On the turntable: Raymond Lewenthal plays piano music of Charles-Valentin Alkan. Stunning performance and impressive piano sound on this 1965 RCA record.
Now you've got me. Its like I'm a total newbie about classical music. The only name familiar on that cover is RCA Victor.
cd 5: Symphony No. 3 in D minor (version 1889) - Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Klaus Tennstedt another superb recording, this one from someone I never saw as a Bruckner specialist
As this is very much a thread about listening, I'm interested in people's preferences in how music is presented to them. In the pre-CD era, classical albums would normally normally be around fifty minutes (although CFP often went over the hour) and presented the listener with one romantic symphony or a concerto on each side, and so on. In the era we are now in, particularly where we are buying large boxes of music, we have discs which often run close to eighty minutes, and the contents are not just a symphony or a couple of concertos, but a variety of extra works to fill out the disc. From my own point of view, I don't find that these longer discs necessarily better listening experiences. I was listening to some discs from some of the Decca megaboxes last week, and found myself getting annoyed that they didn't end at the same point as the vinyl version would have done. Schubert's Great Symphony by Krips most certainly does not need the Unfinished tagged on the end. It seems almost lunacy to put it there, considering the nature of the Great. It's like going to a classical concert which is carefully planned out to reach its climax fifty minutes into the second half, and then the audience being told that the orchestra is now going to place some other stuff for half an hour which is a bit of an anticlimax. Likewise, there is the Alwyn disc of Tchaikovsky's 1812, Capriccio Italien and Marche Slave, and then as a "bonus" Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto is tagged on the end. While I realise the Tchaikovsky items only add up to forty minutes, does a listener really want or need a concerto after being bombarded by Tchaikovsky at his loudest and brashest? I don't feel the same way when albums are made specifically for CD, as they are often programmed to suit the medium, with the programme put together to fit the longer format. But vinyl albums were programmed to fit THAT format, and just tagging something on the end just because it's buy the same composer or conducted by the same conductor just seems to spoil the listening experience for me. I find the same thing with pop or jazz albums. I don't want a bunch of singles tacked on the end of a Sinatra concept album - because it breaks the concept! Only the Lonely finishes where it does because it's programmed to be most effective that way, and it most certainly doesn't need Sinatra piping up with a bunch of chirpy ditties just to fill a disc up. Am I alone in this train of thought?
The big Bruno Walter Complete Columbia Album Collection box will be released on November 15. JPC Germany's price has now dropped to 200 euros including VAT: https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/bruno-walter-the-complete-columbia-album-collection/hnum/8933427
Im in your train. I do not care/want cds (the media I listen to) packed with stuff just to fill it up. I dont mind if a cd has only 30 minutes of music if that is what makes sense (sense is subjective, I know). Somehow realated is those editions that break a symphony in 2 cds just to pack 3 symphonies in 2cds. Hated it. I know I myself used to turn the vinyl after 2 movements but with a cd I find it quite annoying and even a reason (some rare times) for not buying a box set.
I;m with you on the splitting up of works in that way, too. So annoying, and enough to put me off buying.
I can’t say that this has been an issue for me as a listener. True, I’m a child of the CD era and never owned any of my albums as LPs, but mainly I’ve not objected to the labels packing a disc as full as possible — because I use track programming to listen only to the work I want to hear. (The only feature I wish I had is the “delete play” feature — aka the “Revolution 9 feature” — that some players have, allowing you to choose the track you DON’T want to hear and let the machine automatically play the rest.) If a small work is paired with a larger one for CD, I generally prefer the smaller piece to come first as an introduction of sorts. Example: my CD copy of Furtwängler’s Schubert Ninth adds on the Rosamunde overture, but at the beginning rather than the end — so I don’t actually have to program my player; I can just skip to Track 2 and listen away.
It's a shame that label went out of business. They had great artists, state of the art sound, and wonderful booklet notes--a class operation all around.
'ere, nothin' wrong with Revolution 9............. It's the half hour version of Helter Skelter that you have to be careful of.....
Saw lots of Peer Gynt these past few days here, had to put it on the TT Sir John Barbirolli, The Hallé Orchestra, Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suites 1 & 2 · Norwegian Dances (image found on Discogs)
I have this 3-LP box, which is also the very first recording of these works in my collection ... At least they sound much more correct than the Karajan's version to my ears The Karajan's 3-CD box is a collectible though the performance is nothing to write home about. BPO/Karajan could not do Handel right.
Returned from my 30 min, 2 1/2 mile late morning walk and listened to CD1 from the following twofer from my Albinoni collection ...
Just press the stop button after you've heard what you want to hear. Nothing wrong with getting more for your money or reducing the number of CDs needed, although I do object to splitting up works as is sometimes done in multi-CD sets.
