Out now: Joachim Raff, Works for Choir, Piano & Orchestra

[Mark Thomas]

And what did you think of it? Not that I'm fishing for compliments! 

Rob Barnett has just uploaded his review to Music Web International.

[Albion]

The Sterling site has just been updated to include the new Raff disc, but no specific date is given:

http://www.sterlingcd.com/

there is no mention on Amazon or MDT yet.

[Mark Thomas]

All I can say is that its release is imminent. I know that the distributors have the stock but it seems as if it hasn't arrived at the retailers yet.

[Mark Thomas]

It's now advertised at jpc.

[Albion]

It is also now noted as a pre-release (27th July) on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Works-Choir-Piano-Orhcestra-Raff/dp/B003VB5DRU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1278879958&sr=1-6), with typical typos!

MDT will probably be cheaper, as they have an offer on Sterling at the moment (£10.75 per disc).

[Mark Thomas]

A full listing, with audio samples for each track, is now at jpc.

[Albion]

This eagerly-awaited disc has now listed on MDT: http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//CDS10892.htm

[Peter1953]

When I was a teenager I was always in a state of excitement when a new Beatles single (on the label Parlophone, do you remember?) was released. I bought the single as soon as it was available. Never mind the price. How was the music? Was it a new memorable hit potential? Should I like it as I did with all the previous singles and LP’s? The Beatles never let me down. Every new release met my expectations.
I have exactly the same feeling with a new Raff release. At this very moment I’m listening to Die Tageszeiten, op. 209. It arrived today with the two new Naxos CD’s of Rubinstein’s piano music by Joseph Banowetz. How to describe the feeling?

The new Raff disc is housed in a different kind of box, probably because of the 52 pages thick booklet, with Dr Avrohom Leichtling’s very interesting, informative and academic notes, and the text of the Choir, both in German and English.
What an opening! Tra Nguyen is a fantastic virtuoso pianist. Yes, no doubt Raff belongs to the greatest composers of the Romantic era. With this work Raff proves it again. What an original opus. Sterling: thank you very much. This CD is real value for money with 79:52 minutes Raff.

I’m going to have a very civilized evening with Raff and Rubinstein, that’s for sure.

[Mark Thomas]

I'm glad that you liked Tageszeiten, Peter, It's a very special piece and, as you say, the opening is a stunner. I'll be very interested to read what you think of the companion pieces on the CD.

[Pengelli]

I think that's the longest duration for any cd I've heard of. My longest is seventy nine minutes and thirty seconds,I believe! So that's money well spent,in more ways than one. (Incidentally,do any cd's last for over 80 mins? Playing times do seem to have increased,a little).

[Ilja]

If my memory doesn't fail me, the actual limit is about 80 minutes and a couple of seconds (twelve, I thought). In theory, it can be more on a lower sampling rate, and I believe that was used occasionally. But then it apparently doesn't work on all players.

[eschiss1]

I'm almost sure I've seen mentioned or reviewed commercial CDs as long as 82 minutes? but with the caveat that they don't work on all players...
Eric

[Peter1953]

The DGG CD box "Chopin Complete Edition" (17 CDs) has coupled both PCs on one disc: TT 81:40.

And now, after a hard working day, a glass of wine and... I give the new Raff another spin. A most pleasant start of the weekend!

[Pengelli]

My 18 year old cd player,(I do have a newer one),can cope with 79 min 30 sec,without any problems. (I even put in a cd-r once,by mistake,but it still played,albeit with an annoying ticking noise!)  I'll have to look at my collection again & see if I have an 80 min,one. Is there any difference in quality on an extra long one. I bought a dvd box set of Amazon today,and one reviewer was grumbling that the uk release (a US show) was on 3 discs as opposed to the USA version's 4. He reckoned that the sampling rate to get it onto 3 dvd's resulted in an inferior picture quality. Whether this would affect the quality of a cd,I don't know. (At any rate I ended up buying the US version,but partly because a uk seller was offering it at a low price.)
I hope I'm not getting too way off topic here,better get back onto the Raff cd,soon!

[Pengelli]

Funny,I was just looking at a Chopin cd,(Argerich).