Review: Abbado's Wildly Inconsistent Berlin Legacy

[@tmm-animusician978]

Though who here has seen Abbado’s live performances? Because he has this spontaneity in performance and through personal experience and from those of others, his live performances have always better then his recordings.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I saw him live with Berlin many times and they were some of the dullest, least interesting concerts that I have ever attended.

[@jefolson6989]

Saw him with the CSO. He exudes a sort if ethereal aura in person . My memories have more to do with the sense of occasion and his presence. I don't remember what they played or how it was. The Lucerne Festival videos are revelatory, but never cared much for his records or his way with the standard repertoire.

[@amyzoltick5998]

@@DavesClassicalGuide What do you think of the Lucerne concerts?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@amyzoltick5998 I guess you had to be there.

[@giacomofirpo2477]

Thank you for this video. Yes I agree...Abbado was a great artist and a great musician, make no mistakes. But yes, he had (like everyone) his highs and lows. Here in Italy he's a myth, almost untouchable. But I always thaught that some things were good others bad instead. I've got the Wagner disc for DG, his Debussy with Boston...absolutely stunning. His Mahler anyway never convinced me at all. The problem is when a conductor manage too much! I don't know why italian conductors today have this obsession to "micromanage" all. But I think we are all agree that Muti, Abbado, Gatti are great conductors on their own. Yes of course the age of Toscanini, Vittorio Gui, Victor de Sabata, Pedrotti, Molinari-Pradelli, Gavazzeni etc. now is really far from us. They are absolutely wonderful conductors and when they grew old, they became even more terrific conductors. I don't know what is happening in the musical world today...:D best regards from Italy

[@williamwhittle216]

Good suggestion to combine his Decca and DGG LSO recordings in a box. Your videos are amazing! Please don’t stop when the virus is co trolled. 😷

[@alexanderrostel2167]

Unfortunately, I am too young to have many memories of Abbado’s legacy in Berlin. His final concert in 2013 featured Berlioz and Mendelssohn and I barely remember it. However, I do remember the performance of Verdi’s Requiem, which must have been his penultimate at the Philharmonie. His critical health had already been discussed at the time. There was no sign of it in his interpretation of the Requiem. On the contrary, the dramatic intensity of it was almost unbearable. The roof seemed to open during the Dies Irae. It’s the kind of experience I’ll always treasure.

[@mishibird]

I flew to Chicago to hear Barenboim do that Furtwängler 2! That was a great concert.

[@mishibird]

And yes. That Abbado Brahms cycle is outstanding.

[@mishibird]

PS: I think some of Abbado’s most interesting Berlin recordings were on Sony, which captured some live concerts. There’s a Strauss disc that has an excellent Burleske with Argerich.

[@etucker82]

I often think there's a 'Peter Principle' operating with conductors. The LSO was commensurate with Abbado's level of ability, and he could have stayed or gone to an appointment of roughly similar or slightly larger prestige and profile like the CSO. But in Berlin he wilted under the high profile, and of course some people will cheer just because it's the Berlin Philharmonic and that's what they're expected to do. Very few conductors have that level of talent and authority to withstand that level of pressure. I love Rattle a lot more than you do, but he obviously didn't have that level either. However one feels about Karajan, he did have that level of ability, even if he usually played music like the Nazi he was.... Karajan almost left a hundred times before he did, and I doubt anybody could have followed Karajan without failing to live up except maybe Kleiber or Bernstein, neither of whom would ever have done it. I have hopes for Petrenko, but we'll see, the Berlin Philharmonic chews up and spits out all but the very strongest.

[@charlescoleman5509]

Admittedly, I like spots in the Janacek pieces. Not the best Sinfonietta. But I did get a little misty eyed in the last 10 minutes of From the Diary. And and tenor Philip Langridge is one of my favorites.

[@phamthanh4785]

I wonder what do you think about Furtwängler Second? I actually really enjoy it. Sure it has a lot of room for improvement, but as a piecce of music written right after the end of WW2 there's just something really haunting and obssessingly beautiful about the symphony that keeps me returning to it (unlike those modernist German works of the same era that - in my humble opinion - for most of the time just bragging about how obviously ugly the world is and have no intention to do anything about it). Personally I think this symphony deserves more attention, though given what is going on in the West I'm not too positive about that

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I think it's a very good piece, and I agree it deserves more attention. I've said that many times.

[@stuartclarke4683]

A fascinating review which has given me loads to think about. I'll give Argerich a spin and listen to the Wagner disc. Don't agree about the Brahms although it's wonderfully played and recorded. For example, the first movement of the second, done with the exposition repeat, seems to go on forever; I'd read somewhere that Brahms only expected them to be played in first performances, so the tune could be remembered. The 3rd is great imo and I was surprised it wasn't a contender in your Brahms 3 roundup. For my money, the best thing in his Brahms is that marvellous Alto Rhapsody, where the band sounds how the Berlin Phil should. I still enjoy the live Berlin Mahler 7th: to me it sounds like he lets go a bit on that one. Love your energy and enthusiasm! Incidentally, if you got yourself a floppy brown hat you'd remind me a lot of Fozzy Bear. That's a complement by the way!

[@gaiuspublius5647]

Can you evaluate the Rattle period? Thanks.

[@UlfilasNZ]

That would be a short video I think...

[@mancal5829]

He has made his thoughts on Rattle abundantly clear, I believe.

[@bernardohanlon3498]

David - bless you. Right on the money. Abbado the Tame, the man who destroyed the Klang of the Berlin Phil. For the most part, what a bore-fest his Berlin output is!

[@edcrow7987]

Mr. O’Hanlon, you should consider writing reviews.

[@bernardohanlon3498]

I would only embarrass myself!

[@doctorzingo]

The early Brahms 2nd in that box is my favourite Abbado recording. The later Brahms he did in the Philharmonie is fine I agree, but that earlier 1970 one-off in the Jesus-Christus Kirche is really something else - everyone seems 100% engaged and the finale is simply exciting as hell.

[@gavinaustin4474]

Possibly the most enjoyable of all these videos so far. And that's saying something.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thanks!

[@chutton988]

I found this video enjoyable as well, Gavin. It reminds me: Earl Wild once said that he "missed the old bitchery." If he knew Dave here he might have felt better! Roasting someone every once in awhile is a lot of fun. Nice video, Dave.

[@classicalperformances8777]

is there a review of the PaavoJarvi Beethoven cycle, please?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It's reviewed at ClassicsToday.com, both free reviews of individual discs and the full set (and overtures disc) for subscribers.

[@jlaurson]

It's not an "Italian" thing, I think. For starters, I think Abbado didn't suddenly get bad as he got older; he'd been hit-and-miss all his life. And while Muti has degenerated from a firebrand master (Prokofiev, Scriabin!) to one of the most consistently boring conductors alive, Chailly has almost gone the exact opposite way: From bland-meister to daring, dark, and ever more interesting.

[@canardeur8390]

The tragedy with Muti is just the decline of his health. I mean, I have always been subjugated by his conducting since I discovered him in 1993. I also have in mind his conducting of Nabucco in 1987 with La Scala. Then, he got older, had serious health issues (doesn't he have a pacemaker now?). Plus the way he had been kicked out from La Scala in 2006 is not completely innocent. And now, he looks like he is looking for a new way of conducting, without moving hands, like Carlos Kleiber was also dreaming of.

[@jlaurson]

@@canardeur8390 sounded different with Kleiber, though.

[@obbie1osias467]

Be honest with me. If you have come across Abbado's recording of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto with Cecile Licad, what is your opinion on it? I think it's one of Abaddo's unspoken legacy. Please let me know because I have a suspicion about Cecile Licad's early prominence because of her connection with the infamous family of thieves who ruled the Philippines during those times.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Nothing special, but not bad.

[@obbie1osias467]

@@DavesClassicalGuide It's a shame that Licad got caught up with the Marcos fiasco in the early and late 80s. Imelda(shoe lady) was her main benefactor and helped her way to Curtis.

[@paulwgibson]

Do any of non-DG Abbado/Berlin recordings stand out as recomendable in addition to what is in this box? (Sony or EMI?)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Some, although it's still hit and miss. His best Beethoven 9th is on Sony (it's very good), and the Hindemith Kammermusik discs of EMI were fun.

[@paulwgibson]

Thanks David. I have those as well as a Boris Godunov and Schumann Concerto with Perahia. Cheers!

[@tomgauterin1723]

There is a stonking Tchaikovsky 5th (with some Mussorgsky songs) on Sony.

[@hiphurrah1]

Great video, made me laugh out loud while cooking dinner! I remember visiting the Berlin Phil a couple of years ago and there was this Abbado exhibition in the foyer. What i mostly remember of it were the little yellow post-it memos, which he used to remember and study his scores. Crazy stuff, hieroglyphs were nothing in comparison to these obsessive looking notes: numbers, signs etc etc. He was indeed the King of Micromanaging, confirmed by your remarks.

[@jlaurson]

P.S. Mahler 7: I consider the "Nachtmusik" movements of Abbado's Berlin 7th among the finest of his Mahlerian achievements. Tack Barenboim's first movement and Boulez' last onto them (pick your middle movement of choice to complete it) and you've got something very near perfect. The Sixth might be the greatest disappointment; the Fourth is sunk by La Fleming.

[@llamadeusmozart]

The best Abbados are the pre-Berlin and the post-cancer Abbados. The "middle-Abbado" with the BP is pretty dull, tbh. Like, I know where he is coming from and I share some of the aesthetic ideas behind his choices - but the result I often found uninvolved, sterile, dull.

[@treyserrano2817]

Do you like abbados Chicago mahler 7 ?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

In spots--not as much as his Fifth or Second, but his Chicago recordings of Mahler are probably his best (except for the Berlin First).

[@CloudyMcCloud00]

A real tragedy that Abbado was chosen over Levine (Karajan's preference) for the BPO. Abbado was an utter flop there. (And then Rattle. 🤧)

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

I'm definitely in the minority, but I rather prefer Abbado's first Brahms cycle, variable as it is.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I've been in the minority all my life. Welcome to the club!

[@enzomartinelli497]

In my opinion, the third symphony with Staatskapelle Dresden (1974) is stunning. However, the BP cycle is very fine, too.

[@scp240]

I wish I had seen this review before I bought the damn box. I do have to disagree with one comment though. I enjoy his Dvorak 9.

[@barryguerrero7652]

I agree: Abbado's "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" is a complete and utter flop, even with the great, big-name singers.

[@bernardohanlon3498]

Dave - greetings. I agree with the other sentiments here. This is still your best discourse. Best wishes, B

[@UlfilasNZ]

At least the Iphigenie operas are entertaining.