There are rumours circulating that a recording of his Symphony No 3 will shortly be released by cpo. I don´t want to acquire the recording by the Moravian Philharmonic if this happens to be true. Has anyone heard anything concrete?
Quote from: terry martyn on Sunday 11 April 2021, 07:53
There are rumours circulating that a recording of his Symphony No 3 will shortly be released by cpo. I dont want to acquire the recording by the Moravian Philharmonic if this happens to be true.
Interesting - why the objection to that orchestra?
There is also the Botstein recording, with the American Symphony Orchestra, as another possible choice.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8059174--fuchs-robert-symphony-no-3-op-79 (https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8059174--fuchs-robert-symphony-no-3-op-79)
It all depends how impatient you are! The Thorofon recording would do as a perfectly good stop-gap - and who knows how long cpo might wait to bring out their version, if indeed it exists?
The Thorofon performance is on YouTube (alas!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuY2FVmi2xI
The recording by the Moravian Philharmonic has been panned by a couple of critics, including a review from Mr Peacock, whom I greatly respect. Not sure that it´s the orchestra´s fault, but everybody else (apart from the composer) seems to be in the firing-line. The price on Amazon is very tempting, though.
I quite like the Thorofon recording. Botstein's is good too. I think one can for now hear the recording that may soon be issued on cpo on YouTube or in our Downloads folder - same conductor and orchestra as on the cpo recording of symphonies 1 and 2 (Steffens/Sinfonieorchester Köln) iirc. (One way or another I quite like the symphony though I prefer the best among his chamber works.)
I've long had the Thorofon recordings, because there was no alternative and I love the symphonies, especially 2, but I discarded instantly vol.1 when cpo released its excellent version of the same stuff a few years ago, and I am going to do the same with sym 3 if finally cpo completes the tryptich.
The Moravian band is adequate, but nothing more : in many instances they're quite scrawny and undisciplined...also, recording quality is nothing to write home about.
As I said, it all depends how impatient one is...
Incidentally, the only Fuchs Symphony that I can find in our Downloads board is No.2, conducted by Steffens, as on cpo, so the current choice for No.3 is between the Müssauer/Thorofon (CD) and Botstein (download only) recordings.
Here's the Botstein: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8059174--fuchs-robert-symphony-no-3-op-79
My mistake. (I also thought the whole of Botstein's recording of the 3rd was available on YouTube on the "American Symphony Orchestra - Topic" channel, but this does not seem to be the case anymore, just the first and last movements :))
(Correction: Playlist. (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nvKZJO2D5NjnjcWmSODm4hkhKgXJnQ8nc))
I've no idea where the rumour about a new cpo/Steffens recording came from. All I can find online is an assumption that this team will complete the cycle:
<<No doubt CPO and Steffens already have it 'in the can'.>>
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Apr/Fuchs_sys_7778302.htm
Needless to say, an assumption is not a rumour, although it is evidently the source. We need to be careful what we post!
The question of the cpo recording was raised on YouTube, which is where I noticed it. I found the comment when I searched for a recording of the Third Symphony.
Aha! This is the comment in question on YouTube:
<<I have this recording but have heard two better ones (Botstein/American Symphony - which is on Youtube - and a recording that I think will be upcoming on cpo.)>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuY2FVmi2xI&t=87s
This is evidently another source of the rumour - in fact it's merely an assumption (I think...). There is currently no sign of a Steffens/cpo recording anywhere, certainly not on YouTube, so this poster can't actually have heard it.
Of course, this doesn't mean to say that cpo won't be bringing it out. It's just that we have zero evidence at present.
Let's move on...
I guess it was me who placed the rumour. At least here. When I posted a live performance of Fuchs 2 I mentioned that the conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens had already recorded No 3 for cpo. He said so in an interview for German WDR radio.
Ah, so it is a genuine rumour, not an assumption after all. I hope it proves a to be a reality.
Actually, it's not a rumour at all because that involves doubt or uncertainty. Evidently there is no uncertainty here as the conductor says the work has been recorded. The only question is when/whether cpo will actually release it.
Agreed, of course.