DG's new CD-pluscore series could well be something of a marketing breakthrough - if not for the average classical CD consumer, then almost certainly for music students and amateur music makers. Interactive audio CDs are not new of course, but quite often their features, once explored, are rarely used by the consumer again. CD-pluscore, however, has genuine interactivity coupled with functionality and real value for money. For those with even a modest home computer set-up each CD in the series boasts the ability to follow the score simultaneously on screen with the recorded music, to playback MIDI files of each piece on the CD, and (a real plus) the ability to edit and print out the scores of all the pieces presented on the disc.
For students the MIDI and score printout features will be of enormous value. Put simply, it means that MIDI files of all the pieces on the disc can be played back though a computer fitted with a suitable soundcard with the option to adjust tempo and volume as well as switch off the solo part, leaving just the accompaniment playing - the benefits for practice purposes are self-evident. In addition to these features each CD contains on-screen biographical details of both composers and artists plus accompanying photos and illustrations. Installation of the CD-ROM capabilities could not have been simpler, and I had the program up and going in just under a minute from inserting the CD in the CD-ROM drive.
So what about the purely audio aspects of this CD? Well, what we have here is little more than a compilation CD aimed at the more casual listener, demonstrating both the artistry of the performers and the repertoire of the flute. Extracts rather than complete works are the order of the day though we do get a complete Vivaldi concerto in a fine performance from Patrick Gallois. Other highlights include Stephen Preston's recording of Bach's Badinerie from the Second Orchestral Suite, the Adagio and Rondeau movements from Mozart's Flute Quartet, K285 played by Carol Wincenc, Beethoven's Variations on Schone Minka with Patrick Gallois and the first movement of Poulenc's Flute Sonata played by Wolfgang Schulz with James Levine accompanying. It's the CD-ROM features, however, that will be the main selling point here.
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