New releases

[PJPJ]

The first chamber music LPs I remember hearing were Clifford Curzon and the Amadeus in Mozart's Piano Quartets, Alfred Boskovsky in the Clarinet Quintet with members of the Vienna Octet and Mendelssohn's Octet, all courtesy of Decca Eclipse. I think half of my schoolboy and student collection was an Eclipse and Heliodor fest.

I couldn't afford Lamar Crowson and the Pro Arte in the Mozart, and have just heard it for the first time - what a lot I've missed in the last 45 years. It's just out on Australian Eloquence and is heavenly. Tasteful vibrato from the strings, and Crowson's magnificent keyboard control combine to produce a little over 46 minutes of bliss.

[amateur51]

The first chamber music LPs I remember hearing were Clifford Curzon and the Amadeus in Mozart's Piano Quartets, Alfred Boskovsky in the Clarinet Quintet with members of the Vienna Octet and Mendelssohn's Octet, all courtesy of Decca Eclipse. I think half of my schoolboy and student collection was an Eclipse and Heliodor fest.

I couldn't afford Lamar Crowson and the Pro Arte in the Mozart, and have just heard it for the first time - what a lot I've missed in the last 45 years. It's just out on Australian Eloquence and is heavenly. Tasteful vibrato from the strings, and Crowson's magnificent keyboard control combine to produce a little over 46 minutes of bliss.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/A...quence/4803521

[mathias broucek]

The Davis/Boston Symphony Sibelius cycle is also being released cheaply (and includes the Violin Concerto, played by Salvatore Accardo, which has a slow movement of rare beauty).

Sadly not that cheap by modern standards (£18.58 from Amazon). I have 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 from this set on LP and can't justify (to myself) that much for 3, 6, VC and tone poems.

[HighlandDougie]

OK, not cheap by 1p Amazon standards but £3.50 per CD isn't a huge amount. I suppose that anything more than about £2 a CD for repackaged material these days does seem expensive.

[mathias broucek]

I suppose that anything more than about £2 a CD for repackaged material these days does seem expensive.

It's true. I/we've been spoiled. But I recently purchased the Barbirolli and Ashkenazy Sibelius cycles for about £10 each which makes Sir Colin seem expensive.

[makropulos]

The first chamber music LPs I remember hearing were Clifford Curzon and the Amadeus in Mozart's Piano Quartets, Alfred Boskovsky in the Clarinet Quintet with members of the Vienna Octet and Mendelssohn's Octet, all courtesy of Decca Eclipse. I think half of my schoolboy and student collection was an Eclipse and Heliodor fest.

I couldn't afford Lamar Crowson and the Pro Arte in the Mozart, and have just heard it for the first time - what a lot I've missed in the last 45 years. It's just out on Australian Eloquence and is heavenly. Tasteful vibrato from the strings, and Crowson's magnificent keyboard control combine to produce a little over 46 minutes of bliss.

Agreed - I think it's lovely. May I also suggest the Schumann and Brahms C minor Piano Quartets also from the Pro Arte on Eloquence? I think that's a wonderful record and I'd not heard it until a few weeks ago. The Fauré in the same series from the same forces is more problematic, partly because there's a horrible editing fault in the Scherzo that may well rule it out for some people (there are four bars missing - just as there were on the LP).

[aeolium]

The first chamber music LPs I remember hearing were Clifford Curzon and the Amadeus in Mozart's Piano Quartets, Alfred Boskovsky in the Clarinet Quintet with members of the Vienna Octet and Mendelssohn's Octet, all courtesy of Decca Eclipse. I think half of my schoolboy and student collection was an Eclipse and Heliodor fest.

I couldn't afford Lamar Crowson and the Pro Arte in the Mozart, and have just heard it for the first time - what a lot I've missed in the last 45 years. It's just out on Australian Eloquence and is heavenly. Tasteful vibrato from the strings, and Crowson's magnificent keyboard control combine to produce a little over 46 minutes of bliss.

PJPJ, I agree about surviving on Heliodor and Eclipse (and Saga). They had some great recordings, though. Heliodor had the Mozart piano concertos 17 & 21 with Andor Foldes & BPO, Furtwängler conducting Haydn 88 and Mozart 39, and Eclipse had Erich Kleiber's VPO Eroica.

And I completely agree about Lamar Crowson, an absolutely superb pianist in chamber music. That Pro Arte ensemble was basically made up of members of the Melos Ensemble, wasn't it? I don't think they should have taken that name, though, as it could have been mistaken (on recordings at least) for the very fine Belgian Pro Arte quartet, whose inter-war Haydn recordings have been remastered by Pristine Classical - you can hear samples here.

[PJPJ]

Agreed - I think it's lovely. May I also suggest the Schumann and Brahms C minor Piano Quartets also from the Pro Arte on Eloquence? I think that's a wonderful record and I'd not heard it until a few weeks ago. The Fauré in the same series from the same forces is more problematic, partly because there's a horrible editing fault in the Scherzo that may well rule it out for some people (there are four bars missing - just as there were on the LP).

I did get the Brahms/Schumann as well, but haven't had a chance to listen yet. I'd put the Fauré off till next month - I'll live with the missing bars.

[PJPJ]

PJPJ, I agree about surviving on Heliodor and Eclipse (and Saga). They had some great recordings, though. Heliodor had the Mozart piano concertos 17 & 21 with Andor Foldes & BPO, Furtwängler conducting Haydn 88 and Mozart 39, and Eclipse had Erich Kleiber's VPO Eroica.

And I completely agree about Lamar Crowson, an absolutely superb pianist in chamber music. That Pro Arte ensemble was basically made up of members of the Melos Ensemble, wasn't it? I don't think they should have taken that name, though, as it could have been mistaken (on recordings at least) for the very fine Belgian Pro Arte quartet, whose inter-war Haydn recordings have been remastered by Pristine Classical - you can hear samples here.

An odd choice, I agree. If you haven't got Crowson in Arthur Benjamin's concertante works on Everest, it's well worth seeking out. Used copies appear on Amazon at reasonable prices from time to time (and unreasonable prices at other times, so it's worth waiting). I'd hoped it would appear on Classic Records (CD plus high resolution DVD) but think the releases have come to an end, sadly.

[Mahlerei]

BIS have just announced the final instalment of Mark Wigglesworth's Shostakovich cycle; symphonies 1-3 now available to download.

http://www.eclassical.com/labels/bis/shostakovich-symphonies-nos-1-3.html

[Bryn]

BIS have just announced the final instalment of Mark Wigglesworth's Shostakovich cycle; symphonies 1-3 now available to download.

http://www.eclassical.com/labels/bis...s-nos-1-3.html

What about the little matter of 15?

By the way, they don't even mention the SACD release of 1, 2 & 3 on their website yet.

[Mahlerei]

bryn

These days they release these things quite a while before the disc. And yes, I'd forgotten about 15.

[Bryn]

bryn

These days they release these things quite a while before the disc. And yes, I'd forgotten about 15.

I think I will wait for the SACDs. Quite surprised to see the original sample rate quoted as 41500Hz though.

[Mahlerei]

I think I will wait for the SACDs. Quite surprised to see the original sample rate quoted as 44100Hz though.

Believe me, you'd never guess. Ditto Aho's chamber symphonies.

[DublinJimbo]

What about the little matter of 15?

Actually, the announcement says they are "with this disc only one — the last — symphony away from Mark Wigglesworth's completion of the ... cycle".