Gramophone

[doversoul1]

I've had no freebies, either.

Rascal discrimination.

On what basis?

[jayne lee wilson]

I was tempted to seek out this issue. Nothing much in there?

I bought the Jan one (appropriately Janine Jansen on the cover) and got a lot out of it - a distinct improvement on the previous 5 years or so, I thought. But that's the first one for a year or more (having religiously bought every one c. 1983 - 2010)

Brief February overview Cal:

Philip Clark on Boulez - very enjoyable, discursive, anecdotal-biographical, recalling his 2010 interview with Boulez & with many PB quotes & ideas...Clark keeps his janus gift for phrasemaking in check, a good 5 pages of editorial with an extra piece by Julian Anderson.

Features on: Ottavio Dantone's period instrument Haydn by Richard Wigmore, reflections on the recording history of HIPPS-Haydn.
Overview of Friedrich Cerha by Liam Cagney - which had me ordering Spiegel immediately. And it's a tough nut. All the better then...
Tasmin Little, Leonid Kogan, Heifetz' Korngold reassessed...

Very rich orchestral reviews this month: Harnoncourt's final LvB 4&5 (RO), Gorecki 4, Hillborg's gorgeous Sirens (trust me, it is drowninglylovely) Paavo Jarvi's Nielsen Cycle... Gardner's Mendelssohn, Herreweghe's Schubert... that divisive Currentzis album... but I tend to read reviews for a 2nd opinion rather than a buyer's guide... use my instincts to decide what to get... yes, a fuller new-release list would be a good thing (IRR's was often too much of a good thing, never get to the end of it!)

For me an excellent issue, full of interest (oh and by the way Roslyn - quite a few negative reviewers' comments, it's OK!)...

***

There's nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so...

Gramophone is, in terms of Specialist Classical media, just about all there is left (nods to the onliners eg Classicalsource, Classicalweb etc). It's making a brave attempt to be many print & digital things to many listeners and its archive is essential for ANYONE interested in the wide and deep catalogue of recordings, the history of performance & critical attitudes, postwar music on disc, so many things! Collection Articles are often a treat. But as for The Myth of the Golden Age in the Gramophone.... well just peruse a selection from the 60s and 70s. Yes, there was more time & space for elegant and considered writing, not so too-many-records. BUT many a dull month too....

Nor would I panic, get cross, or indulge in mass-schadenfreude if someone sent me a free copy and a subscription invite. (This month's HFN offers you a free Audioquest Jitterbug on its usual loud & colourful subscription page - a very effective USB upgrade it is.)...
What would you do if you edited such a thing? Not try to sell it, surely? Oh my god, how impure....

[MickyD]

Hey MickyD,

The digital version is the answer, n'est-ce pas?

It's a good alternative idea, Beefy, thanks. How much is the digital version?

[Beef Oven!]

It's a good alternative idea, Beefy, thanks. How much is the digital version?

I got it for £58 (Mag, Archive & review archive). But it's showing here as £80. I used a discount code (they were having a promotion).

My subscription rolls on each quarter and I can stop at any time.

[Pulcinella]

Micky

The advert in February's issue gives 5 options.

The digital edition is quoted as £62 per year. This allows access to the digital archive too.
The reviews database is also £62 per year.
You get all three (and events and offers!) for £82 per year.

Print edition is £62 per year (but this only UK postage charge).

The whole jolly lot (again only UK postage though) is £103 per year.

Overseas customers call +44 1722 716997 and quote GRMUK16 to claim this fantastic offer.
New subscribers visit magsubscriptions.com/gramphone

[VodkaDilc]

It's a good alternative idea, Beefy, thanks. How much is the digital version?

Wasn't that included in the options on the back of the letter which came with the sample?

[mahlerei]

I reckon it's only a matter of time before Gramophone ditches its paper edition and goes digital only. The Independent has just made the switch; other print media will surely follow.

BTW, fully agree with Jayne about Anders Hillborg's Sirens; probably the best thing he's done thus far.

http://www.eclassical.com/labels/bis/anders-hillborg-sirens.html

[VodkaDilc]

I reckon it's only a matter of time before Gramophone ditches its paper edition and goes digital only. The Independent has just made the switch; other print media will surely follow.

It's sad to see this happening. It's scary to think that I might be forced to be a Telegraph reader one day - that, surely, will be the last to abandon a printed version. (I can never see myself reading from a flickering screen first thing in the morning.)

[mahlerei]

It's sad to see this happening. It's scary to think that I might be forced to be a Telegraph reader one day - that, surely, will be the last to abandon a printed version. (I can never see myself reading from a flickering screen first thing in the morning.)

VodkaDilc

Whatever you do, don't go over to the dark side - the Telegraph, I mean. As someone with serious and progressive sight issues I've been only too grateful for elecronic subscriptions and eBooks. On an Apple Retina display for instance the print is sharper/blacker than it is on paper and there's nary a flicker to be had. I shudder to think what I'd do without this advance...

[ostuni]

a flickering screen first thing in the morning.)

I know iPads are over-priced - but Mrs o and I have no regrets at having swapped our long-standing print subscription (for the Guardian) to the iPad one, a couple of years ago now. The screen certainly doesn't flicker (actually, do any screens flicker these days?!) - and we no longer have to argue about who gets the G2 first...

[VodkaDilc]

VodkaDilc

Whatever you do, don't go over to the dark side - the Telegraph, I mean. As someone with serious and progressive sight issues I've been only too grateful for elecronic subscriptions and eBooks. On an Apple Retina display for instance the print is sharper/blacker than it is on paper and there's nary a flicker to be had. I shudder to think what I'd do without this advance...

I hope The Guardian will keep going as long as possible, but I feel they might follow The Independent before too long. I agree about the flicker. There's no sign of one on my MacBook Pro either, but it's just not the same - as my hero Ned Ludd might have put it.

[Barbirollians]

One thing I really miss from IRR and that Gramophone lacks is proper and detailed cover of reissues from Eloquence and the like . Whether such a CD is reviewed in the main pages appears to be entirely by chance and Rob Cowan clearly is far too stretched to give them proper coverage in his Replay section which appears to deal with very few CDs and clearly largely esoteric stuff that takes his fancy .

A detailed regular consideration as provided in IRR by makropoulos of this parish would be a big improvement for Gramophone .

[makropulos]

One thing I really miss from IRR and that Gramophone lacks is proper and detailed cover of reissues from Eloquence and the like . Whether such a CD is reviewed in the main pages appears to be entirely by chance and Rob Cowan clearly is far too stretched to give them proper coverage in his Replay section which appears to deal with very few CDs and clearly largely esoteric stuff that takes his fancy .

A detailed regular consideration as provided in IRR by makropoulos of this parish would be a big improvement for Gramophone .

It's very kind of you to say so! And seriously, it was exactly for that reason that Máire asked me (and a few like-minded colleagues) to try and cover as much of the reissued material as possible in round-ups - to make sure that what could loosely be described as "historical" material got its due, and so that serious collectors were actually made aware of what was out there. They were tremendous fun to write - there were always interesting surprises alongside the more obvious things.

[Pulcinella]

There may not be reviews, but good details of the Australian Eloquence series can be found here:

http://www.buywell.com/cgi-bin/buywellic2/eloqoverview.html

[Don Petter]

Since the free copy, I've received a follow up email from the editor, admitting to the use of the IRR subscriber list, and urging me to subscribe.

If it weren't a 'no reply', I'd be tempted to respond that I am unlikely to want to subscribe to a magazine whose editor makes such a glaring schoolboy grammatical error in his first paragraph.

Did anyone else receive one?