UO visiting the Cotswolds?

Oct 08, 2011

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It seems a long time since what might be called the glory days of Ulster Orchestra recording, when Bryden Thomson made a Harty series for Chandos, Vernon Handley did Stanford symphonies, and Yan–Pascal Tortelier taped Ravel and Debussy surveys for the same label. The record industry has changed dramatically for the worse since then, of course, with far fewer CDs being recorded nowadays. So when a little birdie told me recently that the UO might soon be setting up the microphones again, I was more than interested. I can reveal that the label involved is budget giant Naxos, and that up to three CDs a year might be made with new principal conductor JoAnn Falletta (who already records on Naxos with her Buffalo Philharmonic), depending on suitable repertoire being identified. Holst’s Cotswold Symphony, a real rarity on disc, with just one CD recording previously available (and now, it seems, deleted), is already slated for taping, and will be Falletta’s first CD with the orchestra. Let’s hope that it’s the first of many.