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SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63. Symphony No. 5 in E flat,
Op. 82. The Swan of Tuonela, Op. 22 No. 2. Finlandia, Op. 26. VERDI: Un ballo en maschera STOKOWSKI - THE ACOUSTIC RECORDINGS - Volume One STRAUSS: Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40. STRAUSS-DORATI: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier TCHAIKOVSKY-GOULD: The Months, Op. 37a. GOULD: Family
Album. Tap Dance
Concerto (with Danny Daniels, dancer). TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. Serenade
for Strings, Op. 48 (mvts. 2 & 4) Capriccio Italien, Op. 45 DELIUS: On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring. Summer Night
on the River. Intermezzo and Serenade from Hassan.Caprice for Cello
and Orcherstra.
Elegy for Cello and Orchestra. Prelude to Irmelin. (Paul Shure, violin/Eleanor
Aller, cello). SAINT-SAËNS: Carnival of the Animals (Victor Aller/Harry
Sukman, pianos). IBERT: Divertissemnent MOZART: Divertimento No. 15 in B flat,m K. 287. STRAVINSKY: Le sacre
du printemps Here's a fascinating group of new releases from the innovative—and important—Pristine Audio label. Eugene Ormandy specialized in music of Sibelius. These mono recordings were made November 28, 1954 (Symphony 4), December 19, 1954 (Symphony No. 5), and April 2, 1950. All of these are famous performances and collectors will welcome these fine reissues from the collection of Edward Johnson XR remastered by Andrew Rose. They sound remarkably good, although the cymbals in Finlandia are outrageously over-miked. Many years ago I owned the Columbia 10" LP (2158) that contained Swan and Finlandia—it's great to hear them again. Arturo Toscanini's January 1954 Carnegie Hall performance of Verdi's Un ballo en maschera also is famous. Orchestral playing is razor-sharp and the conductor's brisk tempi do not allow singers to luxuriate in their roles. Herva Nelli is not the ideal Amelia, nor is Jan Peerce as Riccardo. Still, this is a performance to treasure led by a conductor who had a close association with Verdi, who was a close friend of his. We also have the first volume in a projected series of Leopold Stokowski's acoustic recordings, again from the Johnson collection, XR remastering by Andrew Rose. Most are short works with the exception of the overture to Tannhäuser presented in its entirety as it took three 78 rpm sides. These are acoustic recordings and sound like it, but welcome as examples of the art of a conductor who for his entire life was a pioneer in the recording industry. We also have the opportunity to hear once again Antal Doráti's famous 1953 recording of Strauss's Ein Heldenleben. It was a high fidelity showpiece for its time although by today's standards it doesn't amount to much sonically—the sound is very clear, but dry as a bone, rich Straussian orchestral sonorities are not heard, and there is a definite lack of low bass. Also we have Doráti's first recording of his arrangement of a suite from Der Rosenkavalier, a work he would record twice later, with the Minneapolis Symphony (1955) and Detroit Symphony (1983). This recording was made July 8, 1950 in an unidentified site in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Orchestra which for contractual reasons was called the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra. This is one of the least interesting Pristine Audio releases. The Morton Gould (1913-1996) issue restores to the catalog very rare recordings of the American composer/conductor. The major work is Gould's arrangement of Tchaikovsky's The Months for piano and orchestra—and one wonders why he bothered—it originally was written for piano and the composer later arranged it for orchestra. Gould's arrangement (and performance) doesn't improve on either. The recording was made in December 1951 with a pick-up orchestra in New York, issued on Columbia ML 4487. The other works are of more interest, both recorded with the Rochester "Pops" Orchestra January 19, 1953. Family Album is a suite of five short movements with descriptive titles (Outing in the Park, Porch Swing on a Summer Evening, Nickelodeon, Old Romance, Horseless Carriage Gallop), The Tap Dance Concerto is an oddity indeed, and a delight. Danny Daniel's is the soloist in this four movement work (Toccata, Pantomime, Minuet Rondo), and both of these were issued on a Columbia 10" LP (ML 2215). There is a modern stereo recording of this that has state-of-the-art sound (REVIEW). Audio on the Pristine issue is excellent mono. German conductor Leo Blech (1871-1958) was a respected conductor, particularly in Berlin opera houses. He made many recordings often as accompanist (including three concertos with Fritz Kreisler). Pristine here offers his Tchaikovsky recordings with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra. All of the works are cut, particularly Capriccio italian (rec. May 23, 1928) which is cut to fit onto just two 78 rpm sides, and the finale of the Serenade is cut to fit onto just one side. There are several cuts in the finale of Symphony No. 5. These are excellent performances that had to compete with Mengelberg's 1928 Concertgebouw recording. Mark Obert-Thorn made these superb transfers and also wrote CD notes. Felix Slatkin (Dec. 22, 1915-Febrtuary 8, 1963) had a respected career as a solo violinist and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet. He studied conducting with Fritz Reiner and led many performances in the Hollywood Bowl. Slatkin made numerous recordings for Capitol Records, and now we can hear some of them. A Delius collection (Capitol P 8182) (recorded September 8-11,1952) includes Caprice for Cello and Orchestra, in which his wife, Eleanor Aller (mother of Leonard Slatkin) is soloist. The contents of Capitol P 8270 are also included on this CD: Carnival of the Animals (recorded April 11, 1954) and Divertissement (recorded November 23, 1953). Excellent performances, but of limited historic interest for most collectors. These recordings just missed the stereo era; the mono sound is fine. Herbert von Karajan first conducted Le sacre du printemps in Berlin in 1963 and recorded it with the Philharmonic in 1964. Stravinsky, who made his recording of it the same year, referred to Karajan's as "a pet savage rather than a real one," and there is no question that, no matter how well played, Karajan's was a subdued affair. Thanks to Testament, we now have a live performance with Karajan/BPO from a concert in Royal Festival Hall May 15, 1972 (Mozart's Divertimento No. 15 which opened the concert also is included). Again, this is a tame Rite, with the BPO in top form, but I imagine most collectors, should they be interested in Karajan's take on the Rite, would be content with Karajan's DG release which is now available at budget price. Although Testament states their release is stereo, it doesn't sound like it. This is a full-price release. R.E.B. (October 2009)
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