Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops on Camden

Here's the contents of two very fine Camden reissues of early recordings by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. CAL-165 features the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No 1 and Liszt's Totentanz and CAL-166 highlights extended excerpts from Glazunov's ballet Raymonda  and the bacchanale from Samson & Delilah  of Saint Saens. The pianist featured on CAL-165 is the excellent Jesus Maria Sanroma, who was the official pianist of the Boston Symphony for Koussevitzky during the 1930's and early 40's.

The Mendelssohn had been transferred previously, from the 78's, by Bryan at The Shellackophile. Bryan did a great job of retaining warmth from the original recording, something that the Camden reissue producers admittedly did not place high on their list while transferring from 78 to 33 1/3. (The Liszt on the flip side fares better.) In spite of any sonic limitations, Sanroma and Fiedler turn in a superb account of this well proportioned and inspired concerto of Mendelssohn. In  the Liszt, both experienced musicians keep the piece from turning into a gaudy display of overblown technique and banal passages.  I've got to say that Fiedler was a terrific concerto partner on evidence of this recording and others. I still wonder how he kept a straight face and musical dignity while accompanying Al Hirt in the latter's infamous account of the Haydn Trumpet Concerto!

The extended excerpts from Raymonda are simply superb. Glazunov often gets short shrift because he was so prolific and at times rather less then inspired. That is not the case with Raymonda. It is a marvelous ballet, right up there with the best of Tchaikovsky. Terrific tunes and masterful orchestration make this a delight for the ears and of course, Fiedler does not disappoint. Having the great Pops (actually the BSO minus the principals) strings caress Glazunov's skillful writing reaps great dividends in this recording. And, what an encore with a supercharged, but entirely tasteful, bacchanale from Samson and Delilah. Richard Strauss must have been taken by this for his Salome's dance bears striking characteristics of this gem of a piece.

Enjoy Fiedler at his best!

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Glazunov and Auber from Paris with Albert Wolff

A couple fine recordings by the French conductor Albert Wolff made during the last gasp of the monaural age in the mid 50's. My hard working colleague Satyr at 78 toeren en LPs has been coaxing some remarkable offerings from 78's of Wolff's work during the 1930's, mainly with the Lamoureux Orchestra. Here, Wolff directs the Paris Conservatory Orchestra in very fine readings of Glazunov's wonderful Seasons ballet and a handful of overtures by Auber.

Sadly, we don't hear these overtures or this ballet score much today. The overtures are rousing, tuneful and a lot of fun. I think they are great concert openers however tastes must have changed over the decades so performances, and recordings, are few and far between. The Seasons is great Glazunov fare - wonderful melodies, beautifully orchestrated and, important for Glazunov, just the right length. In spite of his vast talent and easy way with melody, Glazunov did have a reputation at times for being a bit long winded and old fashioned. Happily, that is not the case in The Seasons. This is quite simply, excellent music which compliments the scores written previously, most notably those of Tchaikovsky.

Wolff's interpretations are products of many years of living with the music of Auber and Glazunov. He knows exactly what to do and the PCO responds to his direction instinctively. This is one of those probably happy occasions where everyone understands one another and the business at hand and gets it done efficiently and with A+ results. There is  satisfying listening here, for sure.

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Sviatoslav Richter performs Russian concertos with Kondrashin conducting

A transfer I did sometime ago and I've had it in the can for a while. This one does not benefit from ClickRepair but rather Click Removal in Audacity. And, I believe that the files are mp3 if that matters.

The Monitor label released  a sizeable number of these early to mid 60's Soviet produced recordings and many were benchmark quality, at least for performance!  I would consider these peak Richter performances with Kondrashin and the Moscow PO to be right up there in terms of performance, insight, command of repertoire and interpretative quality. In Richter's hands, the Rimsky comes off as being a minor masterful creation, something that it ain't, certainly not approaching the genius of a Scheherazade. The Prokofiev 1 is a masterpiece and is given a reading that befits its status as one of the great piano concertos of the 20th century. And, the Glazunov 1's interpretation leaves one wondering why this little gem is not more securely fastened to the standard repertoire list. Richter and Kondrashin are like minded artists and this release is a terrific illustration of how the soloists/collaborator role should be followed.

Everything here is quite listenable if forever imprisoned in that distinctive "Melodiya" sound, love it or leave it, depending on your kind of audio preference. Richter is one of the great giants of the keyboard, in any kind of sound!

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