Peter Lundin <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>BIS-CD-1062/64 - Total playing time: 238'22
>Kaikhosru Sorabji: Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30).
>Geoffrey Douglas Madge, piano.
>
>Kaikhosru Sorabji is a legendary figure in music: a man much larger
>than life whose music is conceived on a grander scale than any previous
>composer's.  His Opus clavicembalisticum, presented here on 5 CDs
>(for the price of three!), is generally agreed to be a seminal work
>in the piano literature, as well as a Guinness Book of Records record
>holder for being the longest published piano piece.  Geoffrey Douglas
>Madge studied the work, "by far the most technically difficult piece
>written for piano", for some 22 years to meet Sorabji's requirement
>of being able "to play this piece as if it is easy".
>
>I dont know if I will endure the expence, already owning John Ogdons
>pioneering recording from the eighties, still I find it uplifting that
>someone in the classical business dears to undertake such a monumental
>release.

Madge made a recording of Opus Clavicembalisticum a long time ago; I
don't know if this is a new recording or a reissue of the old one,
though I imagine the latter.  I've heard that it's slower than Ogdon's,
which makes sense since Ogdon's recording is 4 CDs and this is 5 (hmm,
though from the playing time it seems as if it could fit on 4).  [Actually,
the new BIS is priced as 3CDs, not 5.  Also, the write up at the BIS web
site (accessible from you know where) implies this is a new recording.
To my knowledge, BIS has never released material by another label.  -Dave]

I'm tempted to buy it to see if the performance is more accurate than
Ogdon's.  Ogdon hurtles through the score like a man possessed.  A lot of
accuracy is sacrificed and his perfomance brings to mind God sight-reading
through the piece; it sounds ragged and there are wrong notes everywhere,
but it's impressive.  Still, I'd like to hear an accurate rendering of the
score.

Dan Schmidt -> [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]