Editorial

Inaugural May 2005: Couperin, Ogdon, Borodin, Boult

Welcome
A glance at my consultancy page will reveal the breadth of my musical tastes and as a busy compiler of CD sleevenotes and consultant I am constantly exploring new and exciting musical avenues. Setting up Kernow Classics has thus far been an exhilarating if slightly(!) time consuming and exhausting experience, but has also led to some unanticipated delights.

Couperin and Ogdon
My decision to play through each LP I am offering for sale in the catalogue on this site has meant that I have had the opportunity to listen to all types of music, some of which I might usually have chosen not to play, as well as having the joy of rediscovering 'old friends'. Some of the former are now firmly included in the latter category, including Couperin's 8ème, 14ème and 21ème Ordres played by George Malcolm on Argo. I sat enthralled throughout this LP, and marvelled at the rich variety of sounds Malcolm conjures up in this magical recording. I experienced similar admiration for the keyboard skills of the much lamented John Ogdon in his astonishing performance of Stevenson's monumental Passacaglia on DSCH, in every way a tour de force. In all the many years of working in and visiting specialist classical record shops I don't recall ever having seen a copy of this set either new or second hand.

Vocal highlights
For a number of years I sang with a number of opera companies both in the UK and overseas and for some time opera and other vocal recordings formed the basis of my collection. The early days of the LP happily coincided with a golden era of singing (one thinks longingly of the Vienna ensemble of the 1940s and 1950s and wishes that such singers could all be housed on a regular basis under one roof nowadays!). Some star vocal performances which I don't think could ever be improved upon are featured in this month's catalogue: Neidlinger's magnificently malevolent Alberich in Rheingold, Grümmer's sublime Agathe in Freischütz and Tebaldi's Liu in Turandot. Two of these three recordings were conducted by musicians (Keilberth and Erede) often rather derided by critics as being dull and ineffective but personally I find both this Freischütz and the Turandot wholly inspiring and full of detail which is either not found or is hard to decipher in other recordings.

Borodin and Boult
A couple of works which are included in this current catalogue have with serendipity coincided with sleeve notes I have recently been commissioned to write. These have included Borodin's Second Symphony and the Polovstian Dances. Martinon's recording of the symphony, the first I think I ever heard, has never been bettered whilst Karajan's Columbia recording of the dances features some remarkably fruity and glorious brass playing (and are hardly what one would expect from this conductor!). Another cracking performance on offer is Boult's version of Rachmaninov's sumptuous Third Symphony, heard here on RCA in infinitely better sound than in its later appearance on Decca Eclipse.

These are just some of the highlights on offer in this first list. The list itself represents less than a tenth of the titles in my collection, so if you don't immediately find what you want, do contact us or send a wants list. We would love to be able to help you fill that gap in your collection!