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I just have to share this.
Last evening one orchestra I play in (on first bassoon) played Glazunov's Fourth Symphony. I've been bugging the conductor for several years to give it a go and this year he finally gave in. I loaned him a CD and a score and he realized there's some terrific, beautiful music there.

Needless to say, no one in the orchestra had ever played it, most had never heard of it. During rehearsals people were coming around and really got enthusiastic about it. "We should play more of his music -- this is great!" was typical.

But after the concert it was the audience that startled me. They couldn't have known it either, and right as the thrilling, ecstatic conclusion of the symphony the audience immediately rose to its feet, Applause was thunderous and the "bravos" very prominent. They really, really liked it. Afterwards, I got comments from several attendees as why no one plays this, why hadn't they ever heard of it?

It's not easy music at all. The six flats are kind of intimidating to strings, but our amateur group did an excellent job with only a couple of mishaps, mostly from a timpanist who got lost a couple of times. We did have eight rehearsals for the concert and that helped.

But Glazunov sure made an impression. The conductor has been pretty good about programming more obscure music, but when it comes to big symphonies not so much. This Fourth Symphony really opened his eyes as to what other glories he might have missed. I've already suggested Raff's 3rd or 5th, Bloch's C sharp minor, Atterberg's 3rd or 6th.  I can only hope.

I've tried many times to listen to the Carpenter with open ears but I just can't get past the orchestration. Scoring to have a real Mahler sound is difficult in the extreme if not impossible. At it's best, the Cooke version cannot hide where Mahler's scoring ends and Cooke begins. Every great composer had a unique sound profile that no one can re-produce (Although Mahler could do it quite well as in Die Drei Pintos). Anyway...Carpenter knew this and so to have a real Mahler sound used real Mahler scoring lifting it right out of the symphonies. The reference to the 7th is particularly annoying. And it's that echt-Mahler borrowed scoring that I just can't get through. I think it was a big mistake for Zinman to use it in his cycle. I'm waiting for someone to use AI and see what it can do to fill in the gaps and orchestrate like Gustav.

One conductor who did have a great conception of the 2nd was Dmitri Mitropoulos. It's just a shame that the Vienna Phil wasn't up to the challenge then and that the recorded sound is so awful. I listened to the Luisi BPO live and it was indeed relatively uninvolving. I hope his vision of Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln coming up next spring in Dallas is more profound.

I recall a discussion similar to this years ago. Although it sounds enticing to get a group of similar minded people together and fund a recording, it's easier said than done.

First up, how much can it cost? You don't want some scrappy orchestra that presents a bad reading and turn people off. But you can't afford the Berlin Philharmonic or the Cleveland Orchestra. So you get a middle-sized orchestra somewhere that agrees to a couple of rehearsals and then record it. Let's say it costs $50,000. Now how many sponsors can you get? Some disks out there sell only 1000 copies world-wide. So let's say you have 1000 serious collectors. Are they willing to cough up $50 each for a copy? Or could you find more sponsors? Or get a cheaper orchestra? (What's the London Symphony Orchestra charge these days?)

Then there's repertoire. With so much obscure music already recorded, how in world could you ever get 1000 people to agree on what to record? I may have my wish list; but I guarantee it's not yours. Or do we say we'll do both. Now double the costs...or get a really cheap orchestra.

I wish that some billionaire or Saudi Arabian mega-donor would appear and magically finance a group whose sole purpose is to record previously unrecorded repertoire. They could work day after day for decades there's so much stuff. The German radio orchestras did a very good job there for a while with lesser-known music but it seems to me that both CPO and Capriccio have let up lately. Dutton in England certainly did some stellar work, too. Marco Polo isn't producing as much new stuff as they once did. The big legacy companies like Sony, RCA, DG...forget them.

Well, I'll buy another Powerball ticket this week and probably a MegaMillions one, too. If I ever win there will be new, fully staged and recorded production of Franz Schmidt's two operas. Don't hold your breath.

So the score is missing to the Bittner 2nd - but is there a set of parts? If so, send me a copy and I'll put it in Finale!

Oops! Sorry. I did a search but didn't see this thread.

Has anyone else heard the terrific new Tocatta recording of Bittner's 1st Symphony and the symphonic poem Vaterland? Wonderful stuff. Seems Mr. Carroll's persistence paid off. Yes, Bittner may be a bit out of the time frame for UC, but his music is clearly in the late-romantic style of other composers on the site. The symphony is marvelous and I sure hope No. 2 is given an outing. And it would be nice to have an opera!

I still like the Dudarova coupling. May not be perfect, but the spirit she brings is wonderful. While Gergiev was with the LSO I kept hoping that he would give us the Kalinnikov symphonies (and a Gliere 3rd) but it never happened. There's always hoping that Jurowski and the LPO will rise to the occasion. That Manfred from several years ago was a real winner. It would be nice, just once, to hear what a great orchestra and great conductor could do for (or to!) Kalinnikov's reputation.

It's not just the Proms concerts that are disheartening. I've been going through playlists for summer festivals in the USA. From Hollywood Bowl, Aspen, Vail, Grant Tetons, Ravinia, Blossom, Round Top, Tanglewood and more. It's all the same. Nothing you wouldn't encounter in a normal season. Beethoven, Bernstein, Mahler, Brahms, Tchaikovsky....so unimaginative. Cleveland is giving Zemlimsky's The Mermaid an outing. And lots of John Williams. I guess Star Wars and Harry Potter sell a lot of tickets.

Funny how we interpret things. I am a huge fan of Paray and regret never having the opportunity to hear him live. I have (I think) all of his Detroit recordings, and most of it is superb, some - like the Schumann symphonies - tremendous. But the one thing he recorded that I do not like is the Capriccio Espagnol. The opening is too fast - the clarinet is playing right on the edge of his/her ability. Then there's that Fandango with those vulgar, stupid, pointless pauses that ruin the thing. For my taste, Kondrashin on RCA still is the Capriccio Espagnol to beat.

I've had this recording sitting on the back burner for a long time and having read the MWI review, it was time to put it on. Well...it is no masterpiece regardless of the booklet writer's opinion. Just what it is I don't know - there is no way that this reconstructed work is "close" to the original. There's a lot of odd sounding wind writing that seems really out of place. Trombones in the 3rd movement. The trumpet blasts away in the first movement with no sense of blend. It's hard to accept that with only the five string parts extant, that a reasonable construction of the whole by adding at least 16 other wind and timpani parts can be authentic. I may be wrong. What really would have helped is to trim the length of the whole thing - the outer movements are way too long for their meagre material.

The recorded sound is no help - it's a very raw, edgy sound. The orchestra string section is small, which always results in that thin, wiry sound. No Vienna Philharmonic here. The playing wasn't terrible at all. The winds are in tune, and so are the few strings. But the conducting just seems so heavy handed at times.

Nonetheless, I'm glad to have it and that I've heard it. Great, undiscovered masterpiece? Not a chance, but worth a listen, even if it is echt-Rufinatscha.

Her style may be derivative, but so what? I'd rather listen to her derivative violin concerto than 99% of the horrid violin concertos written in the last 60 years or so. A melody - imagine that!

Wow! Incredible. Could have been written in 1916, but who cares? It's beautiful. The orchestration is so clear and appropriate. And she also plays piano quite well - a Mozart concerto! Thanks Alan for bringing this to our attention.

Ah, but I am deeply impressed with the Blackbird Pub in Earl's Court. My favorite London hangout...

That's the problem with Brilliant: great value in terms of the amount of music for the small amount of money, but sometimes the performances aren't top drawer. Sometimes it's a frustrating mix: absolutely first-class performances alongside really mediocre. The Rimsky Korsakov set is a prime example of what can go wrong: 2 mediocre Scheherazades, NO Russian Easter Overture, NO Capriccio Espagnol. But then you do get recordings of some operas otherwise hard to get. On the other hand, the Shostakovich Edition is wonderful - the Barshai symphonies is a major plus. The Dvorak and Tchaikovsky editions were a mix of good and not-so good. The other problem is that most serious collectors will already have a large amount of music in any of the Brilliant boxed sets, so a fair amount of duplication is going to happen. For me, the question is how much shelf space will these take up, and will I ever really listen to the huge sets? As it is now, there's a complete Verdi opera set sitting here that I have to get busy with...