Cheap Paul Hindemith/Arthur Honegger: Symphony Die Harmonie Der Welt/Symphony No. 3 (Music) (Paul Hindemith, Arthur Honegger, Yevgeny Mravinsky, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra) Price

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Customer Reviews of Paul Hindemith/Arthur Honegger: Symphony Die Harmonie Der Welt/Symphony No. 3

Is it a symphony or a trumpet concerto?
Yevgeny Mravinsky's sense of priorities has often been somewhat askew. For example, Shostakovich had given him the original autographic score of one of his symphonies, which Mravinsky lost when his luggage was misrouted during a trip (the score was apparently never recovered). When confronted about the loss of the score, Mravinsky replied, "You think you're upset? My favorite pair of shoes was in that suitcase!" And so it goes here -- the Hindemith symphony is very well played (in a live performance, perhaps the only live performance available on CD of this work). And yet, Mravinsky either indulged his first trumpet (who fancied himself a Harry Glanz-ovich) or instructed him to turn the work into a trumpet concerto (so over-emphasized is that instrument throughout). This makes for a unique reading, but out-of-balance Hindemith, while having its eccentric charms, ultimately doesn't register as a satisfactory reading. This might be how Toscanini might have interpreted Hindemith, had he ever opted to record any: with Harry Glanz doing impossible things in the upper registers of the trumpet, and doing them cleanly (as in Respighi's Feste Romane, for example). Other than this idiosyncrasy, the reading is otherwise majestic, dramatic, and lyrical, as context requires. The Honegger is handled with more reverence.