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What may be said of the Rasilainen/Norwegian Radio O set on Finlandia?  It's served me well and therefore no desire to replace it.

Interesting - this is an 85-minute CD.

Is that a record length?  (excuse the unintended pun)

Thanks, one and all.  Those positive reviews are tempting me to break with tradition and move the CD to the top of my unlistened-to stack.

I do agree about Reinecke's music in general.  Lots of it on my shelves, going all the way back to that Genesis CD of his piano concertos, by Gerald Robbins, with the Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra/Van Remoortel.

Well, thank you for that.  High praise, indeed - and I'll look forward to helping expose them!

I won this on eBay for a couple of US bucks, to fill in my Reinecke collection.  I've heard only snippets of the works.  Does anyone know them? Comments? 

Clarinet Trio in A Major Op.264
Fantasiestücke Op.22
Clarinet Sonata "Undine" Op.167bis
Introduction and Allegro appassionato Op.256

It's also the price you pay to get repertoire like Alfano. It's not as if they're putting out Beethoven symphonies with the Back of Beyond Philharmonic...

Indeed, and I'm not complaining, mind you.  Just taking note of facts.

The breadth of their catalog is inspiring and I've been introduced to so many, for me, formerly unknown composers on whose music I've taken a chance and have become a fan.  More power to Naxos - at any price!

Anyway - sorry to change the subject. 

Naxos' rise from bargain basement to the penthouse has outpaced inflation.  So it goes.

But you're right - or, perhaps, "somebody" is right.  When I scan my CD shelves, I see tons of Naxos spines looking back at me.  Tomorrow, the world...

I've been a collector of recordings of Alfano's music.  Naxos seems to have a thing for him.

But, parenthetically, what the heck has happened to the prices on Naxos CDs? Amazon now wants upwards of US$20 or so. A bit lower on the Amazon UK, but shipping cost wipes out the difference.

Our once and future "budget" label has made it to the big time!

Henry Stave?  Harold Moore's?

Harold Moore's (!).  In Great Marlborough St.  Just where I remember it to be.  Thanks for the reply.

PS - a web search comes up with "an Ode to Harold Moore's" which calls it "London's last classical record shop."

Tell me it's not true.

What was the name of the record shop in London, in a small street just off Regent Street (perhaps near Liberty's?)? I think it carried the name of a person. I know of Schott - but I think there was another.  Memory fails.

I always have lived within shouting distance of New York City - and, for eight years in the late-90s/early 2000s, in Manhattan itself.  My workplaces (this was long before Zoom!) all were in the City - from 1966 to 1997.

NYC had dozens of retailers - vinyl and cassettes, and then CDs.  There were at least three huge Tower Record stores, two HMVs, two Virgins, the well-known Record Hunter, Academy Music and others scattered amongst the neighborhoods.  I always would have in my pocket a want-list, compiled from reading the reviews in Gramophone, Fanfare, American Record Guide, et al.  And usually I'd walk out of these stores with shopping bags full.

When business would take me to other places - all across the USA and often Toronto (monthly), London and Munich (quarterly) - I would usually loiter for an extra day so to visit the local music outlets.

Today's "shopping" via the Internet is concise, fairly easy, and allows international access - but it's bloodless.  No more repartee with the store clerks, or with fellow customers.  No more idle browsing to unearth gems from the back burner - new repertoire or new composers. As with most aspects of our modern lives, I now purchase my CDs technologically - via a few keyboard strokes instead of plucking them, pristine-covered in cellophane, while delighting in the "find." 

You are correct. The YouTube link is to Franck's A major Symphony; however, the caption is wrong - it should read "Op.47"

Thanks.

Sorry - but I am confused.

Franck's Symphony in Bb is listed as his Op.52 (which is what I have on the Audite CD) - however, the YouTube reference captions it as the A Major instead.

I thought his A Major Symphony was Op. 47.

Huh?

Both of these works have been recorded by Acte Préalable - nicely performed by the composers' country men/women - and with AP's usual high-level presentation.  Good enough for me.

I'm not sure about this release. Organ enthusiasts may well enjoy it, but is there really anything of great interest here for the general listener?

No.

How Toccata can turn a profit on a release like this is beyond me.