Unsung Composers

The Music => Recordings & Broadcasts => Topic started by: rosflute on Saturday 20 August 2016, 22:02

Title: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: rosflute on Saturday 20 August 2016, 22:02
September 13th on German radio - broadcast of the Symphony no. 2 by Giovanni Sgambati. Played by the Württembergische Philharmonie, Reutlingen, conducted by Ola Rudner. Performed using the edition which I reconstructed [from the original hand written orchestral parts], edited, published and printed. This link will take you to the page announcing the broadcast:
http://www.swr.de/swr2/programm/sendungen/musik-aus-unseren-archiven/swr2-musik-aus-unseren-archiven/-/id=1857752/did=17901210/nid=1857752/sdpgid=1304725/1ggll8i/index.html
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Saturday 20 August 2016, 23:08
Thanks, Roz! Can anyone plan to record this, please?
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Mark Thomas on Sunday 21 August 2016, 09:20
I can't, I'm afraid, as I shan't be at home.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Jonathan on Tuesday 23 August 2016, 18:15
I'll see if I can record it - no promises though as I'm unsure how to sort out my recording software (they've changed it!)
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Friday 26 August 2016, 07:52
Will try to record it, if I am back to Zurich already, but suppose this will be issued on CD.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Friday 26 August 2016, 09:36
Might this be a future cpo release?
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Jonathan on Saturday 27 August 2016, 11:17
Internet radio has found the station, shouldn't be a problem to record!
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Saturday 27 August 2016, 17:23
Oh great. Well done!
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: rosflute on Sunday 28 August 2016, 14:41
 :)
Quote from: Alan Howe on Friday 26 August 2016, 09:36
Might this be a future cpo release?
Regarding a cpo release - yes, I am told it will be released next year.
I've heard the recording now, and it is very good. The conductor, Ola Rudner, clearly has taken care to study the score and has produced an interpretation that is very different from the previous performances [which both sounded uncannily like my original virtual performance!]. The orchestra, especially the horns and trumpets, is in fine form and the SWR2 tonmeisters have done a great job in creating a warm, balanced sound. Recommended.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Sunday 28 August 2016, 18:19
Oh, that's really good news - thank you.

Here's a link to some info on the Swedish conductor involved:
http://www.olarudner.com/ENG/biography.html (http://www.olarudner.com/ENG/biography.html)
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Monday 29 August 2016, 07:34
Reading those countless magnificent and elaborate conductor's biographies, one wonders how it is possible that so many of them are around - and get occasions to perform everywhere and that there are so many concerts and opera performances around the world! Frankly, in front of all this, I feel a complete nothing, or just a pretentious amateur, who was lucky enough to do some unusual repertoire on CD - which all those professionals would have done much better...
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Monday 29 August 2016, 08:51
Not true, of course, Adriano. Just look at your discography - and compare it with most of your colleagues...
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Monday 29 August 2016, 09:44
Well, yes, Alan, but these CDs could have been done much better by others, or if there was more money and time at disposal... One has always to make so many concessions...
Having perhaps one of my pre-recording depression... In fact I am leaving tonight for Bratislava to realise my 49th CD, and perhaps my very last one, since there are no sponsors for me anymore. It will be another volume of my Jaques-Dalcroze series (this time including the famous soprano Elena Mosuc, who is a friend of mine since her early debuts in Zurich). But before that I will also be impertinent enough to record my own Quintet for clarinet and strings: quelle scandale: it's totally lyric and emotional music!
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Monday 29 August 2016, 11:26
Quotebut these CDs could have been done much better by others, or if there was more money and time at disposal... One has always to make so many concessions...

It's more likely that your CDs wouldn't have been made at all if you had not done so. There are many of us 'out there' who are extremely grateful for what you have achieved in the recording studio. 

Anyway, prajem dobrý výlet! (Another CD for the wants list! - what music by Jaques-Dalcroze will you be recording?)
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Gareth Vaughan on Monday 29 August 2016, 12:38
QuoteThere are many of us 'out there' who are extremely grateful for what you have achieved in the recording studio. 

Hear, hear!!
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Tuesday 30 August 2016, 13:03
Thanks again, Alan :-)
Over here in Bratislava the weather is hot and windy, and I am struggling with an intestinal virus -suppose I will feel better soon, since the Dalcroze sessions start only on the 2nd... So tomorrow they will record my Quintet...
The program of this CD (3rd volume of the Dalcroze series started on Sterling, but now continuing on Guild) will be:
Tragédie d'amour (cycle for soprano and orchestra) - Elena Mosuc singing
La Veillée (a suite of evening impressions for large orchestra)
Sancho (overture to JD's opera)
So wish me good luck!
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Tuesday 30 August 2016, 13:12
We wish you all the best, of course. And get better soon!

Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Mark Thomas on Tuesday 30 August 2016, 14:47
Absolutely. Get well soon, Hadrianus.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Jonathan on Monday 12 September 2016, 19:44
Apologies everyone, it appears that I will not be able to record this tomorrow after all, the CODEC on my computer seems to be missing and whatever I try to do to install it fails to rectify the fault.  Really annoying.   :-[  :'(
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Monday 12 September 2016, 20:53
Thanks for letting us know. I hope you'll be able to fix the problem.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Tuesday 13 September 2016, 20:53
Just recorded the Sgambati.
If no one else is planning an upload, I can do it, since I too I am on Mediafire now :-)
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: jdperdrix on Tuesday 13 September 2016, 22:19
Quote from: hadrianus on Tuesday 13 September 2016, 20:53
Just recorded the Sgambati.
If no one else is planning an upload, I can do it, since I too I am on Mediafire now :-)
That would be great !
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Tuesday 13 September 2016, 22:29
Yes, great. Thanks.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: jdperdrix on Wednesday 14 September 2016, 13:05
You can listen to it on SWR2 (I don't know how long it will remain available!)
http://www.swr.de/swr2/programm/sendungen/musik-aus-unseren-archiven/swr2-musik-aus-unseren-archiven/-/id=1857752/did=17901210/nid=1857752/sdpgid=1304725/1ggll8i/index.html (http://www.swr.de/swr2/programm/sendungen/musik-aus-unseren-archiven/swr2-musik-aus-unseren-archiven/-/id=1857752/did=17901210/nid=1857752/sdpgid=1304725/1ggll8i/index.html)
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Wednesday 14 September 2016, 14:36
Does anyone know how to extract the audio?
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Wednesday 14 September 2016, 15:12
I have downloaded/extracted it (best sound), but I wait an answer from Roz since I need to know from him the date of that SWR recording. After that I can immediately upload it.
Sgambati, incidentally, was Elsa Respighi's piano teacher.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Wednesday 14 September 2016, 15:53
From the short extract I listened to it sounds like a slower, rather heavier performance than that available from Amadeus magazine. Very interesting!
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Wednesday 14 September 2016, 16:39
Sometimes, Alan. But there are also moments in which the music sounds a bit too hasty and confusedly played. Am I wrong? Let me know...
I like the work, but don't find it a real masterwork, although being rather original. And what the SWR2 man said about being linked to Brahms, Liszt etc. is quite discussable. Those specialists always need to compare unknown music with the great masters in order to show that they know a lot about them, but not about the unsung copmposer :-)Just uploaded the files without recording/concert date indication, but with my usual CDR artwork :-)
Here the link:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/sdohmqdqnb22thr/SGAMBATI+-+Symph.+No.2.zip
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Wednesday 14 September 2016, 16:53
There's no Brahms in Sgambati 2 at all. I can hear Liszt, but mostly I hear pre-echoes of later composers. Surely the scherzo looks forward to Respighi? Probably not a masterwork, but a very fine and original work nevertheless. I can't think of a symphony that sounds like it at all.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: TerraEpon on Thursday 15 September 2016, 01:25
Echos of Liszt and Respighi? Definitely worth a listen then....
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Thursday 15 September 2016, 07:12
Respighi?? This would be a "pre"-echo, but I would forget this. The young Respighi was more attracted to Richard Strauss, some Russians and some French like Franck and Saint-Saens...
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Thursday 15 September 2016, 07:46
A pre-echo, not an influence - as you suggest.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Richard Moss on Sunday 25 September 2016, 17:30
Mark,

Many thanks for this upload (and all those whose efforts got it to that stage).  I had previously purchased the download version by 'Amadeus' a year or so back and, as memory serves (I hope) greatly enjoyed that version so I look forward to playing them both to 'listen and compare' (not my forte, I hasten to add).

Also my thanks for the Halvorsen - I find downloads so much easier to listen to as and when I want to than 'live' on a streaming basis (which is always  prone to interrupts etc).  I also find I listen better without the visuals, although there is no doubt that adds to the atmosphere of a performance.

Best wishes

Richard
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Sunday 25 September 2016, 19:02
My goodness, Rudner's interpretation of Sgambati's fine 2nd Symphony is a weighty one - more so than the Amadeus one. The work seems to acquire a greater stature in such a performance. Many, many thanks to Roz for preparing the score and to Adriano for making the (splendid) recording available to us.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Gareth Vaughan on Sunday 25 September 2016, 21:49
I agree. Let us hope we get a commercial recording with these forces soon.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Sunday 25 September 2016, 23:17
What absolutely gorgeous colours the orchestra conjur up in the slow movement here. And what melodies there are everywhere. I loved this work when I first heard it. I love it even more now. Wonderful. Do download and enjoy this lovely performance.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: jasthill on Monday 26 September 2016, 15:00
It is interesting that the CD Booklet in the download mentions the premier of the "improved second edition" by L'Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma on February 17, 2014.  That would have been just a few months before that orchestra was disbanded, re-raising the question if Naxos recorded them playing this symphony - awaiting future release.  Of course, this is made moot by the possibility of a forthcoming CPO release.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Gareth Vaughan on Monday 26 September 2016, 15:16
And what of the 3rd symphony? I would be interested to know more about that.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Gareth Vaughan on Monday 26 September 2016, 16:01
I enjoyed the Amadeus recording of the symphony, but I agree that Ruders is considerably better. The performance of the PC on the Amadeus disk was a bit disappointing, I thought. Anyone have similar,  or other, views?
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Monday 26 September 2016, 16:35
Quotere-raising the question if Naxos recorded them playing this symphony - awaiting future release

I'd've thought Roz would have told us...
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Monday 26 September 2016, 23:20
Having listened again to Rudner's performance I am still of the opinion that it's better than Attardi's on Amadeus. However, it's not all one-way traffic: for example Rudner seriously underplays the whooping horns in the finale as well as the glorious central section of the second movement. Now this may be a matter of orchestral balance which will be corrected on the cpo release, but I'm not 100% sure we've heard an ideal performance - yet.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: rosflute on Wednesday 28 September 2016, 12:32
I'm able to get wifi only occasionally at the moment, so apologies for any slowness of reply. To answer a few points raised:-
The Rudner Wurttembergische recording was made last September. It is intended to be released as a CD in 2017.
I attended the Orchestra of Roma First performance of the work, conducted by La Vecchia, which was not recorded [although the orchestra management told me that it had previously been recorded, I was never convinced that this was the case]. Attardi's subsequent performance was issued as a live recording. Both of these Italian performances drew heavily upon the interpretation that I created for the virtual performance issued as a CD with my edition. So I was delighted that Ola Rudner's interpretation shed new light on the symphony. It is interesting that his slower interpretation increased the length of the work by almost 10 minutes! I agree with Alan that the symphony is still awaiting a definitive performance.
Regarding the influence of Brahms and Liszt, you many be interested to read my long article on this matter which will be published in the Liszt Society journal shortly. I'll put a copy of the article on my website sometime in the future.
Anyway, thank you to everyone for your interest.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Jonathan on Wednesday 28 September 2016, 19:26
Good stuff Ros, I look forward to reading your article!
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: semloh on Monday 03 October 2016, 01:45
Coming back after a complete hard drive failure and the trauma (for a genuine technophobe) of setting up a new computer, I was sorry to have missed these exchanges.

Adriano, I do hope you are fully recovered, and thank you for giving us this marvellous symphony. I am sure it's beauties will become increasingly apparent as I listen again over the next few days.  :)
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Monday 03 October 2016, 07:38
QuoteRegarding the influence of Brahms and Liszt, you many be interested to read my long article on this matter which will be published in the Liszt Society journal shortly

I'll look forwarding to reading that very much. Thanks, Roz.
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: adriano on Monday 03 October 2016, 07:40
I am, thanks, semloh :-) Now I am looking forward to record France Musique's "Proserpine" by Saint-Saens on coming Sunday :-) I have nopted this on my agende, so I suppose i am not wrong...
Title: Re: Sgambati Symphony no. 2 - a new recording
Post by: Alan Howe on Friday 13 October 2017, 17:50
If there is a more melodically generous, thematically memorable unsung 19th century symphony, I haven't come across it! Returning to it in Rudner's grand performance has been an enormous pleasure. Wonder when the commercial recording will appear...?