# Teodor Currentzsis



## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

I don't think this conductor has been talked about much on talk classical yet, and I am quite impressed with his conducting style, in particular his recording of Mahler 6. Have you heard any of his recordings and if so what do you think?


----------



## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

BenG said:


> I don't think this conductor has been talked about much on talk classical yet, and I am quite impressed with his conducting style, in particular his recording of Mahler 6. Have you heard any of his recordings and if so what do you think?


I really like his Mozart operas. Along with Rene Jacobs, and from an earlier time, John Eliot Gardiner - these are the only recordings of these works I listen to.


----------



## The3Bs (Apr 1, 2020)

His Mozart Requiem is on my own personal top!!!
Tchaikovsky's 6th is also very good!!


----------



## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

If you buy into his 'concept' you will be happy forever and a day. If you don't, you will be damned to a miserable lifetime of ignorance... well according to Currentzis


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

^ Yes, he talks rubbish!

But his music making can be exceptional - his Tchaikovsky 6, perhaps his Mahler 6, his Mozart da Ponte operas (an approach similar to Jacobs' but somehow it goes with more of a zing) all stand out for me. His Beethoven 5 is good, too - but how dare he produce a full priced CD with just that one work on it?!


----------



## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Enthusiast said:


> ^ Yes, he talks rubbish!
> 
> But his music making can be exceptional - his Tchaikovsky 6, perhaps his Mahler 6, his Mozart da Ponte operas (an approach similar to Jacobs' but somehow it goes with more of a zing) all stand out for me. His Beethoven 5 is good, too - but how dare he produce a full priced CD with just that one work on it?!


Right; you have to separate his self-promotion from his conducting skills, which are considerable. I've heard most of his commercial recordings and several broadcasts, and have never failed to be impressed by them. There's a Mahler 3rd finale on Youtube that's stunning.


----------



## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

Well, Hurwitz hates him, so he must be brilliant.


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I've only heard part of his Beethoven #5/I on YouTube clip...really had problems...in the development, the successive entrances of the 3 eighth note main motif were not clear...poor ensemble, that got quite garbled as the entrances piled in on one another...the notes need to be short, in tempo (not late) and clearly articulated....i didn't continue listening, moved on to something else.


----------



## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

If i was to name a book in the Currentzis synonym it would be ' Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' by Robert Louis Stevenson.


----------



## UniversalTuringMachine (Jul 4, 2020)

He reminds me of Glenn Gould. His interpretations are perverse but they are interesting nonetheless. He definitely is inspired but his performance do not sound natural at all. They are however charged with energy and concentration.

His Tchaikovsky 6th is pretty good but his Beethoven 5th is not. He tend to do these small crescendos and decrescendos that sound neurotic and gimmicky.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Listening to his Beethoven Symphony #5 right now. It's eccentric, with very clipped attacks and unwritten dynamic effects that draw attention to themselves. At Beethoven's metronome markings, it all makes me think of opera buffa, or the crazy, sped-up action of a silent movie. This is music-making for the jaded listener to whom Beethoven no longer speaks.


----------



## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

UniversalTuringMachine said:


> He reminds me of Glenn Gould. His interpretations are perverse but they are interesting nonetheless. He definitely is inspired but his performance do not sound natural at all. They are however charged with energy and concentration.
> 
> His Tchaikovsky 6th is pretty good but his Beethoven 5th is not. He tend to do these small crescendos and decrescendos that sound neurotic and gimmicky.


Ah, but what kind of _chair_ does he use? And does he sing or hum while he conducts? (These are the details that are important.)


----------



## dubai2000 (Jul 10, 2020)

Mhhhh - I saw him live doing Mahler 1 - I admit although most of the audience were very excited about the performance, I found it simply far too loud (for the sake of being loud) and I didn't find his handling of the various motives in any way special - so either it was a one-off or I was just not in the right mood.


----------



## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

Someone said his Beethoven's 5th was hot stuff.

It didn't grab me by the lapels.


----------



## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

Does anyone else find the orchestral balance in his recordings to be very off? The brass often sounds quite muted compared to the strings.


----------



## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

BachIsBest said:


> Does anyone else find the orchestral balance in his recordings to be very off? The brass often sounds quite muted compared to the strings.


Yes, to the extent it becomes painful. meddler maniac comes to mind


----------



## OperaChic (Aug 26, 2015)

BachIsBest said:


> Does anyone else find the orchestral balance in his recordings to be very off? The brass often sounds quite muted compared to the strings.


The very first thing that struck me listening to his recording of Mahler's 6th was the artificiality of the orchestral sound and the meddling with balances on the recording. I was suddenly hearing a very pronounced string pizzicato at the beginning of the first movement that I had never noticed before; when I investigated it turned out that in every other recording what you hear at that moment is a quick burst from the trombones that Currentzis stifles in order to exaggerate that string "pluck". I'm not sure if this was how it was actually heard in performance or if it was done afterwards during the mixing process in the control room, but I find this affected quality of the performance offputting.


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Funny thing about how we rate performances by conductors: we expect them to stick to the score, to present the music as reliably as possible as to what the composer intended, and yet complain about how everyone sounds the same. Then along comes someone with different, even weird, ideas to renew and give us a fresh look and then we beat him up for trying. Some of Currentzis' ideas are valid, interesting and exciting: I rather liked the Mahler and Tchaikovsky - very passionate, driven, exciting. He clearly is intense. The Beethoven was ludicrous - those constant hairpins someone already mentioned are annoying, trite and just wrong. Some players think he's a charlatan; a modern-day Stokowski. Some people think he's on track to be one of the greats. I would like to hear him live with a great orchestra to hear for myself. We've been deluded before by hype from promoters and sycophants.


----------



## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

mbhaub said:


> Funny thing about how we rate performances by conductors: we expect them to stick to the score, to present the music as reliably as possible as to what the composer intended,


"We"? That's certainly not what I want.


----------



## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

^^^ It might depend on the composer . . . and the conductor.


----------



## padraic (Feb 26, 2015)

I really enjoy his Mahler. Great 6th and he did a great 9th that is youtube only right now, I think.


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

wkasimer said:


> "We"? That's certainly not what I want.


I mean "we" in the sense of the larger classical critic arena or something like a collective "we". Anymore everyone seems to sound the same. Orchestras sound the same. Long gone are conductors with a distinctive voice of their own like Toscanini, Karajan, Stokowski, and Fürtwangler had.


----------



## UniversalTuringMachine (Jul 4, 2020)

mbhaub said:


> I mean "we" in the sense of the larger classical critic arena or something like a collective "we". Anymore everyone seems to sound the same. Orchestras sound the same. Long gone are conductors with a distinctive voice of their own like Toscanini, Karajan, Stokowski, and Fürtwangler had.


Roger Norrington sounds pretty distinct to my ears. 

Joking aside, I couldn't agree more with the general sentiment. Musicians don't take enough risks. It's not about the "authenticity", "fidelity", or "execution" (most modern performers don't stick with the script anyway under careful scrutiny).

Stokowski is a great conductor (in the musical sense) with a very special ear for sonority but maligned by his critics for his "superficial pursuit".

Mr. Currenztis, however controversial, is a risk-taker and his orchestra do execute his vision pretty well. I have seen article written about him that says his musicians in the small Siberian town of Perm would stay up late till midnight with him to discuss interpretation. That's what classical music needs, genuine passion and a strong drive to create something new.

Judging by the peculiarity of his recordings, I think he is more of an intuitive musician than a logical one. His intuitions don't always sound right, as demonstrated by his penchants for mannerism. I felt occasionally thrilled and intrigued by his interpretations but never deeply moved (definitely didn't cry like a baby as he claimed). He could benefit from more musical discipline but I am afraid the craze and hype will only boost his already massive ego, at least for now.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

UniversalTuringMachine said:


> Roger Norrington sounds pretty distinct to my ears.


True. You wouldn't mistake his Wagner for anyone else's. You wouldn't even mistake it for Wagner.


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

He's younger and has many more mistakes to make in his life. I like some of what he's done up to now but the Beethoven 5th was a miss-step. It wasn't the speeds, it was the whole concept which I found wrong yet he did it convincingly at the Proms a few years back (or was it last year?).


----------



## Fredrikalansson (Jan 29, 2019)

I enjoyed his Don Giovanni very much. It rekindled a lot of my initial passion for the opera. His Cosi was also good, but maybe overly fussy. I was wowed by his Tchaikovsky 6th, but mildly disappointed by his Mahler 6th. There's a fine line between individuality and perverseness, and from all accounts Currents crossed that line with his Beethoven 5th. I haven't heard it. I'm with others who think it's appalling to release it as a single-work full-price CD. Whatever Currentzis and Sony might think, he's not all that.


----------



## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

I haven't heard anything of his that I've disliked yet. His Stravinsky _Les Noces_ which I don't believe has been mentioned yet is incredible, as is his Shostakovich 14, a work he sold me on (a lot of conductors seem to struggle with this symphony). I also like his Mahler, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven symphonies, although his Mahler 6 played it a little safe compared to what I expected from him. For me, the intensity and uniqueness of his performances outweigh his digressions from the letter of the score, although everyone obviously prioritizes these things differently. I wouldn't want to be left with just his recordings of these works, but I would hate just as much to be without them.


----------

