@@herbiecactus6687To me your opinion comes over harsh on Mr Pokorny, who has held that chair with nothing but distinction since 1988. It's your opinion, but not a widely held one I fancy.
@@MrMWPeach the CSO brass section has a rich tradition of its members retiring at least 5 years too late. I hear these guys several times a month, not really interested in the opinions of people who haven't attended a CSO performance in years.
@@herbiecactus6687I too used to live the life go to the concerts even subbed with them in college and afterwards. Went to a couple Ravinia performances two years ago : I was a bit under whelmed. Everything has its peak, nothing stays great forever. Maybe I was just unlucky. Maybe it was just a bad couple of nights. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Possibly the greatest orchestral brass section in the world at the time. Although this is obviously the edition without the additional brass choir. Great to hear those horns led by Dale Clevenger!
I often think the CSO is not nearly as loud as I remember in the 80s and 90s because of my hearing. This is a good reminder that they did used to be louder. Hope they examined their instruments for stress fractures after this performance.
The low brass section doesn't sound as loud nor as distinct since the renovation of Orchestra Hall in the mid 1990's. The ruin-ovation altered the hall acoustics which unfortunately resulted in emasculating the sound of the low brass section. I actually stopped attending concerts there for many years because of this.
@@craigrichmond7625 Agreed, as a visitor from NY I attended Orchestra Hall quite a few times. Post renovation the bass response in general was diminished. Could hardly hear the double basses. I remember the "Chicago Blare" very well and in some music it was very exciting, but it's totally the wrong sound for Bruckner. Gunter Wand changed it a bit with rotary trumpets but the orchestra hated him.
@@gerontius3 The trend on newer halls has been to create an open space behind the stage, often vineyard style modeled after The Philharmonie in Berlin, such as Disney Concert Hall, Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall, David Geffen Hall, Denver's Boettcher Concert Hall, Gewandhaus... Orchestra Hall has some open space behind the stage as well. Those halls require louder playing by the orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic had adapted to their hall by playing louder, they play less loud in shoebox style halls. I'd heard them couple times at Disney Concert Hall, when it was relatively new, they sounded tremendous, they must have felt at home. In such settings, they have got to have at least six double basses, played loud, on large symphonic works. It is disappointing to hear that Chicago Orchestra does not sound right in the redesigned hall. It would be interesting to hear Berlin Philharmonic play out there.
@@gerontius3 I attend CSO about twice a month on average during the season and I'm right there with you-- the "old guard" doesn't get Bruckner. Stuck to the "he was an organist" thing and think the only way to play his music is to try to sound like a pipe organ. I did hear a beautiful B8 conducted by Thielemann last season. Gave the brass "the hand"for half the show.
@@herbiecactus6687 Yes, Thielmann does Brucknwr well in the old manner of Bohm Jochum and HVK. He did the 8th with the Vienna Phil in NY last season. Like the return of Karajan (almost). Of course it helps that the VPO string section is 50% louder than the CSO or any US orchestra
See how great an orchestra can sound without the agism bs of today. Average age here is probably 60 lolz. And they sound better than the current Chicago Symphony.
Kind of stumbled across the finish line there... chops were chopped, intonation issues. The strings sounded indifferent... It doesn't help that Asahina chose to slow down so much in the finale instead of maintaining speed. The low brass kind of kept it presentable, but not exactly what I would imagine seeing posted.
With all the junk on RU-vid, anything this band put out is worth listening to. Their "worst" playing is better than 99% of what's out there. They are human, therefore not perfect, but they are all true artists and we can learn from them even in their "weakness." That's the way I look at it.
Boa constrictor? The fugue before this, in the finale is up there with Bach. The coda from this finale symphony is the one where Bruckner lets it all hang out. Although I prefer his most original symphony the Sixth. Along with the 9th were the only two Bruckner symphonies that another Bernstein recorded. Though Lenny could play the eighth on the piano from memory.
Comparing the two only makes sense to a degree. Currently Amsterdam has one of of my favorite brass sections, they are unreal. I listened to both CSO and Amsterdam live and their entire orchestral playing concept is different. Dynamical challenges are so different, especially with the tricky hall in Chicago. I love the transparency of Amsterdam but the “wall of big but beautiful sound” idea that Chicago produces here is unparalleled to me.
The London Symphony with Maurice Murphy and Rod Franks takes some beating… there is a RU-vid on here of Mahler 7 with Tilson Thomas last movement conducting… astounding.
They don't seem to be going for "Beautiful" in this clip. Someone posted the link to the whole performance above- maybe there's some "beautiful" in it.
@@sebastianbell9911agreed. Different playing concepts, different tonal concepts. It's like comparing the CSO to the Philadelphia Orchestra. 2 totally different bands!
