Havergal Brian Gothic Symphony from Hyperion

[albion]

The Brabbins performance at the Proms (17th July 2011) is to be issued by Hyperion on 28th November -

http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67971/2



Not so sure about the cover image, but it will be very interesting to hear how the sonics have been handled in comparison to the broadcast.

[Alan Howe]

Lovely jubbly, John. I feel a Xmas present to self coming on...

[Dylan]

Ouch - that is a TERRIBLE cover! Looks like it should have ivy and tombstones...Strikes me as a big marketing opportunity badly missed!

[edurban]

Obviously not designed to attract the usual classical buyers....maybe those whose associations with Gothic run more to Peter Murphy and Bela Lugosi's Dead?   

The design may not make my heart sing, but the 8+ minute applause track does .

David

[TerraEpon]

Would have been nice had they split up the tracks....

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I hope the cover isn't definitive... And I wonder how (if)  they have corrected some of the slight mistakes on the night.

[albion]

Would have been nice had they split up the tracks....

I'm afraid I disagree. Whenever single movements are given multiple internal tracks I lose a sense of the overall structure as I'm consciously listening out for the next cued section. A prime example of over-tracking is the Marco Polo (now Naxos) disc of Brian's 20th and 25th Symphonies.

I'm all for pointing out salient points of interest in a movement, but if it looks 'bitty' in the description that I read (with multiple cues within a movement), my ear somehow interprets it in a sectional way when listening.

[eschiss1]

And with a multi-track design like the Marco Polo/Naxos Gothic, I wish they'd gone a bit further and added tempo or rehearsal numbers as has become fairly standard practice (well, at least on DG? ) for similarly "overtracked" Mahler symphony CDs. Admittedly the score has not been easily available (it's only PD-US and then only because of failure of the publisher to properly register the score or something like) but much better descriptions of the various tracks than are given by Marco Polo can fairly easily be had once one -does- have the Cranz score in front of one (e.g., for the second movement -
*II Lento espressivo e solenne (7 bars before 29)
*II Lento espressivo e solenne - central episode (ca.35)
*II Lento espressivo e solenne - climax (1 after 39) (With utmost breadth, like a ceremonial-triumphal march)

[Alan Howe]

Frankly, it matters to me not a jot whether the recording is multi-tracked or not - I'm just glad to have the best performance the piece has ever been given commercially available.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Frankly, it matters to me not a jot whether the recording is multi-tracked or not - I'm just glad to have the best performance the piece has ever been given commercially available.

Hear, hear! And I couldn't give two stuffs about the cover either. I don't buy CDs for their covers. If this one attracts a few more people who otherwise wouldn't give this work a second glance, that's all to the good.

[Lord Hereford]

This is excellent news! I was lucky enough to have been there to hear this live. Not too keen on the cover, but really it's what's inside that counts, and I'm glad they've left in the applause too!

[albion]

The booklet notes for this new release are now available by following the link given in the first post.

[Alan Howe]

...and Presto are advertising it:
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Hyperion/CDA67971%252F2

[Alan Howe]

Audio samples are now available here...
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/ym.asp?ym=2011_12

[FBerwald]

I seriously wish they would rethink the cover......