David Ayers Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 I have heard Gergiev conduct many times, more than I can count. I have heard him in Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Szymanowski, Brahms, Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Mahler, Messiaen, Berlioz, Tishchenko (!), Bartok, Mozart, Dutilleux, and probably a few more that I can't bring to mind right now. I am also familiar with a good number of the recordings. It's fair to say I have followed him closely, for better or worse. I know there are different opinions out there, and I am interested to hear what others think. I shall attempt not to reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) I've heard Gergiev conduct live several times, orchestral and opera. Not a large sample size, but I was never very impressed (this was in NYC, Gergiev got huge profiles in the N Y Times, and I recall thinking that he had a great press agent). I have a couple of recordings, but based on my live experiences I didn't pursue more. At that time, I found that he had a lot of passion, but the performances were sloppy, and I speculated he might have been spreading himself a bit thin, as he was doing an exceptional amount of globe-trotting. Disclaimer: My experiences were on the order of 20 years ago, so I have no idea how Gergiev's career has evolved. Edited November 18, 2014 by T.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontooneous Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 I've had several CDs and gotten rid of just about all, except "The Rite of Spring," which I play now and then because I still can't believe how bad the performance is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 (edited) Heard him recently with the following : ---------------- Mariinsky Orchestra / Abduraimov / Babayan / Volodin / Gergiev DI 28. OKT 2014 19:30 - ca. 23:30 hKOnzerthaus Wien Großer Saal Interpreten Mariinsky Orchestra, Orchester Behzod Abduraimov (*), Klavier Sergei Babayan (***), Klavier Alexei Volodin (**), Klavier Valery Gergiev, Dirigent Sergej Prokofjew Symphonie Nr. 6 es-moll op. 111 (1945-1946) Sergej Prokofjew Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 3 C-Dur op. 26 (1917-1921) (*) Zugabe: Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky Nocturne cis-moll op. 19/4 (Six morceaux) (1873) Sergej Prokofjew Konzert für Klavier linke Hand und Orchester Nr. 4 B-Dur op. 53 (1931) (**) Zugabe: Nikolai Medtner Canzona serenata op. 38/6 (Zabitiye motivi «Vergessene Weisen») (1918?-1920) Sergej Prokofjew Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 5 G-Dur op. 55 (1931-1932) (***) Zugabe: Johann Sebastian Bach Aria (Aria mit verschiedenen Veränderungen. Clavier-Übung IV BWV 988 «Goldberg-Variationen») (1741-1742) --------------- Both Gergiev/Mariinsky and the three (!!!) pianists made an exemplary statement for Prokofiev`s euvre Edited November 19, 2014 by soulpope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 That's a lot of concertos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 (edited) That's a lot of concertos! indeed - actually they performed the remaining piano concerti (with a 4th pianist !!) and symphonies the day before, so it was sort of a Prokofiev "all-in" package which left me and most of the other spectators after more than 3 hours (including two rather short breaks) completely exhausted, by soaked by the urgency of subject music ......as mentioned the performances on day 2 (missed unfortunately day 1) were impressive and also worked as sort of a massive plug for Prokofiev`s Symphonis and Piano Concertos, most of which rarely make it (at least) in to Viennese/Austrian concert halls... Edited November 19, 2014 by soulpope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 I am a fan. His puts life and originality into everything that he does. When I was living in Russia, I had the opportunity to enjoy him first hand on many occasions. He never disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 I saw Gergiev a couple of times in Moscow way back when, 15 years ago. Don't remember what orchestra he was with, Mariinski, most likely. They played Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, I recall. I found the performances to be over the top, very loud and sort of crude. But that was a long time ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 The first time I saw Gergiev was in 1991 when he brought Khovanshchina to Edinburgh with what was then called the Kirov, with Olga Borodina. At that time here we had no real idea who he was, and we had barely heard of Borodina. It was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsMobley Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 (edited) Gergiev is not a fraud, perhaps overrecords, nearly always valuable in the Russians (& Mussorgsky, of course, and more Prokofiev than most realize deserve multiple recordings/performances), when I can afford them, I like to get sports massage with his Shostakovich "The Nose" as soundtrack, pound pound pound, stroke stroke stroke... aiiiieeee! Worst you can say about VG is same as other jet setter/stars cf. warhorses though VG illuminates the odd corner also... dig the Toradze/Gerg Prok pcs & Scriabin also. Edited November 21, 2014 by MomsMobley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsMobley Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted August 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2017 This is a revealing interview with Gergiev, about Mahler: https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/mahlers-symphony-no-7-by-valery-gergiev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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