Records let down by liner notes

[Bryn]

What gets me, which a friend said to me, and we agree that although the Sony White Box series is a very good one,we were chatting about the lack of a booklet in their products. Would this not incur any increase in production costs? As you wouldn’t have to pay for any fees, surely?

Nail struck firmly on its head.

[Bryn]

I wonder whether a "Liner notes let down by the recording they relate to" thread might be worth starting as a companion to this one.

[mopsus]

I wonder whether a "Liner notes let down by the recording they relate to" thread might be worth starting as a companion to this one.

I'd definitely nominate the 2-disc CD set of Boccherini with four different liner notes in different languages. Not the performances, just that the music isn't very interesting, whatever language you're writing about it in - as Donald Macleod and Yshani Perinpanayagam demonstrated in CotW last month.

[Barbirollians]

I frequently buy old CD versions of opera sets rather than new copies of CDs still available as the old versions have the libretto.

[Petrushka]

I frequently buy old CD versions of opera sets rather than new copies of CDs still available as the old versions have the libretto.

I do that too but was once caught out by purchasing a second hand set of Strauss' Capriccio that arrived minus the booklet containing the libretto!

[LHC]

a

I frequently buy old CD versions of opera sets rather than new copies of CDs still available as the old versions have the libretto.

One of the reasons I have kept hold of my LP sets is the lavish booklets that often accompanied them. The original booklet for Solti's recording of Der Rosenkavalier was beautiful. A full libretto and interesting articles accompanied by lavish full colour prints of the set and costume designs from the opera's premiere. The booklets accompanying the original releases of the individual Ring operas were also very good, including diagrams showing the dispositions of the characters on the stage for Culshaw's 'theatre of the mind'.

[Master Jacques]

I'd definitely nominate the 2-disc CD set of Boccherini with four different liner notes in different languages. Not the performances, just that the music isn't very interesting, whatever language you're writing about it in - as Donald Macleod and Yshani Perinpanayagam demonstrated in CotW last month.

I couldn't disagree more about Boccherini, however many languages liner notes might come in!

Many performers will agree with me, that he is the most underrated and misrepresented of front rank composers. It's all a question of approaching his music in the right way, as his work relies - much more than the Viennese classical school - on subtleties of rhythm and dynamic shifts. A good performance of one of his (many) masterly String Quintets will equal a Haydn Quartet for musical interest, and sheer inexhaustibility.

I can't say which 2-disc set you're referring to, of course, and Boccherini on "modern" instruments does generally sound turgid. But I often turn to his String Quintets, Quartets and Piano Quartets when I need a refreshing, absorbing musical pick-me-up. It is great music!

[mopsus]

I couldn't disagree more about Boccherini, however many languages liner notes might come in! ....

I can't say which 2-disc set you're referring to, of course, and Boccherini on "modern" instruments does generally sound turgid. But I often turn to his String Quintets, Quartets and Piano Quartets when I need a refreshing, absorbing musical pick-me-up. It is great music!

It's definitely modern instruments on this recording, performers including the New Philharmonia Orchestra. I haven't checked the dates of recordings but Casals is there, so some at least date back to at least the 1960s. And one concerto on the recording turns out to have been mistakenly attributed to Boccherini. Perhaps you should have been on CotW instead, as you definitely make more of a case for this composer than the presenters did! (Their treatment of Jeremiah Clarke's life and work in the same episode was also superficial and the musical examples both drawn from the same work - I'd been hoping for his beautiful Evening Hymn. Sorry, going off-topic.)

[jayne lee wilson]

I couldn't disagree more about Boccherini, however many languages liner notes might come in!

Many performers will agree with me, that he is the most underrated and misrepresented of front rank composers. It's all a question of approaching his music in the right way, as his work relies - much more than the Viennese classical school - on subtleties of rhythm and dynamic shifts. A good performance of one of his (many) masterly String Quintets will equal a Haydn Quartet for musical interest, and sheer inexhaustibility.

I can't say which 2-disc set you're referring to, of course, and Boccherini on "modern" instruments does generally sound turgid. But I often turn to his String Quintets, Quartets and Piano Quartets when I need a refreshing, absorbing musical pick-me-up. It is great music!

You know this gorgeous New Release...?

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/boccherini-the-six-symphonies-orchestra-of-the-18th-century-marc-destrube/rzgm2oxd4qbma

And the notes?
Excellent....so we're back on topic again....

[richardfinegold]

You know this gorgeous New Release...?

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/boccherini-the-six-symphonies-orchestra-of-the-18th-century-marc-destrube/rzgm2oxd4qbma

And the notes?
Excellent....so we're back on topic again....

Someone mentioned Alia Vox and the Savall recordings for the quality of their notes. The Boccherini disc is another example of a great booklet accompanying great music making. There was some carping about the extra percussion (flamenco style castanets, mainly) on pieces such as the Famous Fandango, but I love it

[Master Jacques]

You know this gorgeous New Release...?

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/boccherini-the-six-symphonies-orchestra-of-the-18th-century-marc-destrube/rzgm2oxd4qbma

And the notes?
Excellent....so we're back on topic again....

I do indeed. I am lucky enough to receive everything Emilio records (or as here, edits) - he is a very lively correspondent, with impeccable English, as well as a superb musician. And his liner notes match these qualities.