Raff Lenore from Chandos

[Alan Howe]

According to an annoucement from Ralph Couzens on the Chandos forum...

<<The next Raff is planned and will feature Symphony No.5 and 4 overtures.>>
http://www.classical-mp3.co.uk/index.php?topic=65.msg791#new

Assuming that the recording will feature Neeme Järvi and the Suisse Romande Orchestra, this should surely be a really important contribution to the ongoing re-evaluation of Raff's music.

[JimL]

I hope the overtures don't duplicate any of the ones I have!  Actually, I think that would just be the Op. 103.

[Mark Thomas]

Wonderful news! As to the "overtures" there are plenty to chose from but squeezing them in would be an achievement: the four from the operas are all 8-10 minutes long, as is the Concert Overture. The Celebration Overture is about 15 minutes long and the Festival and Ein feste Burg Overtures are substantially longer still. If the four pieces really are overtures then it'll be a spectacularly well-filled CD as Lenore usually lasts at least 50 minutes!

[Alan Howe]

I hope the overtures don't duplicate any of the ones I have!  Actually, I think that would just be the Op. 103.

I think this news warrants a much more positive response. Frankly, I don't care about duplications: I warmly welcome the release of one of the most important pieces of music from the nineteenth century that has subsequently fallen into neglect, namely Raff's Lenore Symphony; and any fill-ups are a bonus. I urge all who love unsung romantic music to buy this release when it comes out.

[TerraEpon]

Othello and Romeo & Juliet are also both under 9 minutes, though I know they are supposed to be pedantically called 'preludes'. Still, if symphony 5 is done in 45 minutes, that leaves 37 for overtures, of which four under 9 minutes could fit.

There's also the slight possibility of 2 CDs with some long overtures -- I know I'd love to hear both Op. 103 and Op. 127.

[mbhaub]

That's great news indeed! Maybe now that a major conductor, with a major orchestra on one of the premier record labels will take on Lenore, some other conductors of stature will look at it and Raff's 5th will be resurrected in concert halls! Thank you Chandos!

[Mark Thomas]

Othello and Romeo & Juliet are also both under 9 minutes

The four Shakespeare Preludes will be on the first disc, coupled with the Second Symphony.

[JimL]

Othello and Romeo & Juliet are also both under 9 minutes, though I know they are supposed to be pedantically called 'preludes'. Still, if symphony 5 is done in 45 minutes, that leaves 37 for overtures, of which four under 9 minutes could fit.

There's also the slight possibility of 2 CDs with some long overtures -- I know I'd love to hear both Op. 103 and Op. 127.

The Hermann Lenore is over 56 minutes.  It's easily the longest of his symphonies by far.  Unless Jarvi races through it at breakneck speed I find it hard to believe it can be done in 45.  Now maybe some of the shorter overtures, Dame Kobold, for example, can be fit in there.

[Alan Howe]

Lenore can come in at anywhere from 50 to 57 minutes, so it's anybody's guess what the fill-ups will be. In any case, it's the symphony that matters here - one of the icons, as it were, of the unsung repertoire.

[TerraEpon]

It could be someone's wire got crossed and it's four PIECES. The Evening Rhapsody and the Elegie, WoO 48 are shorter. Checking what else has been recorded there's also Samson Act III Prelude and Intermezzo from Sleeping Beauty which are close to 4 minutes each.

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, that's my bet, not four overtures as such. But Lenore is the important thing.