[ The MusicWeb Message Board ]

CELEBRATING 20,000 Classical CD reviews on-line; 21,000 visitors each day.
Return to MusicWeb International

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm Posted by David Brown on September 25, 2007, 6:00 pm 62.140.211.130 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.  Post a Response

Re: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm Posted by david brown on October 2, 2007, 10:30 pm, in reply to "http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm" 216.133.212.178 I now see that Michael Freeman's strictures on the cuts in the new Chandos recording of Bantock's Omar Khayyam have been removed from the end of Rob Barnett's review, making the comments in my previous post somewhat unmotivated to anyone coming to it now. I wonder where and why Mr Freeman's piece has gone?  Post a Response

Re: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm Posted by Len Mullenger on October 3, 2007, 9:36 am, in reply to "Re: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm" Message modified by board administrator October 3, 2007, 9:46 am I had wondered whether to remove your posting as well as I realise it no longer stood well on its own. It seems Mr Freeman's views were never intended for MusicWeb and have been removed. They will, however, appear in the British Music Society Newletter  Post a Response

Re: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm Posted by TJ on October 10, 2007, 3:33 am, in reply to "Re: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm" 209.129.115.2 The booklet says: "Owing to the exceptional length of Omar Khayyam, Bantock authorized various cuts and alternative truncated passages in Parts I and II. In this recording, a small number of these have been observed, always with the concern to ensure minimum disruption to the narrative flow."  Post a Response

Re: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm Posted by david brown on October 11, 2007, 3:17 am, in reply to "Re: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Bantock_Omar_Khayyam_CHSA5051.htm" 62.140.211.130 Thanks TJ - I had downloaded a pdf of the booklet from the Chandos website and read that comment. Even if true, it doesn't negate my point that first recordings of such important and unknown works simply should not be cut, period: any slicing and dicing should be left to the individual listener. Secondly, in his comments now removed by Len and which will presumably reappear in the BMS Newsletter, Mr Freeman, a longtime devotee of Bantock, was in no doubt that the cuts in this recording are seriously damaging to the work's coherence. I and my trusty old Breitkopf vocal scores are ready to form our own judgment whenever the discs arrive from Arkiv Music! In the meantime, I wonder what the views are of others who have been fortunate enough to hear the new recording?  Post a Response

     «Back to thread

Thank you for using the MusicWeb Message Board. Len Mullenger - Founder of MusicWeb