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Reiner Alexander Nevsky... Microphone must have been right over his horn...
Mark

The inner movement tuba solos in Mahler 7 with Solti on Decca. He plays those more aggressively than I've ever heard. Sounds like they may have moved the mic closer to him for those moments too. The effect is not there nearly the same on the Abbado one with the CSO.

Another one, Nielsen 2 and 4 with Martinon. Nothing comes close in the low brass playing.

bloke wrote:I like his solo in the funeral march (Mvt. 1) of Mahler 5. His unmistakable style is there (fp-vibrato). That styling often seems odd to me, but - in this case - it's a perfect fit.

Yes, his unmistakable style on those little solos in Mahler 7/Solti is part of what led me to mention it.

That Solti Mahler 7 was recorded at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois. A friend who was there during the sessions told me that Solti came up to Jake on a break and told him, "Mr. Jacobs, when we get to that part with your solos, really give it to me!" That might help explain the highly extroverted performance.

I like the lyric solo in the Reiner recording of Lt. Kije.

When I listened to it in college, my colleagues and I argued about which instrument it was, tuba was not one of the winners. Also on that album was the Stravinsky "Song of the Nightengale" with a tuba solo consisting of a D in the staff with crescendo. Amazing all by itself.

Nielson 4 with Martineau(sp?) WOW!

Where's the dang "like" button.

I like the b section of the prelude because of reasons.

jonesmj wrote:Reiner Alexander Nevsky... Microphone must have been right over his horn...
Mark

This is one of my favorites too. What a tuba sound! I heard a story that one of the mics meant for the choir was a bit close to Mr. Jacobs. He suggested that they move it, but they didn't. The RCA recordings at this time typically used just 3 mics in front of the orchestra. They probably added 2-3 to cover the choir. As someone else mentioned, Kije is great too.

I really love almost all the Reiner/CSO recordings. Was listening to the Barkok Concerto for Orchestra just yesterday. Amazing performance overall. Pines and Fountains too of course! Must not forget the Strauss tone poems! I've more recently been discovering some great Martinon performances with the CSO, mainly from FM broadcast recordings. There is a Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 that is just stunning. I'll echo the praise of the Nielson recording.

The whole CSO brass section sounds really great on the Bruckner symphonies with Barenboim, particularly the 4th. I think you can still get the whole box set pretty cheap.

mike

When I think of tuba playing the Dies Irae cut from the Portrait of an Artist album comes to mind. Every note exactly the same and all with perfect clarity. Stunning!

Shostakovich #7. I love the entire orchestra on this recording, but the last movement when the bones and tuba get going, Wow!

Dan Tuba wrote:Shostakovich #7. I love the entire orchestra on this recording, but the last movement when the bones and tuba get going, Wow!

That section is Rex Martin in addition to Arnold Jacobs. The story as I have heard it: they brought in Mr. Martin and had him dub in afterwards. Stellar sound!