At last, Klaus Mäkelä sets a record
Album Of The WeekFrom the Lebrecht Album of the Week.
… This is the best I have heard from Mäkelä on record. With a febrile soloist, he both anticipates and accommodates her whims, muting the orchestra or letting rip as required. This is sensitivity of a high order, allied to an empathy rare among podium kings. His performance is a parallel masterclass….
Read more here.
And here.
I listened to it on Youtube. It sounds very good indeed and she certainly has something to say about the work. The engineering sounds pretty good to me – which is in stark contrast to other recordings by KM……….
The engineering work on KM’s Sibelius cycle is exemplary.
The engineering work on Fritz Reiner’s Pines of Rome is exemplary. The Sibelius is good but hardly great. Also great would be the Malcolm Arnold English and Scottish Dances (Lyrita) and pretty much all of the Charles Gerhardt Film Music recordings with the National Phil……
Yes, he is good…just not CSO good…
You are right, the CSO doesn’t deserve him.
… and just how ‘good’ is CSO ‘good’? Better than the Oslo Philharmonic? Mmm!
A bit disrespectful to not put Jansen’s name in the title. What Mäkelä’s recorded output has shown is that he himself is interpretatively clueless. But if he follows the ideas of superior musicians he can be an efficient orchestra organizer.
Please list a few measures where you feel the conductor’s interpretation is not convincing, best would be to reference a few gold standard recordings, again measure by measure in the orchestral score.
Who other than his teacher has this kind of time to spend on a conductor that immediately strikes one as musically inert and disengaged? Why don’t you tell us, measure by measure, exactly what kind of musical insights he brings to the table that warrants him to be the head of four orchestras concurrently? (Yes, four at the same time. He is right now responsible for the audition and tenure process for all four orchestras.) “Musicians love him” is not a good answer. We know he is an elegant organizer already.
HSY, you made the blanket claim that he’s clueless. Burden of proof is on you. Show your evidence.
He is not clueless, but he needs a lot more proofs to be deserved the head of 4 orchestras. The burden is on him. The current proofs are far from enough.
… How about you applying your evidently superior artistic sensibilities as well as coruscating intellect? I mean … clearly mere performing musicians are just ‘performing monkeys’?!
Unfortunately, neither have I seen him live, nor have I heard the recording in question. So I am not in the position to answer the question about his readings of well known scores. I just thought that you obviously are.
WOW!! I didn’t realise it was four? Surely that can’t be healthy for the classical music industry (or for him)? Remember the days when a conductor would have one orchestra and maybe one opera company. Four?? That’s ridiculous.
Yes, four would be ridiculous. Luckily, HSY’s post is utter nonsense. Makela will release his two current positions when he takes the helm in Chicago and Amsterdam. So he will be Music Director in two different places, a not at all uncommon arrangement–Solti, Barenboim, Tennstedt, and Muti have all held down two or more Music Directorships simultaneously, just for a start.
Mr. HSY makes the preposterous contention that hearing a few auditions in his new orchestras before becoming Music Director is tantamount to taking on the full duties.
Where did I make the contention that he is taking on full duties? I said he is the head of four orchestras, which is entirely correct. Taking on the full duties or not, he has official titles with four orchestras, is responsible for the orchestral personnel for those four orchestras, and is the first name listed in the letterhead for those four orchestras. Ergo he is the head of four orchestras — an entirely absurd situation.
Unfortunately, neither have I heard him live nor have I listened to the recording, and am thus not in position to make a judgement. I just thought that you obviously were.
Gold standard recordings made when? Insights change. Interpretations change. Audiences change, unless they just fade away due to the increasing mortality rate among their increasingly geriatric audiences.
KM simply has the opportunity to work with the world’s greatest orchestra to whom he contributes little apart from his childish tantrums. Jensen is just great.
KM: please stop playing the cello in public. Every cellist in the orchestras that you conduct are masters whilst you are not!
Unlike a Muti-CSO album, a record that you can listen to from beginning to end without falling asleep 5 mins into it.
I go out on a limb and say that with Klaus at the helm, the CSO could maybe aspire to win a minor Grammy in 5 years.
Ok, let’s not get carried away. They’d still need to change first trumpet, first oboe, first clarinet, and the trombone section to sound decent again. Not in our lifetime 🙂
Wait, you were anti-Muti, now you’re anti-KM too? You just anti-everything? Get a life man.
“Change first trumpet?” (Battalan) – are you mad?? He sounds just like Herseth (plays his instrument actually) and is hands down the best first trumpet in the country if not the world……I heard him play as guest principal with the Phillies in Mahler 7. Absolutely superb. Magnificent. I haven’t heard anyone as good since……Bud Herseth.
I don’t know which time zone you are in. It’s Saturday night here and I sincerely hope it’s the alcohol in you doing the talking.
Oh, THAT’’s who that was! He was terrific in Philadelphia. Before Bilger retired I’d forgotten how essential a great principal trumpet is.
The other night at Carnegie Michael Sachs was guest principal trumpet – luxury cameo. He was, of course, superb in the Ravel concerto with its ferociously difficult opening solo. He left Cleveland to teach at Curtis. Maybe someone can persuade him to take Bilger’s chair?
All the other ushers who volunteer at Symphony Hall feel grateful to be able experience the joy and excitement which the entire CSO works so hard to provide. The other ushers sincerely appreciate the contributions of every single CSO instrumentalist, chorister, and former music director. The other ushers applaud what they know to be among the finest principal trumpeters, trombone sections, clarinets, oboes, and former music directors in the world.
I feel sorry for you, that in spite of your faithfulness in your duties as volunteer usher, you have hated the musicians, and felt nothing but scorn for the music director. I wish you would just stay in your mother’s basement.
What a privilege I feel it is to be able to listen to those wonderful trombones, trumpets, Riccardo Muti, and entire Chicago Symphony. And very much looking forward to Maestro Makela as well.
Lol your comment is so uniquely funny so as to make me break my longstanding ‘no comment’ policy.
Trust me on this one: they couldn’t get me to be a husher in Michigan Av even if they paid me a number of times what I’m currently making (which, not to brag, but they couldn’t afford; more per year than you will make in your lifetime).
Rather, I am sympathetic to your situation. Being a volunteer usher for the CSO sounds materially worse that living in your mom’s basement.
I am not surprised that you regard with contempt people who give their time to support a beloved artistic institution. The barrel keeps finding a new bottom.
You should definitely stick to your “No comment policy.”
Genuinely curious what your issue is with the principal trumpet. I’ve heard him a number of times and agree his artistry pales in comparison to someone like Tom Rolfs.
Lt K – “Pales in comparison to Rolfs?” No he’s very comparable. Both excellent.
To win a minor Grammy, the CSO will first have to make a recording, and in the current state of the recording industry this is extremely unlikely, I’m afraid. The great US orchestras may be as great as ever, but they – and their union – have priced themselves out of the market. So the only way I am ever going to hear the CSO under Makela or anybody else is to fly to Chicago.
I suspect that a good deal of the hysterical opposition to Makela is down to listeners and above all ” record collectors” who just can’t understand why the palmy days of the mid 20th century are no longer with us. Mr Hurwitz, the leader of the hysterical pack, regularly compares Makela to a Ken doll. No balls! Oh dear …
First trumpet is most urgent.
Please tell us why those players would need to be changed. Just curious.
Rat: Now you have shown your complete ignorance (or jealousy). Batallan is a great principal l trumpet. He is a real star.
Thank you. Yes, he is.
I also heard the Mahler 7 in Philly and it was shockingly good.
I know – from the very beginning there was no likelihood of a clam and those are very typical in the “tessitura” parts of the finale. I can’t tell you how often I’ve cringed as the trumpets stretch and clam their way into those exposed leaps. Not here – not even concerned. Fabulous and that big bright sound on Herseth’s instrument. He played like a God and so did the others in the section. At Carnegie he was the first player YNS went over to thank. On Friday we had Michael Sachs as guest principal. Another fabulous evening.
True, he’s a star in Chicago. I understand they even dedicated a restaurant chain (Boar’s Head) to the pictorial elegance of his playing.
Just for a start; “first oboe”?
Seriously?
Please share with us Mr. Rodent, what on earth do you do remotely as well as Will Welter plays the oboe?
I am more privileged than I can say to enjoy his artistry on a daily basis.
I’m so awfully sorry that my not being deferential to your elitist conventions irritates you. I’ll be watchful going forward, I promise.
Yet. literally everyone understood who and what I meant. Those with ears even agree with me. That must irritate you even more.
Wait for Batiashvili / Petrenko in the Sibelius!
I heard them at Baden-Baden with BPO this year and it was very disappointing. I was kind of shocked how scrappy their interpretation of Sibelius was. BTW, I like both actually.
Is that coming? She has already recorded it with Barenboim
“In the Sibelius concerto Jansen is so commanding she makes Heifetz sound effortful…”
Not worth reading any further.
I haven’t heard this and don’t want to. I’ve heard enough about Klaus Baby. Why is everyone so obsessed with such a mediocre talent who obviously learned how to conduct looking at himself in a mirror?
Well, he’s going to Chicago
Baby, but he can’t take You Know Who …
He lets the orchestra play on the Mahler 5 and it is the Chicago Sound. Truly excellent!
She is “so commanding she makes Heifetz sound effortful” – really??She is a fine violinist of course, but please – whatever NL was eating and drinking that day, I would like to have what he was having.
Strong Assam breakfast tea.
Maybe a move to Darjeeling?
Thanks for that valuable information – it is always good to know what to avoid (if one wants to stay closer to reality, that is).