Fox was known for flamboyance; Biggs for a more measured, even chaste approach. That is not to say his work is dull - far from it, and this mellifluous program of familiar J. S. Bach items is evidence.
Biggs is accompanied by the Columbia Chamber Orchestra conducted by Richard Burgin, in a set taped May 24, 1951 in Boston's Symphony Hall. Given that Burgin was assistant conductor and concertmaster of the Boston Symphony at the time, and that all but one of the named soloists were members of the ensemble, it seems likely that the "Columbia Chamber Orchestra" was at least in part made up of BSO members.
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| Harrison and Biggs meet with Albert Schweitzer during the build of the Aeolian-Skinner destined for Symphony Hall |
The soloists on the LP are as follows:
- Roger Voisin, Marcel LaFosse - trumpets
- Phillip Kaplan, Lois Schaefer - flutes (Schaefer was not then a BSO member, although she joined much later on)
- Alfred Krips - violin
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| First cover |
10 comments:
Links (Apple lossless):
https://mega.nz/#!iJsjyIjA!791JnkIanDsJyuwXmFrmZnoScAdmdzWvzO45RXYxUOc
http://www116.zippyshare.com/v/Y07VtnBq/file.html
Thanks so much, a fan of Mr. Biggs, look forward to listening to it.
Seconded !! Thx for that post.
Buster, you're a Gentleman and a Scholar! In addition to this wonderful old artifact, do you by any chance have the MONO-ONLY performance of the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony, with E. Power Biggs and Eugene Ormandy? It was issued on ML 5212 of around 1956-7; see here--
https://big10inchrecord.blogspot.com/2016/03/e-power-biggs-with-familiar-bach.html#comment-form
I happen to admit to being a falling down, foaming-at-the-mouth "Ormandy Completist" (for some unfathomable reason, as one HAS to admit that certain of his recordings are a bit, shall we say, perfunctory.) I often get huge surprises from his Columbia issues from c.1950 to the start of the stereo period, where his juices were flowing vigorously, and he still had a trace of his Toscanini-idolatry, favoring very propulsive tempi; the later ones are often, sadly, a bit blowsy and "comfortable". I've always wonder how much voltage E. Power and E. O. generated in their pre-stereo version of the work.
8H Haggis
I foolishly did not clear my Windows clipboard properly when TRYING to paste in the Discogs link to the SS3; it's actually here:
https://www.discogs.com/Saint-Saëns-The-Philadelphia-Orchestra-Eugene-Ormandy-E-Power-Biggs-Symphony-No-3-In-C-Minor-Op-78/master/491752
The little editing window provided by Blogspot is so small, with such a touchy and fussy slider, that I very frequently am utterly unable, on this PC, to proof-read and edit my attempts at posting; apologies.
8H Haggis
8H - I certainly have seen the LP many times, but I don't think I have ever picked it up, sorry!
I have been searching this blog for some item you've posted, Buster, that would give me an excuse to "pile on" and offer another baroque period transfer. It's not EXACTLY parallel, being music of JS Bach's son, CPE. It is a very obscure Columbia Masterworks LP released in 1974 containing CPE's Organ Concerto and Concerto for 2 Keyboards, with an anachronistic accompaniment by the too-large complement of the NY Philharmonic; but I love it anyway!
This is my own purist/minimalist transfer, provided as lossless FLACS (221 MB), with a scan of the cover image and discographic info. Sad to say, the transfer service will delete this file on or about 11/14/18.
https://www28.zippyshare.com/d/XecykWxu/45058/CPE%20Bach%20-%20Concertos%2c%20Thomas%20Schippers.zip
--or--
https://www28.zippyshare.com/v/XecykWxu/file.html
8H Haggis
Thanks, 8H - I have a small collection of Schippers recordings, this not among them.
Muchas gracias amigo Buster, muy bello este disco, saludos.
De nada, Francisco!
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