Zappa's orchestral works

Well, I'm a big fan of Zappa's jazz efforts, but lately I've been looking into his orchestral stuff, and I don't really know what to do. You know how scary his discography can be, and I'm trying to limit spending at the moment, so...

Can anyone compare Orchestral Favorites, London Symphony Orchestra, The Yellow Shark, The Perfect Stranger, and whatever else might be a contender for that category? They all sound so tantalizing, but you know how it goes with Frank's stuff. What is your favorite of these? What one would you recommend above any of the others? Hopefully I'll eventually end up with all of them. And the ratings on this site are sufficiently low enough in number that they don't tell me much of anything.

So, Zappa nerds, any thoughts? Or will this just sink gradually towards the floor of the forum? And it's okay if you don't want to answer my question but rather just talk about how great Zappa's orchestras were or whatever you want. I don't know. I'm very sleepy. And when I'm tired I write too much and don't necessarily realize when it doesn't make much sense.

Orchestral Favorites: Three out of the five tracks are on Lather. Those that feature on the album are good but they're not the most exciting things in that particular smorgasbord.

LSO: The question is whether you're getting the two CD set or the vinyl issues. Seems that the compact disc editions are completely remixed. Zappa made a big deal of how much post-production editing was necessary to make thing thing sound good. I have the compacts discs, and I found it alright. Still haven't given it another spin, mind.

Perfect Stranger: I dunno. Seems to have some synclavier stuff in addition to the orchestral pieces.

Yellow Shark: Ah, see, this is where its at. The Ensemble Modern did a great job. Unlike the LSO, they rehearsed and it shows. Plus, they seem to be having a great time. Besides that, the humour quotient is far higher on here. I'd say this might be the best place to start, just don't expect the rest of the orchestral stuff to be as good.

Also, just for a lark, you might enjoy looking at who performed on the Orchestral Favourites pieces:

http://www.globalia.net/donlope/fz/musicians/AEEO.html


Edited by WalterDigsTunes - December 09 2009 at 18:35

My favorite individual piece is "Pedro's Dowry".  Best album overall is probably The Yellow Shark.  You may wish to start off with the Strictly Genteel compilation, which is a mix of orchestral stuff and Mothers-type stuff that could conceivably translate well to an orchestral setting.

 

To be honest, while I have some of his orchestral stuff and appreciate what he did as a composer, the other material is more appealing to me.  And I do include Thing Fish in that category. 

Sadly must admit I've not been a big fan of his 'serious' music.  I haven't heard Yellow Shark, however.  I always found there was enough seriousness embedded in his 'rock' music to keep this guy occupied for hmmm 40 years now.  So no recommendations other than Lather, which has some or all of the Orchestral Favorites stuff.  See my recent post regarding completionism as to why I passed on some of the LSO recordings etc.

I think I agree with the majority here and would say 'Yellow Shark' is the best of his orchestral works.  The performances and the recording are first class, however, some of the tunes on there are amongst Zappas least accessible.  I certainly find it one of the most challenging albums to listen to from start to finish and I am a bit of a Zapnerd.  In this regard, Orchestral Favorites is probably a better avenue into the treasures of his chamber pieces, especially if you like Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo.  The natural progression from here is 'Boulez Conducts Zappa' for some amazing interpretations of this material.  The production and the performances are crystal clear, but be warned - 4 of the tracks are FZ twiddling about on his Synclavier, that which he credits as 'The Barking Pumpkin Digital Gratification Consort'

Hi,

Incidentally, As you like both Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo can I recommend you 'Sleep Dirt' .  I think it's my favourite album of Zappa's canon.  'The Ocean isThe Ultimate Solution' (the last track) is an amazing piece of work.   

Makntak wrote: Incidentally, As you like both Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo can I recommend you 'Sleep Dirt' .  I think it's my favourite album of Zappa's canon.  'The Ocean isThe Ultimate Solution' (the last track) is an amazing piece of work.

Already is one of my favorites of his. The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution is way up there on the list.