cbf@allegra.UUCP (Francois) (07/23/84)
I stopped by the J&R Classical Outlet in NYC near City Hall over the
weekend and noticed a few things of interest to buyers of "classical" CDs.
First off, they have just instituted a new, everyday price of $13.99 for
most CDs and $15.99 for Telarc's, Denon's and some other imports. Those
are the lowest prices I have seen anywhere so far, including sale prices.
Slowly but surely, CDs are becoming affordable.
Even more impressive is the breadth of J&R's inventory. This is the
largest number of CDs I've seen assembled under one roof, and no label,
however small, is slighted. [By the way, it's interesting how the
record companies are duplicating each other's efforts on CD. Not only
is there a *Four Seasons* cottage industry, but there's also a plethora
of less sought-after items such as Brahms' *A German Requiem* and
Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. Still, I'm not holding my breath for a
CD of the *Quartet for the End of Time*. Sigh.]
Other interesting items:
- CBS has a no-return policy, so that J&R, and maybe other retailers, will
not exchange defective CBS discs, on which they would otherwise incur a
loss since CBS won't take them back. So, caveat emptor.
- Apparently, Solti's *Ring* is being digitally re-mastered and will soon
be available here on 16 discs, instead of the original 19 LPs, and unlike
the Janowski *Ring*. Maybe I'll finally splurge for a *Ring* this time.
- I guess "Des Karajan" and DG must be pretty happy with the little trick
they pulled, by issuing his live Salzburg Mahler's Ninth (you know, that
performance which has been variously described as "the eighth wonder of
the world", "the greatest performance of any piece of music, ever", and
"a sham") on CD, but not on records or cassettes. Anyway, rumor has it
they're planning to do the same with his up-coming *Rosenkavalier*, an
opera he has "owned" for the past 25 years. There are also rumors of yet
another Beethoven cycle from His Eminence. Apparently, he doesn't want
his final thoughts on Beethoven mucked up by dirt, scratches and "those
tiny little ravages of time", and at 76, he's trying to cash in his chips
before it's too late. Now the questions are:
Will the Berlin stay with him or will the NY Phil. bag Mehta and bring
von K. over with Big Bucks? Will the DG engineers realize what close-up
multi-miking in the Berlin Philarmonie is doing to their recordings,
rebell against their Lord and Master, and cart the orchestra off to St.
Eustache in Montreal, where Dutoit and his cohorts are living the good
recording life? Will we ever see the end of his Mahler cycle? Or will
he opt instead for another Brahms cycle or a new *Tristan* perhaps?
Does anyone care? Well, *I* do!
Charles B. Francois {...,decvax}!allegra!cbf
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All the puns in the above message were intended.greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (07/24/84)
The new Karajan Beethoven cycle is not just a rumor. There was a full report on the plans for it in the June issue of the German "Fono Forum" magazine. Karajan is wild about digital recording and the CD as a reproducing medium and is therefore anxious to have as many of his interpretations as possible available in this form. As far as upcoming opera releases from Karajan, the best way to guess is to look at the Salzburg festival schedule and find out which productions he is conducting. As of the last several years, nearly all of his operatic recordings have been based either on Salzburg productions or on film productions. The "Turandot" is from a film which was actually being done in China (the soundtrack was, of course, done in Berlin). The upcoming "Rosenkavalier" is based on last year's Salzburg production (repeated this year also). Likewise, his "Carmen" and "Flying Dutchman" (not yet released) recordings were also based on Salzburg productions. This enables him to make optimum use of rehearsal time and preparation. I have to say, personally, that I'm not too happy with his operatic recordings over the last 5 years or so, the major exception being the "Pelleas et Melisande" which I find a superb interpretation in every regard. In general I find that he chooses voices too light for the particular parts, trying to achieve delicacy and avoid operatic bombast, and then proceeds to drown these voices in deluges of orchestral sound. The recordings don't show this up as badly as the live broadcasts from Salzburg, since the singers are more shrewdly miked and have time for rest between strenuous sections. From a vocal standpoint, however, the live performances where heavy roles like Aida and Elisabetta (Don Carlos) can be heard wearing holes in the once lovely voice of Mirella Freni can be hard to take. In fact, there does not seem to be a single singer who has been associated with him and his productions for any extended period of time during the past 15 years who has not noticeably suffered a vocal decline, well beyond what would be expected from a singer in the same time period. The list of those who have suffered includes Helge Dernesch, Jose Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, among many others. - Greg Paley