Of course there is also Leo Fall who was one of the big four,which also includes Oscar Straus (best remembered the UK and the US for 'The Chocolate Soldier') who Richard Traubner and Kurt Ganzl rate on the same level as Kalman and Lehar. I think they're right. Not once during the era of vinyl did Fall's lovely,tuneful,delightfully scored operettas garner a 'complete' recording from any one of the big record labels! Something which Kurt Ganzl (an expert,very possibly/probably the leading expert on musical theatre and a mate of our friend albion)regards as astonishing). Allot of the neglect has been blamed on his early death. No composer to write or promote scores and you get forgotten!).

Thankfully,there is now a big revival in German speaking lands of the genre. Cpo have been recording Fall's operettas and even lesser figures who once composed hits (like Fred!) are getting hearings! I prefer the old highlights cds taken from various 60s and 70s Lps available on Kaiserlische Operette & emi and the 'complete' 50s broadcast recordings,made for German radio (with dialogue) which were released on cd by Membran & Cantus-line some years ago. Most of them sound remarkably good for the era because their radio stations used high quality tape. If they had started using stereo then they might very well be recommendable as a first choice. Some of them even sound better than the famous operetta recordings with Schwarzkopf made in the 50s with Otto Ackermann for emi,which always sounded a little boxy for the era. If only the same team had been able to record Kalman and Leo Fall as well! If you must have modern sound cpo have released recordings of several Leo Fall operettas. I'm always grumbling about some of the more contemporary recordings,but isn't it great that these operettas are being performed and recorded?!  For your money you get booklet notes about the operetta & composer (albeit you might have to decipher some of their infamous translations & essays) and you get to hear Fall's orchestrations in modern digital stereo sound. Reviews of the various releases vary,but the recording of Fall's lovely & very tuneful Der Fidele Bauer (for example) is pretty good! The singing & playing on the old 50s broadcast recording is undoubtedly superior and there is no doubt Franz Marszalek who specialised in this repertoire has more of a feel for the music (like say,Boskovsky for Strauss) and the recording sounds amazingly good for it's age. On the other hand the Cantus & Membran sets are all deleted & you have to look for one at a sensible price! Better still....like me,buy both! I would certainly buy more of the cpo recordings if I had the spare dosh (I found the Der Fidele Bauer for around a fiver!) Also,the interest generated by the recent operetta revival and all these new stage productions (in german speaking countries! Alas,not here yet!) and recordings might lead to even better recordings?!

I should also give a mention to Oscar Straus' Ein Walzertraum. One of the great classics of the so-called silver age and one of the most tuneful and romantic scores of the so-called silver age. The emi laserlite reissue of the original emi-electrola recording includes virtually all the music on the original release without the dialogue which some might find repetive or even annoying and the starrily cast 70s emi-electrola recording is superb! (The cd reissue of the original 2 Lp with the dialogue is virtually impossible to find at an affordable price anyway!).

Below a link to the Operetta Research Center. A must visit site for operetta enthusiasts! Full of reviews and articles about operettas.......and not just German & Austrian (Offenbach & Sullivan,Zarzuela et al):

http://operetta-research-center.org/ 

As I was finishing that post I couldn't help thinking of some occult tomes I'd rather not mention here,being a polite person! But if you suffer from constipation you're undoubtedly going to be glad of some!!

Playing now!

Kaiserliche Operette: Leon Jessel:Schwarzwaldmädel,Paul Abraham: Die Blume von Hawaii,Fred Raymond:Maske in Blau  Highlights with Erika Koth,Heinz Hoppe,Sari Barabas among others 



A cd of highlights from operettas culled from 1960's Lp recordings. The cd begins with some cheerful escapism from a man who later ended up being arrested,tortured and killed by the gestapo! Leon Jessel (1871-1942). Best remembered for his very cheerful and tuneful operetta,Schwarzwaldmädel (Black Forest Girl) the music of which is lovely,but always brings to mind images of butt slapping and lederhosen. Not that there's anything wrong with that of course! It sounds fun and might even help keep me from freezing to death in this very cold room!!

I don't think there has ever been a recording of the jazz operettas of Paul Abraham (1892-1960) which has ever successfully captured their appeal and idiom. The highlights here are performed with some gusto however and are among the better ones I've heard of this composer,whose operettas are currently enjoying a revival in German speaking countries.

The cd ends with highlights from Maske in Blau by Fred Raymond (1900-1954). Another operetta currently enjoying an,apparently,big revival in Germany. An escapist romance that ends up in Argentina,popular in Nazi Germany and a favourite of some of their political leaders;although they didn't enjoy the escapism so much later!! A tuneful and I might say,delightfully kitsch score,predictably filled with latin american dance influences and rhythms (tango anybody?!). Not exactly deep or subtle,but it's fun and tuneful. I like the score myself. There are extended highlights on an old eurodisc cd (from an lp) and better still,a complete recording from an old 1950s German radio broadcast (with dialogue & in very good mono sound) was released on the Membran label some years ago (also Cantus-Classics). The Amsterdam Operetta Research Center moan about the authenticity of the orchestrations,but it could be worse,there aren't exactly many options and the singing on the old 1950s broadcast is good and  performed with similar gusto (albeit a step lower) to the Abraham pieces on the Kaiserliche cd.
 
Or you could always try and catch a staged performance (I don't have a passport though!   )

http://operetta-research-center.org/maske-blau-baden-uli-scherbel-tap-dancing-hero/

I can see queues forming here!

       

   

From left to right: Leon,Paul & Fred!

And I'm off upstairs before I die from hypothermia (it's very cold in this room!) and join Leon,Paul & Fred!! Is it cold where are you Lionel? (Hopefully nice & warm inside!

I must admit to waking up this morning thinking that Rubinstein post might be a slight case of " a rush of blood to the head"! Who was it he described Rubinstein 4 as promising great things and all that comes out is a rather large mouse! I think there are greater Piano Concertos but (there are!) but I quite like the big mouse I'm hearing! (For some reason this reminds me of a rather funny  old Tom & Jerry cartoon where Tom mistakes a kangaroo for a large mouse!) I did notice while checking some points before posting that Oscar Levant recorded the Fourth and thinking I wouldn't mind hearing that! My cbs cd of his performances of Gershwin are one of my favourites Gershwin cds and I must get around to listening to his performance of the Khachaturian which I have on a cd somewhere. I have always been a bit of a fan of Khachaturian and I always get a bit annoyed when his music is dismissed as facile. I actually find some of his best music quite moving and imbued,no doubt,with the tragic history his people eg the slow movements of his Concerti and some of the more contemplative portions of Gayaneh. At his best he is also a brilliant master of technicolor and often downright thrilling orchestration (much of Gayaneh and parts of Spartacus which,admittedly,has some longeurs and needs a firm hand on the baton!) and a dab hand at catchy tunes. Anyway,I digress! (As usual!)

NB: I listened to that cd of Piano Sonatas again and they are a nice listen,imo. Particularly that second movement of No 4! No doubt,not shattering masterpieces but a nice listen! (Phew! )

NB2: Still haven't got round to listening to that 2 cd set of Bruckner 5 I bought! (Now that was a rush of blood to the head! )

NB3: I wish that bloke in the (on site) ad would finish swigging his olive oil!

George Lloyd: Symphonies 2 & 9  BBCPO / George Lloyd      Albany

]

Better than Bruckner,eh! The Second Symphony is one of George Lloyd's earlier efforts,but it's quite ambitious in scope and not without depth (one of his best slow movements,imo). Both symphonies are a showcase for his brilliant flare for scoring. What a talent!

NB: While I was using up some of what's left of my lifespan trying to crack Bruckner I noticed a cheap s/h copy of Karajan's recording of Bruckner's Fifth paired with No 1. It arrived today. The cheap price reflected in the shattered case (no problem I have piles of empty cases). I see yet another cathedral in sound opening up before me! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!!!

I've had Bruckner 7 on rotation for a few hours now and it's all  starting to make sense to me! Count me up as a Brucknerian,Lionel!

symphonyIf you collated together all those nice bits of the Bruckner Symphonies you cite, there might almost be enough material for once decent ny. Then again, there might not! I don't recall hearing Richard Wetz's Symphonies but I have to say that his Violin Concerto is pleasant enough:



I agree with you about Ruth Gipps; it is a pity that she didn't live to see the resurgence of interest in her works but that's sadly true of a number of composers, I guess. The pendulum of taste needs time to swing back I suppose.

Enjoy your Voodoo Tales! As Nick Ross used to say (at the end of Crimewatch) "Don't have nightmares." I have no hair to turn white and my beard is already the colour of Santa Claus's!

A build your own Bruckner symphony kit!   I could have another go at Wetz at some point?
I seem to remember this was quite nice. I've got it on a cdr or a hard drive somewhere. I'll have to get around to another listen at some point.

I came across this old review (link below!) of Brabbins Prom performance of Brian's Gothic Symphony. Arguably the most notorious piece of music ever written by a British composer in terms of the sheer size of the piece,it's performance history and the controversy that has always surrounded it (Is it the product of a self taught megalomaniac who didn't know a stave from his arse or up there with the greatest 20th century masterpieces? Or,erm,just a nice listen?!! ). Mr Nice's (or should be if you're a Brianite? Mr Nasty?! ) review is decidedly not of the latter viewpoint! That said,I found the slew of comments and David Nice's response to them a fascinating snapshot of the wildly contrasting views on this record beating choral orchestral symphonic block-buster! One of them from Jeffrey Davis (otherwise known as vandermolen) who posts at the GMG and has done so here in the past. I must say I just love the catty suggestion from one respondent to Nice (tenth post down!) to bring the latest copy of The Beano or Dandy upon his next visit to a Prom concert! (" so that you have something to read during the interval that equates with your level") and Nice's robust response! Hilarious! A duel to the death with rolled up comic (and Gramophone magazine,perhaps?). Great stuff!

https://theartsdesk.com/classical-music/bbc-proms-havergal-brians-gothic-symphony-bbc-concert-orchestra-bbcnow-brabbins

"At your next visit to the Proms remember to bring with you your latest copy of the Dandy or Beano so that you have something to read during the interval that equates with your level".

And what do I think?! Well,I wasn't there that night,but as a one time member of the Havergal Brian Society (a long time ago now) and having heard allot of Brian (not Monty!) in my time, I don't really like to say after reading that! If it comes to the crunch I'll be ready with a rolled up copy of Shiver and Shake (long defunct,but my favourite,if I had to pick just one!). I'll have to buy a s/h copy on  ebay first though!!

 

I can certainly agree that Bruckner could be consigned to the outer darkness. I like the two comments Brahms made about Bruckner's symphonies, both of which hit the nail on the head for me: he described them as "symphonic boa constrictors" and later said that they were "like a kind of watery stew, in which the occasional piece of gristle floats past". He did admire Bruckner's seriousness of purpose, apparently, just not the resulting music!

I think I've read the description of the of them as "symphonic boa constrictors",but not the comparison with watery stew and gristle! A bit like the watery cawl an old friend of my sister 'treated us' to when she visited us,when we were staying at our late father's house a while ago. The gristle was like knicker elastic & after trying desperately to cut it into edible portions while tryng to look as if I was enjoying it (they are nice people) I decided the best bet was to swig  it down whole with my glass of water. It was a big lump of gristle too!!  Maybe Bruckner symphonies are a bit like that bowl of cawl? (She left a big saucepan full just in case we were eager to gulp down some more!)

I haven't completely made up my mind about Bruckner! The last time I played one I didn't play another one for a long while and the eighth does seem to be in pretty much the same vein as the seventh,but without the tune and  around 84 mins against the seventh's 64 (on my Karajan cds). They do seem to go through similar routines. Mysterious,hushed openings followed by solemn string murmurins culminating   (after a few minutes) in a colossal thundering,speaker rocking climax. This then falls away into yet more grave string murmurings which seem to continue for a few moments only to be interrupted by yet another thunderous,speaker rocking climax! And so on! The only one that really sounds a bit different to my ears is the Ninth. That pounding in the fast movement which sounds wierdly,to my ears,like a demented take on Mars from Holst's future suite! Also,Bruckner seems determined to make his trademark thunderous climaxes even more ear pulverising than the ones in the preceding symphonies! 
I can remember playing Karajan's recordings on Lps borrowed from the local library when I was young. I was living in a bedsit and not as considerate as I am now! I used to play my record player full blast with the bass on full throttle. The girl in the bedsit at the end of the landing used to hurl shoes at my door and I can't help feeling that she was as unappreciative of Bruckner's 'genius' as you are?!! And yet,over at the GMG Forum there are people who have multiple cycles of Bruckner symphonies or even (i believe) every one!
I can't help at this point,but think of an admittedly much later and wholly dissimilar composer like Roy Harris who seems to be regularly damned for composing the same symphony over and over again. Yet,I find a good deal of variety in his music. If American finest orchestras were to spend a bit more time playing their own music composers of the stature of Harris might even get performances of the standard their output demands. I am digressing here (wildly)  though!