Raff 2022

[giles.enders]

A suggestion for all you Raffians.  It is ONLY eleven years to the bicentenary of his birth.  Your new years resolution --- to have all of Raff's music digitally recorded by 2022.  It is not too soon to suggest lobbying for one of his operas to be performed in Munich, Wiesbaden, Zurich or even the Edinburgh Festival in that year.  Apart from the operas, everything he composed should be achievable.  A prom. in London, song recital at Wigmore Hall, and a festival in Wiesbaden.

[Mark Thomas]

Something aim for, Giles. Well, I've been trying to do my bit over the last few years. The first two Sterling CDs saw his remaining free-standing concerted works and orchestral pieces from operas and choral works available. The recent CD with Die Tageszeiten and Die Sterne at least makes a start on the choral music (with probably the two strongest pieces) and I'm very hopeful that there'll be a second CD of choral music (part a capella, part with orchestra) "in the can", if not released, in 2011. To follow up their earlier CD of the Piano Quintet and the Fantasy for Piano Quintet, Divox are at long last issuing early next year the fabulous Il Trittico performances of the two Piano Quartets and that will see all of Raff's major chamber works available, barring the Cello Sonata and two works for violin and piano: the Suite and Volker (his multi-movement take on the Nibelungen legend). Volker has been recorded, but has yet to be issued, by cpo. There's probably two CDs worth of smaller unrecorded chamber works, but I have no plans to be involved in recording them.

Turning to the piano music I have some good news. Three CDs of previously unrecorded works will be recorded next year for issue in 2011/12 by a major label. Ask no more: my lips are sealed. We already have all seven Piano Suites available, the second version of the Piano Sonata and the Fantasy-Sonata. There are around a dozen smaller works scattered over as many compilation CDs. Being closely involved in this latest project, I've estimated how many CDs would be needed to record all of Raff's piano music and you'd need around 25 CDs to record all of it, with a further 10 devoted to his piano arrangements of music by other composers! I haven't included his music for two pianos and piano four hands, or his arrangements for piano of his own works in other genres. It may not be Leslie Howard's complete Liszt, but it's a big target to aim for!

The major gap is the vocal music. One of the operas, Benedetto Marcello, was recorded and broadcast in 2002, but never issued. Of the other five, two are four/five act grand operas. There is some interest in staging and recording one, but it's at a very early stage. There is already one CD of twenty of the hundred or so songs and plans for another to be recorded next year, but that still leaves at least sixty unheard, assuming there's no duplication on the second CD. Even if the second choral CD becomes a reality, there will still be six big works for chorus and orchestra and forty a capella songs to go. Two of the orchestral works, the Welt Ende oratorio and Dornröschen are of operatic proportions. The oratorio was recorded in the 1980s and issued on LP, but it's not a performance I'd want to gain great currency!

Once the possible new choral CD and the three piano music recordings are completed, I'll have been closely involved in producing  nine Raff CDs and I'm bowing out of financial involvement at least - simply because the budget which I set aside will have been exhausted and I'm no Peter Moores. As others here can testify, it's not a cheap business making good quality recordings. But I'm not at all pessimistic about the achievability of getting at least most of Raff's music commercially available in time for his bicentenary.  If you compare the discography now with what it was in 2000 there have been great strides, particularly in the chamber field. One point I would make, particularly in respect of the piano music: you won't find a bigger Raff fan than me, but one has to ask if it is all worth recording? I won't pretend that Raff was the most consistent of composers, that's part of his fascination for me, and I do wonder in particular whether some of his slighter piano works and all those opera arrangements would merit the cost. Nice to have, certainly, but need to have? As The (UK) Apprentice's Nick Hewer often says: "I'll leave that thought with you..."

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Wow!!!! I shall stick the neck out, be arrogant, and pretend to speak for us all. (Hope no-one objects!).

First, immediate gratitude for this thorough and comprehensive up-date on what is happening on the Raff recording front. And how grateful we all are, Mark, for your championship of Raff and your devotion to the immense task of getting the music available on CD. Heck, just a few years ago hardly any had heard of Raff - and look where we are now. And when I was a lad busy exploring music (rather a few years ago!) Raff was a name that only occasionally popped up in biographies of other composers and I had no idea at all of both the very wide scope and quality of his music.

I'm very excited about the prospect of that second Divox CD - always keen to explore as much chamber music as I can (folk will despair of me, but to me the sheer sound of an orchestra nearly always gets in the way of musical ideas!). And thus, as you say, we'll have just about all Raff's chamber music. Splendid!

I'm furiously guessing who the 'major label' might be who have shown an interest in some of the piano works - but no point in speculating here, since you will neither affirm or deny anything! But is this likely to be a single pianist or a number? Maybe that's asking something that again you're not able to impart.

Re your points about the piano music. I'm staggered that it would all amount to around 25 CDs - had no idea there was so much of it. I'm not at all surprised to read that, in your view, some of it might not justify the expense of a recording. But so what! There are countless odds and ends in Leslie Howard's Liszt series - but how enormously glad I am to have them all. (I very often dip in at random - I get my wife to produce any number between 1 and 57 plus the 2 Vols of New Discoveries, plus the latest Hyperion that is somewhere in the postal system to me, and then spend a couple of very happy hours re-exploring whatever the Vol selected. Yes, some of it is I suppose a bit 'drossy' considered objectively - but delights and interests are to be found. Which is a roundabout way of saying that if someone brought out a series of 25 CDs of Raff's piano music I wouldn't hesitate for a moment in wanting them all).

Another point: perhaps everyone apart from me already knows this - but who 'owns' that recording of Benedetto Marcello? Is there any likelihood at all that it could be released on CD, or maybe licensed to someone who would release a recording?

And those six 'big works' for chorus and orchestra.......? I dream on.

Finally, and perhaps with particular reference to the piano music and the songs, has anyone ever floated the idea of a 'subscription series' - maybe along similar sorts of lines to Martin Anderson's Toccata 'club'? I've got no idea as to the commercial viablility of that project - but it is damm nice to be able to buy a Toccata CD of hitherto un-recorded and rarely performed music for £8.50.

Apologies - all somewhat of an unstructured rant written in immediate response to reading your Raff posting. The principal point of my reply is to express huge gratitude to you - and no need to respond to that!

Peter

[DennisS]

Hello Mark

I would just like to add my voice to what Peter has said. All Raff lovers owe you a huge debt of gratitude for all your stalwart work promoting, not just by words alone, the works of Raff. You are personally responsible for the release on cd of some of Raff's best works and this has given me and so many others, countless hours of musical bliss already and will continue to do so. I don't wish to embarrass you but I will permit myself, on behalf of all who hold Raff in such high esteem, to simply say a huge "Thank You".

cheers
Dennis

[Alan Howe]

And so say all of us, Mark, I am sure!

[Mark Thomas]

I'm very grateful for your kind words, which mean a lot.

To comment on Peter's two questions:

The three upcoming piano music CDs will all feature the same pianist. I certainly wouldn't object to someone else producing 25 CDs of Raff piano music (remembering that we already have five and will soon have eight of them), but that someone won't be me!

Benedetto Marcello had a good concert performance in Germany in 2002, it was broadcast on Südwest-Rundfunk in Germany and was to be issued on CD by Capriccio, who had produced previous operas produced by the same festival, like Abert's Ekkehard and Vincenz Lachner's Die Regenbrüder. Why that didn't happen remains a mystery. Attempts by another label to license the recording for issue on CD have been rebuffed by SWR citing technical problems, but the recording I have of the broadcast is perfectly acceptable.

[TerraEpon]

By 'major label' do you mean an actual major label by the industry definition (ie, Sony, Universal, EMI, Warner), or just a major classical label (such as Naxos, Chandos, Hyperion)?

[Mark Thomas]

As I said, my lips are sealed...

[John H White]

Someone needs to start nagging the Controller of BBC Radio 3 two or three years in advance of that date to endeavour to persuade them to commemorate the bicentenary with a series of concerts of his music. Its no good asking me to do it---if I survive that long, I shall only be 9 years short of my own centenary!

[Peter1953]

And the pianist... Could be a woman who already proved her excellent performance skills in two Sterling releases... I really do hope so. 

[Jonathan]

Someone needs to start nagging the Controller of BBC Radio 3 two or three years in advance of that date to endeavour to persuade them to commemorate the bicentenary with a series of concerts of his music.

Bearing in mind the current incubant in that job, you'd get more joy from a stone. 

[chill319]

Question for Mark or anyone: Is there an available source for the first version of Raff's sonata?

[TerraEpon]

Incidently, I know the suites have been recorded, but it'd be nice to see them on a well distributed label and with something original instead of the Bach couplings (the two reasons I put off buying them)

[Mark Thomas]

Chris: You can get the score of the first version of Raff's Piano Sonata from Edition Nordstern.

TerraEpon: As you know, Alan Krueck, who was behind the AKCoburg label, died suddenly last summer. His executors have very kindly donated the rights and the stock of the four AKCoburg CDs of the piano suites to me, to help raise money for future Raff-related projects (like more recordings). At some stage this year they will be shipped to the UK. My intention is to sell them through raff.org at a significantly cheaper price, probably on a par with Naxos releases. I will also investigate having a  US and European distributor, but I have not looked into the economics of that yet. In any event, if you wait a few months, those four should be yours for much less than you would previously have had to pay!

[eschiss1]

Ah good re the AKCoburg Raff suite releases. Has the IDS taken up the distribution of the AKCoburg Draeseke chamber music and vocal CDs, are they in Limbo, or has someone else?...
Eric