Georg Goltermann -Cello Concerto No. 1 · Symphony in A minor · Romance · Ballade

[eschiss1]

and published in or by December of that year, I think...

[Alan Howe]

Oops indeed, then!

[eschiss1]

also, performed in Prague in 1854, but probably in Hannover in 1853, perhaps earlier- looking through issues of NZM to find incipits in reviews to confirm that it's in A minor and not, as I previously thought, in A major...

[Alan Howe]

So, definitely pre-Brahms, then!

[hyperdanny]

Albeit too brief, the Jpc sound samples I found very interesting: I expected something Mendelssohnian, but to me it's Schubertian , the darker side of of the Tragic and Unfinished.
Not pedestrian, though, or uninteresting, especially the first movement.
i'll buy it.

[terry martyn]

I already have Goltermann's Third Cello Concerto and will be glad to get his First.   Experiencing so many difficulties getting anything correctly delivered from the UK to Spain, so will probably order with jpc. Cheaper too.......

[Alan Howe]

Kudos once again to Howard Griffiths for resurrecting such neglected music.

Excerpts here:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/konzert-fuer-violoncello-und-orchester-1/hnum/11170489
Sounds later than Schubert to me, but not by much! Very nice stuff, though. My copy's on order too.

[hyperdanny]

Talking about the Polish Romantic Symphonies release, we commented about the irrationality of different release dates.
The Goltermann is an even stranger case: the Capriccio website does not give a date, Jpc says it's going to be available in April.
So , we are talking about an Austrian label, and the lead retailer of the "German world"...they should be the first, but they don't have it (yet)
Last Friday I found it available on my local Amazon, via Marketplace, through a Greek retailer that I have used dozens of times, always top notch.
They said thay have 9 in stock, ordered Friday, posted today.  Stranger things.

[hyperdanny]

I received it yesterday directly from..Athens.

[Alan Howe]

Great. The postal service is clearly working well, although this hasn't aways been the case in my experience over recent months.

[Mark Thomas]

Personally, I'm happy to wait. I have such a backlog of new recordings to listen to that not adding to the pile is a real priority.

[Alan Howe]

Agreed. Piles are a real nuisance. Of unopened CDs, of course

[eschiss1]

I've never heard of breaking out in hives of unopened CDs. Which proves naught or ought.

[John Boyer]

Last Friday I found it available on my local Amazon, via Marketplace, through a Greek retailer that I have used dozens of times, always top notch.

Agreed!  I've used them too and have been very happy with them.

[hyperdanny]

Very early impressions from a single listening, and as such take them with a grain of salt.
The cello concerto is nice and tuneful but not much more than that, a very typical "Romantic cello concerto by a virtuoso-composer".
It's concise, a virtue, and definitely worthwhile, but nothing that Davidoff or Romberg haven't done with more personality.
The symphony is a very different story: I found it gripping. Not exactly sophisticated, maybe, but stormy and dramatic, and also quite individual in places.
The ORF Orchestra playing is pretty splendid, the kind of advocacy the music needs.
Howard Griffiths' command of the Unsungs is beyond discussion at this point, but this time he's even better than usual, I hear an an extra quid of passion.
The recording is completely to my taste: detailed and impactful. Gross generalization: it could be a little too "in your face" for some listeners, especially British: the fabled "mid hall perspective" that the Gramophone people love to tout.....this ain't, and I am thankful for that.
All in all , a very worthy purchase for me.