Hello all, just back from a 4th of July celebration in Lake Tahoe with my
significant brother.

Decca has released a new CD of Hindemith's "Harmonie der Welt," and the
"Symphonia Serena" with Herbert Blomstedt and the Gewandhausor....(have
to rest my fingers for a minute)....chester Leipzig, #289458.

Awhile back Chandos released the same material with Tortelier and the BBC.
Though I found Tortelier's performance and the Chandos recording to be as
gratifying as one could want, I have to say that I've found myself even
more gratified by the new Blomstedt.

A few observances on the 3rd and final mov't of "Harmonie der Welt," the
"Musica Mundana:"

The Decca recording and Blomstedt's conducting is more revealing than
the Chandos/Tortelier.  I hadn't realized how imaginative the scoring for
"Harmonie" really was.  Apart from the tremendously exciting brass writing,
all of the delicate woodwind writing is brought to the fore and so palpable
that one can almost reach out and touch the oboes and bassoons.

The pitched and unpitched drums sound clear and unmuddied on the Decca,
(but the listener can still feel the air move when the bass drum is
employed!), and considering how contrapuntal Hindemith's music is,
especially in the "Musica Mundana," the cleaner the lines the better.
The percussion and bell parts, (never just filler in Hindemith), as
captured by the Chandos recording team are spectacular, but not always
detailed.

The passacaglia that concludes the "Musica Mundana" contains some
treacherously high brass writing.  Blomstedt's Leipzig forces hang in
there until the end while Tortelier's brass, though brave, unfortunately
miss a few of the most important notes--those leading to the final
spectacular cadence.  Listen to how Blomstedt and his Leipzig brass keep
Hindemith's gargantuan contrapuntal lines clean and in focus all the way
though to the cadence.

If I had one nit to pick with the Blomstedt, it is that I couldn't really
hear the two dominant (V) tympani stokes that lead to the final cadence of
"Musica Mundana." (I've been told I have a fetish for loud percussion, but
these two notes *are* kind of important, as they bring us to the hard-won
final chord of the movement.) One can hear these tympani notes clearly in
the Tortelier.

How tantalizing that "Harmony der Welt," is a suite derived from an
unperformed opera by the same name--let's hear it!

John Smyth