A very important forthcoming release from Chandos, methinks:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Johan-Svendsen-1840-1911-Orchesterwerke-Vol-2/hnum/2933851 (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Johan-Svendsen-1840-1911-Orchesterwerke-Vol-2/hnum/2933851)
Welcome news. Have been waiting for this for many years.
Chandos tell me that the UK release date is 3rd September. I think jpc may be jumping the gun - they certainly haven't got it in yet.
Interesting - but, geeze - another case of coupling disappointment. I mean, the Norwegian Rhapsodies and the Symphony have been recorded many times previous. Cannot these labels come up with more interesting, and less repetitive, discmates? Is a puzzlement!
Yes, and the cello concerto may be new to CD but it was released in a find recording years ago on Lp. So as far as I can see none of it is new......
Jerry
I'm sorry, but those objections pale into insignificance in comparison with the fact that this will be the only available recording of the lovely early Cello Concerto - the old one from LP days never having made it to CD. And as for couplings, well, Svendsen's orchestral output has been pretty well covered in recent years, so it would probably be hard, if not impossible, to put together a programme that is uniformly attractive to buyers such as us. Finally, the soloist is Truls Mork, one of the world's finest cellists, the orchestra is the magnificent BergenPO and, finally, the CD is conducted by that master of the unsung repertoire, Neeme Järvi. Throw in Chandos' likely state-of-the-art recording quality, and this'll be a must-buy.
Quote from: Alan Howe on Friday 20 July 2012, 15:18
Throw in Chandos' likely state-of-the-art recording quality, and this'll be a must-buy.
Well,
I'm sorry - but not a must-buy for me. I don't need more Svendsen Symphonies or Rhapsodies. I'll spend my shekels elsewhere, thank you anyway Chandos.
I wish Chandos well with this release but like febnyc, with limited retirement shekels, I just don't need another complete duplication of this repertoire. There is a ballet or ballet suite Spring is Coming that could have subbed for part of that program. But Alan is certainly correct, his output of orchestral music leaves one wishing there was a lot more...... :( :( :(
Jerry
Quote from: febnyc on Friday 20 July 2012, 17:16
Well, I'm sorry - but not a must-buy for me. I don't need more Svendsen Symphonies or Rhapsodies. I'll spend my shekels elsewhere, thank you anyway Chandos.
If a Svendsen fan wants a CD recording of the Cello Concerto, it's a must-buy.
Well there's always the digital option. SOME Chandos discs have shown up on eClassical, so one may be able to buy the concerto alone for a good price, IF they put it up there.
As Frank & Jer lament, it's just terribly unimaginative programming by Chandos. Far more intelligent and alluring would have been coupling the Cello Concerto with Svendsen's Violin Concerto, and then filling out the CD with some other Svendsen rarity. The Rhapsodies add nothing we don't already have enough of. Honestly also, Jarvi himself becomes more and more like some oversold brand I find myself increasingly tiring of. His interpretations are always typically robust and impeccably professional, but too often have the feel of "another day at the office". It's what he does so he keeps doing it, I guess.
Not a seductive release in my judgement.
I understand the frustration of having to buy a whole CD for the Cello Concerto, but there will be a download available so the superscrimpers will surely be satisfied with that. As I said, for me the choice is simple: the Cello Concerto is finally going to get an up-to-date recording in fine sound. End of.
However, the disparaging comments about Järvi père cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. Of all conductors there cannot surely be one who can compare with Järvi for his championship of unsung repertoire. Of course, if you record so much there are going to be some duds (he's not infallible), but the range and number of his successful recordings of works outside the standard repertoire probably exceed those of any other conductor. Indeed, as I looked through the list of his most recent releases at MDT before typing this, I counted one superb recording after another - many of which I own and in which there is not a trace of the routine.
Frankly, I find this level of ingratitude for the work of a master musician little short of scandalous.
Bravo to Alan for standing up to the cry-babies. Järvi has done more for the cause of Unsung Composers than practically all other conductors combined. May he continue to do so for many years to come.
Thanks, Mike, for rescuing me from a Munch-like scream at the foregoing insanity posted in this thread.
I would also like to add my vote for Jarvi, pere, who, IMO, manages to make even the less-convincing moments in our favorite unsungs (they do have 'em, and though it be heresy to say it, a certain unevenness is what sometimes separates unsungs from composers of the absolute top rank), sound inspired. I treasure his Glazunov, Gade, etc... and his Balakirev Sym 1 is one of my favorite recordings.
As for Svendsen: I understand the urge toward completeness and rarities, but, again IMO, Svendsen is a fellow whose smallish oeuvre has an unusually wide range in quality. To have his excellent Sym 2, perhaps his best work, coupled with the also excellent cello concerto, and 2 rhapsodies thrown in, will make a disc that should win the composer many friends. I must admit to feeling that the composer's reputation only suffers when you scrape the bottom of the Svendsen barrel.
I apologise in advance to those who can listen to the Festpolonese with enthusiasm ;)...
David
Pull yourselves together, Alan, - I agree with most of what you express. That Jarvi is all but unqualifiedly "our man" and pre-eminent among the champions of the unsung, with a unique
and distinctive legacy of recordings along these lines unlikely to ever be matched were there even
some other maestro capable of mastering such a rich diversity of repertoire, is not something I dispute.
Jarvi always struck me as the ultimate "crack musician", - a conductor who could lead anything, anytime, anywhere, without making a lot of fuss, and without needing a lot of prep, but with always reliably satisfying results, and sometimes more. A real pro, in other words, very fluent and very efficient, never a phony and never a slacker, and not without charisma either. A high level performer in every respect.
Still, I never acquired a Jarvi disc to hear Jarvi, but always for the rare and novel repertoire he so typically offers up. One expects the measure of grip, energy, and the attention his standard of competence and expertise almost unfailingly provide, but not (in my experience) the vision, the nuance, and the subtlety that might lend some special aura and personal stamp to the standard and much overplayed works he has sometimes attempted.
Thus, all I am saying is that Jarvi doesn't bring enough potential interpretive weight to this Svendsen disc to overcome it's inadequately adventurous pairing. The wish to hear what new beauties or charms he might uncover in the "old hat" and many times heard before Norwegian Rhapsodies just doesn't exist, because it's probably none. I'm very dissapointed in Chandos for not fully utilizing him in what he does best.
You know, isn't this part of a series of Svendsen orchestral works in the first place? So the popular stuff has to go somewhere...
Quote from: edurban on Saturday 21 July 2012, 03:11
Svendsen is a fellow whose smallish oeuvre has an unusually wide range in quality. To have his excellent Sym 2, perhaps his best work, coupled with the also excellent cello concerto, and 2 rhapsodies thrown in, will make a disc that should win the composer many friends.
Good point. As you imply, an excellent starting-point for those who don't know the composer.
My goodness - Alan's quasi-hysterical responses seem, to me, a bit over the top. Perhaps his favorite golfer missed the cut at Lytham and he is out of sorts, or maybe he has a special interest in dear old Svendsen. Who knows?
At any rate, I, for one, am not a "superscrimper." I purchase dozens of discs each month and own thousands. But darned if I'll be forced to double up on repertoire to this extent. If only one of the works were duplicated, OK. But to buy the whole kit and kaboodle for simply the cello concerto - not important enough for me. Maybe for Alan and others, yes - but that is no reason to level a charge of "ingratitude" towards the dissenters here. And for others to label us "crybabies" and emitting a "Munch-like scream." That stuff is preposterous and, yes, crybaby-ish also.
We're discussing opinions here, pace Greg K, not established facts. I am suprised at the reactions from some posters who heretofore I thought of as moderate and considerate.
Yes, Svendsen's output is relatively narrow. Could not Chandos have coupled the Concerto with works by other Scandinavians, as one example? After all, many CDs contain music by more than a single composer. And there are many shorter pieces by Svendsen which might have been recorded.
As with the Avie Hans Gál Symphony silliness in couplings, methinks Chandos goes down the same path. At least, for this collector of unsungs, it's a poor marketing decision and a disappointment.
Quote from: Greg K on Saturday 21 July 2012, 05:28
Pull yourselves together, Alan, - I agree with most of what you express...Still, I never acquired a Jarvi disc to hear Jarvi...I'm very dissapointed in Chandos for not fully utilizing him in what he does best.
You don't agree with me at all in fact, despite your protestations. I hold Järvi to be one of the most eminent conductors in the world, whereas for you "Järvi himself becomes more and more like some oversold brand" which is just plain rubbish, quite frankly. His Taneyev 4 (Chandos), for example, is a towering interpretation, stunningly conducted, played and recorded, far surpassing all other recorded efforts. He even shows Gergiev how it should be done. If Järvi were coming to town, I'd certainly make a bee-line for the concert, particularly as it would be likely to contain something unusual!
Quote from: febnyc on Saturday 21 July 2012, 13:24
My goodness - Alan's quasi-hysterical responses seem, to me, a bit over the top.
I was quite happy for this thread to have been a robust exchange of views; it was the disparaging remarks made about Järvi that mandated my well-reasoned, quite unhysterical response - one shared by Mike Herman, as you will have seen.
Anyway, this thread is clearly going nowhere fast, so I have decided to lock it.