Urgent: Urspruch PC on German radio!

[Alan Howe]

Friends: I have been informed that Urspruch's Piano Concerto will be broadcast on WDR3 (Germany) between 13.00 and 15.00 this Sunday, 16th August. The pianist will be Oliver Triendl, with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie.

Is anyone in a position to record this broadcast (I imagine it will be the same performance that will eventually come out on cpo, probably coupled with Urspruch's Symphony)?

[Ilja]

Hi Alan,

I'll do my best to 'tape' (wow! that IS a long time ago!) it.

[JimL]

Is there a device that will burn it directly to a CD from a radio broadcast?  Tape is so fragile.  You might accidentally drop it in a bucket of vitriol or something. 

[Kevin Pearson]

There's a guy on Dimeadozen who posts radio broadcasts from Germany all the time and his recordings are very good. I'll check with him and see if he is in a position to capture it and post it on the torrents.

Kevin

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, Kevin. Let's hope he can help.

[John H White]

Jim, you might get some vitriol* from the German radio station if they find out what you're up to!
*schwefelsaure Alan?

[Alan Howe]

Actually, Jim, John, it's not that hard - provided that you can receive the broadcast in the first place. I can receive some radio stations through my satellite TV sytem and so can record them onto my hard-disc recorder. From there I can transfer onto a memory stick and, provided I can work out how to convert the file-type to an mp3 file or such like, it can then be burned to CD via my computer.

[Pengelli]

Whew! I cant wait to pop ye olde cassette in and press
the record button!!!

[Alan Howe]

Actually, I agree! Taping is so easy - and you can still get excellent results, given a good signal.

[black]

Hello,
I am new on this forum. I am rather amazed that nobody seems to be familiar with the WDR Radiorecorder. It is just a piece of cake to make a recording of a broadcast of WDR programs. Just get a look on de WDR website
http://www.wdr.de/radio/home/radiorecorder/start/index.phtml
Good luck

[JimL]

Actually, John, I'm not "up to" anything.  I'm in the States, and don't have any way of picking up the broadcast.  Damn the ionosphere!

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, Black! I've downloaded the WDR Radio Recorder and selected the programme with Urspruch's PC, so we'll see whether it works!

[Alan Howe]

Well, thanks to the WDR Radio Recorder I have just finished recording and downloading the Urspruch PC.

The first movement has much the same quality as the composer's Symphony, also in E flat, i.e. a fairly leisurely pace and a rich orchestral palate. The piano-writing is attractive and demanding, but the feeling is of a concerto of symphonic scope along the lines of Beethoven's Emperor or Brahms, rather than of a virtuoso display-piece. There is certainly some really beautiful writing for woodwinds and some exciting tutti passages: very impressive - and memorable too. This movement is approx. 22 minutes long - an expansive opening indeed.

The second movement starts in a quite different mood - one of sadness and melancholy, rather than the expansive good humour of the opening movement. There is a most beautiful rise and fall to the melodies here - long lines and deep feeling. Eventually, a more hope-filled melody emerges, developed by both orchestra and piano: this is music of exceptional breadth and beauty - and drama too as the main, now tragic-sounding theme is thundered out by the full orchestra, thus ending the movement on a note of heightened sadness.

The finale begins in high spirits; then a more peaceful, typically long-breadthed melody is introduced, before we are back to more vigorous music, this time in less certain mood. Then we are back to a development of the opening high jinks, gloriously reiterated in tutti before the piano takes up the writing. There is tremendous variety in the writing here. Then a fugato...the tension finally builds, the writing becoming broader, then calmer, more akin to the mood of the first movement. The pace picks up, but breadth remains the predominant mood until a build-up of tension, a brief solo piano interlude preceding the final rush for the line, punctuated by horns - a humorous scurry and the work ends in glory.

This is a PC nearly 42 minutes in length. Too long? Maybe. But the delights are many. And, if cpo are to issue it coupled with the composer's Symphony (which lasts 50 minutes), it's going to have to be a 2-CD set!

[Kevin Pearson]

Well, I'm glad you were able to get it Alan! I'm not sure how the radio recorder thing works. Does it just capture an internet stream at the time of the broadcast? If so what is the audio quality like? The user on DIME that I mentioned wrote me today and said he was able to record it and will be putting it up on the torrents after he gets more information from the radio station. Probably tomorrow.

Kevin

[Alan Howe]

The audio quality is truly excellent!

As for how the recorder works: it captures the internet stream at the time of broadcast and then you can simply download the file. Windows Media Player was able to play the broadcast.