Marco Polo: the legacy

[Steve B]

Now a lot of the Marco Polo recordings are probably deleted(though the whole catalogue is avilable for download on E-Music) is a good time to evaluate its legacy to 19th century and early twentieth century unsungs(thanks to Peter 1953 for idea for this seperate thread)

Marco Polo was Naxos's first imprint; first issues c. 1984/5(including some on LP!). In effect, if not intention, they took over the territory(of the adventurous and obscure) of the Vox/Candide/Turnabout labels, which began to fade  around 1980(though Vox, currently reincarnated as "Musical Concepts"{sic!} continues to re-issue them religiously, again and again, thank goodness).

I admit the performance quality is(to say the least) variable . For instance there are quite good orchestras like the Slovak State Symphony Orchestra; but also fairly execrable ones(though not as bad as Vox's Hamburg Symphony). But the repertoire they covered! (as Peter comments.)

And their pianists are all excellent(though I couldnt say any had a particuarly idiosyncratic style a la Vox's house wonderhorse, Ponti): Jean Martin(in lovely Godard solo piano-see other threads); Wolf Harden in, eg, Pfitzner's epic Piano Concerto; Peter Ritzen in the worst(and therefore, in the camp sense, one of the BEST) of 19th century piano concerti, Leschetitsky's effort in the genre).

For anyone who is/has been a Marco Polo afficianado or an admirer of certain recordings, or has a nostalgic interest(a la Vox and Ponti), I thought we could nominate our favourites: either genuinely good and/ or interesting, groundbreaking repertoire; or, just so bad(in music or performance) they are good, in an amusing way; or merely so bad they ARE SIMPLY BAD.

Mine are:

Wolf-Ferrari: Sinfonia da camera(lovely, melodic piece; good performance)

S. Wagner:Sehnsucht and C. Harris:Paradise Lost/Festival March(the latter comes in the camp category!).Beautiful music, full of yearning, by two men who had an impassioned relationship with each other, (which came to an end with Harris's early death). The Wagner replaced by the CPO recording, but the Harris pieces since unrecorded. Heartfelt performances, thin on strings.

(For Fernando) :)Rubinstein:Eroica fantasia. Not the most stirring performance imaginable but groundbreaking repertory and a piece full of memorable themes, a sort of mini "Hero's Life". Has this been recorded since?. One of Rubinstein's genuinely great works, not at all uneven or full of wibbling development.c/w Symphony 3; reissued on Naxos.

Enescu- Suite Chatelaine(unfinished); startlingly voluptuous music,overwhelming in its rapture. c/w Suite "the Village", which is more experimental side of Enescu; and "voix de la nature". Technically slightly shaky but exciting performances by Roumanian orchestras

Bloch-C sharp minor Symphony. Exciting, memorable tunes. Brash, huge orchestration. Again, exciting performance.

Steve

[John H White]

Its interesting how Naxos, Marco Polo's cheapo off shoot eventually took over the whole show, relegating Marco Polo to a relatively tiny backwater. However, Marco Polo still plods on with its 20 year old task of recording all 36 of Spohr's string quartets.

[febnyc]

And...Naxos has reissued many of the works originally pioneered by Marco Polo.

I've so many MP discs - I couldn't count them all - and I have been introduced to a myriad of composers whose music hitherto was unknown to me.  I am unable to list them all - but will mention one particular obscurity:  Ildebrando Pizzetti.  His lovely, lyrical compositions are easy on the ear and have that tinge of Italianate romanticism.  There's a new issue on Naxos which includes Pizzetti's gorgeous Concerto dell'estate.  This disc is a must-have for fans of the unsung masters.

OK, I'll mention one more - just one - the songful piano trios of Felicien David.  These are more Brahmsian than French, I think, and are inimitably entertaining.

[TerraEpon]

Don't forget the extreme amount of 'light' music -- 52 discs of the complete Johann Strauss Jr., 26 of the complete Josef, and they are still trickling out Stauss Sr. They also did 11 Waldteufel, 9 (I think) Lumbye (both every bit as enjoyable as the Strausses IMO) 4 Zherier plus a disc of operetta overtures, and a couple of Komzak II.
Then there's all the British Light Music series -- Haydn Wood, Tomlinson, Lane, and others are all great.

[Peter1953]

Marco Polo showed in the 1980-90s the guts to release a wide range of unsung classical music. This is a niche market, thus far from interesting for sophisticated and commercial labels like DGG.
MP gave a lot of lesser known performers a possibility to make recordings. Some are very good, some are less. I am very grateful to virtuoso pianists like Joseph Banowetz (Rubinstein) and Francesco Nicolosi (Thalberg).
It’s still possible to find many of the MP discs (John, Lachner’s symphonies 1, 5 and 8 are still around), and sometimes you can discover real gems for just a few dollars/pounds/euros (an example for piano music lovers is Bargiel, played by Daniel Blumenthal: this is a marvellous MP disc!)

[Alexander_Glazraffstein]

Dear friends,

I also have some Marco Polo recordings among my musical "treasures", including Raff Suites Thuringian and Italian, Raff 2 + Overtures, Raff 7 + Concert Overture, Raff 8 & 9, Rubinstein 4, Rubinstein 6, Rubinstein Piano Concerto 5,  Ippolitov Ivanov 1 + Turkish fragments, etc.
Many thanks Steven for remembering the Rubinstein´s "Eroica". The Marco-Polo CD of Rubinstein 3 and "Eroica" was next re-issued from Naxos.
Perhaps, the Rubinstein´s Eroica is my second tone poem favorite by him, after the excellent "Don Quixote". It seems to me a good music for a Cossack hero biopic movie. Some of Its themes sounds like real Russian music at last!
Greetings from BARÇAlona (Cup+League+Champions League),


Fernando.   

[Peter1953]

Dear Fernando, it's good to learn that you are a Rubinstein fan too! I have all the released Marco Polo discs, one of the reasons why I speak with appreciation of MP.
Rubinstein is my favourite unsung composer for many many years, but he has a few competitors getting nearer and nearer: Raff of course, but Bortkiewicz and Rufinatscha are my latest heros. Do you know them?

And... Barcelona is also a fine place to be. Just like Rotterdam, but different... 

[John H White]

Its interesting to note that, so far, Marco Polo have not re-issued on Naxos what can be argued as Rubinstein's finest symphony, namely No. 5 in G minor. Maybe its still one of their best sellers and doesn't yet need discounting!

[Alexander_Glazraffstein]

Dear all,

A few years ago, I believe It was in 2003, I had in my hands the Marco Polo CD of Rubinstein 5 coupled by Dmitri Donskoy Overture but I refused to buy It because I already had bought the Centaur CD of Rubinstein 3 and 5 a few time ago. 
Next, I repented much of my decision, because I had liked to have also the Overture, and an alternative version of the Symphony.
Unlucky, the CD was not re-issued on Naxos.
I have the Rubinstein 6 by Gilbert Varga. It is one of the best orchestral works by "Van II" or "The Beethoven from the Steppes".
Unlucky, It is a short on time Symphony, and it is not couple by any other music tip. In this case, Marco Polo was miser!
Greetings from the sunny Spain... paella, sangría and Classical Music till the "siesta" time!



Fernando.

[izdawiz]

Hey all!

I have to agree Marco Polo is a cornerstone to unsung 19th century composers. It would be great if they or Naxos were to restart a UnSung 19th Century Composer series taking hints from CPO. Anywho some of my favorite MP discs ( this is tough) would be
 Grechaninov's String Quartets very lovely pieces
 Robert Fuchs Piano Sonatas
 Peter Arnold Heise's Piano Quintet written as a response to  Brahms' quintet and his Cello sonata
 Ohh and How Can I forget  * Kuhlau's Piano Quartets and the Dramatic Violin Sonata! double CD A terrifc Find!

[brward]

Does anyone have any opinions on the performances of the Myaskovsky symphonies on Marco Polo?

[Ilja]

My favourite Marco Polo disc is probably that of the Peter Benoit Flute & Piano Concerto.

The Miaskovskys generally aren't so bad at all, but I generally prefer the Svetlanov box, despite the inferior overall sound quality.

There is one element though, in which I find almost all Marco Polo recordings lacking: sound quality. Many of the recordings possess a sort of fuzzy, badly defined soundscape. My brother calls it the 'grey blanket' and in many cases he's right.

[febnyc]

Among dozens of other composers, Marco Polo introduced me to Alexander Grechaninov - via its recording of his First and Second Symphonies. These were so attractive that I have, ever since, been a great fan of his music - and have collected just about all the recordings available.

[Alan Howe]

The mention of Peter Heise sent me scurrying to various other websites - and sure enough there are a number of CDs of his music, of which I have heard not a single note. Perhaps friends can enlighten me as to the merits of this composer?

[Mark Thomas]

He wrote a beautifully crafted Symphony of modest proportions and a fine opera Drot og Marsk.