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The Firebird/Rite of Spring and the disc with Also Sprach Zarathustra (aka the opening of 2001) are the big hits in this selection.OK all you classical gurus. Let us non classical people know which of these are "must" buys. Based on the assumption of typical DV quality.
Looks like we've got five new releases, and they're some great ones. @haikubass posted this image in the main thread, figured I'd reuse it here (the Chaminade disk was an earlier release):
Korngold - The Dead City (Die Tote Stadt). I know Korngold, famous nowadays mostly for his film scores and violin concerto, but I've never heard of this opera before. However, the consensus is that this is a major work and the Leinsdorf recording is definitive (this was also the premiere recording and was for many years the only one, but it's now the benchmark to which all others are held). Review of both this and a more modern performance here: Korngold: Die Tote Stadt [IL]: Classical CD Reviews- Nov 2002 MusicWeb(UK). I'm guessing Dutton won't include a libretto, but you can get a copy of it here: http://www.operatoday.com/Korngold-Die_Tote_Stadt-Libretto-1921.pdf.
Bartok - The Wooden Prince, Dance Suite. When Dutton reissued the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and Miraculous Mandarin (https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CDLX7360), making up for Sony's botched version, they once again didn't include the Dance Suite which was on the original LP with the Miraculous Mandarin. This release makes up for that, and also gives us Boulez conducting The Wooden Prince in full ballet form. These are among if not the best performances of Bartok and self-recommending. I don't know how these will sound in terms of the mix but I'm prepared to be impressed - Boulez was generally very open to more aggressive quad mixing. Dutton has really gotten some of the gems of Boulez's quad output released on SACD now; there's probably still 3-4 SACDs worth of material left though.
Stravinsky - The Firebird (complete) and Rite of Spring. This is a long disc, I'm glad everything fits - it isn't the suite version we're used to hearing of The Firebird, it's the complete ballet, and this is two full LPs. The main event here is likely the Boulez version of The Firebird, which I've long been asking for, so I'm excited we're getting it. It's a classic. I had kind of assumed the Rite of Spring here would be the Bernstein version, but instead we have the version with Zubin Mehta. This may actually be a good choice - the Mehta version is out of print and is supposed to be pretty good, so I'll be excited to hear it as well. It's a shame that Boulez's superb version, recorded with the Cleveland Orchestra, was done before the quad era.
Haydn - Symphonies Nos. 93-95. Haydn wrote 104 Symphonies, but they definitely get better as they go, with the last 12 (aka the "London Symphonies") being the pinnacle. With this release Dutton has completed its reissue of Bernstein's quad Haydn recordings, and we're the better for it. Self-recommending.
Strauss/Saint-Saens - Also Sprach Zarathustra/Organ Symphony. Two warhorses, in RCA recordings of Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, with Virgil Fox playing the organ in the latter piece. Ormandy could be more variable in his later years but he knew these pieces cold and recorded both many times. Here's a good review of this Also Sprach (which people tend to associate with 2001 but that's just the first 3 minutes) - Strauss: Zarathustra/Ormandy - Classics Today. RCA really marketed the "Organ Symphony" to the hilt with its cover (which Dutton wisely reproduced), but I don't know the recording that well. This was also issued as a Dolby Surround CD in the 90s. Should be great fun.
Why no Korngold, Die tote Stadt Ralphie; is it the opera aspect of it?I ordered 5 SACDs from D~V's NEW Classical Releases [the only exclusion was the Korngold]. I also opted for Priority Mail [NO tracking] and consider the £13 s/h fee a bargain since AmazonUK is charging upwards of £11 to ship a single disc nowadays.
edit: just checked AmazonUK's price on the D~V Levine Mahler [2 SACD set] and behold their price and s/h to the U.S.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...&pf_rd_p=e632fea2-678f-4848-9a97-bcecda59cb4e
Thanks for the comments on the Mehta, was going to order anyway but more excited now. I'm moving this month but will order all six once that's done.Thanks for this "buyer's guide"--a real public service!
Simply based on what we've heard from the same conductors on Dutton so far, I'm especially looking forward to the Bartok, Haydn, and Stravinsky discs. I'd like to have gotten the Bernstein Rite, too, but I've heard a good SQLP decode of the Mehta, and it's a powerful performance with a fairly active mix. I'll dutifully include the Ormandy in my cart, as this piece from the Guardian piques my interest in the Saint-Saens organ symphony. The Korngold opera may be a harder sell, but I like Korngold's violin concerto on Challenge and his "Much Ado About Nothing" suite on Vox. YouTube has the full opera.
By the way, if you don't know the Saint-Saens 3rd "Organ" Symphony it's wonderful, if a bit overplayed. Saint-Saens was seriously prolific and wrote many tuneful works, especially in the concerto repertoire. His five piano concertos (especially 2, 4, and 5) all deserve to be heard more widely.Thanks for this "buyer's guide"--a real public service!
Simply based on what we've heard from the same conductors on Dutton so far, I'm especially looking forward to the Bartok, Haydn, and Stravinsky discs. I'd like to have gotten the Bernstein Rite, too, but I've heard a good SQLP decode of the Mehta, and it's a powerful performance with a fairly active mix. I'll dutifully include the Ormandy in my cart, as this piece from the Guardian piques my interest in the Saint-Saens organ symphony. The Korngold opera may be a harder sell, but I like Korngold's violin concerto on Challenge and his "Much Ado About Nothing" suite on Vox. YouTube has the full opera.
By the way, if you don't know the Saint-Saens 3rd "Organ" Symphony it's wonderful, if a bit overplayed. Saint-Saens was seriously prolific and wrote many tuneful works, especially in the concerto repertoire. His five piano concertos (especially 2, 4, and 5) all deserve to be heard more widely.
Edit to add: just realized this is the third Ormandy recording of the piece to make it to SACD, although the first in multichannel - the Columbia and Telarc recordings are both already available:
I would also be interested in the Ormandy disc but man, that cover art is hideous.
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