Classical Editor: Rob Barnett
 

Music Webmaster
Len Mullenger: Len@musicweb-international.com


AN ELOQUENCE SERIES from UNIVERSAL

For many years the bulk of budget classical discs were disdained by reviewers. I am not sure why this was (perhaps because review copies were not submitted?) but I do know that this deprived those on tight budgets of commentary on accessibly priced discs. For those for whom the budget was not an issue it was as if the sub-class of budget discs did not exist or should be shunned.

In the vinyl era bargain labels like Ace of Clubs, Classics for Pleasure, Turnabout, Contour and Eclipse were reviewed but drifts of LPs imported from Europe and the Eastern bloc were still studiously ignored. So it was that LPs sported by Woolworths, market stalls, supermarkets and garage forecourts with orchestras from Poland, Bulgaria and unfamiliarly named orchestras from the bigger cities remained the province of the curious, of students and, to use that Dickensian phrase, the impecunious.

With the appearance on the CD scene of Naxos, pitching their prices at £5 a disc, the majors began steadily to respond to market forces. The Panorama series and a host of predecessor 'twofer' marques plus single CD series such as the HMV shops' own label have well and truly affirmed the phenomenon of the budget price disc.

Now along comes Universal's Eloquence series. This draws on superb back catalogue material from the coffers of Decca, DG and Philips. On the evidence discs reviewed here Universal have chosen their material with much more consistent (if not perfect) acuity than has been the case with the Panorama series which has been good but mixed.


Reviews from previous months


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