Victor Aller joins Felix Slatkin in Shostakovich and Hindemith

Today's lp features strong familial ties along with terrific playing by an orchestra that was for all practical purposes the cream of Hollywood Studio musicians. Pianist Victor Aller joins his brother in law Felix Slatkin and the Concert Arts Orchestra in Shostakovich's Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings and Hindemith's The Four Temperaments.

During the 40's and 50's, Hollywood was home to some of the very best classically trained musicians in the country. Many, were drawn to the optimistic outlook of California, often coming from disparate circumstances in Europe, and others liked the idea of good pay, steady employment and, superb benefits that the studios lavished on their best of the best. Of those working in the studio were the extended Slatkin family, Felix, his wife Eleanor and her brother Victor Aller. Felix and Eleanor would found the Hollywood Quartet, which in its day was one of the finest quartets in the Americas and a pioneer in performing newer works for the string quartet medium.

Felix Slatkin was the longtime concertmaster of the Twentieth Century Fox Orchestra and often conducted this fine band, which many considered the best studio orchestra and, even a better ensemble then the famed Los Angeles Philharmonic. Slatkin had developed a relationship with Capitol through the Hollywood Quartet and during the early 50's, Capitol sought to offer a "pops" type series to rival RCA's Boston Pops and Columbia's Andre Kostelanetz. Capitol settled on Felix Slatkin to conduct larger works with Carmen Dragon directing the "lollipop" type offerings. Mostly Slatkin was put to work with overtures and ballet suites but here he is with a full scale recording of two serious and contemporary works.

Both the Shostakovich and Hindemith are well played and ideally interpreted. Aller and Slatkin are truly of one mind and what is beautiful about the performances is that Aller does not view these as solo concertos but rather as works for orchestra with a "leading" piano part. I really like this approach as I view the works in this way. The Shostakovich is a marvelous and colorful piece, probably one of the five best concertos of the last century. The Hindemith, not heard often enough, is a strong work and this performance softens ever so slightly Hindemith's often spiky manner in a beneficial way. Though very different composers with styles that are hardly congruent, this pairing makes sense and flows naturally under Slakin's able direction.

These recordings date from 1953 and were well recorded by Capitol.

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The Trio di Bolzano in Ravel and Shostakovich

From 1964, here is the monaural Westminster edition of the Trio di Bolzano performing Ravel's Piano Trio in a and Shostakovich's Piano Trio in e, Op. 67. The members of the trio are Gianino Capri, violin; Sante Amadori, cello; and Nunzie Montanan, piano.

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about this fine trio from the city of Bolzano, which is located a short distance from the Austrian border. A little digression, if you will permit me: some years ago, the Oktoberfest band that I play in did a gig for a  group of North Italian background that was celebrating an Oktoberfest type celebration here in Massachusetts. Most of these folks of Italian lineage had roots in and around Bolzano and the group had come from throughout the United States to celebrate their gathering. Strikingly, their costume and decoration for this event was right out of Munich! It was more Germanic then Italian even though the names were Italianate. It was a trip for me to say the least.  Enough of that.

These are two of the best trios written during the 20th century. Ravel's trio is a masterpiece of phrasing and nuance and this composer's understanding of the particular qualities/timbres of instruments is unimpeachable. Shostakovich is always a special case since what is on the surface is not always the inner meaning of the piece. Messages and meanings are buried within the lines and musicians with a strong roadmap of this composer are needed to bring forth a most persuasive performance of the work. One must remember that this trio was written shortly after the very public Symphony No 8 and like all of Shostakovich's chamber music, his true feelings about events and people are depicted here, and written "between the lines." Gilels - Rostropovich and Kogan capture this music definitively for the simple reason that they "knew" what Shostakovich was talking about.  Trio di Bolzano are quite credible, putting forth a striking recording, but my opinion remains that the Soviet musicians contemporary with the great composer are ultimately the way to go if you want to get inside of this complicated music.

I know that the Trio di Bolzano released a number of recordings on Vox during the 1950's and I am on the lookout for them. The ensemble is all but forgotten and it's really too bad since these three musicians possessed consumate technique and musicianship. They instinctively respond to each other and this is characteristic of great small ensemble playing.

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Mravinsky conducts Shostakovich's Symphony No 10 (1954)

Evgeni Mravinsky, Shostakovich, Leningrad Philharmonic, 1954. It doesn't get much better than this!

I was fortunate to lay my hands on this MK release of what might be the first recorded performance of Shostakovich's epic masterpiece, the tenth symphony.Though I have the excellent early 80's Erato recording, nothing compares to Mravinsky in his prime (age 51) conducting what was probably one of the top five orchestras in the world at the time.  This is Shostakovich with a full and exhausting emotional range, played by an orchestra of out of this world virtuosity.

No doubt Mravinsky was one of the greatest conductors of his age. Fiercely patriotic to mother Russia and commanding a presence that few challenged, he led scores of premieres, raised orchestral standards to new, unheard of heights and was considered by most to be the final arbitrar in interpretation of 19th and 20th century Russian composers. His legacy is well preserved on many recorded discs and live performances.

What strikes me most is that Mravinsky was an undemonstrative man yet exacted a level of excitement and intensity that many can only dream of. Reading about him reminds me of Fritz Reiner, very little physical movement but powerful, communicative eyes that had power of almost hypnotic ability. And, not to forget that Mravinsky had an apparent authority that no one would question or confront, and this includes even members of the Soviet leadership! Musicians feared him, politicians stayed clear, and composers were careful not to tread over the line. I read that one musician equated a Mravinsky rehearsal as a "bombing mission" saying the the members of the orchestra would whisper "incoming!" when Mravinsky appeared. Wow!

But the results?! Judge for yourself. Listen to Shostkovich played by one of that composer's greatest advocates, by an orchestra of immaculate precision playing in a sonority which has all but disappeared from the major Russian orchestras of today.

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Menahem Pressler performs Shostakovich

Here's a very refreshing find: one of those MGM releases with no album cover but instead having a circle in the middle to allow you to see what the program is by reading the record label.

All of you know that most of what Menahem Pressler recorded was in his role as the "anchor" of the famed Beaux Arts Trio. Scores and scores of definitive performances. However, Pressler did record as a soloist, from time to time, and that's what we have here: the Sonata in b and the fabulous first piano concerto of Shostakovich.

These are strong recorded interpretations. The sonata is beautifully realized and based on this record, I cannot understand why it is not more of a repertoire work. The slow sections are ravishing and the only problem with the lp is some record noise toward the end of the last movement that I could not remove, about 15 seconds of some pop, not enough to spoil this 25 minute masterpiece of musicianship.

The piano concerto features the famed Harry Glantz on trumpet with Theodore Bloomfield conducting the the "MGM Orchestra." Presumably this orchestra is made up of members from the NYPO and NBCSO however, it IS a small ensemble..very SMALL indeed! However, the performance moves along well and Pressler shines throughout, especially in the slow sections. The man really is a poet at heart!

Recordings date, I believe, from the mid to late 50's.

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