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]