New Releases

[Brian]

That Massenet box is very enticing. A one shop stop for these 7 operas, provided they are all (or mostly) in good versions, is certainly a great selling argument.

The presence of Plasson, Pretre, and Monteux is cause for excitement, I think. Unfortunately, I think the thing on the right in the photo is a stack of CD sleeves rather than a booklet...but hardly anybody publishes libretti these days...

[Brian]

Time to find out what you're buying in MAY!



Note that on the Haefliger piano recital, the works are performed in the exact opposite order from that listed on the cover.




"So far and yet so near. The harmonies and the virtuosity: that is what the two composers Sergei Rachmaninoff and Carlos Guastavino have in common. "Even though at first glance the geographical distance between them was immense, their approach to the piano was strikingly similar," remarks Martin Klett. In both composers he loves the Romantic element- paired with attractive simplicity in one case, with ambitious piano artistry in the other. "I don't think one could even say if this music is by Guastavino or Rachmaninoff! It's somewhere in between, and thus provides a smooth, perfect transition- the ideal piece to play before the Rachmaninoff sonata.""



"Schubert's empathy with women is evident in his body of songs, which include songs to, by, about and for women. Devised by Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton, the present recital brings us each of those possibilities and more."



Not typical Marriner repertoire, here.



"Chandos' new exclusive collaboration with the recent Salzburg and Leeds competition winner Federico Colli is kicking off with this first volume in a unique Scarlatti series. Playing on a modern Steinway, the Italian pianist – internationally recognized for his intelligent, imaginative interpretations and impeccable technique – here explores the keyboard sonatas of Scarlatti, taking a fresh approach from a philosophical angle, by grouping the compositions into 'chapters' in order to reflect the many contrasts of his life and his contradictory personality. In personal liner notes Colli reveals: "I conceived a map of a journey into transcendental thought, beyond the works' phenomenological meaning. Each chapter has a title and the individual sonatas in each chapter refer back to the permeating image of its basic idea." This album is an exceptional start to what promises to be an exciting, long-lasting partnership."

Unusually, the 36-page booklet has:
- four cover photos of Colli
- two B&W artist portraits of Colli
- a photo of Colli signing his recording contract with Chandos manager Ralph Couzens
- a photo of Colli "studying" Scarlatti scores overlooking a scenic field in England
- a photo of Colli giving a thumbs-up while "filming the video trailer"
- a still image from that video trailer

[Karl Henning]

In principle, that Marriner set is a temptation  0:)

[Brian]

MAY PART II



EDIT: Cover now posted for this:





This is Galileo's little brother.







The Gielen box looks cool.

[André]

In principle, that Marriner set is a temptation  0:)

And yet, it manages to NOT include the one Marriner-Stuttgart disc that is IMO truly indispensable 

[André]

THAT one has me drooling:



Cyrille Dubois is the only tenor since Simoneau and Vanzo with an authentic french high lyric tenor voice.

[Karl Henning]

The Gielen box looks cool.

Kitsch or Art on TV (!!!!)

[Mahlerian]

Kitsch or Art on TV (!!!!)

Perhaps it was a TV program he conducted excerpts, etc. for?  Looks like an interesting box.

[Draško]

That Massenet box is very tempting. I like how they went with de los Angeles rather than Gheorghiu/Alagna recordings. It'll probably have separate disc with pdf librettos as most of these were previously released in Home of Opera EMI series. Demise of printed libretti is sad.

[Maestro267]

That David Diamond disc (Symphony No. 6/Rounds/Romeo and Juliet) looks interesting. Trying to figure out if it's a reissue, like the other Diamond symphony discs on Naxos. If it's not (and there's a chance it's a new recording, as the others are by Seattle/Schwarz), that begs the question of whether we're going to get the remaining symphonies recorded. I certainly hope so.

[Karl Henning]

Perhaps it was a TV program he conducted excerpts, etc. for?  Looks like an interesting box.

It does look interesting, indeed.

[Brian]

That David Diamond disc (Symphony No. 6/Rounds/Romeo and Juliet) looks interesting. Trying to figure out if it's a reissue, like the other Diamond symphony discs on Naxos. If it's not (and there's a chance it's a new recording, as the others are by Seattle/Schwarz), that begs the question of whether we're going to get the remaining symphonies recorded. I certainly hope so.

Recorded 2015 and 2016, world premiere recording of the symphony

The booklet by Robert Lintott has interesting remarks on the Symphony:

"The symphony would not be premiered until 1957, when Charles Munch led the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the work. Early reviews were acerbic. Winthrop Sargeant, writing in The New Yorker about a performance a few weeks later, said that the symphony "which was given its New York premiere in Carnegie Hall ... is, I think, possibly the worst composition of its type by a composer of any pretensions to have been heard here since the Philharmonic performed Carlos Chávez's Third, about a year ago, and I can only attribute the flutter of polite and tepid hand-clapping that greeted it to the apathy of an audience that has ceased to make the effort required to distinguish good music from bad."

"What seems to have set Sargeant off is what he perceived as a disregard for music of the past. "I can only conclude that Mr. Diamond either is ignorant of the tradition or is perversely and fashionably bent on writing as if it didn't exist." Strange words to hear applied to Diamond, especially in the context of this symphony, which relies heavily on traditional techniques. Written in three movements, the symphony is cyclical: material in the second and third movements is derived from that found in the first. This is a technique that is found everywhere in the work of 19th-century Romantic composers and continued to have an impact well into the 20th century. The second movement of the symphony alternates between the slow and fast themes while the third movement uses those materials to create an introduction, passacaglia, and fugue. Certainly, Diamond shows a connection to the long tradition of classical music, and this symphony is a rewarding listening experience, regardless of what Sargeant had to say."

[Madiel]

The presence of Plasson, Pretre, and Monteux is cause for excitement, I think. Unfortunately, I think the thing on the right in the photo is a stack of CD sleeves rather than a booklet...but hardly anybody publishes libretti these days...

They could so easily put them in a PDF if nothing else.

[Madiel]

Unusually, the 36-page booklet has:
- four cover photos of Colli
- two B&W artist portraits of Colli
- a photo of Colli signing his recording contract with Chandos manager Ralph Couzens
- a photo of Colli "studying" Scarlatti scores overlooking a scenic field in England
- a photo of Colli giving a thumbs-up while "filming the video trailer"
- a still image from that video trailer

Personally, if anyone should be being photographed extensively, it's not Colli. It's Klett.

[Baron Scarpia]

They could so easily put them in a PDF if nothing else.

I have been told that the main impediment to providing a libretto in a very cheap edition is that fact that there is generally a copyright holder for the translation who demands a royalty.

[aukhawk]

Oxford Philharmonic?  Seriously?

MAY PART II

that May issue seems rather badly timed considering Easter is (was) in March.

[Daverz]

Oxford Philharmonic?  Seriously?

They could be as good as the New Haven Symphony (a fine ensemble).

[kishnevi]

That Massenet box is very tempting. I like how they went with de los Angeles rather than Gheorghiu/Alagna recordings. It'll probably have separate disc with pdf librettos as most of these were previously released in Home of Opera EMI series. Demise of printed libretti is sad.

I don't have any of the others, but that Don Quichotte recording is worth getting all on its own.

[Madiel]

I have been told that the main impediment to providing a libretto in a very cheap edition is that fact that there is generally a copyright holder for the translation who demands a royalty.

But we are almost always talking about a reissue of a recording, for which the libretto and translation was published. If the record companies had any brains they would structure payment for the translation to deal with future reissues.

[amw]

Personally, if anyone should be being photographed extensively, it's not Colli. It's Klett.

He only got 3 glamour shots in his booklet, which is definitely an injustice.







Definitely should wear more open necked shirts.