Our stock of Bach on LP is limited and this batch began with part of it, an LP of the E major violin concerto and the orchestral suite in B minor played by two minor German orchestras. I intend to use this as a filler alongside the short recording of cantatas from batch 1. A rarity I suspect is a mixed bag of Tchaikovsky, Smetana and Scriabin played by Frantisek Maxian, Alfred Holecek and Oldrich Hlinka.
I’m now including more recordings of works which we also have in other recordings. Among these is Verdi’s Requiem, with Abbado, the chorus and orchestra of La Scala, and some distinguished soloists. I believe that this company was actually assembled to record something else, but that fell through and so they almost accidentally recorded Verdi’s Requiem, the way one does. Notable of course for the full-blooded chorus – there really is a chorus of top C’s from the sopranos near the end. It’s a DG transfer to… Hungaroton.
Out of season is The world of Christmas, a collection of carols from King’s College Choir, rather surprisingly not including ‘Once in Royal’. The tracks were recorded at different times and some are now half a century old. It captures well the refined sound under Willcocks, with diction that seems a little precious now.
We now have a CD box of complete Mozart symphonies, but there’s still room for nos 38 and 39 with the VPO under Böhm. The final disc in this batch is the standard pairing of Grieg and Schumann piano concertos played by Arrau with the Concertgebouw and Dohnanyi. The cover of this – an old map of Europe – was a little puzzling until I read in the small print that it was published in Amsterdam.
The other end of the process is now cranking into action, with the first actual CDs rolling off the production line yesterday and already being commandeered by members of the family to expand their listening repertoire.