CPO Release Plans

[Dundonnell]

As some members may know I recently wrote to Burkhard Schmilgun of CPO regarding their future release plans.

I specifically highlighted the long delay in releasing the planned recordings of the symphonies of the Swedish composer Edvin Kallstenius and the Austro-German Johan Nepomuk David. I also enquired about the failure to follow up on the two releases of the symphonies of the Dutch composer Henk Badings conducted by David Poreclijn.

I received a reply today-not from Burkhard Schmilgun(who is out of the office) but from Gerhard Georg Ortmann, the Geschaftsfuhrer(Managing Director) of CPO.

The problem with the releases of the Kallstenius and the David is that the linear notes writers have been too busy to actually write the notes. If Eckhardt van den Hoogen is involved then I am not surprised ;D It must take that gentlemen some time to compose his philosophical treatises ;D). CPO hopes to bring out these first releases next year.

Now... the bad news :( CPO has no plans to continue the Badings series. I find this quite devastating news >:( CPO has an almost unimpeachable record in completing(eventually) integral cycles. The company even got round to finishing their Krenek series after Symphony No.4 was rediscovered in the USA. They completed the van Gilse series, they seem to be continuing the Rontgen series, they have begun an Andriessen series. To begin and now abandon the Badings series is a dreadful decision.
Yes...we have the Badings symphonies in our Archive here but that is not the point. Badings was a major Dutch composer. He fully merits a complete series....I would argue ahead of these other Dutch composers.

I shall write again to Burkhard Schmilgun(to whom Herr Ortmann says he will pass on my comments).

[Ulalume]

Thank you and CPO for those news. I am not yet familiar with all the symphonies of David but the 2nd and 4th are very expressive and - from the CPO roster - I don't see a better choice than Wildner for them. For Kallstenius I like very much the 5th, a little less the 4th maybe.

For Badings its disappointing because I find him to have the strongest musical personnality of all the dutch composers CPO has recorded and  Porcelijn seems very sympathetic to the style. Maybe the CDs didn't sell well enough comparatively to other projects ? Anyway I hope they will reconsider their decision. There is still oustanding unrecorded symphonies : the dramatic 4th a worthy successor to the 3rd, or the more playful 5th, the choral 6th is also quite successful for this difficult genre. All the others are at least interesting because of the ever resourceful technique of Badings.

[Dundonnell]

I find it inconceivable that CPO thinks that Badings will well less well than some of the other, totally unknown, composers whose music the company has recorded.

Heavens...both Badings and Jan van Gilse have Facebook pages: van Gilse has "10 likes", Badings has 56 ;D ;D I know that means nothing very much but it might indicate that Badings is actually at least better known than van Gilse. Are we to get ALL the Julius Rontgen symphonies but no more Badings ??? ???

Johan Nepomuk David even.......but no more Badings ???

This is heartbreaking :( :(

[cilgwyn]

And,on a lighter note; what happened to the Dopper 1?! I seem to reember someone here,or at the 'other' forum,saying they recorded it (maybe I got this wrong?!!) Not deep,not life changing,absolutely nothing ground breaking;but I really enjoyed it. A lovely romantic,colourful symphony. Luckily for us the file here is of a very high quality;but this is music that could provide allot of enjoyment if it was made available on a commercially produced cd.
The Holbrooke No 2 is another one. Come on Cpo;get your finger out of your proverbial,I need my Holbrooke fix!! ;D

[Dundonnell]

The difference is that CPO has never given any commitment(as far as I know, I may be wrong) to record all Dopper's symphonies. Three of Dopper's seven have been recorded by Chandos(Nos.2, 3 and 6) and one by NM(No.7) and at least one of the others(No.5, if I recall) is not fully extant. That is not a complete series but not far short of one :)

As for Holbrooke, CPO have never given any commitment to record any of the symphonies. (One might ask why should they, rather than a British company). In any case, I would rate Badings as a far more important composer than Holbrooke.

[Dundonnell]

Having just downloaded the Badings Piano Concerto from You Tube :) :).......

The irony is that the later Badings symphonies are mostly very short.

Two CPO discs could contains:

(a) Nos. 1, 4 and 5: 14 minutes, 36 minutes and 25 minutes respectively(75 minutes)

(b) Nos. 5, 8, 11 and 13: 29 minutes, 18 minutes, 7 minutes and 10 minutes respectively(64 minutes)

CPO have already recorded Nos. 2, 3, 7, 10, 12, 14 and 15. Other companies have recorded Nos. 9 and 15.

[Dundonnell]

Kyle ??? ???

[jimfin]

Holbrooke's what I'm waiting for! Maybe Dutton could do some more of him!

[cilgwyn]

The Holbrooke was supposed to be the first in a series. They had the Violin Concerto (Grasshopper) lined up,and a symphony. Then they dropped the symphony because the conductor thought it sounded like Havergal Brian (apparently),then,I believe,he had some kind of accident..............and so it goes on. What are Cpo? A cd label or a cliffhanger movie serial?!!
  Meanwhile,the Dopper stayed in the vault (from what I gather) and allot of people here are wondering what happened to various other projects. As to whether Badings is a more important composer?

Most probably! ;D
But it's still annoying when they make out they're going to record something and then drop it. Anyway,Holbrooke does have some significance,at least here in Wales! He lived here for a while and composed a massive cycle of operas inspired by the Mabinogion! And then there's Howard de Walden...........and oh my goodness,I've got to things to do!!! :o :(

[kyjo]

Kyle ??? ???

I cannot do anything but echo your sentiments, Colin! I would post on this thread, but I'd probably end up sounding like a whiny old grouch. I've just come to accept that we can't always have what we want with record companies :( The harsh reality of it all is that bot funds and interest are limited for recording such music :(

[Dundonnell]

"a whiny old grouch" ??? ;D

Oh, that mantle suits me perfectly :) ;D

[erato]

Somebody should spank those guys to get some sense into them. Imagine all that Gilse and Røntgen, and no Badings.

[Dundonnell]

Somebody should spank those guys to get some sense into them. Imagine all that Gilse and Røntgen, and no Badings.

Follow-up email sent today:

"Dear Caroline,

Thank you very much for your informative and helpful reply!

I do hope that you will be able to get the linear notes from the writers and to issue the first Kallstenius and Johan Nepomuk David releases as soon as possible next year.

Regarding the symphonies of Henk Badings...I would ask you please to bring the following to Burkhard's attention:

Badings is certainly one of the very finest(yet tragically neglected) Dutch composers. Many of us feel that his music, although obviously very different from that of Julius Rontgen, Jan van Gilse and even CPO's latest project, Hendrik Andriessen, is just as worthy(if not more worthy) than these composers.

CPO has recorded and issued six Badings symphonies-Nos. 2, 3, 7, 10, 12 and 14-using David Porcelijn and the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra. Two others(Nos. 9 and 15) have been issued by other companies. The later Badings symphonies are quite short. Nos. 4, 5 and 11 together would come to 68 minutes, while Nos. 1, 11 and 13 would only come to 42 minutes. No.5 "Psalmensymphonie" does require a choir and is 29 minutes long.

CPO has a marvellous history of recording complete cycles of the symphonies of neglected composers-Milhaud, Villa-Lobos, Wellesz, Atterberg, Petterrson, Rangstrom, Wiren, Panufnik, Krenek and so many others. It would be a tragedy if Badings was the only composer whom CPO left uncompleted.

I fully understand that the company has a huge recording schedule and many projects in progress or planned. I hope-and I know this opinion is shared by many, many others-that you will not set a precedent by failing to complete the Badings project!!

Best wishes,

Colin Mackie."

[mjkFendrich]

I also hope cpo will go on recording the remaining Badings symphonies.
I can't even dare to dream that some company will bring out his 4 violin concertos!

Concerning VCs of the 20th century, this still remains one of the largest gaps
in recorded repertoire together with those of Stanley Bate and Erland von Koch.

[erato]

OK. I'll adjust my post; someone should shove Colin's letter down their throats while spanking them. :-\