The One Where I Offend Everybody...
Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2003 9:49 pm
I received four new CDs in the mail the other day, and one thing really struck me...
Am I the only person that thinks that Frederick Fennell should retire? I know, it's blasphemy to slam a 90-year old man that has contributed so much to the concert band world for well over 50 years, but I just don't think he's that good at all. He can interpret Sousa and Fillmore, but if it's a march by any other composer he just seems completely out of his element. On one of the CDs I just got, Fennell leads a rendition of Colonel Bogey that is virtually a dirge... he takes it so slow!! It's an almost four minute version of the march, and it sounds terrible! Okay, a comparison here. I have Colonel Bogey on six different CDs with six different ensembles and six different conductors. Here's the running times on them...
3:16
3:18
3:20
3:10
3:15
3:43 (<-- Fennell)
...And then, the entire reason I bought the CD: Purple Carnival. Another horrible rendition. He keeps the low brass subdued throughout, you can barely hear the trombones, even in the final strain. You know how in the trio towards the end of the phrase there are those piercing notes followed by the decending triplets in the low voices...
DAT!
duh-duh-de-duh
DAT!
duh-duh-de-duh
DAT!
...etc? Every time I've heard this the trombones/tubas have been part of that descending line. Every time. Fennell kicks the low brass out and just has the bass clarinet do it. So softly you can barely hear it. So yeah, I'm a little annoyed at Frederick Fennell; he just seems totally clueless on anything that's not Sousa or Fillmore.
Other random comments...
- Is it just me, or is the U.S. Marine Band the best on the planet? Every time I hear them they destroy even my high expectations. The new CD I got of them is a live, in concert CD, and they just effortlessly fly through Jig by Daniel Godfrey, and Adam Gorb's Awayday.
- I'm in love with the Tokyo-Kosei Wind Orchestra's version of The Overture to La Forza del Destino (G. Verdi/T. Inagaki). I also think their version of Peterloo Overture (M. Arnold/H. Kondo) is the best I've ever heard.
- Two new marches I'd never heard before but now really like: Honey Boys on Parade (Cupero) and Idaho (Barnhouse). Man, Honey Boys sounds like a tough march. I love that sixteenth note run by the trumpets in the trio.
Am I the only person that thinks that Frederick Fennell should retire? I know, it's blasphemy to slam a 90-year old man that has contributed so much to the concert band world for well over 50 years, but I just don't think he's that good at all. He can interpret Sousa and Fillmore, but if it's a march by any other composer he just seems completely out of his element. On one of the CDs I just got, Fennell leads a rendition of Colonel Bogey that is virtually a dirge... he takes it so slow!! It's an almost four minute version of the march, and it sounds terrible! Okay, a comparison here. I have Colonel Bogey on six different CDs with six different ensembles and six different conductors. Here's the running times on them...
3:16
3:18
3:20
3:10
3:15
3:43 (<-- Fennell)
...And then, the entire reason I bought the CD: Purple Carnival. Another horrible rendition. He keeps the low brass subdued throughout, you can barely hear the trombones, even in the final strain. You know how in the trio towards the end of the phrase there are those piercing notes followed by the decending triplets in the low voices...
DAT!
duh-duh-de-duh
DAT!
duh-duh-de-duh
DAT!
...etc? Every time I've heard this the trombones/tubas have been part of that descending line. Every time. Fennell kicks the low brass out and just has the bass clarinet do it. So softly you can barely hear it. So yeah, I'm a little annoyed at Frederick Fennell; he just seems totally clueless on anything that's not Sousa or Fillmore.
Other random comments...
- Is it just me, or is the U.S. Marine Band the best on the planet? Every time I hear them they destroy even my high expectations. The new CD I got of them is a live, in concert CD, and they just effortlessly fly through Jig by Daniel Godfrey, and Adam Gorb's Awayday.
- I'm in love with the Tokyo-Kosei Wind Orchestra's version of The Overture to La Forza del Destino (G. Verdi/T. Inagaki). I also think their version of Peterloo Overture (M. Arnold/H. Kondo) is the best I've ever heard.
- Two new marches I'd never heard before but now really like: Honey Boys on Parade (Cupero) and Idaho (Barnhouse). Man, Honey Boys sounds like a tough march. I love that sixteenth note run by the trumpets in the trio.