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Messages - John Boyer

#1
Were the parts destroyed too?  Rachmaninoff's 1st Symphony was reassembled from the parts.
#2
I need to pull it off the shelf, then give it another try.  It's been a while. 
#3
Quote from: Martin Eastick on Thursday 02 May 2024, 19:35All these pieces are typical of Reinecke at his best - superb, attractive chamber music which deserves much more exposure!

I heartily agree.  I have this CD, as well as other recordings of all the selections heard here.  You can't go wrong with the music, and the recording is competitive with others.  The sound is a bit too close for me, but I still like it, and it's otherwise spacious and decently balanced. 
#4
That is interesting programming. I am reminded of attending the 2007 Glimmerglass season, when they did four different Orpheuses: Monteverdi, Gluck, Offenbach, and Glass. Of course, none of these are unsung, but I'm glad that Torino managed to work one in.

But they missed an opportunity. Two years before the Orpheus season, Glimmerglass did Massenet's seldom performed Portrait of Manon, his one act sequel to the original. That would have been a good choice for the Manon alignment
#5
I have returned to this disc many times. The Czerny is delightful from first note to last, reminding me of the youthful Beethoven in one of his happier moods.

I also love the performers' rendition of the Bruch Concerto. They give it an heroic nobility which almost moved me to tears. I wondered if others who have encountered this concerto felt the same.  Surveying reviews of recordings and concert performances by the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony I found the critics at the Gramophone and other publications had this to say about it:

ungracious, truculent, overbearing, hasn't aged well, can wait another century to be repeated, charmless, unfortunate creation, overwrought melodrama, bizarre conflagration, vacuous note-spinning

I guess they don't share my enthusiasm. 
#6
Now that I have it open again, I can see the Schumann entry goes on for pages, so Bob was not *that* neglected, but it still reveals some curiosities.  For example, the 2nd and 3rd piano trios could only be had in multi-disc sets, of which there were only two choices. 

One of the nice things about Schwann was that it gave the dates for the composers' lives, so it made scanning for composers from the Romantic period rather easy.  What sent me down that road was a chance encounter with Ponti's recording of the Rubinstein 4th.  I shared Alan's sense of excitement in discovery, especially when so much of the standard repertory was new to me, never mind the unsungs.  I can well remember encountering Dvorak's 8th or Berlioz's Fantastique for the first time. 

Thanks to the unsung composers, I was able extend the enthrallment of discovery long after I had mapped the known world of the standard repertory. 
#7
I recently came across one of my own old Schwann catalogs. I thought I had long since discarded them, but I still had one from July 1983. (I had started collecting them beginning in 1979).  That we live in a golden age of recording is emphasized by what you could get in those days.

Do you like Raff? They were only three LPs available: Ponti's recording of the Piano Concerto, a competing one on the Genesis label, and Ruiz's recording of the Suite in D minor.  That was it, nothing else.  The Turnabout recording of the 3rd Symphony was out print by then.

Do you like Pfitzner? There was only one thing available, DG's recording of "Palestrina". Nothing else.

But even among mainstream composers there were many surprising gaps.  For Robert Schumann there are no recordings of the third violin sonata, and of the other two there are only three: Zeitlin on Vox, the Laredos on Desto, Gorevic, long time principal violist of my local symphony, on Crystal. 

What's interesting about these lonely three recordings is that not a one is on what were then the major labels of the day: RCA, Columbia/CBS, EMI/Angel, Decca/London, Phillips, and DG.  Schumann, in 1983 treated like Bruch: a few favorites and little else. 

And so it goes, composer after composer:the unsung composers we discuss here represented by one or two recordings or not at all, and even major composers represented by recordings of a limited number celebrated works, but the rest of their output ignored.
#8
It's nice to see these get more attention.  The 6th has been recorded a number of times.  There's also a recording of all six from Thorofon, with Ursula Maria Berg and (who else) Oliver Triendl.  I have that set, but another is certainly welcome.   
#9
MacKerras did the Brahms symphonies for Telarc with an orchestra of 50 players, a cycle that was greatly acclaimed and have long since become my favorites.  This allowed for 30 strings, however.  If the SCO is only starting with 30 players total...hmmm indeed.

Sometimes a chamber orchestra fills out with extras for a recording.  Let's hope. 

#10
Thanks for the Carus Verlag tip, Alan.  In the days before IMLSP, I bought the scores of the violin sonatas from them. 

All 10 of the Carus choral CDs?  You're diving deep!  I hope I haven't oversold the choral music on you.  In any case, I hope they give you much enjoyment.  I have a few singles from the series. 
#11
Composers & Music / Re: Glazunov 4 a hit!
Tuesday 26 March 2024, 13:27
It seems to me the Violin Concerto clings to the fringes of the American repertory.  I heard it in Chicago many years ago.  In fact, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, I see that I heard it on Saturday, November 13, 1982.  Lydia Mordkovitch was the soloist, and Solti lead the CSO. 

Like Alan, the Glazunov 5th ranks highest in my memory, but I now have the Serebrier on order, so I will give the 4th -- and the others -- another try.  I went through them in the 90s, but at that time I was cool to them (except the 5th).
#12
Is there an online score available? I did not see one at IMSLP. 
#13
You'll enjoy them, I think.  I'm referring to the Mass in E-flat (Cantus Missae), Op. 109, and "Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen", Op. 35.

Now, off to Demetrius again.
---

Addendum: and, having listened to it three times this morning, I now like it as is: bass drum, cymbals, descending chromatic scales, and all.  Well done, Joe!
#14
I will revisit the symphonies soon.  Though we are straying off topic, this thread has revived my interest in Mr R.  Last night I listened to the Horn Sonata and the String Quintet, and browsing the record shelf reminded me of all his fine choral music.  Do you know his mass for eight-part chorus, or his setting of Psalm 84?  Great stuff. 
#15
Demetrius arrived and I agree with your assessment, which sums it up well.  My only quibble was his excessive use of cymbals and bass drum.  It reminded me too much of Italian opera overtures -- Berlioz's criticism of this practice comes to mind. If you must include them, save them for a few key whacks, like Barber does in "The School for Scandal".