My friend Larry Austin has posted an very early recording of Schumann's Symphony No. 4 that is worthy of note. It's available on his most interesting blog, Vinyl Fatigue. On this performance, Eugene Ormandy directs not the Philadelphia Orchestra but his previous band, the Minneapolis Symphony.
In his post, Larry suggests, "To fill out a CD the first and wonderful (mono) recording of the Schumann First Symphony by Munch and the Boston Symphony is a very nice fit. That performance is available here at Buster's Big 10-Inch Record."
I suspect that this nice referral was in part an inducement to get me to listen to an Ormandy record. There are hundreds of them, almost all of which I have been ignoring for the past 40 years, as Larry knows. He believes that this ignoring amounts to ignorance on my part - and after having listened, I have to say this Schumann Fourth is a fine performance, as Larry suggested.
To give both Larry and his favorite conductor their due, I will be posting one or more early Ormandy performances myself in the relatively near future.
My pace of posting has been slow lately - I have been out of town a good part of the past several weeks. Fortunately, friends such as Larry have come to the rescue. Coming up are contributions from anonymousremains - a UK-only Johnnie Ray LP - and Will Friedwald - the complete Mel Torme at the Crescendo. Thanks guys!
2 weeks ago
Hey Buster,
ReplyDeleteThanks for referring Larry's site. I like what I see, especially the care he has afforded to the Schneider Quartet.
A number of years ago, the Membran company of Germany put out a 10 cd bargain box of Ormandy's early recordings with the bulk of the collection centered on his Minneapolis years. There are some gems there: a pioneering Mahler 2 and US premiere recording of Bruckner's 7th. These Minneapolis records burn with an intensity that suits the leaner Minneapolis orchestra superbly. If one knows Ormandy by his 60's and 70's recordings in Philly, one will not know the complete, and complicated picture that is Ormandy. Good stuff - I look forward to this Schumann.
Fred
Hi Buster:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. You're right; I was trying to induce you to listen to the Ormandy, but only because I thought it was a fine Schumann performance, and I'm aware that you like those symphonies as much as I do. I wouldn't say Ormandy is my favorite conductor; Sir Thomas Beecham probably holds that honor, though I could go on and add Mitropoulos, and many others. I did, though, tend to ignore Ormandy for years, not out of distain, since I loved his concerto work with soloists I liked, but out of an "Oh it's just Ormandy!" reaction to the heaps of used records of his I found. Finally, when I decided that the sheer volume of the man's output shouldn't redound to his discredit and started buying the records, I found some real gems. For Beethoven and Brahms I prefer I more majesterial approach, now out of fashion, and so adore Klemperer's readings; but for all Ormandy's being considered a poor conductor of the Vienna School, he has done some exemplary Schubert. His recordings of the 4th and 6th, though different than many, are second to none for my money. I think in reconsidering Ormandy, as I did, you'll find enough you like to make the effort worthwhile. There will undoubtedly be stinkers too; there always are. If I exhibit a missionary zeal in advocating Ormandy’s cause, it's because I think a certain opinion of him as a second rate hack gained wide currency, and I think, simply, that it is not true.
Thanks again for your link, and the back and forth of our musical chats.
Buster and Larry...well, I would say you can't beat Ormandy for Rachmaninoff :-). Also...you can't beat Beecham for Delius.
ReplyDeleteBuster...do you happen to have a copy of Glazounov's ballet "The Season" lying around? I can't seem to find it on the net.
Whom do both of you think was the best ballet conductor?
I like your site, Larry. Always nice to see those old recordings I grew up with. Some of those artists look like those I've encountered on Remington LPs :-)
Gil
Hi Larry - The designation of Ormandy as "your favorite" was a bit of hyperbole - hope you don't mind. I do have a number of Ormandy records. I remember that my first recording of Beethoven 9 was conducted by him - I bought it 40-some years ago because I could get the whole work on one LP! Then I remember the Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto with Horowitz and the NYPO, one of the first recordings of Shostakovich's 15th symphony and the Sibelius Four Legends. So I am not entirely an Ormandy virgin.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out Fred's website, by the way - http://randomclassics.blogspot.com/ - if you haven't already.
Hi Buster. I did check out Fred's site, and signed up to follow it. There are a couple of things I want to go back to download. Thanks again for the link, which seems to have brought a couple more people to my blog who decided to follow it. The Ormandy/Schumann, by the way, has had 17 downloads in the short time it has been up, a record (pun unintended) for Vinyl Fatique. It's very satisfying, and I'm sure the link from your better established blog helped.
ReplyDeleteHi Gil, I do have a couple of recordings of The Seasons led by two fine conductors - Robert Irving (a ballet specialist) and Albert Wolff. Wolff is a conductor that I have been touting, so I can transfer this one. However - I am very far behind on requests, so it will take quite a while, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteHi Gil: Thanks for your kind words. Yes, Ormandy's Rachmaninoff is wonderful. I'm no expert on ballet music, but I'd second Buster's Robert Irving nomination, and George Sebastian, if I remember, did some nice recordings. One of the very finest Swan Lake excerpt recordings I ever heard was with Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any LPs by Patricia Travers, who died this past week? The NY Times has the interesting obituary. Perhaps we can tribute her with a transfer of the Ives sonata?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/arts/music/07travers.html?ref=nyregion
Hi squirrel - I had the same thought, but unfortunately not the vinyl. I thought I might have the Dello Joio, but no. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteBuster and Larry..yes, I agree about Robert Irving. As I recall, this was on a Capitol LP. Albert Wolff had some strange tempi in his conducting...have you ever heard his recording of Overture to "The Merry Wives Of Windsor" (Nicolai). In the middle section, which is supposed to be played at a pretty good clip, he slows the tempo WAY down...giving a different taste to the piece :-) Then he picks up in regular tempo. However, he does a marvelous job with Massenet's Orchestral Suites.
ReplyDeleteGil
Buster: Just to let you know how deeply I appreciate the link you made to my blog in this post. Things have really taken off due to it; the Ormandy has now been downloaded forty-three times in just a couple of days. I'm stunned. Best of all, the folks you sent my way have left comments, and the exchange is very gratifying. I cannot thank you enough.
ReplyDelete@ Gil, Good memory - it is on Capitol. I agree Wolff's Massenet is enjoyable - we'll see what you think of his Glazunov.
ReplyDelete@ Larry - You are most welcome. I really enjoy what you are doing - and I'm very happy to see your efforts recognized.
@ Buster - I'll keep my eyes out for Travers. In the meantime I'm making a lovely transfer of Martzy playing Schubert works on EMI. My intention is to start my own blog like this, and contribute my humble part to the effort. I would love to have some tutoring in the basic discography aspects, though, if anyone has time! (PS I reiterate my plea to allow anonymous or non-verified commenting here, since the login can be a real pain)
ReplyDelete@ Squirrel,
ReplyDeleteAny way I can help - just let me know!
@buster
ReplyDeleteOk well, this may not be the place for it, but here are my issues:
From using the Web and other discographies I can't see that this Martzy Angel 35366 Schubert album has yet been available on CD. What is the best way to know?
Other upcoming uploads might include: The Roth Quartet (featuring Janos Starker) on 1950s Mercury playing the Kodaly Quartets; and Beethoven Four with Solti/London P.O. from the early 50s on London. The latter seems to be available from a third-party transfer company on CD in the UK, at an exhorbitant price (all the more reason for me to make a nice free transfer on my blog!)
Another question: Do you or others have any interest in things that have been re-released on CD and then went out of print? Or am I in sketchy territory?
I've got a dozen artist-specific discographies bookmarked from the web, and a big fat Schwann catalog on its way in the mail. What other tools do I need?
@ Squirrel,
ReplyDeleteI don't know that there is a foolproof way to know for sure whether something has been re-released. (I generally check Amazon.) Nor is there a way to know what might be of interest. I usually follow my own interests, and see what seems to strike a chord with readers. My own interests are very wide, so I inevitably don't have the specialist knowledge that someone who is only interested in classics (or vocalists, or blues artists) would have.
The most useful site on the web for classical discography in my experience is CHARM - "The CHARM online discography includes much of The Gramophone Company's 78rpm output (data generously supplied by Alan Kelly); 78s and some LP series from numerous other US, UK and other European companies including Columbia and Decca (data generously supplied by Michael Gray); and the World's Encyclopaedia of Recorded Music (WERM)."
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/discography/disco.html
Buster - This resource is fantastic! I think I was at this site not long ago, a few months maybe?, and the content was not quite live yet... in any case I will certainly be referring to it.
ReplyDeleteOk Buster, my first post is now live! If you have an interest in hearing it, let me know what you think. I'm still new at this!
ReplyDeleteMore updates soon. (Wordpress seems a bit slow right now, btw) http://squirrelnyc.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/johanna-martzy-plays-schubert-on-angel/
@ squirrel,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your first post! I am downloading it now. Looking forward to more. Best of luck.
Buster - Great! Please offer your frank feedback, especially technically as I'm just beginning to refine the process.
ReplyDeleteNext offering will be Kodaly's string quartets with the Roth Quartet on Mercury (featuring the great Janos Starker on cello). I'll probably just offer each side in one track, eschewing individual movement tracks, I wonder if that is considered kosher?
@ squirrel,
ReplyDeleteHaven't listened yet, but will soon - I like Martzy and don't have that one!
Hey, do what you like on the transfers. I generally track my posts, but the process isn't universal. The most important issue is a truthful transfer, to me.
Squirel...Janos Starker was one of the greatest, recording on Mercury LPs.
ReplyDeleteGil