Am I completely deluded ? For instance I always found Horenstein's final Mahler performance from 1972 of Das Lied von der Erde without question one of the most profoundly moving of all.
So yes seeing how we are apparently a dying group in deep denial, just curious if there are any fellow 'cultists' of this supposed 'mediocre' conductor ?
2011-09-09T14:38:28Z
Ah thanks guys, I'm relieved. I came home and started hastily checking I wasn't insane. I wasn't actually aware of the authors reputation which Del_icious_mgr succinctly sums up. Incidentally then does he also submit most of the reviews on classicstoday ? which explains why I think Barbirolli's final highly passionate performance of Elgar's 1st Symphony got rated like a 3 out of 10 which is so ridiculously illogical as to warrant the reviewer being strung up.
del_icious_manager2011-09-09T12:50:09Z
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Mephy: Horenstein was one of the GREAT Mahler conductors. David Hurwitz is a class-one asshole whom most in the music profession in the UK treat with complete derision. Horenstein's 3rd is one of the marvels of the 'gramophone'.
Ignore Hurwitz (always the best thing you can do!) and follow your heart and your own very good ears.
I wasn't aware of the existence of such a cult. I must however confess that my collection includes no recordings by Mr. Horenstein. I cannot say either that I am a regular reader of Mr. Hurwitz's dubious and oft times controversial reviews. I suspect that self promotion may be the driving force behind such imflammatory prose. Mr. Hurwitz also said, according to at least one source, that all Mozart sounds the same. Bottom line... these are not opinions from a source that warrants any indignation.
I don't think I would worry unduly, dear Mephistopheles, unless you feel you must set great store by the utterances of Mr Hurwitz, a criticaster who rates Ferrier as merely a 'minor local talent' (1) and appears to be on record as holding that "Mozart really does all sound the same," "It’s a good thing that 'only' about 200 Bach cantatas survive," and "Liszt is trash." (2).
It does, however, seem rather plain that said Mr Hurwitz is inordinately fond of the sound of his own voice, and feels compelled therefore to make such manifest at every possible and impossible occasion, irrespective of quality conveyed?