Othmar Schoeck Venus

[JimL]

Gotta fix that quote, febnyc!

[febnyc]

JimL:  Please feel free to unquote me anytime.

Alan:  Herewith some information from my friend - perhaps it will be helpful:

Regarding your exchange with Mr. Howe about the availability and recording history of these rare operas perhaps I can shed some light on the situation. Paliashvili's Absalom and Eteri was recorded in the 1970's and released in the West on DG of all labels! I believe it was also reissued on CD, and used copies of both do pop up from time to time. Paliashvili's opera Daisi was recorded by Melodiya in 1960 and to my knowledge has only been issued on LP. As I mentioned, I saw a sealed copy of the opera at Academy Records a few weeks back, for $15. Don't know if it's still there. So if one still has equipment to play LP's, it too still pops up from time to time. I got my copy from Victor Dubiler's Rare Russian Records. Taktakishvili's opera Mindia, as well as his four marvelous oratorios, were also only issued by Melodiya on LP but occasionally surface on Ebay or Amazon marketplace. Putting an automatic search email notification on Ebay for the composer is a good way to not miss out. As for another unsung opera composer writing in a late romantic vein, Konstantin Dankevich, I know that the LP recordings by Melodiya of his two operas, Boris Khmelnetsky, and Nadar Stodolya, have been reissued on CD, because I have both of them. I got them from a gentleman in Ohio who imports CD's from Russia and former Soviet Republics. So with a little luck and patience, all of these marvelous operas can be obtained.

And...

By the way, that Georgian music site that offers CD copies of old LP's is not really reliable. I ordered some things from them a couple of years ago, the opera Kidnapping the Moon by Taktakishvili and some quartets by Tsintzadse. The opera disk cut off in the middle of an act, and the sound on half of the quartet disks was unlistenable. Better to get the original LP's or copies made from them by a reliable source.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks. Much appreciated!

[febnyc]

You are welcome.

In case you don't know Academy Records - they sell used LPs and CDs.  Located in New York City.  Academy does have a website:  http://www.academy-records.com/.

Rare Russian Records maintains a "store" at eBay.  http://stores.ebay.com/Rare-Russian-Records They presently have a copy of Absalom & Eteri and also Taktak's Otar - but at very high prices.  I have found, although not specifically with this outfit, that an email request with a lower offer very often has positive results.  Doesn't hurt to try.   

[Gareth Vaughan]

I remember a rather special Swiss LP recording (was it a Jecklin disk? - can't remember) of Schoeck's "Der Fisher und syner Frau", a wonderful dramatic cantata. I no longer have it, but I wish someone would reissue it - or give us a new recording. I really enjoyed that LP.

[Delicious Manager]

It looks like I need to explore Venus! Schoeck is not a composer who has moved my Earth so far, but I'm listening to some of Venus on YouTube and it's gorgeous.

I would also recommend the ravishingly beautiful Die Vögel (based on Aristophanes' The Birds) by Walter Braunfels (1882 - 1954), a 'degenerate' composer in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945 (being half Jewish). Luckily, he survived the War (despite being deprived of the right to work) and his music is receiving something of a revival nowadays.