Royal Long Players is the new reissue series from Dutch label Disky Communications. So far, it’s got off to a pretty shaky start, with some haphazard program-planning and a succession of pretty ramshackle back-burner offerings from some of the lesser-known back catalogs. There have been some notable “highs” though, and it may well prove that Royal has plenty of material in the works to satisfy discerning listeners who don’t want to pay the earth for quality performances, and who also don’t care much about poor presentation and lack of insert notes.
One of the finest Royal reissues I’ve heard to date restores several classic recordings by William Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony to general circulation. It’s a timely reminder, too, of just how effective this musical partnership could be; and indeed, we can hope that Disky also will manage to resurrect some of Steinberg’s adroit and stylish Haydn recordings. Steinberg’s accounts of Elgar’s Enigma Variations and the Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia occupy Disc 1. These are illuminating and powerful interpretations, and the individual variations of Enigma have been separately banded–not something you can automatically expect of a budget reissue. Disc 2 features French music, all of it by Ravel. Steinberg’s 1958 recordings of Boléro, La valse, and the Pavane pour une infante défunte are uniformly cultivated and sympathetic, and the remastered CD transfers are unexpectedly warm and atmospheric. Recommended, primarily to Steinberg devotees, none of whom should miss this.
