Marco Polo has dropped its prices to the mid- range, as I just read on
the Records International site
(http://www.recordsinternational.com/RICatalogApr04.html). Not quite
as cheap as its cousin label Naxos, yet close enough to half their usual
price to gladden my heart.
I saw two CDs at the new price yesterday, yet half-feared some labelling
mistake. Not so: an actual drop. Oh, frabjous day, Callooh, Callay!
The one I bought at this price just yesterday was Igor Markevitch's
orchestration of J.S. Bach's 'Musical Offering.' Very nice choice indeed:
actually for 3 orchestral groups and solo violin, transverse flute, cello
and harpsichord. Remy Baudet (violin), Hans van Loenen (transverse
flute), Jeroen Reuling (cello), Dirk Luijmes (harpsichord), Arnhem
Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Christopher Lyndon-Gee. (Complete
Orchestral Music, Vol. 7) Marco Polo 8.225120
It may be my passion for just about anything by Bach that's hooked me,
but this CD's a delight. I'm still struggling for 'the musical sense'
in Markevitch's 'Flight of Icarus,' for 2 pianos and percussion -- the
model, I gather, for Bartok's Sonata for the same ensemble. (Played,
I see, by the same Lyndon-Gee, on Largo) Anyway, no difficulty at all
with *this* Markevitch.
Strongly recommended. Any compositions by Markevitch you'd like to
recommend?
Bert Bailey
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