BaL 1.02.14 - Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor

[visualnickmos]

They do sometimes recommend versions that are download only; not that I'm happy about this.

I agree totally. Surely the criteria should simply be CDs (NOT downloads) that are in the CURRENT catalogues of the recording companies. Nothing more, nothing less.

[ardcarp]

nothing less

Might be a struggle to get through them all though...even for DON.

[Petrushka]

Oh gosh! How did I miss that...I presume these CDs can be found on the web somewhere?

It's here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Proms-...t+of+the+proms

Bachauer also recorded it with George Weldon and the RPO but it's not on CD as far as I know.

[visualnickmos]

Might be a struggle to get through them all though...even for DON.

What I actually mean by that, is clearly not ALL available versions being dealt with (indeed more than impossible!) but that the ONLY versions under consideration must be able to be found in the current CD catalogues.

[richardfinegold]

Alpie, I hope that you get paid something for compiling those lists.
The very first Classical lp I ever owned was a Grieg's greatest hits. I bought it because I wanted In The Hall Of The Mountain King. It featured the first movement of the PC. I don't remember the Piainist, who was Norwegian, but the Conductor's name was Odd Gruner-Hague, or something approximating that.
I used to have the Fleisher, inevitably coupled with Schumann. Later I acquired Ogdon/ Berglund on CD. I think it was the same pairing. That pretty much set me for 30 years or so when I somehow acquired Andsnes--I think it was on a bargain basement DVD-Audio in a close out sale as that technology was shuffling off of this mortal coil. That recording briefly reawakened some interest in the work for me, but it seems to have gone missing from my collection and I'm not particularly distressed by that.

[silvestrione]

It's here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Proms-...t+of+the+proms

Bachauer also recorded it with George Weldon and the RPO but it's not on CD as far as I know.

Thanks for that. Yes I had that version on LP once.

[HighlandDougie]

I agree totally. Surely the criteria should simply be CDs (NOT downloads) that are in the CURRENT catalogues of the recording companies. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oh dear. Luddism rampant. Downloading music is not exactly rocket science and, like it or not, it's the direction in which the music business has been headed for some time. Accessing digital copies has also allowed companies like Universal to make far larger parts of their catalogue available than would be the case with physical copies of CDs which seem to get deleted from current catalogues with alarming speed. I'll go back to playing with my laptop now ........

[mikealdren]

Oh dear. Luddism rampant. Downloading music is not exactly rocket science and, like it or not, it's the direction in which the music business has been headed for some time. Accessing digital copies has also allowed companies like Universal to make far larger parts of their catalogue available than would be the case with physical copies of CDs which seem to get deleted from current catalogues with alarming speed. I'll go back to playing with my laptop now ........

I don't currently download but I'm no Luddite. The issue for me is quality, if it's only available as MP3, it shouldn't be considered.

Mike

[HighlandDougie]

Mike

I'm in complete agreement with you on the issue of quality - I will only buy downloads of CD-equivalent or higher quality, unless the only practicable way of getting hold of a particular recording is as an MP3 such as the Boston Symphony Colin Davis V-W 4. I can't remember the last time I bought anything from i-Tunes - and, despite having bought an embarrassingly large number of CDs from Amazon and now having access to MP3 downloads of my purchases, I haven't bothered because they are precisely that - MP3s. But there is so much that is easily available at CD-equivalent quality (from Qobuz, Hyperion, Chandos, BIS etc etc) that it strikes me as just a touch luddite to dismiss downloads from inclusion in CD Review just because they are, well, downloads.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Alpie, I hope that you get paid something for compiling those lists.

Just a labour of love

[richardfinegold]

Oh dear. Luddism rampant. Downloading music is not exactly rocket science and, like it or not, it's the direction in which the music business has been headed for some time. Accessing digital copies has also allowed companies like Universal to make far larger parts of their catalogue available than would be the case with physical copies of CDs which seem to get deleted from current catalogues with alarming speed. I'll go back to playing with my laptop now ........

Being current in the catalogue wouldn't be a requirement for me either. Availability comes and goes, reissues happen all the time, and the current listings may not be officially available 3 months from now. With the second hand market being what it is most out of print recordings can still be obtained, and then there are the CD retailers that will burn a copy of an out of print CD.
I think mp3 are fair game to consider, as long as it is made clear that mp3 is the only format for the music, and then the buyer can make their own decision. If one does primarily headphone listening, mp3 may not be a bad compromise.

[Gordon]

Just a labour of love

But a highly valued one!! Have you ever thought of putting up starting odds and running a book?

I have no objection to downloads being reviewed as long as they readily available and th format is mentioned. If a given recording is available in several formats perhaps that deserves a mention and it does sometimes. What is important is the performance but of course the technical quality issues come into the final choice too. Reviewers do this with CD vs SACD or even DVD when available but seldom go into the 44.1/16 or 96/24 business which are options within the downloads. I doubt they have the time to do it all and so have to be selective to get into the 45/50 minutes and have the time to do the listening on a BBC fee!!

What I find a bit frustrating is that the field isn't mentioned - it takes little to time say how many there are and what has been dropped to make the final list. How do they go about deciding what is in the starting list - they could read E_A's!!

[visualnickmos]

OK - I admit unconditional defeat!

Just to clarify; is the general consensus that every recording of a work that has ever been made, is in theory available as alluded to here?

"...With the second hand market being what it is most out of print recordings can still be obtained, and then there are the CD retailers that will burn a copy of an out of print CD"


Basically a completely open playing field, which perhaps is no bad thing because once some sort of criteria are set, someone somewhere is bound to say"...yes, but what about..."

[HighlandDougie]

OK - I admit unconditional defeat!

Nick

You certainly don't need to go that far!!

Just to clarify; is the general consensus that every recording of a work that has ever been made, is in theory available as alluded to here?

Therein lies the path to, if not madness, then making the job of the reviewer even more difficult (poor EA would labour for ever with copies of old Gramophone Catalogues etc etc). My cheeky remarks were meant simply not to have versions in the running excluded if they only happened to be available as downloads.

Hope that it's warmer in the Languedoc than here!

HD

P.S. Oh that Gordon's wish for the field to either be mentioned or published on the CD Review website might see someone wave a magic wand to make it happen ....

[umslopogaas]

I have two versions not on EA's list, presumably not currently available:

Philippe Entremont and the Philharmonia, cond. Ormandy (issued both by American Columbia MS 6006 and UK Philips SABL 123), and Gyorgy Cziffra and the Philharmonia cond. Andre Vandernoot, on HMV ASD 301.

I also have Katchen and Kertesz with the Israel PO, Curzon and Boult with the LPO and Solomon and Menges with the Philharmonia. That'll do.

I know that the Philharmonia was formed primarily to record, but they must have got awfully fed up with recording this concerto!