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Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

Title:	Welcome to the CD Notes Conference
Notice:	Welcome to COOKIE
Moderator:	COOKIE::ROLLOW

Created:	Mon Feb 17 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Mar 03 1989
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1517
Total number of notes:	13349

1326.0. "MIT Symphony Orchestra" by BAVIKI::GOOD (Michael Good) Thu Sep 15 1988 11:43

    Some people have contributed to a note in this file about what will
    never appear on CD.  I didn't contribute because I believe that given
    enough time, anything could appear on CD.  That was sort of an abstract
    belief until yesterday, when I found something that I really never
    expected to ever see on CD - an MIT Symphony Orchestra recording.
    
    Starting in the mid-1970's and continuing at least for 10 years,
    the MIT Symphony Orchestra made recordings that were released on
    a few different commercial labels, mostly Vox/Turnabout.  I was a
    trumpeter in the orchestra for most of these recordings.
    
    The Pantheon CD that I snatched up at Tower Records includes recordings
    of piano concertos by Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, and Howard Hanson.
    This is a good combination of romantic concertos by American composers.
    The Barber and Copland recordings were made with Abbott Ruskin as
    soloist, recorded around 1976 and released on Turnabout a couple years
    later.  The Hanson was recorded around 1981 with Eugene List as the
    soloist, but to my knowledge was not released before.  As far as I
    know, it is the only available recording of the Hanson concerto in any
    format.
    
    The ADD CD has been remastered.  I didn't get to listen to the entire
    recording last night, but my impression from what I did hear was that
    the sound was much better than on the LP's.
    
    Critical opinion of the MIT recordings was, shall we say, "mixed."
    I've never been sure what the commercial appeal of these recordings has
    been, except for the works that are first or only available recordings.
    But here one appears on CD.  It's a strange and wonderful world.

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1326.1	MIT? Your node name? Coincidence?	CADSE::MUDGETT		`Wed Nov 30 1988 10:36`	11
	This could be a wild coincidence or it could be by design..... Since you played in the MIT orchestra you may have heard of the music faculty member named John Bavicchi? I know he was there around '82, and I think he was (is?) the band conductor. He also composes. Is this related to your node name? Chris
1326.2	No Bavicchi on CD yet, unfortunately	BAVIKI::GOOD	Michael Good	`Wed Nov 30 1988 10:52`	20
	Bingo! You're the first person to guess that in however many years I've had this node name for my workstation. Of course "Bavicchi" doesn't fit into 6 characters, so I had to take some liberties. John Bavicchi is on the faculty of the Berklee School of Music. He is a very good friend of John Corley, the director of the MIT Concert Band. The band plays a lot of his music, including several pieces commissioned from him, and he accompanies the band on the winter tours. I played in the Band for a long time, for many years after graduation, up until a year ago. A few years ago some band members started a write-in campaign for John Bavicchi as MIT Undergraduate Association president... Unfortunately none of Bavicchi's music is available on CD, as far as I know. I just read a Fanfare review for another Pantheon CD of the MIT Symphony Orchestra - this time of viola concertos by Frank Martin and others. Those recordings were made after I left the orchestra, though.
1326.3	So Bavicchi isn't completely unknown	CADSE::MUDGETT		`Thu Dec 01 1988 12:35`	17
	Do I win a prize? Thanks for straightening me out on the details of who exactly Bavicchi is and his relationship to MIT. I know of him through another band, the Concord Band, which I've been a member of since the dark ages when I was in high school. For our 25th anniversary, which was around '82, we did an entire concert of new commissioned works, one by the famous Mr. B. He rehearsed and conducted it, as I recall. He also wrote us another piece more recently. His works aren't exactly easy - he thinks woodwind players can play about a million notes a minute...I know, I know, if I practiced hard enough.. I've gone completely blank on the title of either piece. Corley was guest conductor for us about a year ago. Is there a wind ensemble/band notes conference?
1326.4	We should discuss them in the CLASSICAL_MUSIC conference	BAVIKI::GOOD	Michael Good	`Tue Dec 06 1988 12:21`	3
	So I'll post a note there, as well as one here for band/wind ensemble CD's. I don't think there's quite enough interest to sustain a whole conference, though I could be wrong.