Disagreements with Dave #1

Nice to see Dave has some competition. Can't wait for your 2nd video of disagreements. This is going to be friendly rivalry at its best. Keep em coming, Charlie

Just discovered your channel and subscribed. I agree with you about the Thompson RVW symphonies. Not perfect, but pretty good, and better than Dave's assessment. I've followed Hurwitz for many years, both in print and more recently online. As critics go, I think he's better than most, though he has his particular musical prejudices like anyone else. I find his breadth of knowledge of the genre, its composers, and its practitioners over a broad period of time makes him a great resource for most classical buffs. As to his opinions, I've found over the years that if he thinks it's good, it usually is. If he trashes it, usually not so good. Many exceptions, of course, like this one. Whether I agree with him or not is irrelevant. As he often says, "Like what you like."

I strongly agree that Thompson's Vaughan-Williams cycle is among the best, but then again I like the Haitink performances and I don't think anyone like those.

It was Peter Warlock (aka Philip Heseltine) who said of the 3rd (Pastoral) Symphony that it was "all just a little too much like a cow looking over a gate." He was a partisan of Delius. He killed himself.

Putting it out there. Another plug for Bryden Thompson is that he did a great set of recordings of the six Martinu symphonies, which Dave Hurwitz was favourable to.

I'm glad you are doing this. I enjoy Hurwitz's videos too and I agree they are usually very entertaining. The problem, which I think you are addressing, is that his audience is very large and many of his listeners who are not more tuned into the classical recording scene, take his views about performances as if he is the last and only word regardless of the fact there are other critics out there with no youtube channels who disagree. For all his entertaining joviality, he can also be a horse's ass especially in replies to comments. My major run in with him is his near dismissal of conductorJascha Horenstein, where he is at odds with a majority of previous critics. He usually refers to people who admire someone he doesn't as cultists. In regards to Horenstein, he has single handedly destroyed the conductor's reputation to the sad dismay of Horenstein's surviving family. I do not like every recording Horenstein made, but his Mahler 1 and 3 and Nielsen 5 for Unicorn are reference recordings as far as I'm concerned and suffice it to say, Dave and I have exchanged words on this. His recent mediocre Mahler series was an embarrassment. Anyway, it's nice to see someone push back on youtube. Hurwitz is knowledgeable, but not the last word by a any measure of reality.

Thomson's recording of the 4th Symphony was my introduction to the music of Vaughan Williams, and it might still be my favorite single Vaughan Williams CD to this day. I also love the cover art on this cycle. It introduced me to the paintings of J.M.W. Turner and he is my favorite artist to this day. I look forward to more videos in this series. Who doesn't love a good disagreement?

I was a student Edinburgh when Thomson was Chief Conductor of the RSNO, I went to many of his concerts. Apart from Martinu and Nielsen, I don't recall much of else he did that was distinguished. The RSNO didn't sound great under his baton, I found him a to be uninspired in the core classical and romantic repertoire. I'll definitely 'give his RVW cycle a go. I think I listened to a 1 disc. For the 4th, Dave recommended Berglund. It's a taught and intense performance that never slacks. Wow! Great to see such enthusiasm for RVW around the world. In the UK we suffer from a lack of performances on 1-4 and 6-9. Everyone wants to play the 5th. The commercial classical stations pump out the Tallis Fantasy, the Lark and Greensleeves on a near daily basis. It's so depressing. I want to scream at them to play some of the later works or the gritty ones! Antonio Pappano is slowly working is way through the symphonies, a performance of the 9th the LSO planned for December. I am hoping his time with the orchestra will be a golden age in the mold of Previn or Sir Colin Davis.

Antarctica - Previn for me. And I NEED the spoken intros. Shostakovich nao pls

Nice to see more people reviewing recordings in youtube, new subscriber keep the good work just like Dave!

The Thomson recordings were the first Vaughan Williams recordings I bought because at the time they were almost the only ones you could find in the early days of CDs. I see them, for me, as an alternative, valid ones, to the other ones I might like a little more. They're broad, and lush and deliberate and well recorded, and when I'm in the mood for that approach they're there for me.

I have the Thomson RVW cycle, but haven't listened to it in years. Your fun and informative review has whetted my appetite to give it another go :)

This is going to be fun! I love Dave Hurwitz's reviews, which I find informative and entertaining. I am aware that Dave is of the faster persuasion, i.e., that he thrives on recordings taken at a brisker pace, whereas I tend to enjoy slower performances. I guess it all comes down to what the performer feels while actually doing the music. As far as Vaughan Williams go, I have the Boult box but I don't listen to the CDs as often as I should. As Janis Joplin used to sing, I must make amends. After this review of Bryden Thomson (and Leonard Slatkin), if I find a box in a record shop and it's at a nice price, I'll buy it. One thing I must say, your humming sounds better than Dave's :))

Bryden Thomson also did a superb Walton 1 for Chandos that has, in my opinion, been somewhat underrated. I too watch Hurwitz's reviews and, like you, find them entertaining and informative. His lifelong experience really shows. My main negative is his quick dismissal of many recordings which many of us still value despite changing times - Karajan in Bruckner for example. Discovered your channel today so will listen with interest!

Well, hello! Who are you?! 😁 Nice to find your channel. I watch Dave's vids just about every day. I agree with his take on things the vast majority of the time. I also disagree with him about Thomson's RVW cycle! So you're an interesting find. No. 1. I was irked that Dave didn't even talk about this one. I agree with you. It's gorgeously played, sung, & recorded. It's a stunner & is at the top of my list with Boult/EMI. Yvonne Kenny is amazing, one of the best, but I like Sheila Armstrong better. I do NOT enjoy Brian Rayner Cook's voice though. No. 2. My favorite recording of this. I really like Thomson's pace in the Scherzo. It's a "Nocturne," & I think Thomson's pace emphasizes the nocturnal quality. No. 3. I always read unfavorable things about this recording & am always baffled. It's exquisite in every way. The recent one by Martyn Brabbins is a stunner & up there, too. No. 4. It's just crash/bang/boom exciting & beautifully played. No. 5. This is my favorite recording of my favorite RVW Symphony. It just glows & glows & glows. Remarkable from start to finish. No. 6. Probably Thomson's weakest effort here. I find it a bid muddy, especially in the scherzo. No. 7. I find other recordings have a bit more snap & snarl. No. 8. Extremely good, but like you I just don't listen to work much. No. 9. I actually think this is one of the greatest recordings of this piece. I'm going to give it another listen & pay attention to what you said about the percussion. So what does that add up to? For my money, an incredibly consistent cycle, with a couple of misses vastly outweighed by some glorious recordings of the front rank. It's my favorite RVW cycle on the whole.

You keep making videos, I'll keep watching. Good to have other opinions out there.

Yvonne Kenny is quite good, but for me the baritone is the more important soloist. I prefer the Slatkin, I don’t think anyone sang it better than Thomas Allen. I wish you’d given some love to the other piece on the sinfonia artartica disc, Toward the Unknown Region is a personal favorite, bravo to Thomson for including it even though his choir contains what Anna Russell referred to as the “British piercing type soprano” but my god is that a fun piece to sing.

I would love to hear your take on CPO's Spohr Overtures. It is one of my go to discs.

Great to see another positive and good natured review channel! Differ from Dave by all means, but we dont need any wars ;)

Haha LOL. You need a tamtam alternative behind you. Glockenspiel. 4:22 and you also sing, yay 😂😂 I love enthusiasts being enthusiastic