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Posted by Jeffrey Davis
on August 30, 2008, 9:59 am, in reply to "Re: Myaskovsky symphony cycle (Svetlanov)"
195.93.21.3
Benjamin,
I must admit a strong bias here as I wrote some notes for the recent Alto issues following the sad death of Per Skans (who had written the notes for all the Olympias and the earlier Altos.) As the recent Gramophone magazine says, the exclusivity of the Olympia/Alto series has been, to some extent, torpedoed by the new Warner box. My sympathies are thus entirely with Alto on this. They have struggled, against the odds, to issue this great series, following the very sad collapse of Olympia, the death of Per Skans and now the sudden arrival of the Warner box.
I did a comparison of the transfers of three Miaskovsky symphonies and thought that the Altos had more depth to them. But I am hardly an impartial observer. Alto are a small company and their discs are super budget. The main advantage of the Olympia/Altos is that their accompanying notes actually tell you about the music! The Warner box has very perfunctory notes. Having said this, if you want the complete cycle, there is no other way of collecting them except by buying the Warner box as the Olympias are no longer available (except at absurd prices on the Internet.) However, those who have been collecting the Olympias or who want to know anything about the music will want the Altos.
The music is great and I'm sure that you will enjoy exploring it whatever you decide. Hope this helps a bit!
Jeffrey
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