Artur Rodzinski and the Pathetique

A few weeks back,  I offered Dean Dixon conducting Tchaikovsky's Pathetique. That version is a fine performance but admittedly falls short to the absolute splendid take here under Artur Rodzinski. From a "Columbia Special Products" release, this performance is simply one of the finest, if not the finest, interpretations of this over recorded classic that I know of. It is too, a rather melancholy reminder of what should have been and, alas, what did not become of Artur Rodzinski as his career in the United States was self destructing on account of his severe personality disorder.

No doubt that Artur Rodzinski was a man of considerable gifts and high expectations. Respected by Toscanini and Stokowski for his supreme orchestral training skills and infallable ear, Rodzinski during the mid 1930's through the mid 40's acquired a reputation as one of the most brilliant orchestral leaders anywhere. Within a short period of time, he took a provincial Cleveland ensemble and raised its standards to close to the very best. George Szell would dispute that last statement but the proof exists in the excellent recordings that came out of Cleveland during Rodzinski's tenure.

From Cleveland, Rodzinski moved to the dangerous waters of New York to head the Philharmonic Symphony. This was the beginning of his psychological meltdown though moments of brilliance were captured, like this Pathetique. Recorded in 1947, shortly before Rodzinski fled to Chicago, the PSONY play like men possessed. Detail, phrasing, sense of "line" are magnificent. This is a Pathetique for the ages, much like I would say of Mravinsky's anguished, and rather polar opposite, 1960 recording. Rodzinski's entirely unemotional approach works superbly.

If Rodzinski had been able to maintain focus, his career would not have shattered, only to resurrect late in life as he approached his end on earth. No, he most likely would have assumed the mantle of the leading orchestral conductor in the US, probably succeeding Toscanini as a household name. Well...speculation I know but what if?

DOWNLOAD

Bach's Musical Offering in the Vuataz edition - Hermann Schechen conducting

I'm going to say very little here. Scherchen, Bach, you either love it or hate it. Simple as that.

I was most fortunate to locate this Musical Offering, recorded in 1951, this past week - it was in the plastic sleeve without jacket, located on the bottom of a pile of junk records. And! Surprise, surprise! the lp turned out to be in a splendid condition. This recording features 9 members of the Vienna Symphony in Scherchen's second take on Bach's highly original, at least I think so, work. This is the Roger Vuataz edition; Scherchen would call upon Vuataz's edition of the Art of the Fugue at a later date.

For this recording, Scherchen dispensed with a fuller string complement and opted for a minimalist approach, really the first of its kind. By adopting this approach, Bach's lines and textures are cleanly presented  and the listener is able to clearly hear the beauty of the polyphonic writing. The results are striking and for my hears, immensely pleasurable.

As a filler, I have included the Brandenburg Concerto No 5 from Karl Haas' traversal of the cycle for Westminster. Unfortunately, I possess only 3, 4 and 5. At some point, I would like to be able to present the integral set.  As for the fifth concerto, it is extremely well done by forces that are not much bigger then Scherchen's chamber ensemble. Again, detail is laid bare and as with the Scherchen, the recording by Westminster is very well done for its day, most excellent monophonic results.

Rather pleasant listening for a Sunday..at least until the Patriots - Bills game commences!

DOWNLOAD

Sir Adrian Boult and Berlioz

Here's another of those Westminster Gold reissues, this time Sir Adrian Boult and the "Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra" in Berlioz. This lp features some familiar, Beatrice and Benedict and Rob Roy with some not so often heard, Les francs-juges and King Lear.

Boult really scores a home run here. I don't think that Boult is one person that comes to mind as a conductor of Berlioz but based on this 50 minutes, he demonstrates a firm grasp and understanding of Berlioz's sound world. The PPO, really the LPO, plays extremely well with precision and flair and this record proves to be one of the better Berlioz recordings to come across my plate in quite a while.

Regarding Boult: only within the last year or so have I come to fully appreciate the art of Sir Adrian Boult. I find that Boult's records are, for the most part, consistently well prepared, intelligently interpreted, and scrupulously performed. In other words, buying Boult is a pretty good bet that you will get your money's worth and that a composer's intentions will be realized honestly and professionally. What is a shame is that for many today, Boult is pegged as a specialist in English composers when in reality, his record speaks strongly that he was persuasive in many idioms, styles, and genres.

Enjoy these mono FLACs of Boult and Berlioz!


DOWNLOAD

John Ogdon plays Nielsen

My friend Maready at Avant que j'oublie just posted an unusual, but vital, offering of John Ogdon performing Messiaen and I happened to have this disc of Nielsen transferred from a while back. What a pleasant coincidence, don't you think?

Ogdon was one of the most gifted and brilliant pianists of the 20th century along with being one of the most highly erratic and unpredictable ones too. At his finest, his interpretations were probing, highly intellectual and magnificently crafted; the other side of the coin featured pedestrian, mannered and bored accounts that left the listener scratching his or her head, "why?"

Fortunately here, Ogdon is magnificent. No less then Robert Simpson exalted Ogdon's renderings of these works as being at the highest level. Though we do not think of Nielsen as a writer for the piano, in Ogdon's hands, a strong case is made for Nielsen as the composer for solo instrument. It's fine fare and much too bad that others have not made works such as Symphonic Suite a part of their repertoire.

I hope that you find enjoyment in this lp and Maready's Messiaen offering. Marvelous remembrances of an artist who had the ability to make neglected, or obscure, music come to life with dazzling results.

DOWNLOAD

A Composer's arrangements of other composers

I always enjoy listening to and experiencing what one composer does with another composer's work. Often times, the results have the listener hearing a whole new angle on a piece that they thought they knew inside and out. Perhaps the greatest example of this type of transcription is Ravel's brilliant work with Mussorgsky's equally brilliant piano masterpiece "Pictures at an Exhibition."

I offer the contents of two lps, one led by Vladimir Golschmann and the other by probably the best "resident" conductor of the last century (at least in the US), Louis Lane. The first recording in stereo features Lane conducting "The Good Humored Ladies" and "The Wise Virgin"; this is music based on Domenico Scarlatti and J S Bach.  Lane leads strong performances where the musicians sound like they are enjoying themselves immensely. One would think that Lane probably came as a welcome alternative to the hardriving Szell, at least for these players in Cleveland.

The mono Golschmann lp is, in my opinion, of extreme interest for it features Golschmann's own arrangements of Chopin piano pieces. These little gems are marvelously orchestrated and are a fond reminder of the"complete" musician that Golschmann was. It's rather too bad that they are all but forgotten since they would make terrific encores or selections in a "pops" program. The second side of the Golschmann disc showcases a delicious Rossiniana.

Nice, lighter fare here available in FLAC format.

DOWNLOAD LANE

DOWNLOAD GOLSCHMANN

Sondra Bianca performs Mozart

By numerous requests, I have remastered the MGM white jacket lp I have of Sondra Bianca performing Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 11 and 20 with Hans Jurgen Walther leading the Pro Musica Orchestra of Hamburg. The picture above shows Bianca with her back to the camera and on the podium is the VERY young wunderkind, Lorin Maazel. By the looks of it, Bianca is quite young too. Probably mid 1940's?

These are really very fine performances of Mozart by the rather elusive Bianca. Not much is written about her since she pretty much retreated from the concert hall and recording studio at a relatively early age. It seems that she turned to teaching however, I can find no reference to any students of hers. I've heard her in Mozart and Liszt and what I can say is that she had exemplary technique and a command of her repertoire. Why Ms Bianca retreated from a prestigious career is anyone's guess. But, what we have here is wonderful Mozart played with mature insight and sensitivity. I guess that about sums it up.

DOWNLOAD

Kjell Baekkelund plays Grieg and Dean Dixon conducts Tchaikovsky

A couple more transfers for requests that were made sometime ago. Man oh man, I'm starting to develop quite a backlog!

First off, we have the Grieg piano concerto played by the very, very fne pianist Kjell Baekkelund. This release was part of the series of recording made in Oslo for RCA and released on Camden, Victrola and licensed to the National Recording Society for distribution through non traditional channels like supermarkets and drug stores. This particular recording is led with great authority by Odd Gruner-Hegge, a Grieg interpreter whose only peer was probably Beecham and maybe Barbirolli. The Grieg is one of the most glorious of war horses and is often over played to the point of auto pilot play but, in this instance, pianist and conductor bring a certain freshness to the score while the latter takes pains to point out superb orchestral detail. For my money, this is one of the better Grieg's out there.

The "symphony" part of the program features a conductor who I've long taken a special interest in, namely Dean Dixon. Tchaikovsky's Pathetique symphony is given a very broad reading, actually rather expansive, and as typical with Dixon, there are no mannerisms and/or hidden emotions that are pulled way the hell out of whack. This conductor simply lets the music unfold naturally with minimal interference - with this particular symphony, this may or may not totally work for the listener. For a contrast of styles, I suggest a listener comparison of Mitropoulos v. Dixon! This Everest issue identifies the orchestra as the "Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra,"but declines to mention which "radio" orchestra. I've seen reference to the orchestra as being the Cologne or Hessian (Frankfurt am Main) and I'm inclined to say Hessian since Dixon was general music director there for a number of years. The orchestra has great discipline and it is obvious that this is far from being a run through. Whomever the orchestra is, the body of musicians play quite well with sensitivity and refinement.

I will be offering my take on Dixon's "Scottish" symphony of Mendelssohn shortly. reDiscovery offered it during the summer but it was not a transfer from the Nonesuch lp. It is a very, very romantic iterpretation and the contrast between it and the Boult (offered here on my blog) is beyond striking. In fact, it is rather mind blowing! But more on that later.

Both recording are stereo and available in FLAC format.

DOWNLOAD GRIEG

DOWNLOAD TCHAIKOVSKY (Link fixed)

A Concert at Tivoli - Music of Lumbye

By request, here is an entertaining record of music by the Danish "Johann Strauss," Hans Christian Lumbye. Played which zest and, with as much authenticity as you can imagine, the CopenhagenTivoli Concert Hall Orchestra under Svend Christian Felumb make a great case for the nearly forgotten Lumbye. Tuneful marches, elegant waltzes, dynamic polkas, why don't we hear more of Lumbye's music on a regular basis?

I have added, as a filler, Carl Nielsen's very early "Little Suite" played by the Tivoli Orchestra and conducted by Hungarian violinist/conductor Carl (Karoly) Garaguly. Garaguly was active for many years in the Scandinavian countries, presumably fleeing his own country during the communist years. He is noted for his advocacy of Nielsen and Gade.

These are monaural recordings, from Vox, with mid 60's recording dates, I would guess. FLAC's.

Put on your dancing shoes!


DOWNLOAD

Baroque Fanfares and Sonatas realized by Joshua Rifkin

A couple really fine Nonesuch dandies here for my respected colleague Don, the man we know as  "Sacqueboutier." Joshua Rifkin leads the finest brass players of London, c. 1972, in music of Biber and the early baroque. Yes, Philip Jones, John Iveson, John Wilbraham are here in all their glory!

The conductor/scholar/musicologist Rifkin is one of the leading proponents of period performance and practice in the world. His work, albeit controversial in some circles, has led musicians and public alike to look at perennial favorites in an entirely new light. I remember hearing Rifkin's take on Bach's B Minor Mass with one to a part and, well, being floored by the detail and supporting lines that were often buried in larger scale performances. Rifkin's way with his wide repertoire of music from the middle ages through the classical period is most always characterized by freshness and vitality.

The baroque works by Speer and Pezel take me back to the days of playing through the Robert King Brass editions at summer music camp. Brass players remember the old Robert King catalog and his delightful, and inexpensive, arrangements of music from the renaissance and baroque, al scored for modern brass instruments. I lived in the town over from King's business and would often go by for a purchase or two. King's business was almost exclusively mail since it was located in a large basement area beneath a barber shop with no signage on the building!  One of my most vivid memories of the place was the picture of Mr King with Maurice Andre, taken in the shop itself. Wow!

Stereo FLACS with notes included.

DOWNLOAD BAROQUE FANFARES

DOWNLOAD BIBER

Beethoven's Music to Egmont with Eduoard van Remoortel

I've long enjoyed Beethoven's music to the drama/play Egmont ever since I first heard a radio broadcast from Minnesota led by Neville Marriner, some, gosh, thirty years ago. We all know the wonderful, highly charged overture but the other numbers of the incidental score contain small gems and ideas that Beethoven would incorporate into such mega scores as the 9th symphony years years into the future. Beethoven was quite adept at "rehearsing" new thoughts before employing them full blown into the scores that would enshrine his name forever.

This Egmont, and the accompanying original version of Schumann' 4th symphony are led by Dutch conductor Eduoard van Remoortel. Previously, I had posted the conductor's take on Prokofiev with the St Louis SO where Remoortel served as a short term successor to Vladimir Golschmann's long, and I'd say, brilliant tenure of a quarter century. Remoortel was a highly regarded young maestro but he lacked tact and patience so by the time he left St Louis, he had pretty much done irreparable damage to a career that should have moved in the direction of his countryman Bernard Haitink's. Remoortel would spend his remaining years in Europe conducting mostly radio orchestras and releasing lps on smaller, less prestigious labels like Vox. Kind of sad given that the man had strong, authoritative conceptions that, when put into practice under favorable conditions, yielded very positive results, like the Schumann and Beethoven that we have here.

Both these recordings date from the 1960's though the Schumann is in mono. The orchestra is the SWR Orchestra Baden-Baden. At the time, the orchestra was a decidedly secord tier band; only during the long tenure of Michael Gielen would it begin to approach a world class designation. FLACs. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD SCHUMANN

DOWNLOAD BEETHOVEN

"Hurricane" Earl Wild cuts loose on Liszt

Ok....maybe its not that funny.."Hurricane" Earl Wild. However, the great pianist will surely put a smile on your face with these Liszt arrangements from various operas.  A while back, I had posted a recording with Brendel playing a similar program, though, for my taste Wild is the more expressive and liquid player.

This particular recording was a Book of the Month club special and I've not seen a reissue on CD. As I mentioned previously, the genre of opera transcriptions seems to have fallen out of favor and its really too bad. Composers like Liszt not only whetted people's tastes for the whole opera but in addition, encapsulated the choicest melodies into a digestible morsal for the novice. These are wonderful recital encores! Wild's playing here is exceptional, good taste balanced with formidable, yet flexible technique. Especially lovely is the paraphrase on Belllini's Norma.

As a filler, I have included Rachmaninoff's transcription of his Symphonic Dances for two pianists. The exceptional team of Babin and Vronsky provide a vivid and faithful account of the score though someone like Argerich tears into the piece with greater gusto (she tears into everything with elan!).  Still, there aren't many recordings of the two piano arrangement so this, for me, is most welcome.

The Wild RCA disc is mono and the Seraphim Babin & Vronsky is stereo. FLAC files.

 

DOWNLOAD

The wonderful Schuyler Symphony in Verklaerte Nacht and Suite Provencale!

Haha...got your attention! Who, what, where??? The Schuyler Symphony is of course the RCA Camden pseudonym for the St Louis Symphony Orchestra and its music director of a quarter century, Vladimir Golschmann.  On this Camden release, Golschmann leads strong performances of Schoenberg's "Verklaerte Nacht", Milhaud's  delightful "Suite Provencale", and a couple of encore Dvorak Slavonic Dances from Op. 46.

Golschmann was a fine conductor, if not at the very top tier. Well respected, and highly held by musicians and teh public alike,  he was a welcome guest conductor and a favorite of a number of composers, probably due in part to his musical honesty and freedom from excess and egotism. The program here is tailor made for Golschmann as he was closely associated with both Schoenberg and even more so with Darius Milhaud.  My favorite on this recording is Suite Provencale, it simply sparkles. Its really a wonderful piece of writing if you do not know of it, you need to make an acquaintance. Golschmann lets the music speak clearly and naturally and though Munch's take with the superior BSO is tremendously exciting, the latter conductor does tend to overdrive the piece. Golschmann seems so right.

Sound is so so on this Camden as it is in most Camden reissues. How technology for reissuing classics has changed!  Still, it is nice to have Golschmann conducting this orchestra, one that best represents his art on record. Mono FLACs.


DOWNLOAD