New Releases

[JBS]

13 CDs and an original essay by Boulez reprinted in the booklet from the original notes

Is there anything in it not in this 11 CD set?

And does the new set have the texts of the sung works? If it does, the upgrade is probably worth it even if the contents are the same.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

Is there anything in it not in this 11 CD set?

And does the new set have the texts of the sung works? If it does, the upgrade is probably worth it even if the contents are the same.

I seriously doubt there is any difference between either set. This newer set appears to be more discs, because they're giving it the original LP look, which is how they look in the Boulez Complete Columbia box set. I suspect the remastering will be the same, too. As for texts/translations, it's possible but from the looks of the booklet, it looks on the thinner side. So I seriously doubt you need this set if you own the older one unless you want the cool LP over art.

[Mandryka]

https://rocamadourlabel.com/en/reference/vibrance-2/


To serve this project, the Daldosso organ, which is in the Basilica of Saint-Sauveur in Rocamadour, has the particularity of having a system of sliding stops, making the mixture of colours infinite. We're far from having discovered its full range of sounds.

[Maestro267]

The Spanish Inquisition is hugely overrated.

¿Lo es?

[Mandryka]

https://static.qobuz.com/goodies/12/000165621.pdf
https://www.nativedsd.com/product/e236hr-espanoleta-iberian-organ-music/



Baroque organ in Granada, I don't believe it has been recorded before. The first real tracks, Cabezon, are rapt, pensive, full of mystery, sweetly played.

TBH I can't tear myself away from it.

[Mandryka]

https://static.qobuz.com/goodies/63/000170436.pdf




On a neo-baroque organ in Zaragoza. 

[Todd]

An edgy title, I guess.

[Brian]

Smetana - Trio
Coleridge-Taylor - Five Melodies
Suk - Petit Trio Op. 2
Martin - Trio

-

also, Hanssler is releasing a Frank Peter Zimmermann box featuring their recordings with him of the complete Mozart concertos + Sinfonia concertante (with Antoine Tamestit), the Bach concertos, and the Beethoven concerto. 4 CDs

[Todd]

Banse and Honeck make me want to try some Braunfels.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

You will now be forever associated in my mind with the Great Coleridge-Taylor Glut of 2024, just like Mirror Image is forever linked with Delius. 

  Thanks quite okay as I love Delius' music. I know I've had a rocky relationship with it in the past, but he really is a favorite of mine.

Speaking of Delius, I know this has already been mentioned by @Brian or @Todd, but Hassan has finally received another recording:



I'm not going to buy it because I absolutely hate narration in music and I know the narration is tracked separately on this recording, but I still don't want it. Looks like Vernon Handley is still the only game in town for those that want a Hassan sans the narration in more modern sound.

[Roasted Swan]

Thanks quite okay as I love Delius' music. I know I've had a rocky relationship with it in the past, but he really is a favorite of mine.

Speaking of Delius, I know this has already been mentioned by @Brian or @Todd, but Hassan has finally received another recording:



I'm not going to buy it because I absolutely hate narration in music and I know the narration is tracked separately on this recording, but I still don't want it. Looks like Vernon Handley is still the only game in town for those that want a Hassan sans the narration in more modern sound.

I think you are right to save your money.  This new disc has a running time of around 80 minutes - but of that 20 are narration(!)  Unusually for Chandos this is a live recording - the playing is excellent and to be fair the person doing the narration is very good too.  My personal feeling is that heard live/as a one-off the narration does give the listener a useful dramatic framework on which to hang the music and probably made the original concert more of an "event".  However for repeated listening I have no need to be reminded that at any given point this is what is happening in the play.  To be honest Delius is not at his strongest when he is trying to be illustrative - the best parts of the score are mainly found in the stand-alone preludes to the Acts or things like the extended closing scene.  This new recording also uses the original scale performance - just 24 players.  As I said - they play well but I prefer Handley's larger, more atmospherically recorded forces.  Handley's singers are better too in the small parts they play.

[Atriod]

I think you are right to save your money.  This new disc has a running time of around 80 minutes - but of that 20 are narration(!)  Unusually for Chandos this is a live recording - the playing is excellent and to be fair the person doing the narration is very good too.  My personal feeling is that heard live/as a one-off the narration does give the listener a useful dramatic framework on which to hang the music and probably made the original concert more of an "event".  However for repeated listening I have no need to be reminded that at any given point this is what is happening in the play.  To be honest Delius is not at his strongest when he is trying to be illustrative - the best parts of the score are mainly found in the stand-alone preludes to the Acts or things like the extended closing scene.  This new recording also uses the original scale performance - just 24 players.  As I said - they play well but I prefer Handley's larger, more atmospherically recorded forces.  Handley's singers are better too in the small parts they play.

I saw Strauss Enoch Arden recently. Not bad live (aided by a really good voice actor) but not something I'd ever listen to on record. Hearing it once live was plenty for my lifetime.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

I think you are right to save your money.  This new disc has a running time of around 80 minutes - but of that 20 are narration(!)  Unusually for Chandos this is a live recording - the playing is excellent and to be fair the person doing the narration is very good too.  My personal feeling is that heard live/as a one-off the narration does give the listener a useful dramatic framework on which to hang the music and probably made the original concert more of an "event".  However for repeated listening I have no need to be reminded that at any given point this is what is happening in the play.  To be honest Delius is not at his strongest when he is trying to be illustrative - the best parts of the score are mainly found in the stand-alone preludes to the Acts or things like the extended closing scene.  This new recording also uses the original scale performance - just 24 players.  As I said - they play well but I prefer Handley's larger, more atmospherically recorded forces.  Handley's singers are better too in the small parts they play.

Yeah, the atmosphere in this newer recording just isn't there and my mind isn't taken to another world like it is with the Handley recording. As for the narration, what Chandos could've done instead of having the music interspersed with narration is simply include the narrated text and listeners can read the text instead of it disrupting the flow of music from one scene to another. For me, this would've been a better idea than have to have my finger glued to the next button.

When I heard a new recording of Hassan was going to be released, I was rather excited, but of course, that enthusiasm quickly dissipated whenever I found out about the narration.

[DavidW]

btw I've temporarily locked the thread while I move the diversion to the C-T thread if I can find it.

Edit: Work done, you may find the discussion here merged with the composer thread.

[Roasted Swan]

Yeah, the atmosphere in this newer recording just isn't there and my mind isn't taken to another world like it is with the Handley recording. As for the narration, what Chandos could've done instead of having the music interspersed with narration is simply include the narrated text and listeners can read the text instead of it disrupting the flow of music from one scene to another. For me, this would've been a better idea than have to have my finger glued to the next button.

When I heard a new recording of Hassan was going to be released, I was rather excited, but of course, that enthusiasm quickly dissipated whenever I found out about the narration.

The full spoken text is included - I suspect the live provenance of this performance meant that what needed to "flow" in the concert hall precluded complete isolation of the spoken text into the next musical cue.  I did read one review where the reviewer - who clearly has a far greater knowledge of the original play - really liked the fact that this version places the music inside the drama.  I think that is a perfectly valid point of view but for me the music transcends the original context and does not require it to be enjoyed.

[DavidW]

82' and on "period instruments" (so they're all only 100 years old?)

When does this release btw?  I've been eagerly awaiting it.  I've actually heard some PI Mahler and Bruckner before (contrary to popular belief there is an audible and interesting difference in the instruments used then and now).

[Brian]

When does this release btw?  I've been eagerly awaiting it.  I've actually heard some PI Mahler and Bruckner before (contrary to popular belief there is an audible and interesting difference in the instruments used then and now).

June 21 in the USA!

[Le Buisson Ardent]

Not sure if this June release has been mentioned yet, but the program is an interesting one:



For more info:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9624650--czech-songs

[Brian]

some EARLY JULY stuff that has not been posted yet

[Atriod]

Wow!

More details on these boxes I posted about a few pages ago, handsome pianist month for June.

Rafael Orozco - 8 CDs (complete Philips)
Rudolf Firkušný - 12 CDs ("From a landmark Janáček album to previously unissued Schubert, this collection presents the Deutsche Grammophon, British and American Decca, and Westminster legacy of Rudolf Firkušný." To me that reads like it might not be truly complete or it's as complete as they were capable of)