From: pnm@stein.u.washington.edu (John Rahn)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: Re: Karlheinz
Summary: review of 4 CDs
Date: 6 Oct 92 03:47:09 GMT
Followup-To: rec.music.classical
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle


In article <BvGDo4.D4A@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> ujwb@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Jeff Beer) writes:
>In article <1992Oct1.163919.8990@netcom.com> rchrd@netcom.com (Richard Friedman) writes:
>>I dont think you will find the Stockhausen Verlag CDs in stores.
>>As far as I know they are only available by mail order directly
>>from SV (Kettenberg 15, 5067 Kurten, Germany)
>>
>>The prices fo the CD's range from 26DM to 120DM for the 5cd set
>>of MONTAG uas LICHT.  Thats about $22/CD at the current
>>exchange rate.
>

Yes, indeed, this is expensive.  But look out for price jumps at your
local record store on all German recordings, as the dollar is extremely
weak against the Mark at the moment.

>
>>You can write to the aabove address and request a catalog and
>>mail order information.
>
>What about the distributor that has taken up companies like Disques
>Montaigne?  Does anyone know if they do Verlag?

No, Stockhausen prefers at this point in time to do his own distribution.
This is of course somewhat inconvenient from the customer's point of
view, but at least you can be sure that these recordings will remain
available.  Some of the DG LPs were available for less than six months before
going out of print!

>Does this Germany source ship to U.S?

If you mean the Stockhausen Verlag, yes, of course.

>Has anyone from U.S. ordered these?

Yes, I have received one order, of four volumes of the series.

>How long does it take??

About three weeks.

>
>sorry about all the questions....
>

Not at all.  The four volumes I have are :

   (3) The early electronic music
   (16) Mantra for two pianists
   (21) Ylem (two versions)
   (28) Music for flute (2 CDs)

The electronic music album contains Kontakte (tape-alone version),
Gesang der Juenglinge, the two Electronic Studies, and the Konkrete
Etuede.  The latter has never before been available, being a student
work once thought lost.  It is a very modest effort compared to the
later music, but of historical interest.  The Studies also have scarcely
been available before, issued only on a ten-inch monaural LP by DG in the
late fifties, long out-of-print.  They, too, do not match the later pieces,
but the jump in artistic quality between no. 1 and no. 2 is astonishing,
and presages what comes next with Gesang.  Someone asked about the total
timing of this disc: it's about 65 mins. total.  There is also a 184-page
booklet with explanatory texts, diagrams and photographs.  The text is
in German and English.  This booklet is the reason that this volume is
priced at DM 39.00, rather than the usual DM 26.00 per disc.

The Mantra disc is a reissue of the old DG recording with the Kontarskys.
The timing of this disc is 65:30, which was a tight squeeze on the former
LP release.  An A/B comparison shows a marvellous improvement in the
new mastering, with softer passages particularly gaining in transparency.
I found it difficult at first to believe it was really the same recording,
which I have treasured since acquiring in 1972.  It compares very
favourably with the recent New Albion recording (Yvar Mikashoff & Rosalind
Bevan, pianos; Ole Orsted, electronics. NA025 CD), especially in the
technical (recording) department.  The new recording is miked much more
distantly, resulting in a slightly blurred quality--evident right from
the opening crack of the woodblock.  The Kontarskys' performance is a
bit quicker (four minutes shorter overall), emphasizing the energetic,
while the Mikashoff/Bevan brings out the more contemplative side of the
piece.  However, I find that the recorded sound of the older version also
creates an impression of wider dynamic range, and hence of greater contrast,
which suits the piece better.

Ylem, while not one of my favorite pieces, is interesting to hear in two
different performances (the old DG LP had one of these only).

The Music for Flute album includes In Freundschaft, Amour, and the various
solo-flute pieces from Licht: Piccolo, Susanis Echo, Xi, Zungenspitzentanz,
Ypsilon, and the electronic version of Kathinkas Gesang.  There is also a
spectacular piece called Flautina, derived from the Licht superformula
but not apparently part of the opera cycle proper.  The performances by
Kathinka Pasveer are outstanding, and again for those worried about time-
for-money, the discs clock in at 63:30 and 59:05.  The text booklet is
88 pages and includes color photographs of the performer and the composer.

Sound quality on all of these discs is high--always taking into account
the source material.  The Konkrete Etuede, for example, was produced in
1952, and there are limits to what can be done to improve the original
sound.  Gesang der Juenglinge was originally produced in five channels,
and then mixed down to four.  Anyone who has heard this in the four-
channel version is bound to find any stereo mixdown congested by
comparison.  Ditto for Kontakte.  But these were all completely remastered
by the composer for this series, and sound so much better on CD than they
ever did on LP, due to the inevitable surface noise of the latter medium.

Jerry Kohl
pnm@u.washington.edu
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical