How about an orchestra of cellos under Heitor Villa Lobos?!

Well..ok..I've been busy this weekend, but probably not the RIGHT kind of busy! My son is off with his buddy and the wife is sleeping off a stomach virus and here I am....blogging away!

An orchestra of cellos! This truly is different. How many pieces do you know that are expressively written for an orchestra of cellos? Metamorphosen and then....I can "hear" the silence. Anyhow, this rather interesting LP was found by me as part of free lot available on craigslist. The prolific composer Heitor Villa Lobos assembled New York's finest cello players, during the 1950's, into the Violincello Orchestra and either arranged music for them to play or, wrote specifically for them. Villa Lobos was a cellist by trade so he knew the instrument intimately and, obviously loved it deeply. Here, we have his Fantasie Concertante on Side 1 and arrangements from Bach's Well Tempered Klavier on Side 2.

Though admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of the thought of a cello orchestra, I can admire the musicianship and dedication to the concept by Villa Lobos. This LP was released in 1959 by Everest and unfortunately, my copy is the mono version though the cover here says stereo. If anything, this is an interesting novelty, worth a listen.

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Luis Herrera de la Fuente conducts music from Mexico

A little while back, Buster at the Big 10 Inch posted an intriguing issue of classical music from Colombia. In the spirit of recognizing our friends "south of the border," I offer a very fine disc from Musart of Mexican works conducted by the "dean of all Mexican music," Maestro Luis Herrera de la Fuente.

If you do not know Mexican classical music from the past century's mid point, here is the place to start. We have Ayala's Tribu, Galindo's Sones de Mariachi, Revueltas' Homenaj a Garcia Lorca and of course, Moncayo's wonderful Huapango. Let me tell you, if you are having the worst, crappiest, messiest day, listen to Huapango and it'll put you right! Everything is beautifully realized by the Maestro and his National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico.

A note on the Maestro. Talent, energy and determination have been hallmarks of his career. Though we do not know him well in the States, in Central America, he was and is, The Man. I believe he is still somewhat active and he's well into his 90's. After listening to this disc, you will wonder why you don't know Herrera de la Fuente.

Though I cannot nail down a record date, I believe this originates from the late 50's, early 60's.

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Charles Munch, the BSO and........Bach!

Munch and Bach??? Munch and Berlioz yes, but Munch and Bach?

Well...YES... and very fine music making it is! We have here the Brandenburgs numbers 4 through 6 played with panache, a lightness of touch and exquisite musicianship. After all, with soloists like Richard Burgin, Lukas Foss and a very young Doriot Anthony Dwyer on flute, would you expect otherwise?

Back to Munch and Bach. Though modern day listeners will remember Charles Munch as the quintessential "French" conductor, he did spend his early years studying and playing the violin in Germany and, he also served in the Imperial German Army during  WWI as his native city Strasbourg was part of the German Empire. So strong  the German ties that Munch was asked to become the concertmaster of the famed Gewandhaus Orchestra while Furtwangler was the conductor of that esteemed ensemble. One can imagine that during his time in Leipzig, Munch had plenty of time to absorb and participate in the rich musical tradition that culminated in the genius of Bach. Munch and Bach...YES!

So...very much a surprise here for sure. I hope to locate a nice copy of the first three Brandenburgs, if for anything to hear Roger Voisin play that clarino part! Enjoy!

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Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops go Hungarian and Czech

Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops....thirty years gone and the maestro and his orchestra are still household names! This very nice album, LM 9017, is typical Fiedler fare done with panache, good taste and with  a whiff of effervesence. The featured program has Smetana's Vltava (The Moldau), Brahms' Hungarian Dances 1 - 6 and a rarity at the time, Dvorak's Hutsitska (Hussite) Overture.

Though most people equate Fiedler with "popular" fare, he was a highly accomplished violinist with exquisite taste who longed to be taken seriously as a master of the podium. He demanded much of himself and treated all music with respect and purposefulness. The results speak for themselves: best seller after best seller and financial stability for the parent organization, the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Ultimately, Fiedler was rewarded by the BSO by being allowed to conduct and record with it, by then music director William Steinberg. The product of the collaboration was a very fine New World Symphony.

Here, Fiedler displays a real flair for the Smetana, Dvorak and Brahms pieces on this album. Whether the earthy feel of a peasant dance or the pull of Vltava's currents, everything just sounds so right, natural is the word, and the musicianship is impeccable. What a great and responsive orchestra the Pops was during the late 40's through mid 50's when these recordings were made.  I hope you enjoy!

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Antal Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony in Brahms and J Strauss!

Here is a truly magnificent offering...well, in my own humble opinion.

I've heard lots of recordings in 30+ years, LOTS, and I can say that of every conductor and orchestra, one partnership stands out in my mind for uniform excellence in performance and sheer excitement level: I'm talking about the wonderful years that Antal Dorati spent in Minneapolis. Though Dorati inherited a good orchestra, though at times undisciplined ensemble,  from Dmitri Mitropoulos, he alone was responsible for building it into a better, more responsive orchestra that played under him with an incredible amount of kinetic energy and fierce discipline.

The main offering here is Brahms' Third Symphony, coupled with the Tragic and Academic Festival Overtures. Here is an absolutely outstanding example of what Dorati accomplished in the upper midwest. Details are not obscured, performances are sharp and again, the excitement level is something that you can actually feel! It's a real shame that Mercury chose to release Dorati's remake in London rather then  this first effort at the third. Though the London is very good (and in stereo), this third is even better. This Minneapolis effort dates from 1955.

As a filler, I've included two Johann Strauss the younger waltzes from 1956: Artists Life and Voices of Spring. I feel these are more then appropriate fillers since Brahms had a high regard for his esteemed colleague in Vienna. Dorati's instinct for dance is well displayed here and these waltzes make great "encores" to the Brahms program.

Enjoy..as much as I do!

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Paul Sacher conducts the music of Johann Christian Bach

Paul Sacher was one of the most important forces in musical creativity during the last century. Conductor, impresario, businessman, patron, Sacher was a vital force in promoting and encouraging new music and excavation forgotten classics. His influence cannot be understated.

Here, Sacher leads not his justly famed Basle Chamber Orchestra but the ubiquitous Vienna Symphony Orchestra in the music of Johann Christaian Bach, the great JS Bach's youngest, and probably most cosmopolitan son. Recorded most likely in the early 60's, this record was one of the first to resurrect the very enjoyable, and influential Bach from pretty much oblivion. Mozart, of all people, considered the "London" Bach and Haydn to be his father figures, in a musical sense.

This is a good program and well representative of Bach's skills. We have two sinfonias from op. 18, a harpsichord concerto and a sinfonia concertante for violin, cello and orchestra. The transfer comes from a Philips World Series release, PHC 9009. This is not profound music, it does not explore the emotional depth of Mozart, or have the hearty, good natured humor of Haydn, but it is enjoyable, well crafted and delightful on its own terms.

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Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 2 with Kjell Baekkelund and Oivin Fjeldstad

Here's the other National Record Academy Club  (NRS-1) posting from me: Kjell Baekkelund performing the fabled Rachmaninoff 2nd Piano Concerto with Maestro Fjeldstad and the Oslo Philharmonic.

I must confess to knowing next to nothing about this pianist. Here's what I got off of Wikipedia:

"Kjell Bækkelund (May 6, 1930 – May 13, 2004) was a Norwegian classical pianist, born in Oslo. He was known as a child prodigy. Bækkelund made his debut with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of eight. His final years of study took place at Stockholm, with Professor Boon, and at Vienna, with Professor Seidlhofer. In 1953 Bækkelund won first prize in the first Scandinavian Musicians' Festival held at Trondheim; and in London the same year, he was awarded the Harriet Cohen Medal as "the finest pianist of the year"."  Impressive!

I'm not quite sure if Baekkelund had an international career but what I can say is that this performance is no-nonsense with two musicians who had apparently worked quite a bit together and artistically were "in sync." I would call this a rather straightfaced, honest performance, and probably as good an introduction to this masterpiece as there is out there. At some point I should transfer my RCA record of Baekkelund performing the Grieg Concerto with Odd Gruner Hegge conducting. Side two on that LP features music from Peer Gynt. Surprisingly, I've not listened to that record...with an all Norwegian cast, its probably as definitive as it gets!

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Oivin Fjeldstad conducts Haydn and Mozart with the Oslo PO

Back in the early 60's, RCA sought to expand its budget Camden label from being primarily a reissue label to one that also included newly recorded performances, in good sound, available at a very low price. Nowadays, companies would look towards Central Europe and the former Soviet republics but in the early 60's, companies looked North, in RCA's case, Norway and Sweden.

This recording of  Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony and Mozart's Symphony No. 41 was issued on both the Camden label and the "National Academy Record Club" label, of which the latter is my transfer. Good stereo, with a no frills record jacket, NRS-7 sold for under 3 bucks and was available in bookstores, supermarkets, drugstores, in other words non-traditional record outlets. These recordings were obviously geared for the novice and, they sold well.

As for Oivin Fjeldstad , he was a fine conductor who was mostly known for his work with "northern composers." His complete Peer Gynt with the LSO was a big seller in its day and widely admired by critics and connoisseurs alike. However, I think that Fjeldstad had interpretative gifts far beyond Scandinavia and this unmannered, cleanly played Mozart and Haydn attests to that. The orchestra performs quite well, though at the time, the Oslo PO was not the world class orchestra that it is today. These are very enjoyable performances nonetheless.

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Igor Markevitch conducts Nielsen's Symphony No. 4 "The Inextinguishable"

For the next couple posts, I'm going to be focusing on Scandinavian composers and performers. First up is this really fine performance of Nielsen's "Inextinguishable"symphony by the great Igor Markevitch with the Royal Danish Orchestra. I have to admit that Nielsen has never been one of my favorite composers; I really do not know why other then I've always had a difficult time focusing on his melodies and how he develops his ideas. Only wo conductors have  been convincing me that Nielsen is a very great composer: Ole Schmidt and Igor Markevitch.

This performance simply grabs my attention from the onset and does not let go. I feel that Markevitch has this second tier orchestra playing on the edge of their seats and his control here is awesome. In this conductor's hands, this symphony is allowed to make its very bold statement as a true masterpiece of the genre.

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