band, of superb miking and sound quality. So I watch and listen to, say, the Schubert C-major symphony as performed by the Frankfurt Symphony under Manfred Honeck, and regain my enthusiasm for a work that I had largely abandoned after decades of hearing it as sound only..I suggest that others give it/them a try as an alternative to the CD. And besides, it is a lot cheaper than going to a concert, or, tickets bought, not going because there is a family crisis or weather emergency.


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## perempe

it's easily the best channel.
hr-Sinfonieorchester - Frankfurt Radio Symphony


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## Enthalpy

Heck148 said:


> [...] The orchestral solo work is OK, solid, not brilliant, and the section work is adequate... but not up to the level of the very top orchestras [...]


This can only be jealousy  because their flautist is cuter than yours 
hr-sinfonieorchester.de
clara-andrada.com


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## Malx

Whilst not getting involved in the relative merits of the performances I find the low quality of the audio feed on YouTube (128kbps) a reason for not using it as a regular source of listening.


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## Strange Magic

Malx said:


> Whilst not getting involved in the relative merits of the performances I find the low quality of the audio feed on YouTube (128kbps) a reason for not using it as a regular source of listening.


 YouTube is capable of 320kbps in HD mode. My ears are 81 years old, which may be a factor, but I find the best, clearest, quite recent YT concert videos to be all I require and more than I expected. Try the Proms video of Shostakovich's 5th or Bartok's _Concerto for Orchestra _with the Frankfurt Symphony. And again the visual aspect of YT concert material can supply much additional and possibly compensatory musical experience.


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## Malx

Strange Magic said:


> YouTube is capable of 320kbps in HD mode. My ears are 81 years old, which may be a factor, but I find the best, clearest, quite recent YT concert videos to be all I require and more than I expected. Try the Proms video of Shostakovich's 5th or Bartok's _Concerto for Orchestra _with the Frankfurt Symphony. And again the visual aspect of YT concert material can supply much additional and possibly compensatory musical experience.


I do accept the visual element is a plus - only having standard YouTube I am disadvantaged in terms of sound quality. I also accept that everyones circumstances are different and intend no slight on those who get enjoyment from these videos - after all is that not why we listen to music.


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## RMinNJ

Strange Magic said:


> Here is yet another occasion when I am grateful for being just an ordinary auditor of CM, and not consumed by the often fatiguing and laborious task of finding the very best performance of a piece of music and then purchasing it for repeated future awed listening--I'm just not suited to be an final arbiter of taste for others. Viewers and auditors of so many of these Frankfort Symphony Orchestra videos, especially those conducted by Orozco-Estrada (and similar such videos of so many 2nd or 3rd-tier bands) like me, will delight in the self-same shared delight and joy expressed by the performers, soloists, conductors of such ensembles--it is good to find oneself part of such an outpouring of live, grateful enthusiasm for a real performance while "one was there", actually experiencing it. It is surely, for me, enough to counterbalance whatever deficiencies a professional musician may discover lurking amid the radiance of the realization of a general audience's expectations


I was going to post something about this orchestra and just saw your post. I agree completely! I love Frankfurt Radio Symphony and watching their concerts on YouTube. In fact, I like some of their performances better than recordings I own, and often wish I had the hr-Sinfonieorchester version on CD. Thankfully I have them saved in YouTube. I was just saying to my son, I am putting going to Frankfurt to see this orchestra perform live on my bucket list (someday, sigh). Also agree with you on Andres Orozco-Estrada, he seems so genuinely warm and has such great energy, I just adore him, also think the concertmaster is wonderful and so many others (flutes, percussion, oboe, horns). The sound quality is fantastic on their recordings and I like that they keep recording post-concert as well so we can see the audience reaction and the musicians being recognized. Glad to see someone else shares my enthusiasm for this orchestra!


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## mikeh375

I think they are great too. The recordings sound fine on my system and the performances are really good.


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## mbhaub

Yesterday I finished watching the Mahler symphony Blu Ray set with Paavo Jarvi. Excellent in most every respect. The orchestral playing was magnificent. The solo winds, especially the principal horn, were superb. The conducting very sane and devoid of obnoxious mannerisms. These were cool performances compared to the Bernstein set from DG. But the VPO had a lot more trouble with the music - lots of wrong notes, wrong entrances, etc. The Frankfurters come across very well.


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## Enthalpy

RMinNJ said:


> [...] going to Frankfurt to see this orchestra perform live [...]


Frankfurt has the biggest airport in Germany and is a usual entrypoint. 1€ ~1$ presently. See you soon!


mbhaub said:


> [...] Paavo Jarvi [...]


The musicians of the HR agree that the whole orchestra progressed very much with him.


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## RMinNJ

Enthalpy said:


> Frankfurt has the biggest airport in Germany and is a usual entrypoint. 1€ ~1$ presently. See you soon!
> 
> The musicians of the HR agree that the whole orchestra progressed very much with him.


Wonderful, and most definitely!


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## Knorf

I concur with those expressing enthusiasm for these videos. The orchestra is absolutely top tier in quality, and the performances/interpretations generally outstanding. I would never wish to rely on Internet streaming for my musical needs, whether on You Tube or anywhere else, over physical media or digital downloads, but I consistently find much enjoyment and satisfaction with the HR-Frankfurt videos. Recommended!


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