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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