Gergiev: opinions?

[David Ayers]

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.

[T.D.]

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.

[Spontooneous]

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.

[soulpope]

Heard him recently with the following :

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• Mariinsky Orchestra / Abduraimov / Babayan / Volodin / Gergiev
  
  DI 28. OKT 2014 19:30 - ca. 23:30 h
  KOnzerthaus 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)

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Both Gergiev/Mariinsky and the three (!!!) pianists made an exemplary statement for Prokofiev`s euvre

Edited November 19, 2014 by soulpope

[David Ayers]

That's a lot of concertos!

[soulpope]

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

[John L]

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.

[Д.Д.]

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.

[David Ayers]

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.

[MomsMobley]

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

[MomsMobley]

 

[David Ayers]

This is a revealing interview with Gergiev, about Mahler:

 

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/mahlers-symphony-no-7-by-valery-gergiev