New Big Box Set of Bernstein Symphonies

There’s no details yet on the Amazon page listing this box set, but it contains 60 CDs of symphonies recorded by Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic from Sony. My guess is that it includes the recently remastered Mahler recordings from the 1960s, along with many other key Bernstein recordings. At less than $100, this is a no-brainer. I’ll be getting this no matter what it contains, because there was so much great music that Bernstein recorded with the NYPO.

It’s getting to be the Christmas season, so all the labels will be releasing big box sets at low prices like this one to tempt music lovers. I’m looking forward to this year’s selection, as every year I generally find one or two that are worth getting.

Music Review: Franz Schubert Complete Songs

Music Review: Franz Schubert Complete Songs
Hyperion Records
40 CDs plus book containing song texts, 2005. List price GBP 180.

Buy from Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon FR

In 1987, Hyperion Records began what turned out to be a colossal project: the recording of all of Franz Schubert’s songs (or lieder), a total of 729 songs performed by over 60 soloists. Some of these songs are for male voice, others for female voice, and others for several singers together. (In comparison, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s landmark recording of all the lieder for solo male voice includes 463 songs on 21 CDs; now available at a bargain price.) Originally released on 37 CDs, over a period of 18 years (the amount of time it took Schubert to compose all these songs, before his early death), this new set presents the songs in chronological order.It is hard to understate the monumental scope of this set. Never before have all of these songs been available together, and never before have listeners been able to appreciate the broad scope of Schubert’s compositions.

Beginning with an idea by accompanist Graham Johnson, and continued as a labor of love (and a relative commercial success), Hyperion Records managed to bring together many of the great lieder singers of the time, even providing showcases for young singers who would go on to become essential performers in this genre. From “classic” singers such as Ann Murray, Janet Baker and Peter Schreier, to new finds like Ian Bostridge and Matthias Goerne, this set is full of great voices. Even the grandfather of Schubert lieder, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, makes a cameo appearance, reading some poems that are part of the cycle Die Schöne Müllerin, by Wilhelm Müller, which Schubert did not set to music.

Added to this set (and scheduled for a separate release in 2006) are three discs of songs by Schubert’s friends and contemporaries, including Beethoven, Haydn, Mendelssohn, and others, giving the listener an overview of the type of lieder that was part of his influences. But it is the 37 discs of Schubert’s songs that are important here; the “extras” are just that, like special features on a DVD.

Listening to this set in chronological order is enlightening, as one can grasp the evolution in the subtlety and depth of Schubert’s compositions. Starting with his earliest songs, written in his teens, and progressing through his final year, as he was 31, the journey is long, yet rewarding. Schubert’s music is the most accomplished of the genre, and the excellent choice of soloists – along with the brilliant accompaniment by Graham Johnson – imbues a great deal of variety and a rich palette of vocal colors. Unlike the Fischer-Dieskau set (which, I must confess, is one of my favorite sets of classical music), where one listens to the range and expanse of a single, masterful voice, the Hyperion set gives the listener a chance to discover the music in more variety. For those who do not like Fischer-Dieskau, this set can be an eye-opener. However, it will never, for me, replace the Fischer-Dieskau set…

While I do not like all the singers on this set, most of them are excellent. Many of the singers lack the immersion that Fischer-Dieskau had in this music, but others are revelations. The recordings by Brigitte Faessbender are excellent, as are those by Stephen Varcoe, a singer I was not familiar with before. Thomas Hampson’s recordings here show him in his prime, and many of the other male singers – Philip Langridge, John Mark Ainsley and Anthony Rolfe Johnson rise to the occasion, providing many delightful performances. (You’ll notice my preference for male voices for this music, but this does not mean that there are not many excellent female voices in this set; Edith Mathis’ performance of An die Musik is one of the highlights of the set, and Arleen Auger is excellent.)

One of the revelations in this set, for me, is the many songs for several singers, including those with chorus. These songs are a little-known and rarely recorded facet of Schubert’s work, and this set allows listeners to discover just how many such songs there are, and the general tone of joviality they express.

In addition to the 40 CDs in this set, Hyperion includes a book (258,096 words, as Hyperion specifies on the box) containing an introduction by Graham Johnson and the complete texts of all the songs. While this is laudable, there are a few negatives to this book. The type is relatively small (fine for teenaged eyes, perhaps, but that is clearly not the target audience for this set), and the English translations of the songs, in a column next to the German originals, are in italics, making them even harder to read. (For a different take, and easier readability, John Reed’s Schubert Song Companion is a good investment.) Broken down by year, with an introduction for each year talking about Schubert’s activities, the texts appear chronologically, as they do on the discs. The back of the book contains an index by title and by poet, composer or translator, but, alas, not by singer.

Purchasers of the original CDs in this series will be familiar with the copious notes by Graham Johnson that accompanies these discs; unfortunately, these notes are not included in the set, and are scheduled to be released in book form in the near future. (Yale University Press will be publishing this book, and, hopefully, will not charge their usual “scholarly” price, so music lovers will be able to acquire these notes.)

All in all, this set is essential for any serious fan of Schubert’s lieder, or lieder in general. While it is not cheap, the per-disc price is relatively low; congratulations are in order to Hyperion for having release the set at such an affordable price. While other recordings of Schubert’s lieder will be made, this set will clearly remain the benchmark for his music; with the exception, of course, of the Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recordings. To be honest, no serious fan of Schubert’s lieder should be without either of these sets, so start socking away the money if you don’t have both of them.

Remembering Jerry

On this day, 15 years ago, Jerry Garcia passed away.

If you get confused, listen to the music play.

Help Me Clear Out My CD Library – Used Classical CDs for Sale

I’m culling my music library. I have too many CDs that I never listen too. I’ve made a list and put it up on my web site; there are currently around 200 CDs or sets available, and I’ll be adding more in the near future. (I’ll probably make an announcement when I get to version 2 of my list; I need to get to the basement and open a lot of boxes to sort through more CDs.)

If you’re interested in anything, I’m willing to accept any reasonable offer. I’m in France, so I’d prefer to ship to the EU, but I’m expecting buyers to pay shipping, so consider that when you make an offer. (I’ll tell you how much shipping will be as soon as I can weigh the CDs you want.) I’m willing to send CDs without jewel boxes bit with inserts for those interested; that can cut down on shipping costs a lot. Payment by PayPal, Amazon gift certificates (US, UK or FR), or iTunes Store (US) gift certificates.

I’ve made this list with a program called Delicious Library. The initial info you’ll see isn’t great, but you can click on More Details to get some more info (but not for all disks), or click on an album name to go to Amazon for further information. (For some reason, some of the Amazon links go to the US, others to France, others to the UK and some to Germany.)

If you have any questions about any specific CDs, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll try and update the list as often as possible after I’ve sold a bunch of discs, but I won’t do it after every sale; I’ve got to re-export and upload the whole thing. (If the URL below won’t load, that means I’m uploading.)

So, if you’re interested, go to:

http://www.mcelhearn.com/cds/

If you’re interested in buying any of these CDs, use the link to the right and send me an e-mail.

Thanks in advance for helping me clear out my library and make room for more CDs.

Why I’m Leaving eMusic

I’ve been a member of eMusic for several years, and I wrote a somewhat positive article about the site back in 2008. But I’ve decided to quit eMusic. I’ve had enough of the way they work. Here’s why.

First, it’s interesting to note that, aside from pricing changes, nothing that I criticized in 2008 has been changed. The site is still ugly and clunky, tagging is still bad (track names are truncated if they’re too long), and searching sucks (though searching via Google with site:emusic.com works). Artist listings are still bad, with classical artists being listed many times, making it hard to browse. And the forums still look like it’s 1995.

But what’s changed since 2008 is that eMusic added a number of major labels, and changed their pricing structure. While you still get a fixed number of downloads per month (the price increase of last year lowered my monthly amount from 50 to 37, quite a steep and sudden change), many albums are only available as albums. In other words, in the past, you could buy single tracks or multi-track works, but now, in many cases, you can only buy complete albums for 12 credits. (To be fair, you can also buy many albums that contain more than 12 tracks for 12 credits, but not as many as I would like.)

What’s really bad about eMusic is their total disregard for their customers. I’ve had a number of tracks that were messed up in one way or another. Yet, in spite of my contacting eMusic about this, all they do is give me a single download credit and never get the track fixed. This is particularly irksome with classical music, where a messed up track in, say, a symphony or sonata ruins the entire work. Then there was a problem with downloads via Safari using Snow Leopard. eMusic, in spite of all the customer complaints, didn’t fix this, and I only found out that there was a “beta” version of their download manager after posting an angry comment on a forum (a customer service rep contacted me directly, rather than posting this on the forum).

The last straw was today when I realized that I had lost the nine credits I had remaining from last month. You see, eMusic renews your credits once a month, and does not roll over unused credits (even sleazy cellphone companies roll over unused minutes for one month). On top of that, they renew your credits every thirty days, not on, say, the 6th of every month. So you never know from one month to the next when your credits run out, unless you check your account info (this info could easily be displayed on the eMusic page next to where your credits are shown, but, no, they wouldn’t want to do this and help you out.) So I got burned again. This is not the first time, but it is the last.

I’ve downloaded 36 of my last 37 credits today (three albums at 12 credits each). I’m going to listen to them to make sure the tracks are okay; if not, I need to be a member to re-download them. After that, it’s goodbye.

Oh, and, by the way; this just happens to be good timing if Apple announces some sort of iTunes streaming subscription service tomorrow. I’ll be more than happy to consider a streaming subscription to sample all the music that I’m curious about, but hesitant to buy.

Celebrating Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s 85th Birthday

I’m celebrating the 85th birthday of the wonderful singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau today by listening to some “new” recordings of his: a 4-disc set of some of his recordings made for EMI, never released, of lieder by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schoenberg and Berg. Recordings from the Archives features five hours of music recorded between 1959 (for the Haydn) and 1984. I have hundreds of discs by Fischer-Dieskau; he is easily my favorite singer, and the one who got me interested in German art songs, or lieder.

His monument is his 21-disc recording of all of Schubert’s lieder for male voice, which I have listened to many time. Recorded in the 1960s and early 1970s, this is Fischer-Dieskau in his prime, doing the music he loved the most.

This year we have been graced with several new releases. The above Recordings from the Archives joins another box set of his Great EMI Recordings, including several discs of his earliest recordings of Schubert, but also containing music by Schumann, Brahms, Wolf and Mahler. If you’re not familiar with Fischer-Dieskau, this is a good place to start, especially as it contains excellent recordings of the three great Schubert song cycles: Die Schöne Müllerin, Winterreise, and Schwanengesang. But the keystone of his recordings remains the complete Schubert set. No matter what, if you don’t know his music, take this opportunity to discover his golden voice.

Box Sets on Sale at Amazon France: Yo-Yo Ma and The Beatles

Amazon.fr is having their spring sale. They’ve got a few big box sets on sale, sets which are out of print in the US.

Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside The Box for 300 euros. This set listed at 552 euros, and is on sale at 46% off. It’s out of print in the US, and shipping to the US is not expensive; in addition, Amazon takes off the 19.6% VAT.

The Beatles stereo set, for 130 euros, and The Beatles mono set, for 110 euros. The stereo set is out of print in the US, and the mono set is much more expensive.

Personally, I don’t care for Yo-Yo Ma that much to want to buy his set, but I may go for the Beatles’ stereo set.

Some Classical Music Tips for Working with iTunes and the iPod

In my latest Macworld article, I present a few tips that can help classical music fans who use iTunes and the iPod. Learn about working with FLAC files, getting better CD rips, and a neat tagging trick that can help save time.