Aurelio Barrios y Morales Symphony in F minor

[Mark Thomas]

Sterling has never really been in the business of generating new recordings

Actually the label does have a history of making a substantial number of its own new recordings mixed with those sourced from European radio stations, but this statement is certainly true of the last four years or so. Sterling does also release a steady stream of "artist showcase" type CDs and boxes of which we aren't usually aware here at UC. I do hope that Bo Hyttner doesn't come to regret this CD release, but IMHO it was an uncharacteristic misjudgement and I've told him so.

[terry martyn]

That Juon CD, which I praised the other day, is of pretty recent vintage and there have been far more hits than misses on that label

[Alan Howe]

Actually the label does have a history of making a substantial number of its own new recordings

Thanks for putting me right!

That Juon CD

...contains recordings made in 2004 and 2011! And the Symphony in F#minor was conducted by the world authority on Juon's music, Christof Escher. A fine release indeed - but reflecting past glories, I feel.

a steady stream of "artist showcase" type CDs and boxes

Yes, I've noticed those, plus some releases of 20th century music. Nothing of interest to me, though. They're not what I look to Sterling for.

[Ilja]

Sad to say, some music really isn't worthy of revival - but, of course, we have to hear it to find out!

This is the crux, of course. And particularly Latin American romantic music is not particularly well represented in recordings, so it's worth a gamble just to get a representative body of repertoire. The risk, of course, is that with a few bad apples people may get the sense that this whole musical corner is unworthy of interest, which would be a real shame. Sterling has given us Julián Carrillo's First Symphony, and the Castro concertos not too long ago, so they have something of a track record here. Alas, this appears to be a dud - even if I think Nick Barnard's judgment of El angel de la guarda (the only piece I have heard) is a tad harsh; but then, that well probably got spoilt already by the symphony, and it's not as though it's exactly a riveting piece.