Unsung...Schumann?

[Balapoel]

It's here for 24 bucks:

http://www.amazon.com/Schumann-Complete-Works-Piano-Orchestra/dp/B003E6FW50/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361232929&sr=8-1&keywords=lev+vinocour+schumann

[jerfilm]

Thanks, Balapoel.   This is all very strange.  When I went to the website you posted, I get the disc version, out of stock and a price of $40.47!   Are you outside the USA?

Jerry

[Balapoel]

I'm in the US. Just look at that website. The price is $40.47, but out of stock. Below, you can see 4 new from $23.77 and 1 used from $72.53. Click on the '4 new' and it will take you to a 3rd party seller within Amazon. If you haven't purchased from 3rd parties, you should. It is very safe, and often much cheaper than Amazon proper.

[BerlinExpat]

Das Gluck von Edenhall, Op. 143 has been recorded and is available on the EMI set of Great Choral Works - set no. 50999 6 31520 2 9. (9 CDs at a highly acceptable price.)

Not included is Das Neujahrslied, Op. 144, which I can't find a current recording of. If anyone is interested I can upload a radio broadcast with the Kölner Rundfunkchor und Orchester from the 1990s.

[Balapoel]

Not included is Das Neujahrslied, Op. 144, which I can't find a current recording of. If anyone is interested I can upload a radio broadcast with the Kölner Rundfunkchor und Orchester from the 1990s.

I would be interested for one.

[kolaboy]

I second that

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks for the upload, Colin.

[jerfilm]

Thanks again, Balapoel.  Not sure how I missed that - I've been a big Amazon customer for years.  I guess cuz I was looking only for a download.  guess i'd just best buy the discs this round.....

Jerry

[Balapoel]

A bit off topic, but relevant here:
If the costs are relatively the same (mp3 or cd), definitely go with CD. The quality of Amazon mp3s (256kbps, which are lossy/compressed) is not nearly as good as CDs. You can rip at higher quality mp3s or non-compressed forms (like flac). You will be able to tell the difference on a decent stereo, but for ipods, etc., you probably won't. Interesting link here (who comes to a different conclusion):
http://www.lincomatic.com/mp3/mp3quality.html
and another
http://archive.arstechnica.com/wankerdesk/1q00/mp3/mp3-1.html

Just my $0.02.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

I'd like to join others in offering heartfelt thanks to Balapoel for notifying us of this set. My copy arrived only this morning - so far too soon to offer any real comment.

But, gosh, what a fascinating set! For starters I spent two hours carefully reading the extensive detailed booklet by Lev Vinocour himself, and then chasing up references. The booklet alone is worth the cost of the set. For example, I found the treatment of Schumann by Wolfgang Boetticher in the Nazi years an absolute eye-opener.

I'm also rather kicking myself for having ignored this set since its release (in 2010?). I suppose I carelessly read 'Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra' and immediately thought 'ah yes, another compendium' without actually bothering to think of what works could be included in a set of THREE CDs. The A minor Concerto obviously...stretching the brain a bit, the Op. 134 Concert-Allegro .....these might fill 1 CD. What could be on the remaining 2 CDs? Carelessly I never bothered to think! Balapoel, in his earlier post, gives a clear and succinct summary of the whole contents, and an indication of their origins. But with reconstructions and alternative versions of such things as the familiar Op 86 Konzertstuck for 4 Horns what we've really got here is 2 CDs of hitherto unknown Schumann. Maybe of primary interest to historians and Schumann diehards, but nonetheless a fascinating set and I'm really glad to have got hold of it.

True, the orchestra isn't quite the Berlin Philharmonic, and the recordings perhaps favour the piano. But those considerations I believe don't matter a jot. Schumann himself couldn't have imagined these works being played by a contemporary crack orchestra - that surely would have been beyond his comprehension.

So, huge thanks Balapoel.

[jerfilm]

Just one further comment about downloads.  When I was 30 and had the hefty stereo system with all components and the latest speakers, I would never have gone for the MP3 downloads.  But honestly, at 77, I can't hear the difference anymore.  And my eyes are such that I can't possibly read the booklets.  Good news is that now many downloads INCLUDE the booklet in pdg format and I can blow that up on the PC and actually READ it......

jerry

[Alan Howe]

pdg format

= 'pretty doggone good' format? 

[jerfilm]

Something like that -  similar to pdf only better......

incidentally I did get this ordered at US$24 but estimated shipping is a month off.....

Jerry

[EdwardHan]

Another Schumann work which I can't find any commercial Recording is Adventlied Op. 71, although a choral piece, though there is a video on Youtube.

[eschiss1]

hrm... only recording listed by Allmusic is one of the movements (2. Schmetterling), but not the whole work, as sung by Elly Ameling...