The Myaskovsky symphonies cycle will be available again from Alto as of early September from Presto Classical, I see.
For the Myaskovsky set Prestoclassical claims "The complete legendary set, very well-filled discs, BUT using the Olympia masters, plus their ground-breaking expert music notes within 36PP book !" I wonder if I should replace the Warner set for this new one. True, if the liner notes are by the eminent musicologist Per Skans there's some truth in the claim, but will de Olympia masters sound better than the Warner set?
Personally speaking, I'd have to sample before I ordered. I certainly won't be replacing my Warner box. I'll also hazard a guess that they'll be CD-Rs.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8663442--myaskovsky-complete-symphonies (https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8663442--myaskovsky-complete-symphonies)
Any reason to assume CDRs? I recently got the new re-releases of Atterberg on Alto and it's pressed.
Oh, that's good news. My mistake. It's just that my CD player refused to load/play a recently purchased Alto CD of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas...
I'm dumb, the Atterberg is on Danacord. Dunno why I thought it was Alto....I guess because it was a reissue and the somewhat cheap looking art.
Sorry.
I agree about the artwork, though - puts me right off Alto CDs.
So, was the Alto set pressed or was it CDR?
I don't know. I guess the only way to find out would be to contact Alto: musicalmerit@blueyonder.co.uk
I have both the Warner set and the Russian Disc version... both of which have sparse liner notes.... hmm don't know if Ill add to the collection.
I downloaded the Alto set complete a few years ago (this would be US$8 now, I forget what it cost me then) and the included PDF of liner notes, which were not sparse :) (ok, compared to the notes I've seen attached to a good opera-libretto-containing set of notes, some Donemus sets and some Bach cantata sets - e.g. - not as detailed as -those- (and yes, the more the merrier...), but not sparse, either.)
The question remains, though, whether the Alto set is on CD-Rs...
they advertise the product as CDs... on amazon... amazon will indicate if CDR vs CD
Really? I'm not sure about that. Someone needs to find out for sure.
Amazon does not distinguish between CD and CDR. All the labels that market CDRs continue to list them as CDs, which was discussed at length on the CDR thread.
Indeed, only if Amazon is the one actually making the CDR ("on demand") will they note it's a CDR.
This is marked as a limited edition run... as noted on the back of the box. IDK what that means... any thoughts??
We still don't know whether they're CDs or CD-Rs, so I have now emailed Alto.
...and Robin at Alto confirms: they are pressed.
Here's the relevant web page;
https://altocd.com/product/alc3141/ (https://altocd.com/product/alc3141/)
Quote from: Alan Howe on Thursday 06 January 2022, 15:12
...and Robin at Alto confirms: they are pressed.
Thank you for the research! In the end I purchased a used copy of the Warner, but it is good to know that there are other options.
I have the Warner - shame about the documentation, but...
I've made it through 5 discs of the Warner symphony set. Nikolai, I hardly knew ya. You cannot speak of a Myaskovsky style. He's as conservative as Glazounov in one, as modern (and outside the bounds of this board) as late-20s Prokofieff in another. This comes as a pleasant surprise. I guess I didn't know his work as confidently as I thought.
Spot-on, John. That's Myaskovsky for you!
Wouldn't have him any other way. (Well, I do wish it had been possible for him to develop along the lines of syms.10&13/quartets op.33 nos. 1&2 more- I just read through op.33 #1 (with score I mean) for the first time, and find it assured and amazing.)
Sound quality isn't ideal, especially for the strings, but I am so fond of Svetlanov's interpretations that I prefer them to the other releases.
The quality is better and less compressed on the 2017 Anthology of Russian Symphonic Music behemouth, but unless you want downloads, it is rare to find.