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Ordering directly from Claves is not cheap, since you have to pay customs (just had the pleasure, in total 20 Euro for "Dürande" and another cd...).

The opening is 1:1 the opening of Schreker's "Die Gezeichneten" (Prelude to a drama, respectively). Later in the symphony, also Franz Schmidt (think e.g. of the notorious "Notre Dame"-Intermezzo) is there. In fact, when I heard the piece for the first time, I thought "Pfitzner goes Scriabin" - more than a decade later I have arrived at "Schmidt goes Schreker"!

Oh, you were faster than me! @SymponicAddict: To my knowledge, it is indeed the uncut version.

However, Kocsis' Bartok ist more or less the worst (bloodless and cleansed) Bartok you can get...

I totally agree with scottevan3. "Kitesh" is by far the best opera by Rimsky, his opus summum (Gergiev does a fine job there), but I also like "Christmas Eve" very much, "Mlada" and "Sadko" a little less. Maybe one should also mention "Kashchei" and one must not forget about the final "The Golden Cockerel", which has some very good music although a somewhat dull plot. On the other hand, Rimsky's most popular opera "Tsar's Bride" lets me completely cold, as does "Tale of Tsar Saltan". So the range is large and you have to find your own way through...

As for the Herbst Symphony:
1. Unfortunately, the LPO recording will not be released, as Jurowsky was not satisfied with the quality of the performance.
2. cpo recorded the Herbstsinfonie in June 2018 in Graz/Austria with Wildner conducting (this is not a rumor - I was a little bit involved in this). The recording is to be released in spring 2019, but we all know: cpo does not hurry up things.
3. JoAnn Falletta wanted to do a recording for Naxos in Berlin last year, but due to the quality of the material (handwritten parts!) the orchestra refused. In the meantime, Universal Edition decided to edit the material newly - let us hope that it is true and that JoAnn adheres to her plans! Anyway, a printed version of the orchestral material should really boost interest and readiness for the piece!
4. Forget about the rumors with Cornelius Meister - they are untrue. We tried to convince him of the piece for years but he remained stubborn here as everywhere (and we are very happy to have got rid of him recently!).

What about this version of the Rachlin recording: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B004REB4AA/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp

Alma Deutscher is a big talent. However, at her present stage of development, Deutscher's music is in truth uninteresting, empty and impersonal. Let us wait a decade - I hope to hear grandious music from her soon! Concerning Rattle: He has reached a state of mind and artistry, where it would be best to completely ignore him in any respect.

I did it most easily with an online converter (googled for "soundcloud downloader"):

https://9soundclouddownloader.com/

or

https://scdownloader.net/

We had a performance of the Metropolis movie with live orchestra here in Vienna. I did not know the film nor the music and was overwhelmed. I rushed to buy the Capriccio CD (1 h "complete" film music) - and listened to it only twice. In my opinion the music (which has many of the problematic qualities Adriano mentions, most prominent the repetitions) is really intended and appropriate to make immediate, great effect at the first listening during live performance in combination with the film. But repeated listenings (esp. on CD) lead to ultimate disappointment. In this way it is somehow similar to Wagner's rather simply tinkered Parsifal, where Wagner also assumed that the typical listener will only hear it once in his life in Bayreuth. This is also a work which collapses to nothing when you hear it more often (although not after the third time).

The Sinon scene in act 1 has been cut by Berlioz in 1861. The full score is now lost, but the instrumentation has been reconstructed by Hufh Macdonald from the vocal score. It is included in the Dutoit recording (as ist the Prelude "Les Troyens a Carthage from 1863). It is not included in the Nelsons recording.

Oh, great to hear about the planned "Spielwerk"-recording. Thanks a lot!

Friends of mine have been in Berlin and they have been all enthusiatic about Jagde. I have heard Kaufmann several times live here in Vienna - his throaty way of singing seems technically incorrect and highly irritating not only to me (Villazon 2.0; cf. his recent voice troubles). Skelton and the rather faint O'Neill are just usual business - heard once, forgotten immediately; not too bad, but not impressive. Calaf (which is most of the times a roaring role) and especially Siegmund (where you have to sing long without time to rest, but also without any high pitches) are not at all the roles comparable to Der Fremde, which is a genuinely lyric role with many high pitches. However, I find the Korngold tenor roles easier than they sound. I tried Paul some years ago and found its difficulties well dosed - Korngold knew exactly what is just possible (as an illustration: Vogt was brilliant as Paul but a disaster as Bacchus). I never tried Der Fremde, but I assume things are similar there.

Solti's "Frau ohne Schatten" is one of the worst opera recordings ever, with totally inadequate singers (except van Dam) and a fully tone-deaf conductor...

I just wrote a mail and got an immediate answer: "Unfortunately, we do not have more copies."