Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie
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Exactly my feelings. -
At the risk of overstepping the mark (having just posted a new thread with a direct link to the same site – to which, to be open and honest, I do have a connection), in the light of some of the complaints on this thread and others about the quality of reviews in Gramophone, I'd like to point forum members here in the direction of theclassicalreview.com
The site launched in April and features reviews that are as long as they need to be in order to make whatever comment or argument the reviewer wishes to pursue – and certainly considerably longer than those that are now the norm in Gramophone. Contributors include some of the best record reviewers in the UK – John Steane, Hugh Canning, Andrew Achenbach and Mike Ashman among them – and their equally illustrious peers in the United States.Comment
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I recall that Michael (or perhaps someone else) mentioned this review site on the old R3 Message Boards. My reactions now are the same as they were then: I want to sit comfortably reading a physical, printed-on-paper magazine, such as Gramophone used to provide and IRR still does. Whatever the Gramophone management and Rupert Murdoch try to do to get the public away from paper and into an on-line world, I will never be happy to do so. I have nothing against reading web-sites, but this will always be a subsidiary activity for me; a glaring screen, even of the best quality Apple Mac can produce, will never be as satisfying as reading well-produced printed material.
It's my age I suppose and someone will reply that change will be forced on me eventually - but, while there is a paper option, that's the one I prefer. Why not look into launching a paper version of The Classical Review, Michael?
One additional thought: the arrival of Gramophone is not the event that it used to be, as various people have said..........but, according to their website, the new IRR is out on 4 January. That IS something to look forward to!!Comment
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Dear VodkaDilc,
It was indeed me who posted to the R3 Message Boards, and I recall seeing your original reply there (my apologies for not replying at the time).
As a long-time serial subscriber to magazines myself, I completely understand your preference for print over the computer screen. One of the imperatives in launching theclassicalreview.com was to reach as large an audience as quickly as possible (and happily, the site has seen growing numbers of visitors during its first eight months) in order to satisfy both the critical and commercial targets we had set ourselves. The quickest and most cost-effectve way of doing that was to launch as a website rather than a magazine. A print version is an option we have talked about even though the magazine sector is already relatively well served, and one that is difficult, particularly in the current economic climate, to gain a viable foothold in. But who knows what might follow once the site is better established!
Like you, I would lament the loss of review magazines (even those that seem to have a decidedly odd relationship with their readers) but I hope there is room for both print and online sources of informed and intelligent reviews of classical recordings. I hope that you will return to the site and let us know how you feel we can improve the experience of reading it for yourself and others, either by posting directly to the site (you can add a 'comment' at the foot of every review, news item and feature-length article) or through this forum.
Regards,
MichaelComment
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VodkaDilc,
Sorry, I should also have mentioned that I have started a new thread '10 Best of 2010?' in the CD Review forum, which, as the title suggests, provides a link to theclassicalreview.com's list of the 10 'best' recordings of 2010 (or, at least, from the 120 discs we reviewed in our first eight months).
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the list.
Regards,
MichaelComment
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Having just picked up the February Gramophone from my local newsagent, I've been wondering what it is that makes me continue buying it. Is it:
(a) I want to support my newsagent?
(b) it would be a pity if a classical music magazine were to go under@
(c) it might get better?
(d) it's useful to know about new releases?
"d" seems to be the main reason. Indeed, the adverts are by far the most interesting part of Gramophone. The patronising rubbish on the cover about Liszt was one thing, but the pat on the back for Sir Andrew Davis for being a good little boy and getting to know more about Holst's other works was simply nausiating. I don't like to be negative BUT....Comment
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If "d" is the main reason, as has been pointed out before, IRR almost certainly has more new release listings than Gramophone. About three pages to two in the last two issues I have to hand, but in the past there has been an even larger ratio in IRR's favour.Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View PostComment
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I have just received my second copy of IRR (having switched from Gramophone) and I repeat that it is like a breath of fresh air - very few ads, no witless blurbs, padded articles or spin, just an excellent listing of new releases and good, thorough reviews. As far as I am concerned, that is all I want from a classical magazine.Comment
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Biut, MickyD, surely be good to have an in depth interview with an artist, or other such subjects?Don’t cry for me
I go where music was born
J S Bach 1685-1750Comment
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Yes, that's true, BBM - such things are rather lacking in IRR.Comment
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I'm in the exact same situation, Alps. I keep on buying too. I think it's because I get just about enough out the the magazine still to warrant the outlay - the reviews, principally, informing me about new releases. Sometimes the articles are worth it too, as long as they are not of the "top ten tenors" style.. I am totally turned off by the cod advocacy in the "case for, case against" article, and other gimmicks.Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
I accept that IRR supplies a lot of the same thing better (and have bought a couple)... but habit is a big factor. I've looked forward to picking up my copy of Gramophone each month since the early 1980s, and still do despite its decline. The triumph of hope over experience which keeps the human race going I suppose...
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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I've been looking on the IRR website and I like what I see. Just one more nudge should do it...Originally posted by Caliban View PostI accept that IRR supplies a lot of the same thing better (and have bought a couple)... but habit is a big factor. I've looked forward to picking up my copy of Gramophone each month since the early 1980s, and still do despite its decline. The triumph of hope over experience which keeps the human race going I suppose...
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It's habit with me too. I started buying Gramophone in 1973 when I was barely in my teens and have subscribed for about twenty years. I'd be sorry to stop my subscrption and still (sort of) look forward to receiving my monthly copy. Each month, though, there seem to be fewer and fewer articles worth reading and I wonder whether it isn't perhaps time to bid farewell to a once great magazine. IRR certainly looks a better alternative.Originally posted by Caliban View PostI accept that IRR supplies a lot of the same thing better (and have bought a couple)... but habit is a big factor. I've looked forward to picking up my copy of Gramophone each month since the early 1980s, and still do despite its decline. The triumph of hope over experience which keeps the human race going I suppose...
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If the interview is searching and adds depth to the reader's knowledge about a composer or work under discussion, then they serve a useful purpose. In some publications, interviews are little more than free adverts for recordings...Originally posted by Brassbandmaestro View Post
Why not ask for a sample copy to be sent to you, EA? Then you can judge for yourself.Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View PostLast edited by Il Grande Inquisitor; 09-01-11, 20:08.Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....Comment
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I agree with Il Grande Inquisitor about the light-weight interviews with artists in some publications, including Gramophone. As an example of a good, searching interview, I think today's profile of Paul Lewis in The Observer is ideal:
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