brtherjohn

No Way!! Keep looking elsewhere..., April 23 2004

One thing is for certain: the engineering of the chorus is far too recessed in this Previn re-recording. That is NOT a minor issue to me. It also sounds fairly "slack" and uncommitted. Hardly jubilant where it needs to be. Nor did I find the recording that wide-ranging either. I didn't even care for the soloists who were largely uninspired as everything else. Junk! Better keep the earlier Previn, which was altogether a more sensual performance. But my nod goes to Levine, overall...

A great introduction to Rodrigo!, Feb 10 2004

I had much of this material on vinyl, and it's great to have these packaged on 4 full budget-priced CDs. The sound is quite acceptable, although a little bright, which was common for early digital recordings from the 80's. But, they're otherwise clear and full. There are better recordings of the guitar concertos (which is a crowded field), but they hold up fairly well - and are better than Batiz' rerecordings of the some of the guitar concertos he did some 10 years ago on ASV.
The other concertos are quite nice as well. Distinctively Rodrigo-esque!
Anyone interested in this set will want to invest in Batiz' more recent survey with his Mexican State Orchestra of Rodrigo… Read more

A highly desirable set, Jan 26 2004

There is a lot of competition out there. The big Paavo Berglund box set seems to have it all on EMI. Then, there is the excellent Davis/BSO set on Philips - not to mention his newer LSO cycle on RCA. Rattle has some unique touches not found in other cycles so he can't not be easily dismissed. He's a bitter smoother around the edges as compared to the Davis/BSO. But he brings out the romantism more. The Birmingham forces play wonderfully and are all excellently recorded - in fact - better engineered than any of the competition.
Perhaps to make this set more competitive (because it is rather expensive), EMI should have tried to squeeze all 7 of the symphonies onto 3 discs. I… Read more