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Luigini's music is currently being played at Horseguards Parade, at the welcoming of Qatar's Emir

I was ,up until now, thinking that the Venetian Ambassador's remark "If Death came from Spain, we would live for ever" was only too apposite when it came to this recording.

So,it is all the more welcome that cpo have finally managed to outrun my expectation that I would never live to see the fruits of Triendl's labour.

I have, and still play, the Fistoulari. It is coupled with some exquisitely-played works by Glinka.

I certainly do, as,out of the nine items on this disc, there is only the one duplication ("Der Pole und sein Kind"). I personally feel that the orchestra has a better sense of Lortzing's light touch as an orchestrator than the one on the Marco Polo. It's a well-filled disc of joyous music. I can understand why,back in the day, he was accounted one of the top 100 composers,although I doubt that remained the view much after Edwardian times.

I take your point,Alan.

There are,of course, two concert-pieces in the Lortzing CD.  The second one,for trumpet and orchestra, is lively,concise, and I feel that its quality is far superior to Potter's concertante offering.

Of course,you are right,Alan, that the content of this disc bears no comparison with the van Bree or the Potter. However,the fact that these three discs arrived together,and I have now played them often,led me to the conclusion that the quality of Lortzing's composition was superior.  I stress that this is a purely personal impression, and,I may add, an unexpected one, because I expected much more of the Potter and much less from the Lortzing.

Some of us may still possess an old LP of Lortzing's Zar und Zimmermann (Opera Excerpts) with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. And one of the last LP's I bought was the Marco Polo disc of Lortzing Overtures.

cpo issued in August a very well-filled CD, supposedly of Lortzing Overtures.  Indeed,there are plenty of them,and only one duplication from the old Marco Polo recording ("Der Pole und sein Kind"). But about half the CD contains ballet music from a couple of his operas,Undine and Hans Sachs (their overtures appear on the old LP.but aren't duplicated),and two Concert pieces,the first for horn,and the second,a more lively affair,for trumpet.

This CD arrived ,together with the one of van Bree and the second volume of Potter. Personally, I think that the quality of music is superior to the Bree and (at least for the most part) to the Potter. Lortzing has a lighter touch than,say,Marschner, and ,I reckon ,even than Weber. He is obviously a consummate orchestrator and the works recorded here have a spring-heeled character.

I thoroughly recommend it,although,like many other CDs filled with overtures, I wouldn't necessarily want to listen to all of it in one go. But,if you dip in, I think you will be rewarded.

I was rather underwhelmed by the C minor symphony,Alan.  Not the performance,I should add, but the music itself. I would have pre-dated it somewhat,as the B flat symphony sounds to me more advanced. And more up to the standard and individuality of symphonic composition that I have now come to expect of Potter.

I would love to know your considered thoughts on the C minor symphony,Alan,and the curiosity of the concertante work that I was expecting to sound like Spohr - but it certainly didn't.

I fear,in contrast, that this new Hyperion CD remains resolutely earthbound.

The old LP of Gottschalk's works for piano and orchestra still delights.  Perhaps the most deliciously over-the-top piece is the Variations on the {former} Portuguese National Anthem.  Without having my copy in front of me,I recollect that that was the only one on that recording that Gottschalk actually orchestrated himself.

I must apologise if what I am about to write is controversial and harsh, and it is just my personal opinion,after all.

I am really disappointed  in this CD, and I normally wouldn't dare say this about something produced by Hyperion.. I have no complaints about the performances of soloists or orchestra.  But,what is the point?  The Mendelssohn/Moscheles combination did not result in anything memorable,the arrangement of Moscheles never came to life,and the less said the better ,in my opinion,about the other two arrangements. 

Perhaps I should have sampled before buying, as it comes across as  some kind of advertising gimmick for the MultiPiano Ensemble.  But I can't help feeling that many hands do not necessarily make light work.

I have the CD, and it was well worth buying. A live performance of the Symphony, a brief Serenade, and a symphonic poem "Italia mia!" Yes,the sound is a somewhat recessed, but I think the recording was probably made in the  Town Hall of Vigasio,where the composer was a native.

I personally think that the Symphony dates to the end of the nineteenth century and happened to be published a few years later. It is a student work,highly Romantic, and ,at least in the opening movements,more Russian- sounding than Italian. The use of the woodwind in the first movement made me think instantly of Glazunov, and the ensuing adagio,Tchaikovsky. It is an attractive,approachable,composition,easy on the ears.

The other works were composed in the 1940s.  I would not have placed them anywhere as late as this. Mainstream late-Romantic.


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I was thinking along the same lines, Alan. In this instances, Hurwitz has used his extensive (if not always deep) knowledge to good effect. Students of the Leipzig School could quite possibly share a light on this wider application. And Eric, always a mine of information, probably knows a lot more than Hurwitz does.

I am a little worried about one aspect of this.  How come this happened to be missed by those behind the making of this recording? We are all too aware,from our recent discoveries about Veit and Franke,that there is unauthentic, and then there is fake.

If you wear a white scarf (and matching white gloves) with a tuxedo,you could be in for a very big surprise. THe last time I committed such a heinous act of tastelessness, I was mistaken for the late,great,operatically-trained Darryl Pandy's bouncer and handed a brown envelope brimming with twenty pound notes.

Hurwitz is right to call out Heras-Casado's historically inappropriate performance!

I have two intrusive (and very expensive) Spanish cleaners in at the moment.  I think I have found a way to drive them out from under my feet. I am playing the whole of Lachner's Fifth on full volume!