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Posted by David Brown on September 25, 2007, 6:00 pm
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As I understand it, the original intention (when the recording was in the Hyperion court) was to record Part One only of Omar, trimmed down so it could fit on a single CD. What a relief it was to hear that Chandos had taken over the project and that the recording was to be complete, but now once again disappointment sets in on learning of the cuts. I was present at the BBC recording of Norman Del Mar's performance (over two evenings) in 1979 and like Michael Freeman was totally won over by both the work's manifold beauties and its vast and convincing overall design. I've not heard the new recording yet (it doesn't get to Arkiv Music here in the US until the end of October) but the auguries do not sound good, despite Rob Barnett's favourable review. What on earth were Chandos/Tod Handley/Lewis Foreman thinking of? Will anyone speak up in favour of these cuts? Surely it should be a matter of principle that any premiere recording (except in such cases as the Hyperion Song of Songs extracts, clearly labelled as such and presumably so recorded for economic reasons) should be truly COMPLETE? CD cueing makes the omission of what some might regard as boring or substandard bits very easy when playing discs, and crucially leaves that decision in the hands of the LISTENER. Years ago, Hyperion were guilty of a similar piece of vandalism when they trimmed down Boughton's Bethlehem to fit on one CD. Though even Norman Del Mar, I think, omitted a couple of marked repeats in his really complete Omar, how splendid it would be if someone at BBC Legends saw what a true Legend they had in that recording, and issued it in competition with the new Chandos.
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