User Details - JohnProffitt


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  John Proffitt
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Reviews
Found: 4

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 - Paavo Järvi      (5 of 6 found this review helpful)
  July 15, 2012

Once again I would like to add the historical and musicological perspective against the romantic nonsense passed on for decades regarding Bruckner and his Ninth Symphony. The composer most assuredly did not -- in any shape or form -- consider the Ninth "finished", "complete", "satisfactory" or, God ... more
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 - Jansons    (3 of 14 found this review helpful)
  July 6, 2012

The previous reviewer makes an odd statement that should not pass without correction. I can think of no "Bruckner specialists" at all who consider the Third Symphony to be "immature" in any fashion. Revolutionary, certainly; and central to the composer's emerging and evolving concept of the ... more
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 - Nott      (9 of 14 found this review helpful)
  April 19, 2010

A terrific performance and recording. Nott takes a dramatic, no nonsense approach to Mahler 2, and this public performance is captured in excellent, wide-range 5.0 surround -- there is no distracting noise that I can detect from the audience. Strings are full and resonant; the brass massive but not ... more
Bach: Goldberg Variations - Gunther Rost      (3 of 4 found this review helpful)
  July 3, 2009

I agree, this is an excellent recording and performance. On the timings: the shorter timing is due to the lack of repeats played with individual variations, not any unusually fast tempos. Tempo-wise, Herr Rost is in the mainstream of harpsichord and piano versions played without (most) ... more

 
 
Latest Posts

Suzuki Bach Cantata Series
March 6, 2013
Although Robert answered this question from me, in the negative, in a different thread some months ago, I will pose it again in light of the wonderful information that BIS has now decided to revisit Volumes 1 - 27 of the Suzuki Bach cantata series to generate multichannel re-releases. And that question/plea is to reconsider a multichannel release ... more
Discussion: Bach: Complete Organ Works (played on Silbermann organ)
February 21, 2013
One point of clarification for this posting: the Silbermann who built the organs in Alsace used in the Aeolus recordings was Andreas, the older brother of Gottfried. Gottfried Silbermann settled in Saxony in the early 1700's and constructed a number of famous organs (Freiburg Cathedral, for example) which Johann Sebastian Bach played and admired. ... more
Discussion: Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 - Janowski
November 27, 2012
The DG recording of the Bruckner 8th, with Boulez, is indeed quite fine. But I would argue that the excellence is due first and foremost to the orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, which will not play Bruckner badly for anyone, no matter how misguided or indifferent the baton-wielder. The second factor in this recording is the locale: the St Florian ... more
Discussion: Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 - Janowski
November 21, 2012
I admit to being unimpressed with Janowski's Bruckner so far. Although the actual interpretations vary in their appeal to me, I have the most reservations concerning the sound of the OSR: to my ear, what the orchestra produces for Janowski just doesn't sound distinctively Brucknerian, compared to other Central European orchestras. My benchmark SACD ... more
Shostakovich Symphony No. 11
September 13, 2012
Some one in a previous post erroneously described the Stokowski Shostakovich 11th (with the Houston Symphony) as being recorded monophonic. No, indeed, the Capitol engineers captured it in excellent stereo. The stereo LPs were considered to be some of the finest "demo" discs available, and the various RBCD incarnations sound remarkably fine: a huge ... more