I have purchased a cd, EMI/Virgin classics, of Humperdinck. There are four items, 55 minutes playing time. The recordings are twenty years old and the notes are a scandalous half page. Konigskinder the longest item at twenty minutes doesn't even get a mention. This says it all about EMI. The executive responsible needs to reveal themselves and answer some questions or they could of course resign and get a job to which he or she may be more suited.
Quote from: giles.enders on Thursday 05 August 2010, 11:27
The executive responsible needs to reveal themselves and answer some questions or they could of course resign and get a job to which he or she may be more suited.
I agree completely - it smacks of ignorance and a cheapskate ethos! I recall buying the original 1992 release when Virgin was independent (unfortunately I don't have the disc anymore) and seem to remember quite an extensive essay. Ah, the wonderful world of reissues - operas without libretti or even synopses, choral and vocal works minus texts, innacurate track listings, more column inches given to the performers than the work, the historical context or the composer ...
Still,If you are interested in Humperdinck,there is the cpo recording of 'Donroschen' to look forward to. The cast list looks good.
I have the original. Nice disk. If you want the original booklet notes I could scan them and send it to you.
Actually,I was referring to the upcoming complete recording of 'Donroschen',which cpo have announced. I am looking forward to this & hope it lives up to expectations. At last,we will find out if there really was more to Humperdinck than 'Hansel & Gretel' & 'Konigskinder'. Personally,I think 'Konigskinder' is a very beautiful & underrated opera. I don't think Humperdinck was merely repeating himself. I think 'Konigskinder' was a progression & in some ways,more subtle,his tonal palette more refined. I have the emi recording in the 3cd version with the original Lp set cover,which I used to have as a teenager. The recording is a bit resonant,I suppose,but the singing is wonderful.
I also have an ancient,late 40's cd transfer of his 1905 opera,'Die Heirat wider Willen',which sounds reasonably good for it's age,and has some lovely music,but really does need a modern state of the art recording to really evaluate just how good the score is. Strangely enough,using 'surround sound' on the headphones,which I usually avoid like the blazes,seems to help!
Who put out that CD of Humperdinck's string quartets that came out a few years ago?
There was a Koch Schwann CD that had a quartet (no. 3, according to allmusic.com?) in C of his (poss. ca. 1905?), and a Gasparo LP that had a quartet of his and a quartet (op.20/2) by Haydn, but I don't know what else there has been in the way of recordings. (Allmusic only lists that one CD.)
Eric
Thank you for the offer, mdhaub, I do know what should have been in the notes. The point is that EMI are in serious trouble and this is part of their problem.
When Virgin had their flagship store in Oxford Street, London, I often went in at what was peak shopping time to find I was alone or with one or two casual shoppers there. The reason, they were clueless about stocking or marketing. At one point they had a series of classical recordings, exclusively for Virgin stores, displayed at the entrance. The only problem was that a very prominent 'bargain' price label was stuck on the top right hand side so that you couldn't tell who the composer was on the specially designed Virgin bargain label. I summoned the store manager who said 'it was corporate policy to have bargain labels top right'. Not content with this, I wrote to the head of marketing - no reply. I then telephoned several times and eventually reached the person to find an unbelievably rude thicko. They deserved to fail.
Quote from: giles.enders on Friday 06 August 2010, 09:51
When Virgin had their flagship store in Oxford Street, London, I often went in at what was peak shopping time to find I was alone or with one or two casual shoppers there.
HAHA, those were the days. Thankfully, I no longer trawl London record shops.
The Classical dept of Virgin was huge and as you say used to attract about 3 customers a week. In contrast, there used to be about 300 people crammed into Harold Moores. It was worse than a Burmese Railway Station waiting room.
Thal
I used to love 'Swales Music Centre', In Haverfordwest. Alas,killed off by the enroachment of cheap and dreary chain stores.
That's progress!
Quote from: Pengelli on Friday 06 August 2010, 15:54
I used to love 'Swales Music Centre', In Haverfordwest. Alas,killed off by the enroachment of cheap and dreary chain stores.
That's progress!
Hey! We got no Tower! We got no Wherehouse (well, I think there may be a few left, but with virtually no CDs.) We got no Virgin. I think there is still a chain called F.Y.E. but they're mainly a DVD/Blu-ray outlet. What I wouldn't give for even
one convenient, local, cheap and dreary chain store! It would sure beat having to put my credit card number on the net, then waiting around for 2 weeks or more! :'(
Ah, Haverfordwest! I lived there too, you know Pengelli, in my teens. I remember Swales well...
The only place I bother looking round these days is HMV on Oxford Street, London. Otherwise, I'm a totally virtual browser...
Quote from: Alan Howe on Friday 06 August 2010, 17:01
The only place I bother looking round these days is HMV on Oxford Street, London. Otherwise, I'm a totally virtual browser...
Not Harold Moore's? (Or does that shop no longer exist?)
What, not even Harold Moores, just around the corner from HMV in Great Marlborough St? It may be like the Old Curiosity Shop, but they still have some quirky individual imports and a huge second hand selection. Good heaves, they even have a web site (http://www.hmrecords.co.uk) now and are refitting...
Hi
Just to say that I always have a browse in Harold Moores everytime I am in town. As Mark says, they often have things that no-one else stocks. Always worth a visit and the staff are both extremely helpful and also very knowledgeable.
cheers
Dennis
No, I've given up on HM too. They never have anything I don't know about already - and their prices are silly. As for the second-hand stuff - well, that seemed to have taken over last time I was there...
To be fair, although I still call in every time I'm in town, I don't know when the last time was that I actually bought anything there.
I mourn the old Gramex store - it was great for those Russian Melodiya recordings I adored back them. 'Gramex' still exists, but is a shadow of its former self.
Also, I don't know if it still exists, but Cheapo Cheapo Records in Rupert Street (in the 'shadow' of the Raymond Revue Bar!) was an unexpected but valuable source of second0hand CDs - some of them delicious rarities.
Harold Moores are closed to all business from Monday 16th August to Wednesday 8th September. Their landlord is renovating the shop. When I passed, there was a skip with a lot of discarded lp's in it.
Did you have a look to see what was in the skip??
Could be something really nice.
Thal
Incredibly, this actually made the 6 o'clock news.
Thal
It wasn't me who reported it. Yes, There was quite a bit of opera but such was the size of the skip that I could only see at the ends of it. If I had a van with me I am sure I could have filled it with not just records but a good filing cabinet and all sorts of other useful things. We live in a throw away society.
Quote from: giles.enders on Tuesday 10 August 2010, 11:44
Harold Moores are closed to all business from Monday 16th August to Wednesday 8th September. Their landlord is renovating the shop. When I passed, there was a skip with a lot of discarded lp's in it.
Absolutely incredible! If the 'strategy' was wanton disposal of stock and fittings, they could have advertised the fact that it was freely available to collectors on a time-limited basis and saved themselves the cost of hiring a skip!
This story is sadly reminiscent of the wholesale destruction of publishers' archives which took place through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Lewis Foreman has written articles on the subject, including
Lost and Only Sometimes Found (an abbreviated version of which can be read at http://www.ism.org/news_campaigns/article/lost_and_only_sometimes_found/ (http://www.ism.org/news_campaigns/article/lost_and_only_sometimes_found/)): when Novello's moved from Wardour Street composer-annotated proof copies of works by Dvorak, Gounod, Parry, Stanford, Mackenzie, etc. were left to rot on the pavement in readiness for waste-collection. Staggering, and (you would think) beyond belief - but clearly the "if in doubt, chuck it out" mentality is alive and well.
Quote from: Albion on Wednesday 11 August 2010, 13:10
Quote from: giles.enders on Tuesday 10 August 2010, 11:44
Harold Moores are closed to all business from Monday 16th August to Wednesday 8th September. Their landlord is renovating the shop. When I passed, there was a skip with a lot of discarded lp's in it.
Absolutely incredible! If the 'strategy' was wanton disposal of stock and fittings, they could have advertised the fact that it was freely available to collectors on a time-limited basis and saved themselves the cost of hiring a skip!
This story is sadly reminiscent of the wholesale destruction of publishers' archives which took place through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Lewis Foreman has written articles on the subject, including Lost and Only Sometimes Found (an abbreviated version of which can be read at http://www.ism.org/news_campaigns/article/lost_and_only_sometimes_found/ (http://www.ism.org/news_campaigns/article/lost_and_only_sometimes_found/)): when Novello's moved from Wardour Street composer-annotated proof copies of works by Dvorak, Gounod, Parry, Stanford, Mackenzie, etc. were left to rot on the pavement in readiness for waste-collection. Staggering, and (you would think) beyond belief - but clearly the "if in doubt, chuck it out" mentality is alive and well.
Apparently, the same fate, more or less, befell the full score of Moscheles' 8th PC, leaving only the solo part, or a two-piano reduction (I forget which). You also have to keep in mind that at the time, nobody thought there would ever be a call for the revival of forgotten works.
I would find it physically impossible to throw away a manuscript or a score. One simply does not know if it will be needed in the future.
The only book I have ever destroyed is my "Hanon" and only because i wanted to see how it would stand up to a replica longbow at 30 yards.
I hate things being destroyed.
Thal
Wanton destruction of books and MSS is a most evil thing, and its perpetrators deserve to live in unendurable misery for aeons. It is an act against the creative principle in man which is one of the elements that makes him godlike.