International Record Review

[ahinton]

Dave, you'll get a back number as I have done on the occasions I have requested a copy. Surprisingly, no one from IRR has then followed up to see if I like the magazine sufficiently to subscribe.

My main bleat about IRR, is that not all of the reviewers have the gravitas which Gramophone had in its heyday. TBH, some of the reviews ramble and one doesn't get the kind of contextual knowledge and sheer literary elan which writers like Robert Layton or Richard Osborne were able to impart. Added to that, in the editions I saw, they were short of the features one used to enjoy in the pre-Haymarket Gramophone (e.g. Sounds in Retrospect; Quarterly Retrospect; Collection; Spoken Word; news and interviews; Critics' Choice etc).

They could do a whole lot worse than bring Charles Hopkins back, too...

[doversoul1]

Dave
This is not new. IRR offers on their website a free sample copy:

A recent random month sample copy (free, except for postage & packing)

http://www.recordreview.co.uk/subs2012.html

I requested a copy recently and was very impressed by the contents and the appearance.

Incidentally, there is also ‘gift subscription’. This is a good time to drop a hint or two amongst your family.

[VodkaDilc]

Dave, you'll get a back number as I have done on the occasions I have requested a copy. Surprisingly, no one from IRR has then followed up to see if I like the magazine sufficiently to subscribe.

My main bleat about IRR, is that not all of the reviewers have the gravitas which Gramophone had in its heyday. TBH, some of the reviews ramble and one doesn't get the kind of contextual knowledge and sheer literary elan which writers like Robert Layton or Richard Osborne were able to impart. Added to that, in the editions I saw, they were short of the features one used to enjoy in the pre-Haymarket Gramophone (e.g. Sounds in Retrospect; Quarterly Retrospect; Collection; Spoken Word; news and interviews; Critics' Choice etc).

Comparisons with Gramophone in its prime are fairly meaningless. IRR is the best magazine which is available now.

The lack of a follow-up to see if you want to subscribe is typical of IRR's civilised style. Imagine the deluge of calls you would receive if you showed interest in most other products these days - and were rash enough to give your contact details. IRR knows that if you want to subscribe you will let them know - or, like me, buy it from a shop each week, in order to ensure that I get a pristine copy. (My postman is excellent, but they employ a brigade of creasers and manglers at the sorting office.)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've merged the two threads of the same name.

[Karafan]

My main bleat about IRR, is that not all of the reviewers have the gravitas which Gramophone had in its heyday. TBH, some of the reviews ramble and one doesn't get the kind of contextual knowledge and sheer literary elan which writers like Robert Layton or Richard Osborne were able to impart. Added to that, in the editions I saw, they were short of the features one used to enjoy in the pre-Haymarket Gramophone (e.g. Sounds in Retrospect; Quarterly Retrospect; Collection; Spoken Word; news and interviews; Critics' Choice etc).

Have to agree with you there Sir V., it is that self same breadth of knowledge and the virtuosic literary sweep a John Steane, Richard Osborne or Robert Layton would bring that I miss (Osborne on Giulini's Vienna Bruckner 8, a memorable example, "...which glows, in this magnificent new transfer, like Carrara marble lit by the evening sun".)

I do subscribe though nonetheless and have also resubscribed to the Gramophone - though more than anything to plunder the archives.

[Thropplenoggin]

Have to agree with you there Sir V., it is that self same breadth of knowledge and the virtuosic literary sweep a John Steane, Richard Osborne or Robert Layton would bring that I miss (Osborne on Giulini's Vienna Bruckner 8, a memorable example, "...which glows, in this magnificent new transfer, like Carrara marble lit by the evening sun".)

I do subscribe though nonetheless and have also resubscribed to the Gramophone - though more than anything to plunder the archives.

I wonder if that made it into Pseuds Corner.

[Barbirollians]

I am beginning to regret renewing my membership . The december issue , including as it does some interesting lengthier featured reviews at the start, contains numerous reviews by the weakest reviewers. The editor seems to take a perverse pleasure in allotting the number of discs to be reviewed in inverse proportion to the quality of the reviewer - perhaps they have more time on their hands than the other contributors ?

Old fashioned it may be but one review contains a particularly inelegant split infinitive .

Poor stuff - does anyone edit these reviews ?

[Thropplenoggin]

I am beginning to regret renewing my membership . The december issue , including as it does some interesting lengthier featured reviews at the start, contains numerous reviews by the weakest reviewers. The editor seems to take a perverse pleasure in allotting the number of discs to be reviewed in inverse proportion to the quality of the reviewer - perhaps they have more time on their hands than the other contributors ?

Old fashioned it may be but one review contains a particularly inelegant split infinitive .

Poor stuff - does anyone edit these reviews ?

Is it a case of tut-tut, Tuttle? I haven't received my copy yet (as a new subscriber, I had to chase them up when my first one never arrived )

[Barbirollians]

Is it a case of tut-tut, Tuttle? I haven't received my copy yet (as a new subscriber, I had to chase them up when my first one never arrived )

Tuttle and Jameson seems to have half the magazine to themselves .

[jayne lee wilson]

Glass half-full or half-empty? David Gutman on Petrenko's DSCH 4, Patrick Rucker on that Hyperion Hough/Wigglesworth Brahms, Nigel Simeone on Brabbins' Hindemith and Chailly's Brahms cycle, Piers Burton-Page on Elder's Holst and Delius, Richard Whitehouse on Turnage's Speranza ... all very good, considered writing - and reading....

...which led directly to orders being placed!

[pastoralguy]

I renewed my subscription today. Yes, there are some dodgy reviews but, for me, it simply reinforces my feeling that the best judge of a cd (or any other recording), is ME! Yes, I value others opinions but, in the final analysis, it's my opinion that counts.

[Thropplenoggin]

Glass half-full or half-empty? David Gutman on Petrenko's DSCH 4, Patrick Rucker on that Hyperion Hough/Wigglesworth Brahms, Nigel Simeone on Brabbins' Hindemith and Chailly's Brahms cycle, Piers Burton-Page on Elder's Holst and Delius, Richard Whitehouse on Turnage's Speranza ... all very good, considered writing - and reading....

...which led directly to orders being placed!

What about van Zweden's Bruckner 8? A recommendation in November's issue. Others in the cycle have received glowing encomia.

[Barbirollians]

Glass half-full or half-empty? David Gutman on Petrenko's DSCH 4, Patrick Rucker on that Hyperion Hough/Wigglesworth Brahms, Nigel Simeone on Brabbins' Hindemith and Chailly's Brahms cycle, Piers Burton-Page on Elder's Holst and Delius, Richard Whitehouse on Turnage's Speranza ... all very good, considered writing - and reading....

...which led directly to orders being placed!

Very true - which is why it is a shame the magazine is spoiled by giving most CDs to review to its worst reviewers.

[Ferretfancy]

I was interested to read David Gutman'r review of the Petrenko Shostakovich 4, since he seems to share most of my reservations about the performance and recording. Most other reviews I have seen have lavished praise on all the Petrenko issues so far, it seems as if new must always be better, but like Mr Gutman I think that better performances can be found elsewhere.

On the other hand, I can't support Piers Burton Page's enthusiasm for the Holst Hymn of Jesus and Delius Sea Drift, if you want to sense their strangeness go to Boult for the first, and perhaps the first Hickox recording for the second. The Naxos sound is very vague, and the offstage chorus in the Holst lacks real magic.

So, there we are. In the end the only thing that matters is your ears and brain with reviews to steer you most of the time in the right general direction.

[VodkaDilc]

I have still not worked out what some readers have against certain reviewers. And I certainly won't be worried by a split infinitive. I've said it before, but if a reader has a problem he or she should contact the editor. She responds to emails - and she answered the phone once when I rang. (Make sure you pronounce her name properly if you speak to her - she is splendidly scary if you get it wrong.)