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Louis Glass

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JimL
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« Reply #15 on: February 20, 2013, 04:46:25 pm »

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I'd be willing to bet that projects like this are fully funded by your occasional wealthy eccentric, who may or may not care whether or not the recordings ever see the light of day, as long as he/she (but probably he) gets a CD privately burned for him of the master tapes.  It's like commissioning your own private orchestra and recording studio for a vanity project.  Thus the label takes no loss on the deal.

Certainly a possibility! Is anyone aware of any specific instances where this happened?
No, but I can easily see it happening.  However, in the case of Glass somebody over at the 'other forum' made inquiries to Danacord and found that the performances and technical aspects of the project weren't up to snuff, so it was nixed.
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cilgwyn
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« Reply #16 on: February 20, 2013, 05:12:20 pm »

Worse than the Plovdiv performances. Wow! How did they manage that?!! ;D Actually,I rather like their self criticism. You only have to think of all the people who've been put off Brian's Second Symphony by the lousy,muddy sounding Marco Polo recording. If they could only hear the Mackerras performance (available here & at Klassic Haus!). It's still no masterpiece;but Mackerras does wonders for the score & I personally love the gloomy,brooding atmosphere of the score,right from that wonderfully mysterious opening! One of my favourites. But Imagine if I'd heard the Marco Polo first?! :(

So that was crap! Okay,goodbye Louis Glass! :(
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Dundonnell
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« Reply #17 on: February 20, 2013, 06:27:12 pm »

Worse than the Plovdiv performances. Wow! How did they manage that?!! ;D Actually,I rather like their self criticism. You only have to think of all the people who've been put off Brian's Second Symphony by the lousy,muddy sounding Marco Polo recording. If they could only hear the Mackerras performance (available here & at Klassic Haus!). It's still no masterpiece;but Mackerras does wonders for the score & I personally love the gloomy,brooding atmosphere of the score,right from that wonderfully mysterious opening! One of my favourites. But Imagine if I'd heard the Marco Polo first?! :(

So that was crap! Okay,goodbye Louis Glass! :(

I happen to think that the finale of the Brian Second is absolutely marvellous music :)
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cilgwyn
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« Reply #18 on: February 20, 2013, 10:28:52 pm »

At last!! And there I was being cautious! I love Brian's Second. It's one of my favourites, But no one ever seems to share my enthusiasm. :( :( :(
Thank you Dundonnell. You've made my day! :) :) :)

And now,back to Louis Glass! ;D
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Jolly Roger
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« Reply #19 on: March 06, 2013, 01:42:14 pm »

Now I know why I did not find the Louis Glass Symphonies particularly memorable, indeed the performances were stillborn.
Its time somone with some pzazz to do the cycle..
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cilgwyn
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« Reply #20 on: March 06, 2013, 02:44:39 pm »

According to one review,the first movement of the 3rd has a theme that resembles 'My Favourite Martian'! :o ;D I've never seen that tv show,but it's very catchy! I love it!! But a true master,would have made more of it! Mind you,Louis Glass was obviously a bit ahead of his time,if he was watching 'My Favourite Martian' in 1900-01!!
I'm still waiting for MDT to despatch two more of the Plovdiv cds (four week order) & I will be interested to hear his blockbuster Second. I understand it includes a choir!! :o I  think he's got 'something',but,I fear,the Plovdiv's don't really help his cause!! :(


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Gauk
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« Reply #21 on: March 11, 2013, 07:43:28 pm »

Sounds like someone needs to burgle the archives of the Aarhus SO ...

Of the symphonies I've heard, the 3rd is the most attractive by far. I've also listened to some of his piano music and string quartets, which I'm afraid didn't make a big impression.
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cilgwyn
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« Reply #22 on: March 11, 2013, 10:29:36 pm »

Ah,someone else likes the third,too! :) That tune in the first movement is a bit of a winner,imho! It sounds very 'filmic. Maybe Glass could have been a movie composer? Wrong time,wrong place,though!! :( ;D
  Still waiting for my order from MDT,by the way!! :( :)
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cilgwyn
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« Reply #23 on: July 04, 2014, 04:47:07 pm »

I see that Cpo are going to release a recording of the third symphony by Louis Glass. A post at the 'other forum' led me to the announcement at Jpc. No artwork on show,but a release in August it seems. Coupled with a Suite for orchestra,"Summerliv". I like this symphony,it has a lovely tune in the first movement,very romantic,reminiscent of an old hollywood movie from the,so called,golden age. I hope the performance is good. It deserves a quality recording imho. The Plovdiv did it no favours,but the music just about came through for me to actually want another recording.
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cilgwyn
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« Reply #24 on: July 08, 2014, 06:02:54 pm »

According to a post at the 'other forum' Cpo are planning a Louis Glass cycle! He who waits,eh?!! :o ;D I must admit I'm not convinced by all of them. No's 2 & 6 are a case in point!! I must confess I haven't heard No1! The one I would like to hear in a good performance,apart from No's 3 & 5,is the Fourth. I feel Louis Glass bit off a bit more than he could chew here,but I'm intrigued enough to want to hear a competent performance. It's a big,ambitious symphony that doesn't seem to hang together,lacks consistency of inspiration;but I do like some of it. Maybe this team can convince me? I can't help thinking of that terrible Marco Polo/Naxos recording of Brian's Second symphony. The Mackerras performance,in the AMF 'library' here shows what a fine,if flawed,symphony it really is in a really good performance. The Marco Polo performance was a travesty. I hadn't heard the Mackerras performance for years. The Marco polo performance nearly put me off! It sounded like a different work! Now,I don't think the Fourth symphony of Louis Glass is anywhere as individual,or as inspired (although I shouldn't compare two totally different works from different countries and periods) but it does demonstrate the harm a really shoddy performance can do in presenting an unfamiliar work!

The Plovdiv recordings of Louis Glass and the Marco Polo Brian 2 also have something else in common. Horrible sound quality!

Imagine if the Plovdiv,or an orchestra like that,were to record Daniel Jones symphonies? The effect would be the same!

NB: Once they've released a Louis Glass cycle I hope someone will get around to giving me a chance to hear a good performance of Tournemire's magical Fourth. And then the others,maybe?!


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Gauk
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« Reply #25 on: July 08, 2014, 11:32:04 pm »

Or the Marco Polo recording of Furtwangler's 1st Symphony - a listener might well conclude it's all the composer's fault, when in fact it is the performers - or certainly the conductor's fault.
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cilgwyn
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« Reply #26 on: July 09, 2014, 12:20:17 pm »

Another example! The Marco Polo recording of Bantock's Hebridean Symphony. The horns blazed out in the Handley recording which appeared a short while later. To their credit,Marco Polo seemed to know when they were outclassed and promptly gave up on that composer. Nimbus,on the other hand,seem to have recorded a decent Parry 1 and I honestly wish they had done more.
Other composers,like Roy Harris,seem to need some special alchemy,a truly great conductor,to bring their inspiration out. While in recent years there has been a minor revival of interest in his music by smaller cd labels,there doesn't seem to be anyone around with the flair and conviction his symphonies need. I still have to listen to the old Louisville recording of his Fifth  or (in particular) Ormandy's Seventh to find the visionary quality this music needs. Keith Clark's recording of the Sixth seems an honourable exception. Again,I wish he could have done more! :(

Anyway,looking forward to hearing Louis Glass 3! :)
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cilgwyn
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« Reply #27 on: July 09, 2014, 02:51:19 pm »

I've been looking up reviews of cds of Daniel Raiskin and the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie who are performing the soon to be released Louis Glass third on Cpo. There are some rave reviews of his recording of Shostakovich's Fourth,a Musicweb 'Recording of the Month', and some very enthusiastic reviews and responses to his recordings of Brahms Symphonies and Cello Concertos by Korngold, Goldschmidt & Bloch. It all sounds very promising. Of the Cello Concerto recordings on the Cavi music label,Nick Barnard of Musicweb writes of a cd "...that would grace the release schedule of any major international company and playing worthy of comparison with the very finest."

Can't wait to hear what Louis Glass really sounds like!!

Actually,I can wait! Having said that,I am looking forward to this release,though! :)
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Gauk
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« Reply #28 on: September 07, 2014, 10:28:09 pm »

Last night I listened to Glass #1 for the first time. Oh dear. The 3rd sounds good even played by the Plovdiv orchestra, but they make terrible weather of the 1st. Painful to listen to. You have to strain your musical ear to work out how it would sound better played.
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Jolly Roger
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« Reply #29 on: September 07, 2014, 11:10:22 pm »

I found Louis Glass's symphonies to be quite commonplace,and not that extraordinary.
But I'm certain the muffled audio has much to do with it.
Poor Plovdiv needed a competent audio engineer and a conductor with some passion, they are a decent orchestra.
Quality audio might elevate it much higher, it does have some potential.
It might be interesting to listen to some other things by Plovdiv to see if it is a chronic problem.
see how they do with this:
Plovdiv state opera's symphony orchestra perform 1st mouvement, "The ocean's secret", from Ole Karsten Sundlisæter's Symphony nr. 1, "The Ocean". Conducted by Aleksey Izmirliev.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kouH4xLxEFo&list=UUiMbWtWcBX9W1e8EOVAzXMw
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