L'Étranger by d'Indy on Accord

[eschiss1]

Is the new Accord recording of d'Indy's l'Étranger the first commercial recording of the entire opera? (Could be with cuts for all I know, but on 2 CDs, so I'm guessing not just the prelude, anyway.)

(Ok, maybe an experimentally slow performance of the prelude...)

[petershott@btinternet.com]

I'm tickled by the idea of a very slow performance of the Prelude... so slow that it extends onto a second disc!

As far as I know this is the first commercial recording. Inside the front cover of the booklet is printed "Premier enregistrement mondial" - but I know one can't entirely trust record companies who have an obvious interest in selling their product.

And as far as I'm aware it is a recording of the whole opera. But note: it is a recording of a live performance so, who knows, there may have been odd cuts from the full score - though there is no indication of such in the booklet or libretto.

Acts 1 and 2 are each on one of the two CDs in the set, and the duration of each is 42'42 and 54'49. But obviously a bit risky making a direct inference from those timings to the conclusion that the performance is complete. I haven't had time, but maybe interesting to search around for reviews of that concert performance in July 2010?