I've been listening to the complete Ravel Daphnis et Chloe today.  It's the
Munch/Boston Symphony performance.  I heard this live when I was in high
school.  A phenomenal experience.  Munch was said to put his performances
on the edge.  He would take chances, changing tempos, dynamics, etc.  from
rehearsals to performance and between performances.  Each concert could be
different from the one before.  This is music where he was the master.

I have the vinyl of this performance.  It has always been a bit annoying
to have to get up and flip the disk over at the end of section 12.  That's
not the way Ravel wrote it.  When I hear this music I still have an urge to
stand up there.  Needless to say it's been exciting to get the CD release,
all the music on one surface.  (By the way, the CD says it was recorded in
1955.  I thought my 1958 Brahms 2nd with Munch and the BSO was supposed to
be one of the first LIVING STEREO records, and this sounds like the early
60's vinyl I have.)

So, to shorten the story, I put the CD on.  There are 23 sections to the
ballet.  Guess what.  Some 'person' seems to have decided each section
should be separated by a heart beat, perhaps slightly less at some
sections, but still a distinct pause.  Yes, where on my vinyl there is
music and continuity between sections except for sections 12 and 13, there
is not on the CD.  There are 23 separate sections.  While this time I do
not have the urge to stand 23 times, instead I am fighting an urge to throw
things.

Can anyone think of a rational explanation for this.  There has been some
discussion on the list about the motivation of the recording industry, and
I think it is all a bit simpler than we are giving them credit for, but why
disrupt this music so.  I cannot comprehend anyone with any musical sense
whatever tolerating this idiocy.  It is bad music, it is bad marketing, it
is bad business, unless the intended audience knows nothing about music.
This release is not intended for anyone interested in the experience of
listening to music.

"Tom Connor" <[log in to unmask]>