HiFi Feast for Orchestra with Argeo Quadri conducting

Today, a really neat orchestral compilation conducted by Italian maestro Argeo Quadri. With the Philharmonic Symphony of London (I believe it is the LPO in disguise though it could be the RPO too), Quadri leads bouyant performances of  Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre and Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, Chabrier's Marche Joyeuse and  Espana, Mossolov's The Iron Foundry, and Revueltas' Sensemaya and Cuauhnahuac. This is mid 50's Westminster monaural sound with an impressive dynamic range.

 Argeo Quadri was primarily a conductor of opera and he spent many years as a resident in Vienna. Westminster, obviously playing into the Toscanini craze and legend of the 50's, signed Quadri as their resident Italian, probably in the hopes that another Italian, known for firm technical control and a fidelity to the score, would increase their sales exponentially. Quadri made a number of records, a very fine Sheherazade, a strong Respighi issue (posted here on this blog) and surprisingly, an excellent set of Corelli's Op 6 Concerti Grossi. Unfortunately for Westminster, Quadri did not develop into a seller like Scherchen, Rodzinski, or Boult. Probably a lot of that had to do with the fact that Quadri did not have much of a physical presence on this side of the Atlantic nor was he a larger than life figure as was Westminster stallwart Scherchen. Quadri also was not a martinet or an excessively ruthless person. All speculation, of course.

Argeo Quadri

The surprise of this program has to be the inclusion of the two pieces by Revueltas. I suppose that these were new to the London players and I find it fascinating that this Italian opera conductor would program these little known works when no one else did, maybe with the exception of Stokowski. The results are positively splendid, with the orchestra playing in a "by the seat of the pants" fashion. Juxtaposed with warhorses Espana and The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Quadri manages to craft a varied and interesting program. I think you will like this alot. Oh....and if Iron Foundry doesn't get your attention!?

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Respighi from Vienna with Argeo Quadri conducting

The second of two lps conducted by Italian opera conductor Argeo Quadri. This one features those two marvelous Roman tone poems, The Pines of Rome and The Fountains of Rome. One wishes that Feste Romane was included but that might have made the Fountains side prohibitively long and, a side break in any of these pieces would have been a very bad idea.

These are strong, vital performances and again, I will say how impressed I am with the execution by this notoriously inconsistent Viennese ensemble. There is a picture of Quadri on the back of the record, taken during recording or rehearsal, and his intensity is strikingly vivid. Perhaps it all lies in Beecham's observation that there are no bad orchestras, only conductors. Whatever the case, Quadri solicits brilliance from these Viennese players who were probably very unfamiliar with these colorful works.

These early 50's recordings were well recorded and packaged quite nicely, in my opinion.

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Argeo Quadri conducts Scheherazade

An extremely pleasant discovery! Recently, I happened to come across a couple of old Westminster issues conducted by Argeo Quadri, a name that honestly meant nothing to me. This will be the first of two transfers and based on the musical evidence here, I am at a loss on why I do not know Quadri.

Argeo Quadri was for most of his career an opera "house" conductor and his career was Europe centered and based out of Vienna. For whatever reason, his discography is small but certainly vital, consisting of a handful of orchestral issues, full length operas and "recital" accompaniment albums. This recording in question, Rimsky Korsakov's masterpiece Scheherazade, is truly outstanding, brilliantly interpreted and played with a vitality that I find lacking in many recordings of this overplayed warhorse. In Quadri's hands, the work comes alive and the you can sense that the Viennese musicians are playing on the edge of their seats. This is one time where the overworked and often under rehearsed Vienna State Opera Orchestra sound positively razor sharp and whip smart. Quadri's sense of story telling and structure is second to none and his Viennese musicians play with a wonderfully idiomatic flair!

I want to stress that this was a great surprise for me. An Austrian orchestra under an Italian opera conductor playing the socks off of a piece that has had gazillion recordings by some of the greatest maestros of the last 75-80 years. I will be offering Quadri's magnificent traversals of the Pines and Fountains of Rome as my next post.

This recording was released in 1953. By the way, I want to point out the wonderful cover art by Otto Rado. Really exquisite isn't it? Enjoy!

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