Negative Positive
Title: Repackaged Musik
Review: After praising DG/Universal for their new "Musik...Sprache der Welt" series in a recent review, I must now criticize them for once again repackaging previously released, widely available product. These accounts of Schubert's 3rd and 4th Symphonies performed by conductor Igor Markevitch leading the Berlin Philharmonic are truly remarkable. However, these late mono recordings are already featured on CD -- the 3rd was just included in Markevitch's "Original Masters" box set and the 4th has been in print for years paired with two Berwald Symphonies on a DG Originals disc (see my reviews of both titles). In fairness, the latter is being phased out and becoming harder to find, but there is no excuse for the former as it was just released in 2003. Overall, the "Musik...Sprache der Welt" series offers great music at a great price, but surely there are rarer gems than these hidden in the DG vaults.
Is the review positive or negative? 