Dutton releases for November 2010

[JeremyMHolmes]

My batch of Dutton CDs arrived in the post this morning, and I can't wait to start listening to them. I ordered them direct from Dutton, but would be intrigued to know how quickly they arrive if ordered through HMV given the significant price difference.

[Delicious Manager]

The HMV site must have a crappy search facility.

Their search facility is, indeed, truly appalling. However, if you enter the number of the CD you want (which you can find on the Dutton website) that seems to work.

Of course, the whole point of a decent search facility is that you often don't KNOW all the details of the CD you're looking for (least of all the catalogue number).

[Gareth Vaughan]

It is indeed a useless search facility. However, my point was that, as far as searching for the Dutton disks goes, one can, at least, locate the number via Dutton's website, and so enjoy HMV's advantageous pricing without too much hassle.

[Delicious Manager]

I received two Dutton CDs this morning - the Bate Third Symphony/Arnell Black Mountain and Robert Flaherty/Chisholm Pictures after Dante and the brand new Bate Fourth Symphony/Arnell Seventh Symphony. I am listening to the Bate Third at the moment and am enjoying it immensely. What I am NOT enjoying is looking at all the broken CD-retaining splines in the jewel cases (about four remain between the two cases). Sadly, this is now usual when CD companies use the clear jewel case inserts, as the splines are both weak AND fragile. The slightest knock in the post shatters these tiny bits of plastic immediately. Isn't there some kind of lobby against this? I now have two brand new CDs in need of new jewel cases!

[albion]

What I am NOT enjoying is looking at all the broken CD-retaining splines in the jewel cases (about four remain between the two cases). Sadly, this is now usual when CD companies use the clear jewel case inserts, as the splines are both weak AND fragile. The slightest knock in the post shatters these tiny bits of plastic immediately. Isn't there some kind of lobby against this? I now have two brand new CDs in need of new jewel cases!

This happens to me as well quite frequently, so I generally keep a store of spare CD jewel cases ready to cannibalise. At least with CDs, even if the retainer breaks there is little chance of the actual disc being damaged. Unfortunately this is not the case with DVDs!

My Dutton discs (Boughton/ Bainton, Foulds 2, The Queen of Cornwall) also arrived today and I've just started some highly pleasurable and fascinating listening. This company has become a real lifeline to those interested in British music - repertoire choice, performances and production values are exemplary. When Vernon Handley and Richard Hickox left us I feared that the exploratory spirit might have also departed, but Dutton continues to bridge gaps in our knowledge and has come up with yet another winning set of releases.

[Alan Howe]

I've now been having a good listen to Boughton's The Queen of Cornwall: it's certainly well sung and performed - many congratulations to Ronald Corp and his forces - and very well recorded. But, and it's a considerable 'but', I think, there's almost nothing that sticks in the memory. The idiom is attractive - much denser and more chromatic than The Immortal Hour - but I can't see myself wanting to go back to it very often, although, as I said, there is some very fine singing in it. Not a major discovery, in my view.

PS. I also find some of the folksy stuff and rustic la-la-la-ing frankly cringeworthy, but that's a very personal reaction, I'm sure. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable listen overall, especially as the performance is so obviously committed.

[albion]

I've now been having a good listen to Boughton's The Queen of Cornwall: there's almost nothing that sticks in the memory. I also find some of the folksy stuff and rustic la-la-la-ing frankly cringeworthy. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable listen overall, especially as the performance is so obviously committed.

Curiously, my reaction was exactly the opposite! From the opening choral depiction of the wind and sea around the cliffs (shorn of the rather shambolic Overture added as an afterthought in 1926 and not recorded) I found that Boughton was creating powerful and highly memorable musical imagery. Compared with The Immortal Hour and Bethlehem, the musical idiom of The Queen of Cornwall is not as easily assimilated by the listener, and I was surprised at just how personal the chromatic language of this work was - it did not remind me of any composer other than Rutland Boughton. The inclusion of more lyrical 'set pieces' (for example the beautiful When I set out for Lyonesse) did not strike me as particularly jarring but I can understand why the 'Drinking chorus' might provoke a negative reaction from some listeners. However, this is a tiny section within the musical drama. Whether or not it is Boughton's best work it is impossible to say: until we have recordings of Alkestis (1922), The Ever Young (1929) and The Lily Maid (1934) the picture is very much still incomplete. In the meantime, this is an excellent recording of a highly significant neglected British opera (or music drama) and such things do not come along very often!

[Alan Howe]

Boughton is a curious figure - for me, his most memorable work is his 3rd Symphony, and that's a shameless rip-off of Elgar. Mind you, it's a great listen. Meanwhile, I can't summon up more than two cheers for the opera, although it is superlatively performed and recorded.

[eschiss1]

Boughton is a curious figure - for me, his most memorable work is his 3rd Symphony, and that's a shameless rip-off of Elgar. Mind you, it's a great listen. Meanwhile, I can't summon up more than two cheers for the opera, although it is superlatively performed and recorded.

Hrm. I agree the 2nd symphony is (at least) a bit less tuneful and more fluid maybe (I find its events and motives etc., like the calls at the end of the 2nd movement and a number of others, and some of its melodies - its opening for instance - very memorable myself but can still see the point and/or why you might say so!...), but are there other reasons it doesn't catch your fancy if that's what you mean?