When I was a school boy I used to buy The Gramophone magazine but I often overlooked the top recommendations and bought on the grounds of what I could afford from my pocket money, favourite artist or even the attractions of a pretty picture on the record sleeve (Philips Classical Favourites were particularly alluring in this respect). We had nothing like You Tube back then where we could listen and compare recordings, the only option being to camp-out in a booth at HMV and to ask the pretty assistant to bring various recordings to play....too much of which usually brought out the ugly side of her personality.
My first recording of the Jupiter cost ten bob.. I believe the label was Opus..and I'm sure the performers were pseudonymous. I got to know the symphony through the record and it has done me no lasting damage.
I truly think that Noah Tunell could do a lot worse to acquire a fine version of this symphony than to go to Amazon, choose a version by a reputable orchestra and conductor with a coupling that appeals to him and buy the cheapest used copy of it that is on offer.
Jeffrey, I cannot help but observe that, given the number of surveys I have produced for pleasure, having "trawled" through as many recordings of some works as I can find, there is a certain irony in accusing me of all people of finding the task onerous or unrewarding. Evidently you find such activity pointless if there is no such thing as a "best" recording, so I guess you can avoid the burden of reading them, having much experience of your own; in any case, I often going out of my way to emphasise that my recommendations are inevitably personal - but at least based on that same experience and some knowledge. Noah has a starting point and will soon make his own judgement.
Well, you've stated part of the problem itself in the last sentence; Noah Tunnell is not at all specific in what he requires from a performance and I for one have no idea whether he likes "Big Bands" , chamber orchestras, period instruments or whether he doesn't really care very much. Does he want a modern recording or is a vintage re-issue acceptable to his ears? Considering his admitted limited resources directing him to a top-price issue of a collection of Mozart symphonies might not be a solution to what he is looking for.
The idea of a "Best" recording is a rather tenuous one anyway, and what we are likely to get is a number of favourite recordings of individual contributors , whose reasons - if given at all - might not chime with the tastes of the enquirer.
Considering the number of recordings that exist of this symphony the potential for recommendations is great and so, how can a choice of one recording be made from all those...with a pin ?
I would have expected somebody who is going to make a recommendation for a "best" recording to have "Trawled" through endless recordings before doing so whether on their hi-fi equipment or on YouTube, anyway. If the idea of listening to multiple versions of a great piece of music is regarded as trawling it doesn't speak well for the nature of the reviewer's task.
With so many great and fine conductors and orchestra having recorded this work it's highly unlikely that , even taking pot-luck, you'll find a really sub-standard one. I think Noah Tunell might well find a good one just by taking pot-luck if he doesn't want to spend an hour or two actually listening to music on an easily-available website rather than reading the words that others have written about it.
All very well for the seasoned collector who, as you say, already has many versions, to suggest that, and I do it myself, but if someone asks for guidance it's because there are indeed dozens if versions and it might be useful to know where to start, especially if only only one recording is sought - otherwise, what's the point in writing and reading reviews if we're just going to trawl through endless recordings on YouTube for ourselves? For a start, "period" or "traditional Big Band"?
The sort of thread that's liable to be filled with the favourite version of others and to potentially leave any interested parties none-the-wiser about which one to chose to add to a collection. My idea is to go to YouTube where there are a number of versions available that you can sample and to decide which one most appeals to you before you fork out on something you want to keep.
I must have around a dozen versions in my own library recorded by some of the greatest conductors of the last seventy or more years and really wouldn't be able to chose or evaluate a "Best" version from among them.
I am looking for recommendations for a best recording of Mozart's symphony 41. I don't have the resources to buy multiple versions, so I was hoping for some ideas. Thanks
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