Korngold Violin Concerto & String Sextet

[brendangcarroll]

A NEW RECORDING from British conductor John Wilson of Korngold's Violin Concerto (Andrew Haveron, soloist) & the exquisite String Sextet, is due for release on March 27 and is already available for pre-order on Amazon. Link below:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Korngold-Concerto-Sinfonia-Ensemble-Orchestra/dp/B0849ZXQPG/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=Sinfonia+of+London+Chamber+Ensemble+%2F+RT%C3%89+Concert+Orchestra+%2F+John+Wilson+%2F+Andrew+Haveron+Violin+Concerto&qid=1583049855&s=music&sr=1-1-fkmr0

[Alan Howe]

Saw this. Disappointed that the orchestra in the VC is only the RTÉ Concert Orchestra (a 45-strong band!), not JW's Sinfonia of London. It'll probably be good, though.

Not really unsung repertoire these days - and I don't think I'll be adding this to Heifetz, Perlman, Shaham, Znaider, Ehnes, Gluzman, etc.

[brendangcarroll]

Yes the concerto is ubiquitous but the pairing is immensely attractive; the unjustly neglected String Sextet written at age 16-17 (and btw, yes I know there are several recorded versions but I have never encountered this work in concert, here in the UK) is a particularly welcome addition to the catalogue, especially with artists of this calibre.

[Alan Howe]

Can't see that this is worth buying just for the String Sextet. One for Korngold completists, I think.

[brendangcarroll]

Well I suppose it all depends on whether you consider the Korngold Sextet to be a masterpiece, worthy of comparison with Mendelssohn's Octet and Enescu's Nonet.

I do.

[MartinH]

I'll add it to the stack. Even though I have several recordings of each, if Wilson brings as much flair to the VC as he did the symphony, this could be a winner. And I like to support record companies as much as I can. But really, Chandos, no SACD this time?

[Alan Howe]

Well I suppose it all depends on whether you consider the Korngold Sextet to be a masterpiece, worthy of comparison with Mendelssohn's Octet and Enescu's Nonet.

Fair enough. It's more the strangeness of the coupling that disappoints me. If I already had the VC, why would I buy the CD just for the String Sextet? At 55:58 TT it's very poor value overall - there's room for more music, surely.

[brendangcarroll]

I do agree. But this is a growing trend with CDs now. Many are barely under an hour of music. I note that Chandos is already offering this particular CD as a download for purchase, track by track, before the physical disc is even released!

For download customers, the duration is not an issue. A worrying development.

[MartinH]

I disagree about this. Remember back when cds first came out that shorter lengths was the norm. I have  Telarc with Maazel doing the Rite of Spring - only 35 minutes or so. And that was full-price back then, about $18. Nowadays you can get Rite of Spring coupled with Petrouchka, a full 75 minutes for about $18.  In the LP era that would have been on two records. No, I don't mind at all if playing time isn't maxed out. I also from time to time will buy country/western cds mostly on the resale market, and those disks rarely have more than 40 minutes of time.

[BerlinExpat]

I could be considered a Korngold completist but I still won't buy it as I generally don't buy CDs with mixed music types.

[Alan Howe]

To me it's an odd release. Is the VC here special enough to justify purchase?

[brendangcarroll]

Until I hear it, I cannot say. But John Wilson's involvement makes it worthy of note and the string players performing the Sextet are all top of their game.

[Alan Howe]

Question is: Is Andrew Haveron going to match up to the great soloists who have recorded the VC - and why only the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and not the Sinfonia of London?

I guess this is for completists...

[Gareth Vaughan]

Well, if the performance of the String Sextet is good, I don't mind "putting up with" another performance of the VC - though that may prove to be excellent. We will have to wait and see. It is a bit short measure, though - I agree.

[Alan Howe]

I suppose what I'm saying is that there are multiple recordings of the Sextet (Presto lists 13 in addition to this new one) and many, many more of the VC, so I just can't see the point of buying this...