Conducts Richard Strauss

Ormandy’s stereo Columbia recordings of Richard Strauss Orchestral Works made between the late 1950’s and early 1970’s have, to the best of my knowledge only been released in the UK before on CD as follows:In a 2-CD CBS Maestro set, (issued 1990) - Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), Till Eulenspiegel and Don Juan;Within the Sony Essential Classics series (during the 1990’s) - Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, Ein Heldenleben, Dance of the 7 Veils (Salome’s Dance), the Waltz Suite from Der Rosenkavalier and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Suite;On certain Rudolf Serkin artist series CD’s - the Burleske for Piano and Orchestra;The Horn Concerto No. 1 with then Philadelphia Orchestra principal horn Mason Jones appears to be a first release in the UK in any format.The Tone Poems originally appeared in the UK within a CBS 3-Lp/vinyl set in a Lime Green-coloured box and some of the shorter works additionally appeared within various CBS Lp compilation Lp’s.All of the aforementioned works now feature within the present 4-CD set.The Strauss Tone Poems are lynchpin repertoire for any major symphony orchestra/conductor and listeners are spoilt for choice in selecting great recordings. Even after setting aside the truly great recordings of Karajan and a host of others, there is still competition within the relatively confined field of the three great conductors of Hungarian descent (including Ormandy, but with Reiner and Szell) who emigrated to the USA, going on to direct respectively the more or less equally virtuosic orchestras of Philadelphia, Chicago and Cleveland. It’s certainly worth sampling any of these before making a choice; if you enjoy spotless top-drawer American playing, the work of any of these performers will not disappoint.Suffice it to say, I awaited the present release in eager anticipation. Each work indeed receives a strong performance, although none in all honesty displaces Reiner or - where there is a crossover of works available - Szell. This is a set that will satisfy most who buy it, but I think it may well be regarded as an ‘alternative recording’ second CD/download set if others are already owned. For example, the Rosenkavalier Suite may well be exactly as composed by Strauss, but Reiner’s own arrangement played on RCA by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra arguably leaves all other performances of these waltzes standing. The major tone poems here receive pristine performances, never a note out of place, but occasionally Reiner’s and most definitely Karajan’s way with Strauss is missed. The excellent soloists in Don Quixote (Lorne Munroe & Carton Cooley), as with the Horn Concerto, were Philadelphia principals - firsts amongst equals possibly, but the ‘equals’ concerned were truly something to be reckoned with during the Ormandy years. The 1960’s American horn tone, to European ears, may sound thin and dry, and even though Mason Jones remained a great player throughout his career, the Horn Concerto performance is not necessarily preferable to Cleveland principal Myron Bloom’s as conducted by Szell, available on Sony elsewhere.A moan addressed at Sony: while the Masters Series often mentions 24-bit or 24/96 remastering, no such notification appears on the present CD box. This wouldn’t have mattered, but careful comparisons between all of the above releases revealed no significant change or advantage over previous CD releases. What happened to the gritty, textured clarity of the original Lp’s? Why couldn’t these generally excellent performances be afforded the superb remastered quality of the ‘Bernstein Remastered’ series releases? You can do better, Sony!Overall: eminently recommendable and nice to have all of these recordings in one CD set; sample the competition though.

These are Eugene Ormandy’s Columbia Masterworks stereo recordings of the orchestral music of Richard Strauss, made with the Philadelphia Orchestra between 1959 and 1966.All the major works except Symphonia Domestica and Metamorphosen.Ormandy and the orchestra re-recorded nearly everything for RCA between 1972 and 1978 (not re-recorded: Der Bürger als Edelmann, Dance of the Seven Veils, Concerti).The critical consensus was that the RCA remakes were not as vital, or as well-recorded as the Columbia originals.They also didn’t sell as well, though that was predictable.The ‘70s were a bad decade for RCA, which relied on crossovers and gimmicks like Dynagroove and Dynaflex (these recordings sounded much better when reissued on CD).Ormandy and Philadelphia made one final Strauss recording in 1979, this time for EMI - their third recording of Also Sprach Zarathustra (DDD). Unfortunate.Sony owns both Columbia and RCA.In the past, Sony has relied on a mix of both labels for Ormandy’s legacy, but for Richard Strauss, they have come down decisively on the side of Columbia.I regret that they didn’t include the 1978 RCA recording of Metamorphosen - that label’s only addition to the Ormandy Strauss stereo discography.I also wish that Sony had included those mono recordings of Richard Strauss that were not re-done in stereo:---- Symphonia Domestica (1938 RCA 78s)---- Serenade for Wind Instruments Op.7 (1955 Columbia LP)---- Die Frau ohne Schatten Suite (1957 Columbia LP)---- Feuersnot: Love Scene (1952 Columbia LP)IN THIS BOX:1959: Tod und Verklärung1960: Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben (Anshel Brusilow violin) *1961: Don Quixote (Lorne Munroe cello, Carlton Cooley viola) *1962: Dance of the Seven Veils1963: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel1964: Der Rosenkavalier Suite1965: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite,1966: Burleske for Piano & Orchestra (Rudolf Serkin), Concerto for Horn No.1 (Mason Jones) ** Anshel Brusilow, Lorne Munroe, Carlton Cooley and Mason Jones were Philadelphia Orchestra principals.Different musicians occupied these positions for the 1970’s RCA remakes.Principal Cellist Lorne Munroe moved on to the New York Philharmonic and re-recorded Don Quixote under Leonard Bernstein in 1968, seven years after his Philadelphia recording.The sound of these recordings is excellent, though no technical details are supplied, not even the number of bits.Sony includes a rudimentary booklet, but it only contains track listings.Not an “original jacket” collection - the same photo of Ormandy appears on the front of all four jackets.PERFORMANCES:Eugene Ormandy was always more popular with the record-buying public than critics.For these stereo recordings of Richard Strauss, Ormandy was in competition with two American conductors who had a close connection to the composer.26 Year-old Fritz Reiner joined the Dresden Court Opera in 1914.The following year, 18 Year-old George Szell joined the Berlin Court Opera.Their connection with Strauss was not as close as Mahler's with Walter and Klemperer, but Reiner and Szell were part of Strauss's inner circle.This was largely a matter of circumstance:World War I was raging; travel in Germany was restricted.To be blunt, they were stuck with each other's company for the duration.Reiner emigrated to America in 1922, Szell in 1939.After 1933, their contact with Strauss was limited by the Nazi government.In Strauss’ inner circle they were replaced by Clemens Krauss and Karl Böhm.Following the end of the War in 1945, Strauss was in poor health, and his only foreign travel was a brief trip to the UK for a Strauss Festival staged by the BBC.I don’t think he ever met Eugene Ormandy.Strauss died in 1949.Reiner with the Chicago Symphony (RCA) and Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra (Columbia) therefore enjoyed a pedigree in Strauss interpretation that Ormandy lacked.Based on the evidence of 78s, Richard Strauss’ preferred a lean, almost classical approach to his music, an approach also taken up by Reiner and Szell.George Szell, in a 1968 interview, revealed that Strauss was late for an acoustic recording session with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, c.1920.Rather than wait, Strauss telephoned Szell and told him to go ahead and start the recording session.Strauss's first recording of Don Juan was conducted partly by Szell (uncredited) and partly by Strauss. No one noticed the difference.Ormandy favored a larger, more opulent approach.Don Juan timings:--- 15:36 Strauss (1929) lean and mean, the composer’s second recording (recorded without Szell’s help)--- 15:52 Szell (1957) lean and mean--- 16:00 Reiner (1954) lean and mean--- 16:57 Ormandy (1960) big and beefy--- 17:11 Karajan (1959) big and beefy - Vienna Philharmonic - it actually sounds remarkably like Ormandy /Philadelphia except for some sour woodwinds.--- 18:13 Karajan (1983) fat and bloated - final Berlin Philharmonic recording, DDDOrmandy applied pretty much the same approach to all Twentieth Century composers.It was welcomed by Rachmaninov, Sibelius and even Shostakovich.Not sure about Stravinsky.Rachmaninov dedicated his Symphonic Dances to Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and recorded his Piano Concerti 1,3 & 4 with them.I keep hoping for a fancy 24-bit original jacket box of “Ormandy Conducts Rachmaninov” with all the recordings, mono and stereo, made for both RCA and Columbia.