Why the feint praise? Flagstad's farewell Gotterdammerung and Martinon's PCO Prokofiev 5th I listened to Flagstad's complete Gott on London mono with Fjeldstad conducting and was very impressed. In fact I found her Immolation more hair-raising than either Nilsson, Solti or Bohm, even though a scant few of Flagstad's high notes push the limits of her autumnal abilities. But who cares? What I like is her full-bodied, sensually flexible voice, (hard to talk about a 60yo woman that way) and absolute authority in the scene; Nilsson never takes her phaser off stun, and her endless clarion-call voice makes her sound comparably detached and distant. No, I haven't heard Flagstad in her prime, but I dare say this performance surpasses any of the usual suspect sopranos in recent cycles of the last 40 years on the major labels. I was sorry to read that Culshaw wasn't impressed, and was surprised to read that he didn't think Fjeldstad was a Wagnerian. I found the conducting absolutely thrilling. As for Martinon's RCA Prokofiev 5th with the PCO, what a rollercoaster ride! I've never heard such a "caffeinated" performance that--miraculously--doesn't skimp on the darker, more terrifying moments, such as the coda of the 1st mov't. There are revelations every measure and the vibrant french woodwinds and brass project Prokofiev's orchestral colors into the boldest relief possible. At the same time, if there's an ominous pedal tone or chilly tremolo under all the fun, it's there, (without a sense of fussiness, a quality that seems to elude modern conductors). Hurwitz on his Classicstoday website pans the performance, citing scratchy strings, (OK, point taken), and an absent gong and woodblock. I have to disagree: the gong is clearly audible, it's just not a slashing, shear sound, (which, to me, cheapens the 1st mov't coda). I would hate for listeners to pass on this performance based upon those complaints. This performance is simply in a class by itself and has forever changed the way I hear this symphony. Martinon brings a jazzy raucousness back to the first and second mov'ts that seems deliciously scandalous to my ears, after hearing a generation of conductors play this work as if through a hole in some prison door of the Gulag Archipelago. (Sir Simon Rattle's EMI 5th is one exception, though he always makes me feel as though I'm being "educated," which isn't a bad thing, but something akin to getting vaguely turned on in a sex education class: it's just not the real deal). If I recall correctly, Prokofiev said his 5th was an optimistic symphony overall, which I always thought rather curious and untrue with the exception of a few pages in the final mov't. Now I think I get it. John Smyth, (still dragging a rock through plastic to enjoy music more than ever) *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html