# Ashkenazy: What's that about?



## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

I note that I have quite a lot of CDs, without any intention either way, where Vladimir Ashkenazy is pianist (and sometimes conductor). I like quite a lot of them. Scriabin sonatas, Rachmaninov symphonies, etc, etc, etc.
Yet poor old Vladimir seems to be mentioned only rarely when people on this site talk about the performances that they rate highly.
Not works I listen to much, but I have two recordings of the Shostakovich 24 Preludes & Fugues: Nikolayeva and Ashkenazy. I much prefer Ashkenazy. I generally do like what he does. I liked his Chopin Preludes.
What's going on?


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

He's one of my favorite pianists. He's a capable conductor too (especially like his Sibelius), though I question whether he's made the transition from pianist to conductor as effectively as has his contemporary Daniel Barenboim. 

As far as Ashkenazy's pianism, he's recorded just about the entire major solo piano repertoire and much of it is very good, if not my absolute favorite. His cycles of the Rachmaninov (w/ Previn) and Prokofiev (ditto) concertos are my two favorites. I've heard much, but not all of his complete Chopin piano music and it's all really good. His Schubert is quite good too. 

I generally find the older stuff is better.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

He's one of my favorite pianists. He's dependable. I have his Hammerklavier sonata, some Schubert and Chopin, Tchaikovsky first concerto, Liszt transcendental etudes, chamber music of Brahms and Franck... all great stuff. If he's not at the pinnacle in my estimation with a particular work, he's usually pretty high.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

A wonderful pianist, though Decca trotted him out to record virtually everything in the repertoire and sometimes I’m not too big on the super-virtuoso stuff he did (like his Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff concerti). His Chopin nocturnes (but definitely not the Ballades on the same album), Rachmaninoff preludes and Beethoven sonatas are all very solid indeed, and he participated in one of my favorite discs of chamber music - Brahms’s Horn Trio and Franck’s violin sonata with Barry Tuckwell and Itzhak Perlman.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

I do like him in virtuoso stuff, like his Prokofiev 2nd concerto is a highlight and really got me into the piece. Have his complete Beethoven piano concerti, a good set though I like some individual ones better - less happy with Solti than Ashkenazy on that one.

I heard him play Beethoven's 2nd concerto live with the Boston Symphony in the late 70's. Great concert. I'm a real fan to buy expensive seats for Beethoven's 2nd concerto.


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

If you are like me and like recordings with loud percussion, you should definetely check out his Shostakovich symphonies. For example, the sheer power of the timpani and bass drum of the endings of #7 and #12 will rattle your brain - in a good way if you like that sort of thing. The recordings themselves are of course very good, but to me what really stands out is the percussion section.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I've been listening to Ashkenazy's Bach WTC the last couple of weeks while driving. It's pretty good overall with some superbly played pieces. When I think about it, he's good in everything I've heard. But there's always one or more versions I prefer to Ashkenazy's.


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

I have nothing but respect and admiration for Vladimir Ashkenazy and I enjoy his playing across the repertoire, yet I don’t own a single CD recording he’s made. So yeah, what’s that about. Well, Ashkenazy belongs to a cohort that includes four American pianists whose work I have followed and collected for years: John Browning, Byron Janis, Van Cliburn, and Gary Graffman. In 1956, Ashkenazy won the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition. Browning came in second. This is a very crowded cohort, and one loaded with virtuosity. Look at Cliburn with Rach and Tchaikovsky and Browning with Prokofiev and Barber, for example. If I weren’t such a big fan of the four I mentioned, I am sure I’d be much more of a fan of Ashkenazy.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Much as I admire him as a pianist I think I may personally enjoy him more as conductor; he really brings some rugged raw Russian passion to his Sibelius and Rachmaninoff symphony recordings. And I will have to check out his Shostakovich, ‘cause I’m a sucker for loud percussion!


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## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

Count me among the Ashkenazy fans of the forum. He's my favorite pianist in pretty much all of the Russian repertoire he recorded, especially the Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev concertos mentioned upthread. His Scriabin sonatas are an absolute desert-island disc for me. His Shostakovich piano recordings are also wonderful. I used to think his Shostakovich symphonies the best of the modern cycles, but I think Petrenko has dethroned him (haven't heard the ongoing Nelsons/Boston cycle yet). He recorded a CD of Scriabin (Prometheus and the Op. 20 concerto, coupled with a nice Poem of Ecstasy) with Maazel and the LPO that's one of my favorite discs. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I've heard him play anything that wasn't Russian...


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Back when I heard him live and collected a number of his recordings, I used to characterize his pianism as "flawless and absolutely straight" -- which are not bad places to be.

He has a Schubert G major which I love -- in part because the way he voices his two hands in the finale is remarkable.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

A treasure in my collection, for at least 50 years now. This is the recording that led me to seek out more of Ashkenazy's work.









And my favorite version of the great Tchaikovsky concerto.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Great musician, a sure bet for certain composers (Chopin and russians above all in piano).
He always has something interesting to say in his recordings, both as conductor or pianist.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Exceedingly fine pianist over a wide range of repertoire. Heard him once live playing and conducting Mozart. Retired to no fanfares whatever - just announced it.

http://www.classical-music.com/news/vladimir-ashkenazy-announces-his-retirement


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Count me among the other Ashkenazy fans of the forum, the man is a genius.


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## Gallus (Feb 8, 2018)

Love his Rachmaninoff and Scriabin.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Wow! Lots of fans, but a bit of a tendency to see him as very good, but not best at any work. Some votes for best at something, but not many. No disgrace in that of course.

Perhaps it's a price paid for having such a broad recording repertoire.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> A wonderful pianist, though Decca trotted him out to record virtually everything in the repertoire...


He was in his popular prime at the right time, when each major label would record the entire catalogue digital and each consumer would build his CD collection. There was unlimited hunger for fresh new recordings, as long as it said 'digital' on the cover. The same eagerness where such CD collections are now dumped again on the used market

Decca had Ashkenazy, CBS Perahia (Gould unfortunately died prematurely), Philips Brendel, Boulet, Uchida and quite some late Richter, DG Gilels, Pogorelich, Pollini, Argerich, Pires and of course the last wave of Horowitz, who with DG probably recorded the best selling piano recordings of the time. Ashkenazy and Perahia (or actually Decca and CBS) would have this contest about the Mozart concertos, conducting them from the piano.

Funny how we all have a slightly different preference for Ashkenazy's recordings. I love his Brahms and Rachmaninov concertos with Haitink, also for the terrific dynamic sound on Decca! As a soloist and conductor, I also love his Rachmaninov recordings (conducting the RCO), and his complete Sibelius (including the complete songs, a true labor of love), highly energetic. And his Scriabin is also worth it. And I like his Beethoven and Brahms violin sonatas with Perlman (not digital, so only for true music lovers).

His Mahler recordings from down under however are quite terrible.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Have particularly enjoyed his Chopin over the years, especially that wonderful early recording of the Etudes in the wake of his win in the Tchaikovsky competition, and treasurable readings of the 2nd Sonata and the F minor concerto (though like Allegro con Brio I didn't take to his Ballades) and have rarely not enjoyed his approach to other composers. The exception, and unfortunately it's a biggie, has been his Mozart concertos, which to my mind he loves "not wisely but too well" so that his readings of them have tended towards the over-personal, with unmusically lumpy phrasing in places. Like some others on here I tend to find his conducting more consistently to my taste.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

He looks so awkward in this:


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

Eclectic Al said:


> Wow! Lots of fans, but a bit of a tendency to see him as very good, but not best at any work. Some votes for best at something, but not many. No disgrace in that of course.
> 
> Perhaps it's a price paid for having such a broad recording repertoire.


Maybe he's the Karajan of pianists? In the sense that (almost) all of the recordings are good, some are great, but for most pieces we prefer someone else because of *insert reason*.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Ravn said:


> Maybe he's the Karajan of pianists? In the sense that (almost) all of the recordings are good, some are great, but for most pieces we prefer someone else because of *insert reason*.


:lol:The good thing is that Ashkenazy at least is nowhere as controversial as Karajan, we can just exchange all our different tastes without being killed on the spot:lol:


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

He was a great pianist but somehow his recordings are not very often my favourites of th works in question. As a conductor he also did some fine work - for me his Sibelius and Rachmaninov, especially. But again his recordings aren't too often my top choice. As I write I am wondering what I miss from his work ... but I'll have to come back to you all on that.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Much as I admire him as a pianist I think I may personally enjoy him more as conductor;


I definitely prefer him as a conductor. I've heard any number of his recordings - they are technically excellent, but I find them unmemorable. His Beethoven sonatas, Mozart concerti, and Chopin are fine as reference versions, but I'd rather listen to someone with a more interesting interpretive profile.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Eclectic Al said:


> Wow! Lots of fans, but a bit of a tendency to see him as very good, but not best at any work. Some votes for best at something, but not many. No disgrace in that of course.
> 
> Perhaps it's a price paid for having such a broad recording repertoire.


I've admired his playing for years, especially of Russian music. As for "best at any work," I don't do bests, only favorites. With that in mind, I'd note his playing of some of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas. His performance of Op. 31 #3, for example, is magical and compelling. I also love his "Appassionata," especially the unhinged passion in the first movement.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

He doesn't get that much attention - you're right. He's made so many great recordings. For my taste, his Rachmaninoff piano concertos with Previn remains the best overall. Ashkenazy (hereafter known as A) certainly knows the idiom and has (had?) the fingers to do it justice. His transition to a conductor was rocky, but here again his Decca symphony set is superb and the Exton set is excellent, too. I haven't yet heard the newer Philharmonia recordings.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

wkasimer said:


> I definitely prefer him as a conductor. fine as reference versions, but I'd rather listen to someone with a more interesting interpretive profile.


This point comes up again and again, and I think it is at the heart of quite of lot of disagreement about performers.
To go a bit mathematical, if you could somehow place performances on scales regarding a whole range of factors, I think some people would prefer a performance which managed to be pretty central in the range for most of the factors (tempo, phrasing characteristics, dynamic variations, etc), and other people would prefer an outlier. I am a bit of a central guy, liking the idea of a reference version: that is a performance which is excellent at being close to the consensus position.
That might sound boring, but I don't understand why a position which is prone to more than normal distance from the modal position in some way is seen as having more "personality". It is just another position that can be taken, and is no more interesting that one which manages to be spot on in terms of delivering the central experience - probably less so, as outlier performances may be more about look at me, rather than look at the music.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

NLAdriaan said:


> :lol:The good thing is that Ashkenazy at least is nowhere as controversial as Karajan, we can just exchange all our different tastes without being killed on the spot:lol:


He did of course defect from Russia at a time when some of our politicians and union leaders were holding Russia up as a worker's paradise - 'all corn fields and ballet in the evenings'.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

mbhaub said:


> He doesn't get that much attention - you're right. He's made so many great recordings. For my taste, his Rachmaninoff piano concertos with Previn remains the best overall. Ashkenazy (hereafter known as A) certainly knows the idiom and has (had?) the fingers to do it justice. His transition to a conductor was rocky, but here again his Decca symphony set is superb and the Exton set is excellent, too. I haven't yet heard the newer Philharmonia recordings.


He is on record as stating that "fame" is not something an artist should seek as it really is the end so to speak. I have a number of Chopin-first rate for me, and his etudes are especially good. To be honest if an artist does not turn me off then all is good. His Mozart piano concertos (he conducts) are good big band style. I cannot really fault him but I am not into anyone "superstar" who I thinks own the market share of performances. Nada. Not for me.


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## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

I’ve always enjoyed his artistry. I heard/saw him conduct the Royal Philharmonic on tour in the US...in Alabama, even! The program:
Ravel: Mother Goose
Mozart: PC 23 (soloist and conductor)
Rachmaninov:Symphony No. 2
A thrilling concert.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

What do we think about his rather famous, very early 1960 recording of the Chopin Etudes on Melodiya while he was stuck in Russia? Not available on streaming, but I'm a sucker for knockout Chopin playing and I've heard some pretty amazing things about this disc.


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## BlackAdderLXX (Apr 18, 2020)

mbhaub said:


> He doesn't get that much attention - you're right. He's made so many great recordings. For my taste, his Rachmaninoff piano concertos with Previn remains the best overall. Ashkenazy (hereafter known as A) certainly knows the idiom and has (had?) the fingers to do it justice.


I agree! I don't know much of his work, but I don't think anyone can touch his Rachmaninoff piano concertos. They're heavenly.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Has anyone mentioned his sudden retirement announced in January. No more conducting, piano gigs. I hope he's well and has a nice relaxing life - although it can be tough in Iceland.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> What do we think about his rather famous, very early 1960 recording of the Chopin Etudes on Melodiya while he was stuck in Russia? Not available on streaming, but I'm a sucker for knockout Chopin playing and I've heard some pretty amazing things about this disc.


Mentioned it in my post earlier. The playing is stunning - I don't always agree with his view of individual pieces but there's no quarrelling with the pianism on that disc. The sound is a tad boxy by today's standards but the ear soon adjusts. I've known this recording since its original appearance as my school had a copy of the Melodiya LP in the gramophone room in the music block. Much later it was reissued on a Saga CD which I had the good fortune to win in a competition!


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

I think I now understand why Ashkenazy's profile is so low on this forum - it is because no one dislikes him!

Many of the high profile people discussed here are used as part of a dispute: the most common one seems to be "deeper truth" versus "superficial beauty", but there are others (such as complexity versus simplicity, structural logic versus emotional content, etc).

People post about a performer or composer who they really like for some reason. Others want to put forward their own favoured alternative, so they present the two as being opposed on one axis or another, and there needs to be a degree of truth to the opposition.

Ashkenazy doesn't seem to irritate enough people to be a useful pawn in the above game, and so is rarely mentioned. If someone mentioned him I expect the next post would be "Yeah, that's really good, but lets talk about how Gould is wayward but presents the counterpoint remarkably, or Perahia is beautiful but superficial".

Ashkenazy just churned out really good performances again and again, which are pretty universally admired. Well that's no good! :lol:


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Agree with quite a lot of that but IMHO your post goes kinda off the rails in your final para, which to me doesn't accurately sum up the overall direction of what's been said here about Ashkenazy. I'd sum that up as *some* really good performances, a good number which are decent but not quite outstanding and one or two which do divide opinion, i.e.rather less than "universally admired" overall. That to me is much more in line with your opening sentence, which I do agree with.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Thoughts on Ashkenazy's Bach? He has recorded quite a bit in more recent years, including the French Suites, the WTC, the Partitas, etc. I like what I've heard, especially the French Suites, but I've heard his approach called "unapologetically Romantic".



Allegro Con Brio said:


> What do we think about his rather famous, very early 1960 recording of the Chopin Etudes on Melodiya while he was stuck in Russia? Not available on streaming, but I'm a sucker for knockout Chopin playing and I've heard some pretty amazing things about this disc.


It's great! Sound is a little rough but serviceable. Definitely check it out if you can find it.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

Eclectic Al said:


> I think I now understand why Ashkenazy's profile is so low on this forum - it is because no one dislikes him!
> 
> Many of the high profile people discussed here are used as part of a dispute: the most common one seems to be "deeper truth" versus "superficial beauty", but there are others (such as complexity versus simplicity, structural logic versus emotional content, etc).
> 
> ...


First of all, most music critics do not attack the performer generally. What happens on TC might be something else, and lots of these discussions are more reflective of the poster than the performer. Basically I have already made up my mind on certain performers and the rest I just listen and make up my mind.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> What do we think about his rather famous, very early 1960 recording of the Chopin Etudes on Melodiya while he was stuck in Russia? Not available on streaming, but I'm a sucker for knockout Chopin playing and I've heard some pretty amazing things about this disc.


I can remember having an old EP of these when I was a lad. Sensational playing!


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Bigbang said:


> First of all, most music critics do not attack the performer generally. What happens on TC might be something else, and lots of these discussions are more reflective of the poster than the performer. *Basically I have already made up my mind on certain performers* and the rest I just listen and make up my mind.


If you have made up your mind on certain performers, aren't these thoughts also more reflective of you than of the performer? :tiphat:


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Not necessarily, no, provided they're the result of a reasonably wide acquaintance with those performers' work and not just some instant kneejerk.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

NLAdriaan said:


> If you have made up your mind on certain performers, aren't these thoughts also more reflective of you than of the performer? :tiphat:


Yes, as it should, to a point. I make up my mind based on what I like so it is no biggie if the performer is not on some elite list. And, really a forum such as this is not objective in the sense that everyone is making up their own mind. One problem is knowing every artist well within a particular field (pianist, violinist, singer., etc) as this would require a lot of work to say the least. If I say I like Ashkenazy in Chopin, this is not saying much if I have not heard 90% or more of the same kind of performers.


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## perdido34 (Mar 11, 2015)

Animal the Drummer said:


> Agree with quite a lot of that but IMHO your post goes kinda off the rails in your final para, which to me doesn't accurately sum up the overall direction of what's been said here about Ashkenazy. I'd sum that up as *some* really good performances, a good number which are decent but not quite outstanding and one or two which do divide opinion, i.e.rather less than "universally admired" overall. That to me is much more in line with your opening sentence, which I do agree with.


I have never seen Ashkenazy as a pianist, but I have seen him several times conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. The performances were always outstanding. With Cleveland, he made several good recordings, including Prokofiev Cinderella, some Debussy, Strauss Don Quixote, and the best of his (I think) three recordings of the Beethoven concertos, conducted from the keyboard.


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2020)

To be honest, I simply forget about him sometimes! He's a great player, but my collection is flooded with great players, so I need to make a more determined effort to listen to him and some others whom I have neglected. His recording of the Rachmaninoff Sonata No.2 and Preludes was a favorite for a long time. I also loved his Scriabin Piano Sonatas. Time to revisit him!


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

flamencosketches said:


> Thoughts on Ashkenazy's Bach? He has recorded quite a bit in more recent years, including the French Suites, the WTC, the Partitas, etc. I like what I've heard, especially the French Suites, but I've heard his approach called "unapologetically Romantic".


He's hit or miss in his Bach recordings. Sometimes he is way too strong in presenting lower voices which drown out the higher ones. Overall, he's nowhere near the Bach bottom (belongs to Barenboim) nor at the heights.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

> If you have made up your mind on certain performers, aren't these thoughts also more reflective of you than of the performer? :tiphat:


Pot- Kettle -black


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Bigbang said:


> Yes, as it should, to a point. I make up my mind based on what I like so it is no biggie if the performer is not on some elite list. And, really a forum such as this is not objective in the sense that everyone is making up their own mind. One problem is knowing every artist well within a particular field (pianist, violinist, singer., etc) as this would require a lot of work to say the least. If I say I like Ashkenazy in Chopin, this is not saying much if I have not heard 90% or more of the same kind of performers.


Can a musical performance be objectively evaluated at all? Is each professional critic objective and not in any way pre-determined? Are professional critics always sincere about what they write? If you may only form an opinion about any recording or performance if you have listened to, say, 80% of the available performances, would there still be any opinion left? What makes you think you are different than the others here? What makes you think that others don't listen to the music to form an opinion, but merely look at an elitist list (made up by whom, an objective/anonymous third person?).

From what I know, the collective TC membership is a quite unparalleled knowledge base about music/interpretations/artists/recordings and we are quite opinionated about it, because this is the whole point of an internet forum. But I also believe that each opinion, even of the most experienced listener, even of the best conductor, is completely subjective. Your 'list' is as valuable as any, also if you don't choose to share it. Judging other opinions however is quite elitist. Of course, I will take one opinion more serious than another, as probably everyone on the planet. But when it comes to music, the proof of the pudding is in the listening. And I am always interested to hear why I would be all wrong, as long as some reasoning is provided. :tiphat:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

NLAdriaan said:


> Can a musical performance be objectively evaluated at all? Is each professional critic objective and not in any way pre-determined? Are professional critics always sincere about what they write? If you may only form an opinion about any recording or performance if you have listened to, say, 80% of the available performances, would there still be any opinion left? What makes you think you are different than the others here? What makes you think that others don't listen to the music to form an opinion, but merely look at an elitist list (made up by whom, an objective/anonymous third person?).
> 
> From what I know, the collective TC membership is a quite unparalleled knowledge base about music/interpretations/artists/recordings and we are quite opinionated about it, because this is the whole point of an internet forum. But I also believe that each opinion, even of the most experienced listener, even of the best conductor, is completely subjective. Your 'list' is as valuable as any, also if you don't choose to share it. Judging other opinions however is quite elitist. Of course, I will take one opinion more serious than another, as probably everyone on the planet. But when it comes to music, the proof of the pudding is in the listening. And I am always interested to hear why I would be all wrong, as long as some reasoning is provided. :tiphat:


Yes you are of course quite right as the only objective evaluation of a recording by say a pianist is whether the notes are played correctly, in time, etc. and whether the composer's intentions are followed at least to an acceptable extent. Else everything is subjective. We had the notorious case of Joyce Hatto's 'recordings' which turned out to be fakes in which the 'experts' got egg on their faces by dissing one recording then praising the 'one' supposedly by Hatto. A dangerous business.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

The OP asks a pretty good question. My feeling is that VA recorded to much in the seventies. He did the complete everything, and undoubtedly a lot of the Beethoven and Chopin he put down we’re works that he did not perform in concert but was for the sake of recorded completeness. His best Composer, as both a Pianist and Conductor is Rachmaninov. After that, its hit or miss.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

NLAdriaan said:


> Can a musical performance be objectively evaluated at all? Is each professional critic objective and not in any way pre-determined? Are professional critics always sincere about what they write? If you may only form an opinion about any recording or performance if you have listened to, say, 80% of the available performances, would there still be any opinion left? What makes you think you are different than the others here? What makes you think that others don't listen to the music to form an opinion, but merely look at an elitist list (made up by whom, an objective/anonymous third person?).
> 
> From what I know, the collective TC membership is a quite unparalleled knowledge base about music/interpretations/artists/recordings and we are quite opinionated about it, because this is the whole point of an internet forum. But I also believe that each opinion, even of the most experienced listener, even of the best conductor, is completely subjective. Your 'list' is as valuable as any, also if you don't choose to share it. Judging other opinions however is quite elitist. Of course, I will take one opinion more serious than another, as probably everyone on the planet. But when it comes to music, the proof of the pudding is in the listening. And I am always interested to hear why I would be all wrong, as long as some reasoning is provided. :tiphat:


I am not going to get into all this stuff and back and forth. I have been reading and listening to classical music for 30 plus years and I am astute when it comes to observing human behaviors---people lie and do it all the time. Many do not realize the extent of it but in forums such as this, no harm no foul. If someone wants to move in and "live" on this site, well, your life as you choose to do so. In fact, I plan to shut down my activity soon as even the mere time it take to read and post is too much out of my time. Enough!

I would say critics who are employed do tend to be more positive (sells more) but David Hurwitz is selling himself as a music critic so he can say what he wants.

And, if a person states they like a performance because they just do and it has been their favorite for many years, well, good enough for me to take their opinion as something to consider but I am not interested in opinions one after another in machine gun fashion as if they can just have an opinion...ah, so easy.(To be clear, it takes time to have opinions on recordings so I take age X experience X....) BTW, I do not align myself with other members so naturally I have no vested interest in being "liked" or dislike though I try to be fair but I see that when I poke holes in some comments that some might take it as criticisms but all I am doing is showing the issues so they might get the hint not to be so gung-ho about being a music critic, not as easy as it looks, requires some learned knowledge. Being good at writing and using fancy words (where is my dictionary at?) is not music knowledge, btw......Oh, just in fun of course...I think.

BTW, burnout is a real concern as I see many posters have left from years ago, unless they took on new identities and came back.....


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## Subutai (Feb 28, 2021)

Ashkenazy was the main reason I got into Classical music. Hitting middle age and having tried everything, I thought I'd give the Classics a try as I'd always liked orchestral music (mainly from film). I heard a bunch, bot knowing a thing about the classics - then I came upon Ashkenazy playing Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no. 2 with Kirill Kondrashin as conductor. It knocked me sideways! I recall wondering how I had gotten to middle age, heard and loved music of most kinds throughout my life yet, why haven't I heard THAT before? 
Been an obsessive ever since. So, Ashkenazy, thanks mate.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

What a nice story!


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