The Romantic Violin Concerto, Vol. 14 – Glazunov & Schoeck

[Christianv12]

http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67940

 

without words

[erato]

It's very good they do Schoeck - but Glazunov?

[jerfilm]

Yeah, really.  I love the Glazounov, but........

I wonder if some of these companys ever analyze who their customers are for certain products.   People who want to buy the Glazounov likely have no interest in Schoeck.   By the same token, folks who want to hear the Schoeck, probably already have several recordings of the Glazounov....

Jerry

[FBerwald]

I agree that Glazunov is not exactly unsung but how many recordings of this concerto has come out lately? Still this is way better than the dismay that was Vol. 13.... I for one am looking forward to this! Besides I have a soft spot for the Glazunov!

[violinconcerto]

It's very good they do Schoeck - but Glazunov?

No it isn't, because there are some proper recordings of the Schoeck. No need for another try.
What a disappointing series... "The Romantic Already-recorded-by-others Violin Concerto Series" 

[TerraEpon]

Well there are the other two pieces by Glazunov too, for whatever that's worth...

But I think people really tend to be too harsh here. It's called "Romantic Violin Concertos". not "Unsung Violin Concertos" or whatever else. And it's not as if the series has Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Brahms, and Mendelssohn (though another recording of the original version of the Mendelssohn E minor might be interesting since the BIS one is...very meh).

I've read many times that companies need to release discs that sell to subsidize ones they feel more personally about. Glazunov might be reletively popular, but it's hardly a warhorse compared to the above either - 52 recordings on Arkiv, but that includes many reissues, though not OOP ones on the flip side while Dvorak has 86 and the others over 200.

[Alan Howe]

It'll be good to have the beautiful Schoeck VC in another recording - I only know of three, the best of which was made by Ulf Hoelscher (on Novalis - now deleted) in the nineties, so a new recording will be very welcome. Shame the coupling's the Glazunov VC, but at least you get another two shorter pieces by him on the CD

[obermann]

Well, as I am lacking both concertos this is a release that I will probably snap up. I do wish however that they had been able to find some unsung concertos to go with the Schoeck. The Paul Joun concerto seems interesting (but I have only heard the extracts at present). Or perhaps they should have recorded some of the Schoeck violin sonatas?

[Alan Howe]

Violin sonatas wouldn't be a fit for this particular series. But I agree: it would be nice to have some Juon recorded.

[TerraEpon]

Well they did put the Medner Piano Quintet coupled with one of the concerti in the RPC series.

[Alan Howe]

Very true. But it's probably the exception that proves the rule. Probably.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Undoubtedly the exception. I do wish people would stop complaining when companies like Hyperion produce "duplicates". We should be grateful for the quite extraordinary quantity of riches in terms of unsung repertoire we have had from the record labels over the last 25 years - beyond our wildest dreams back in the 60s and 70s.
And another thing whilst I'm in censorious mode, far too many people think they know more than the record companies about what makes money. If the record labels weren't right 90% of the time they'd be out of business. If you think you can do better, start your own label; it's a very cold commercial world out there, I can tell you.
Right - end of headmasterly finger-wagging, and back to Schoeck & Glazounov. An odd coupling, I must admit. A concerto by Paul Juon would seem to have been a more logical coupling, or Suter's beautiful VC. But perhaps that's simply what the soloist wanted to record. Perhaps Chloe Hanslip said "I'll do the Schoeck if you let me record Glazounov..."  Who knows?

[Alan Howe]

Gareth's undoubtedly right. And I realise I've been guilty of whingeing (or whinging!) far too often myself about choice of repertoire. However, I do think that the RVC series is, relatively speaking, disappointing with regard to repertoire in comparison with the RPC series. I think it may have to do with the paucity of adventurous violinists on Hyperion's roster, but that may just be a reflection of the situation in general...

[giles.enders]

It doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone that some collectors buy pieces for the performance as much as the piece itself. Hyperion like many other record companies have a very uneven record where performers are concerned.  There may have been 50 or so recordings of a piece but how many are worth having for repeated listening? Hyperion have tried to balance unusual repertoire for the piano and violin concertos with the more established ones. Which soloist will settle for doing only the unknown?

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Good point. To take just one instance (relating purely to my own interests and likes and dislikes) when Hyperion issue a recording of some chamber music then even if it is a very familiar piece (e.g. a Brahms piano trio or a Schumann quartet or whatever) and I already have more than a few other versions on my shelves, then I'll still almost certainly buy the new Hyperion because it will be so damned good! And in terms of performance, quality of recording, and programme notes.

And I don't begrudge Hyperion for issuing a new recording of a 'standard classic', but on the contrary sometimes feel deep gratitude to them for doing so. In the areas in which I'm interested I find it very hard to think of a Hyperion dud, and nearly always the availability of a new Hyperion further enhances my appreciation of a work and is therefore a valuable addition to my shelves. If the label is Hyperion I never catch myself thinking 'aw heck, yet another version of a Brahms quartet, humph could do without this one'.