Through eBay, I have been able to obtain a copy (actually two) of the 15 October 2009, the one with the white cover. The 14 October 2009 (black cover, I believe) has eluded me. If there are shops in the UK that might be able to provide me with this missing one, I'd dearly love to know about them. I will suspend my distaste for Gergiev (which I need not explain) in this sole instance. (He did conduct and bang-up "Roméo et Juliette" here in Los Angeles a couple of decades ago.)
I've been able to obtain issues made "exclusively" for performers and/or subscribers and ostensibly not for sale. I have any number of LP issues going back decades, including many live readings from US educational institutions: for example two (!) conducted by composer Karel Husa from his days at Cornell University, and Donn Weiss' 1972 performance at UCLA (University of California Los Angeles), in which I sang. My total is nearly 60.
If it would not be in total violation of the rules here, I'd appreciate it if the editors could supply you with my contact information, although I am easily findable on certain social media.
As an aside, I'll note that one memorable performance of the work that I attended was that of Bramwell Tovey at the Hollywood Bowl, surely one of many reasons to regret the loss of this gifted conductor.
M.
Thankyou Ralph Moore for your Berlioz Requiem Survey.
I assume that you are aware that Valery Gergiev conducted 2 Performances of it in Symphony Hall, Birmingham, with combined forces from the Mariinsky Theatre and the CBSO, on 14th and 15th October 2009. John Quinn reviewed the 2nd of those performances for Seen & Heard and there is a link to that review from his recent review of the Pappano recording for MWI.
However what John did not mention in his review, and therefore you may not be aware of, is that EMI Classics used those performances for an experiment in 'Instant Recording'. You could order a CD recording of that evening's performance on arrival at the hall and could collect your CDs, of the performance you had just heard, in the foyer afterwards. As I recall we had to wait for about 15 minutes for them. I attended both the performances and purchased the recordings of both of them, which I still have. There are definitely some differences, but not very significant, between the two performances. I should make it clear that the recordings were only of the Berlioz - not the Prokofiev Cantata which made up the first half of both the concerts.
It was clear from EMI at the time that these were 'Limited Edition' recordings, not for general release, though I have, from time to time, seen copies in second-hand CD shops. However since it seems clear, from the survey, that Gergiev has not made a 'commercial' recording, I would have thought that the existence of these recordings was worth a mention.
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