Brusilow, a student of Efrem Zimbalist and once a protege of Pierre Monteux, was the associate concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell, and then concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. He had conducting ambitions, however, leading a chamber group of Philadelphia Orchestra musicians for a few years, and then striking out to form his own professional ensemble, the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia, in 1966.
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| Anshel Brusilow |
This LP of 20th century French works is the final product of that association, and it is a very good one. Ravel's familiar suite "Le Tombeau de Couperin" is complemented by the less often heard music of Jean Françaix and Jacques Ibert. Francaix's delightful Sérénade has been featured on this blog before, in a vintage performance led by Eugen Jochum, but this is the first appearance for Ibert's pictorialist Suite Symphonique and Capriccio. The Ravel has previously appeared here in a Dimitri Mitropoulos recording from Minneapolis.
After his Philadelphia days, Brusilow moved to Texas, first as music director of the Dallas Symphony, and then in university posts. In addition to his RCA recordings, he also made a few discs in Bournemouth and Dallas.
Late in life, Brusilow produced an amusing memoir, Shoot the Conductor: Too Close to Monteux, Szell and Ormandy, which I have been reading of late. The photos in this post come from that book.
The cover art may strike the contemporary eye as garish, but that was the style 50 years ago. The colorful illustration is by Mozelle Thompson, a favorite of my friend and fellow blogger Ernie. RCA's sound is vivid and immediate.
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| The Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia |
17 comments:
Link (Apple lossless):
http://www.mediafire.com/file/c8coiqgxdr9ku9v/Ravel%20Fran%E7aix%20Ibert%20%28Brusilow%29.zip
I was about to say, that's a Mozelle! I don't think I've seen it before, either. You've got all kinds of surprises up your sleeves. :)
This looks wonderful Buster. Thanks.
wonderful ! thank you very much. -a.v.
I *have* to tell you of the conversation that Mr. Brusilow and I had, around 1983 or 4, when he came to Cupertino, CA with the Dallas Symphony to do a *stunning* concert at Flint Center.
He was a very approachable, affable person, and when I came in the receiving line, proffering one of his records for an autograph, I said, "THANK YOU so much, Maestro, for bringing the PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA here for this magnificent concert!"
He momentarily looked a bit disconcerted thinking, I imagine, "this guy is really confused." Then, he grinned ear-to-ear and said, "Oh--I get it! You think we're *that good* eh? Well, I appreciate that!"
One of my most memorable live concerts!
Steve Waldee
Ivins UT (formerly San Jose, CA)
I am sad to hear that Brusilow passed away.
His book is captivating.
So do his recordings: interesting programs every time.
Less famous than his 'Divertissement' , so interesting to listen to Ibert's Suite called Paris.
Thanks a lot Buster for this so well deserved 'Hommage'
All - Thanks for your comments!
centuri - Yes, his recordings are excellent. I have others, I think; am trying to locate them!
Wow! Does this sound wonderful! Not only the performance, but the recording is quite an argument for analog!
Lockhart - It does sound good. I'm not sure that analog has much to do with it; it's more the recording technique that works magic. After all, this is a digital transfer you are listening to!
As I recall, all of the Brusilow LPs for RCA were wonderful, with vivid sound because of the gifted Howard Scott who was producing. Please upload any others you have!
I'd recommend anyone to read Brusilow's autobiography, "Shoot the Conductor", the story of an exceptionally gifted and decent man in a rather nasty business. There is an apparently legitimate free download of the bulk of his PCO recordings available here
http://www.rediscovery.us/conductors.html
Many of the finest Ch Sym of Philly/Brusilow performances are available from ReDiscovery, now without charge. Navigate down this page --
http://www.rediscovery.us/conductors.html
--and look for "Anshel Brusilow / Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia" to find the download link.
A friend of mine and I collaborated on the transfers, here, of Haydn 60th and Cherubini Sym in D. The producer of this reissue told me that Brusilow BOUGHT one from him when it was initially issued, and was extremely complimentary about the quality of the entire production!
Here's Anshel's amazing demon fiddling: a short Sarasate showpiece, recorded when he was the concertmaster of the Philadelphia orchestra, with Ormandy conducting. The transfer was done by a "purist" engineer in Chicago with high end gear, from the Columbia Special Products reissue of the album "First Chair Encores" vol. 1 (stereo release; actually the second of the series as the initial collection was from a decade earlier in mono; there was a also a subsequent *second* stereo volume: all three are collectors' items of the highest rank, IMO.)
https://www65.zippyshare.com/v/7pvVhUTz/file.html
I once found, on a Russian blog site, a transfer of a Yardumian mass with Brusilow and the Ch Sym, plus Chookasian and two outstanding local choruses. I had the original Red Seal stereo LP; have heard it numerous times; and just CANNOT get into it. I'm sad to say that I don't think it's worth MY time to upload this; sorry. The artists expended an enormous amount of time and care on the work, but it leaves me (and some critics) utterly unmoved...
8H Haggis
I have the mono First Chair Encores, I'm sure. I agree about the Yardumian. Heard it once; never tempted to return.
It is legitimate in the sense that Anshel Brusilow was MOST appreciative of its release; complimented the producer of the CD set; and even paid for more copies of it to give to friends--as a little bird told me!
I suspect that Anshel Brusilow had long despaired of RCA ever taking the trouble to reissue these on CD; the carefully made transfers used a variety of very talented engineers (ahem--I was one of them!) to supply the raw material, after scouring the country for perfect copies of the Victor disks--not an easy task in the days of RCA's heavily touted "Miracle Surface" process (it was often a *miracle* you could hear any music, above the noise level.)
8H Haggis
Having read Brusilow’s book (‘Shoot The Conductor’) last year I am keen to hear this, I know his superb fiddle playing well but not the baton waving side of his recorded career. Thanks for making this available!
Both are good - book and record!
I have I think all but one of these on vinyl. The Strauss one is indeed on the noisy side but the others are actually very good
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