Raff: Complete music for cello and piano

[Mark Thomas]

Joseph Mendoes, a Californian cellist whom I know and respect, is planning to record Raff's complete music for cello and piano with pianist Taeyeon Lim. The recording should be issued by Martin Anderson's Toccata label later this year. The project will be funded through Kickstarter - here's the link - for a relatively modest $2,500. This CD will fill one of the few remaining major gaps in the non-piano Raff repertoire. Although one of the Op.86 Fantasy Pieces has been recorded before, everything else will be a world premiere recording. There is some beguiling music here: the Cello Sonata is a major piece written during Raff's prime, as were the two Op.182 Romances, which are both achingly melodious. The earlier works date from the 1850s and combine Raff's trademark lyricism with virtuosic writing for the piano and cello alike. The two Beethoven Romance arrangements will be fascinating takes on familiar works. In short, this recording promises to to be a must buy for any Raff enthusiast, and I do urge anyone who enjoys Raff's music to contribute to the Kickstarter appeal.

[Alan Howe]

Lovely jubbly!

[jerfilm]

Well, the Sonata, opus 183 may be a world premiere recording, there was a broadcast of it and as I recall, it was in the Downloads section.  Alhough it seems to have disappeared.   Mario de Secondi & Stefana Chitta-Stegemann the artists.

Once again, sorry to see that the opt-in for this project is so high.   I frequent a silent movie forum and one of their members just kickstarted a $2500 restoration project with $25 pledges.  Which was funded post haste.  Of course, everyone gets a copy of the DVD.

J

[TerraEpon]

Indeed, as a backer of a number of video game projects where you get the game for $15 or less (yes, digital versions, but still) it seems a bit odd that just to get the music at all requires $80. Especially as I've seen physical soundtrack bonuses for said game projects be quite a bit less ($25....usually $50 is the usually the highest). Surely a digital DL at a much lower tier would be feasible to help give a lot more incentive.

Still....I fully plan to buy this when out as a normal CD. Sounds delightful.

[Mark Thomas]

Halfway through the appeal period, the project is already three quarters of the way towards raising the full amount, which is great news. Only $675 to go...

[Mark Thomas]

It looks like this project is going to happen - there's only $180 left to find....

[Sharkkb8]

Good news that the project appears to be reaching its goal. However....perhaps it's just me, but these crowdfunding operations still seem uncomfortably fuzzy.  First of all, this particular project is listed as having 4 backers at $250 and 4 at $80.  I wasn't a math major in college, but I have trouble reaching the announced donation total of $2,320 from those numbers.  Perhaps someone donated an additional $1000 that simply doesn't tick a box in the $80 or $250 selections. 

At one point months ago, I tried to get into the weeds of a similar music recording project, trying to find in the small print whether a backer can get his/her money back if the project fails to materialize.  I was left with a lot of arcane language that seemed unconvincing one way or another. 

And over on the Percy Sherwood thread, we apparently still don't have a clear verdict on that funding project, unfortunately the donations fell far short of the goal on that one.  The Sherwood crowdfunding page proudly announces "Complete!" in a big red star, but I find no explanation for exactly what that means - cd will or won't be produced, donors will or won't be refunded if no cd...?.  Crowdfunding is a superb idea in theory and is wildly successful in general, and properly managed might well bring wonderful unsung pieces to light for the first time....it just seems that a little more straightforwardness and a little less haze would be welcome, especially for those of us who have donated, or are sincerely considering doing so.

http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,5888.msg63807.html#msg63807

Gregory

[Alan Howe]

Great news indeed.

As for the Sherwood project, we've already posted updated details:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,5888.msg63809.html#msg63809

[Mark Thomas]

Gregory: your maths is fine. Someone did indeed donate $1000 to get the ball rolling, and I guess that donation should qualify as $250+, but for some reason it didn't.

As far as accountability, security and integrity is concerned, this KickStarter page covers the basics. It does make clear that no money pledged is taken if the goal isn't reached, but if it is achieved then it's debited and passed over to the project organiser. KickStarter is then out of the equation, and the relationship is solely between the organiser and their backers. Ultimately there are no guarantees as there's no contract. I backed this project because I know Joseph Mendoes and Martin Anderson and trust them both to deliver the goods. The project is a straightforward one with achievable goals, and the product is clearly and unambiguously described. I've passed up similar opportunities in the past because that wasn't true of them. Crowd funding is based on trust, and if you don't have faith in the ability of those asking for crowd funding to deliver the project, then you shouldn't contribute. For me, it's a simple as that. 

[Mark Thomas]

I see that the money needed has now been pledged in full, so we should be able to look forward to this important recording later on this year.

[Alan Howe]

Marvellous.

[Mark Thomas]

A progress report, and there's quite a lot of progress to report: the recordings were all made in April, and editing has just been completed. The booklet notes have been written and Martin Anderson is planning a September release for the CD.

In the end the Beethoven Romance reductions were not recorded, for two reasons: there was insufficient room for them both on the CD and they're not very good! This isn't down to Raff, of course. He had originally made the piano reductions of the orchestral accompaniments several years earlier for violin and piano editions of the Romances. The cello arrangements were subsequently made by the cellist Robert Emil Bockmühl, and not only do they not preserve the delicacy of Beethoven's original, they don't integrate well with Raff's piano part, so they are best forgotten.

More news as soon as I have it.

[Alan Howe]

Excellent news. Thanks, Mark.

[Alan Howe]

It's due out on 2nd September:
http://www.mdt.co.uk/raff-complete-music-cello-and-piano-mendoes-lim-toccata-classics.html

[Mark Thomas]

Bang on schedule!