BUT HERE ARE SOME DIFFERENT WAYS OF HEARING IT
Vienna Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, cond. DG, recorded live in the Vienna State Opera, September 1979
Staatskapelle Dresden, Herbert Blomstedt, cond. Berlin Classics, recorded in the Lukaskirche, Apr. 1979 & Mar. 1980
Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Tamás Vásáry, cond. Hungaroton, recorded live in the Concert Hall of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, June 26, 1997
Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell, cond. Epic-CBS-Sony, recorded in Severance Hall, Apr. 21-22, 1961
New York Philharmonic, Kurt Masur, cond. New York Philharmonic Special Editions, recorded live in Avery Fisher Hall, Dec. 31, 1999
Even if you're dead sure that back in the day "adagio" didn't mean
all that slow, you can still make some kind of statement --
Tonhalle Orchestra (Zürich), David Zinman, cond. Arte Nova, recorded in the Tonhalle, Dec. 12 & 14, 1998
[NOTE: It happens that the performances are arranged from longest to shortest. Is there anything to be made of this? Hint: Might it be not so much "getting better" or "getting worse" as working differently? -- Ed.]
[2] IN FACT, THERE HAVE BEEN SYMPHONIC ADAGIOS
ALMOST AS LONG AS THERE HAVE BEEN SYMPHONIES
Hungarian Chamber Orchestra, Vilmos Tátrai, solo violin and leader. Hungaroton, recorded 1965
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies, cond. Sony, recorded in the Mercedes Benz Center, Stuttgart, between 1995 and 2006
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, Adam Fischer, cond. Nimbus-Brilliant Classics, recorded in the Haydnsaal of the Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt, Austria, Apr.-May 2001
Orchestra of St. Luke's, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. Telarc, recorded in the John Harms Center for the Arts, Englewood, NJ, Nov. 8-9, 1988
[NOTE: Here our timings are affected by repeats. There are two, which together would cause the whole movement to be repeated. Vilmos Tátrai, probably best known as founder and first violinist of the great Tátrai Quartet, takes no repeats (and how much, really, do we miss them?) in the gorgeous sort-of-"luxuriant adagio" Hungarian Chamber Orchestra performance, where he plays the quicksilver violin solos; Dennis Russell Davies and Adam Fischer take the first repeat but not the second, meaning that Fischer's pace is kind of a quickstep adagio; and Sir Charles M. takes both repeats. -- Ed.]
[3] SO WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A SYMPHONIC ADAGIO?
Hmm, is there anything else in music like this one-two punch?
