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Thanks. Can't wait!

Is there any news about a possible release date for this important project?

Yes, that's terrific, isn't it? But the whole work holds one's attention, I find.

I'm sorry to report the passing yesterday (20th April) of Andrew Davis who went to my school in Watford, although he was ten years older than me so I never met him. He was one of a number of distinguished musicians that the school produced, including Adrian Leaper (French horn and conductor) and Michael (Mick) Thompson (also a French horn player). My violin teacher was a Pole named Stefan Fragner who had been a prisoner-of-war in WW2 and was a very fine player. It was quite an era for music - although I never figured as a musician myself!

Well, my copy arrived today - and now that I'm finally able to listen to it in its entirety it's hard not to wonder what might 'top' this as the unsung discovery of the year. OK, there's Raff's Samson still to come, but this Requiem is an utterly amazing achievement for a work composed by an unknown composer in 1798. I hope it sells like hot cakes and gets the reviews it deserves.

Only two of the 'Study Symphonies' have been recorded and Nos.2 and 3 are presumed lost. I haven't listened to the completions of (the much later) Nos.4 and 5 for ages - I'll have to dig them out. Certainly it'd be good to have the two surviving early symphonies in new recordings, though they are very early and uncharacteristic - No.1 in D minor is from 1895, (No.2 in F major from 1895, No.3 in F major from 1896) and No.4 in E flat from 1898, i.e. all were written by the time Enescu was seventeen.

The same applies to Dohnanyi, of course. And Tippett. And Sibelius. And Arnell. Perhaps.

This 3-CD set is now out - and should do much to bring Enescu's vibrant (and somewhat left-field) symphonies to the public's attention. At around £20 for the set it's something of a bargain. Perhaps the conductor, Cristian Măcelaru, will be introducing us to further unusual repertoire in future recordings.

[Sinfonie (vgl. AMz 1863, S.128)]

Too bad. Perhaps that score is in another cupboard someplace else, or not...

Quite. The works list at IMSLP simply reads Sinfonie (vgl. AMz 1863, S.128), which is a reference in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitschrift (= General Music Magazine) of 1863, p.128. One wonders where the score might be...

I'll bet they've never tried to live with the music they're denigrating and appreciate it for what it is. Czerny may not be Beethoven, but there are other pleasures to be had, his evident joy in music-making being one of them. The same applies to Raff in comparison with, say, Brahms, but I know who I'd take to my desert island if I wanted to remain sane...

So: to all those know-it-all, high-and-mighty critics: MUST TRY HARDER!

No, it's good to talk...

(I've been collecting Alfano too!)

It's also the price you pay to get repertoire like Alfano. It's not as if they're putting out Beethoven symphonies with the Back of Beyond Philharmonic...

Naxos releases certainly aren't bargain basement any more - I suppose that's inflation for you. While all price hikes are to be regretted, nevertheless I don't really regard Naxos as a budget label any longer - more like just below standard price. And when you consider (for example) that their latest release of Meyerbeer's L'Africana features world-renowned tenor Michael Spyres, they're not putting out bargain-quality material any more. Somebody once opined that Naxos would conquer the world one day. Perhaps that day has come...

It's been put right, Eric.

My own feelings towards Liszt are rather mixed: I think his symphonic poems are a fusion of sublimity, excitement and banality - probably about right for the experimental form that they represent. However - and it's an important 'however' - I firmly believe that his Faust Symphony is a blazing masterpiece: every bar of it grips me, and I think it's significant that many good-to-great conductors have recorded it - e.g. Beecham, Bernstein (twice), Solti, Barenboim, Sinopoli, Masur, Ansermet, Fischer (Ivan), Muti, Chailly, Thielemann, Rattle, Noseda, Dorati, d'Avalos, Dausgaard, Conlon, Inbal - and probably others I've forgotten. In other words, far more conductors than those who have conducted just the odd symphonic poem or two.

So, to return to Mihalovich and Major, I'm hoping that some of their symphonies/concertos might turn out to be worth reviving. Mihalovich wrote four symphonies; Major wrote six symphonies, two further PCs, one VC and one Cello Concerto!
For Major's works list, follow this link:
https://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Gyula_Major

I have one CD of Mihalovich's songs, which I rather like. There are also four symphonies; no.1 is at IMSLP - these are what interest me. However, Major may well be the more attractive proposition, I agree.

...and I for one trust your judgment, Gareth. I think there's an important gap in Hungarian musical history, i.e. between the generation of Liszt and that of Dohnanyi. We've already (partially) redicovered Beliczay and Moor is a work in progress, but I think that Major and Mihalovich are two worthy composers that have fallen through the musicological net.

Perhaps there are others whom I've forgotten...