Subject: | |
From: | |
Date: | Wed, 10 Mar 2004 18:38:20 -0800 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
Steve responds to me:
>>We have competing recordings of 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th-rate composers
>>and the posthumous torsos of Cui, completed by.... You get the idea.
>
>Well, I'm sorry, this is specious. There's a lot of first-rate music
>that hasn't been released, although we'd probably disagree on whether
>it's first-rate or not. However, there are also some grand performances
>of first-rate composers that have never seen commercial CD.
I was exaggerating. A little. I've done my duty regarding periphery,
you know that. With few exceptions--the Arnold symphonies, Barber's
Organ Toccata, VW's "Poisoned Kiss"--the rapturous discoveries become
fewer and farther between. Bax' faeries fill my living room three times
over--the faerie dust blows out the window before I can catch it. I use
Thalaba the Destroyer's loin cloth to wax my car these days. Then there's
Naxos' American Composer series--I get to hear Alabama's Mighty Handful
and the 2nd Virginia School! I'll keep trying.
I so need to re-acquaint myself with the Canon again. Even Tchaikovsky
and Grieg. SACD gives me the excuse.
Well, we'll see what happens in the coming years. Maybe I will have
bought a useless piece of equipment. Maybe not. All I know is Musical
Fidelity sold 500 hybrid players in a little over a year--at $6500 a
pop. More than a few people out there are ready to support the new
format, and hopefully things will work out for everyone.
John Smyth
Sac, CA USA
|
|
|