New Releases

[Todd]

[Brian]

Update on this: the Olafsson recital is being released as a 2 CD set - he recorded it once on Steinway, and once on a home-style upright piano to conjure memories of practicing piano as a child.

Full tracklist:
01 J.S. Bach: Christe, du Lamm Gottes, BWV 619 (Arr. G. Kurtág)
02: Schumann: Study in Canonic form, Op. 56 No. 1
03: J.S. Bach: Adagio from Sonata for Solo Violin in C Major (Arr. Víkingur Ólafsson)
04: Kurtág: Harmonica (Hommage á Borsody László) (From Játékok / Book 3)
05: Bartók:  I. Rubato (Three Hungarian Folksongs from the Csìk)
06: Bartók: II. L'istesso tempo (Three Hungarian Folksongs from the Csìk)
07: Bartók: III. Poco vivo (Three Hungarian Folksongs from the Csìk)
08: Brahms: Intermezzo Op. 116, No. 4
09: Kurtág: A Voice in the Distance (From Játékok / Book 5)
10: Birgisson: Where Life and Death May Dwell (Icelandic Folk Song)
11: J.S.Bach: Trio Sonata No. 1, BWV 525: 1. Allegro moderato (Transcr. G. Kurtág)
12: Kaldalóns: Ave María (Arr. Víkingur Ólafsson)
13: Kurtág: Little Chorale (From Játékok / Book 1)
14: Mozart: Laudate Dominum (Arr. Víkingur Ólafsson)
15: Kurtág: Sleepily (From Játékok / Book 1)
16: Schumann: Träumerei Op. 15, No. 7
17: Kurtág: Flowers We Are (From Játékok / Book 7)
18: Adès: The Branch (Az Ág)
19: Kurtág: Twittering (From Játékok / Book 1)
20: Schumann: Vogel als Prophet Op. 82, No. 7
21: Brahms: Intermezzo Op. 116, No. 5
22: Kurtág: Scraps of a Colinda Melody – Faintly Recollected (Hommage à Farkas Ferenc) (From Játékok / Book 3)

Also new and of interest:



Release in October, so plenty of time to work through their upcoming/reissue Ralph Vaughan Williams Edition before starting on Franck's.

[marvinbrown]

  They just released the Boulez Ring on Bluray:

  [asin] B0B3H9P1VX[/asin]

  Ok now DG please please PLEASE (I'm begging you on my Wagnerian hands and knees!) release the Levine Ring MET 1990s on Bluray! For no other reason than to see it in widescreen aspect ratio 16:9? Whatever anything but 4:3 aspect ratio. My Wagnerian eyes have suffered long enough!

  marvin

[Brian]

Good to see you, Marvin!

[marvinbrown]

Good to see you, Marvin!

  Thank you Brian 😎

[Hans Holbein]

If the Levine Ring was made for TV broadcast in the 1990s, it was likely filmed in 4:3 and meant to be seen that way, since that was the aspect ratio of TVs at the time. And if that is the case, then a 16:9 version of it would lop off the top and bottom of the frame, which seems undesirable. I also imagine that if it had been filmed in 16:9, DG would have released that way on its DVD set.

[Spotted Horses]

They just released the Boulez Ring on Bluray:

  Ok now DG please please PLEASE (I'm begging you on my Wagnerian hands and knees!) release the Levine Ring MET 1990s on Bluray! For no other reason than to see it in widescreen aspect ratio 16:9? Whatever anything but 4:3 aspect ratio. My Wagnerian eyes have suffered long enough!

  marvin

A bit pricey. I'm surprised they have high resolution sources for Bluray. I guess it was filmed (i.e., on film) so it can be scanned at high resolution.

Levine wasn't a Unitel production, it was produced for public television in the U.S. I wonder if they also have high resolution sources, or if they are stuck with standard NTSC television format.

[Madiel]

Also new and of interest:



Release in October, so plenty of time to work through their upcoming/reissue Ralph Vaughan Williams Edition before starting on Franck's.

Almost one third "historical recordings" is not good. Honestly, I'd be a lot more interested in a 10-CD version of this.

[Karl Henning]

Almost one third "historical recordings" is not good. Honestly, I'd be a lot more interested in a 10-CD version of this.

Inclined to agree.

[Brian]

I am the opposite - the historical performers are more interesting to me than the modern ones (Saint Germaine!).

But what we can all agree on is that we are all only interested in certain parts of the box, and we are all victims of that because they can charge all of us full price.

[Karl Henning]

I am the opposite - the historical performers are more interesting to me than the modern ones (Saint Germaine!).

But what we can all agree on is that we are all only interested in certain parts of the box, and we are all victims of that because they can charge all of us full price.

Solid!

[Madiel]

I am the opposite - the historical performers are more interesting to me than the modern ones (Saint Germaine!).

But what we can all agree on is that we are all only interested in certain parts of the box, and we are all victims of that because they can charge all of us full price.

They can only charge us if we press the 'buy' button. I take the view that I don't buy a box unless I'm interested in a high percentage of the contents.

It's possible, though not that likely, that I might spend more by purchasing only things that I actually want, but I also take the view that my house has quite enough junk in it without expanding the CD collection with things I'm not interested in. Price and value are different concepts.

[akebergv]

  They just released the Boulez Ring on Bluray:

  [asin] B0B3H9P1VX[/asin]

These blu-rays are also included in the complete DG and Decca Boulez the Conductor box, which does not cost much more than the blu-ray set on its own.

[marvinbrown]

If the Levine Ring was made for TV broadcast in the 1990s, it was likely filmed in 4:3 and meant to be seen that way, since that was the aspect ratio of TVs at the time. And if that is the case, then a 16:9 version of it would lop off the top and bottom of the frame, which seems undesirable. I also imagine that if it had been filmed in 16:9, DG would have released that way on its DVD set.

  Please pardon my ignorance but what I don't understand is that the Boulez Ring DVD was also in 4:3 aspect ratio and filmed well before the Levine MET was filmed, how are they able to release the Boulez Ring now in widescreen, I am of course assuming Bluray is widescreen?

[Madiel]

  Please pardon my ignorance but what I don't understand is that the Boulez Ring DVD was also in 4:3 aspect ratio and filmed well before the Levine MET was filmed, how are they able to release the Boulez Ring now in widescreen, I am of course assuming Bluray is widescreen?

It's not a question of date, but of medium. Television used to be 4:3. Film wasn't.

[Spotted Horses]

These blu-rays are also included in the complete DG and Decca Boulez the Conductor box, which does not cost much more than the blu-ray set on its own.

Doing a little poking around on the internet, the BR set may be available for considerably cheaper than the $125 price that amazon.com lists for a pre-order. The DG site claims it is in stock for 87 Euros ($88). I've come across lower prices in other sites I've never bought from.

My main question is the video. All DG specifies is "remastered in HD." Remastered from what? They don't even specify the aspect ratio of the video.

[Spotted Horses]

  Please pardon my ignorance but what I don't understand is that the Boulez Ring DVD was also in 4:3 aspect ratio and filmed well before the Levine MET was filmed, how are they able to release the Boulez Ring now in widescreen, I am of course assuming Bluray is widescreen?

Bluray is whatever the format of the source. Old movies get released in 4:3 format on BR all the time. The question is how did they capture the video originally? Did they use film, as though they were making cinema, or did they use video cameras designed for television broadcast, in which case it might be limited to NTSC or PAL resolution. The info on the DG web site is very vague.

[MusicTurner]

Almost one third "historical recordings" is not good. Honestly, I'd be a lot more interested in a 10-CD version of this.

The Brilliant Classics 23CD box is much more interesting and complete repertoire-wise. As for historical recordings, that Warner selection seems very limited too, of course partly due to label limitations; but they're not even mentioning Cortot on the content list (nor, for example, Richter, Celibidache, Mengelberg, Furtwangler, Schweitzer, Bolet, Oistrakh, Gieseking, Argerich, Karajan, Beecham, Paray, Desormiere, Stokowski etc. etc.)

[JBS]

The Brilliant Classics 23CD box is much more interesting and complete repertoire-wise. As for historical recordings, that Warner selection seems very limited too, of course partly due to label limitations; but they're not even mentioning Cortot on the content list (nor, for example, Richter, Celibidache, Mengelberg, Furtwangler, Schweitzer, Bolet, Oistrakh, Gieseking, Argerich, Karajan, Beecham, Paray, Desormiere, Stokowski etc. etc.)

But how many recordings of Funeral March of a Marionette do you want in one set?

Aren't almost all of those recordings of the same symphony, the same work for piano and orchestra, the same solo piano work?

My problem is the transcriptions, although none seem so outre as the ones for accordion in the Saint-Saens box.

[Hans Holbein]

I have the Boulez Ring Blu-rays because they are in the big complete Boulez DG box. I just took a look at one for the first time, and compared it to the old DVD. They look pretty identical to me - like standard definition TV. Both are 4:3. Based on this brief comparison I would say there is no real reason to go for the Blu-rays over the DVDs. I suppose one minor advantage is not having to switch discs in the middle of an opera.