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True, although the recording quality of that (valuable) set is very variable, as is the quality of the music which it contains. The Gade VC, however, is a major neglected Romantic-era work and, with the excellent couplings on the new Dacapo CD, contributes to a thoroughly recommendable programme captured in superb modern sound and in top-flight performances.

Friends may wish to know that Sony are to bring out the complete Haydn symphonies with Denis Russell Davies conducting the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra...

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/SESSIONID/fb2168f227aec203db41480801eeeed3/classic/detail/-/art/Joseph-Haydn-Symphonien-Nr-1-104/hnum/3866386

I am personally waiting for this set to be reviewed before deciding on which one to buy.

I would say that Schubert was clearly only just beginning to find his 'symphonic feet' when he died. Lachner was a close friend of Schubert and must have sensed where the latter was going with the symphony. There is absolutely no doubt that Lachner was following along Schubert's path in attempting to develop an epic-scale symphonic form - one which was later taken up by Rufinatscha and, eventually, Bruckner. It was definitely not a symphonic dead-end...

The answer for me is probably the symphony, which I do regard as the ultimate form of musical expression.

However, Verdi's Otello is great music, as are Raff's Piano Quartets. And now I have discovered Klughardt's wonderful Violin Concerto, so, much as I think the symphony is the ultimate, I could not possibly limit myself to a particular form as the one I like best. Great music is great music, whatever form it takes, and in the end that is what I like best.

I'm very glad to hear about the excellent progress being made with the recording. And thanks for the updates!

I am sure that we are all pleased to have you on board, as it were. And don't worry at all about mis-labelling composers: we are used to to pooling our collective ignorance on this forum!!

So, welcome!

Sounds like a project for Bo Hyttner and Sterling (he often records with the Gävle orchestra)...

Mahler on steroids is pretty wide of the mark, I think. However, Langgaard was definitely on something...

Sorry, I'm against - and I did see the poll. But only just!

The Lange-Müller VC is quite an original piece, sounding as though it is built on folk-like themes and having a rhapsodic feel throughout. It is occasionally very beautiful indeed and full of feeling. Highly recommended to those who don't know it!

The Langgaard VC is a curious, but enjoyable piece. Only nine and a half minutes long, it has a prominent part for piano and gives the impression of being a sort of pastiche, with (as the sleevenote indicates) high-Romantic passages mingling with others of a more neo-classical flavour. Not really my cup of tea, but a nice filler for the other two VCs on the CD.

I'm against anything which trivialises the forum, including Avatars - for me they are a complete waste of time. I'd prefer photos, but actually anything which makes a lot of extra work for Mark for very little extra gain seems to me far from worthwhile.

Friends may be interested in this new CD of VCs from Dacapo...

http://www.dacapo-records.dk/?page=catalogue&id=7588&setlanguage=en

The three concertos it contains are those by Niels Gade, Lange-Müller and Rued Langgaard.

Being a great fan of the Gade VC, I bought the CD for that particular work and am glad to say that the performance is splendid. For anyone unfamilar with the piece, this is late Gade (1880) - and very much all of a piece with other roughly contemporary VCs such as those by Reinecke and Dietrich. So, if you don't know it, here is a golden opportunity to acquire it on a CD with two other interesting rarities - of which more later...

Chris is very busy at present; in addition several of us are in touch with him anyway, so there's no need to e-mail him with regard to the forum.

John: Lachner 8 is planned for 2010 - the date has yet to be confirmed.