Re: GG: Images

[Jeremy Smith <jcs@grove.ufl.EDU>]

No Scarlatti? On the "Images" CD I bought in the US, there *is* a (short)
Scarlatti piece. Hmmmm. One thing I noticed is that the version of
"Italian Concerto" on the "Images" CD sounds *worse* than the version I
have on the "Bach Recital" Masterworks cheapie. I'm not sure if it's the
SBM or what (I know not about such things), but the "Images" version
sounds muffled and distant, while the masterworks has little to complain
about, save a little hiss. I didn't even know that it was one of GG's
early recordings until the poor sound on "Images" prompted me to check the
date.

Another Sony masterpiece!



On Sun, 2 Mar 1997, Alun Severn wrote:

> Dear All,
> 
> An afternoon spent shopping for books with my youngest daughter; always a
> long but enjoyable job. And now, at 8.20pm, the WAM complete piano trios
> with Pressler (piano), Guilet (vln) and Greenhouse (cello), on a Philips
> Duo. Not *great* music but rather lovely, and, playing quietly on 'phones,
> a superbly realistic and intimate sound as I write this.
> 
> In HMV this afternoon I finally got to see the Gould two CD set IMAGES
> which Sony has now released in the UK through some special deal with HMV to
> give them exclusive rights. There's no doubt that at L12.99 it's excellent
> value -- I believe that originally it was retailing at around 30 dollars --
> but nonetheless disappointing. The much proclaimed "35 page booklet" is one
> of these dreadful little stapled-into-a-cardboard-packaging-sleeve affairs,
> a bodge of clever-clever typefaces and not very startling photos. The first
> disc -- "Bach" -- is a collection of very short extracts, of which I have
> the complete versions of everything except the Italian Conc. There's about
> 6/7 mins of that on this disc. The second disc -- "Non-Bach" -- is a
> similar collection of, er, non-Bach works: Scriabin, Gibbons, Brahms,
> Mozart, Haydn and so forth. No Scarlatti; a superb Gibbons, but taken from
> the "Consort of Musicke" disc which I bought recently. So, taken all in
> all, I decided to save my money.
> 
> The whole thing slips inside a pretty ordinary clear plastic wallet.
> Frankly, given that it has a "special collector's item" sticker on it, I
> thought it was pretty much a rip-off, and Sony went down another notch in
> my estimation. If they really wanted to provide eager, keen, loyal GG fans
> with a genuine collector's item, they could have done so much better.
> Anybody out there really *like* Images?
> 
> Best,  Alun
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> ALUN SEVERN        *  Snailmail              1 Chestnut Rd  Oldbury
>                                         W.Midlands  B68 0AX England
>                    *  Tel                      + 44 (0)121 422 9509
>                    *  Fax                      + 44 (0)121 643 0661
>                    *  Email                  alun@ukiah.demon.co.uk
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> "Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and
>                 entertainment without moral passion is television."
>                                                    - Rita Mae Brown
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
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