Love him or hate him, Stokowski has held the attention of, first,
the concert–going public and latter the record buying public for
the better part of a century – his first recording, of two of
Brahms’s Hungarian Dances, was made with the Philadelphia
Orchestra, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in October 1917,
and his last, of Bizet’s Symphony and Mendelssohn’s Italian
were recorded in London with the National Philharmonic Orchestra
shortly before his death in 1977.
He was variously
referred to as “Magician”, “Sorceror” or “Wizard” because of
the sumptuous sound he always produced from the orchestra he
was conducting. He was an inveterate orchestrator and arranger,
and this extended, sometimes, into his “touching up” the scores
he conducted, but his was an older temperament and he was merely
doing what he thought the composer would have done had he had
the newer resources at hand at the time of composition. However,
these “Amendments” were not always welcomed and after his death
it was considered de rigueur to disparage his achievement. Fortunately,
after a moratorium we are now re–assessing his work and we can
see him as the great conductor and musician he so obviously
was. Here we welcome three RCA recordings and a very unique
recorded document. But let’s go back to the beginning.
Enesco’s
1st Rumanian Rhapsody has become a
pot–boiler but it’s so much more than that – it’s a fabulously
colourful evocation of country life, complete with local dance
band and bags of enthusiasm in execution. A conductor really
cannot fail with this piece. Stokowski certainly doesn’t – he
plays it for all it’s worth and this is an highly powered, very
exciting performance, with a little extra compositional help
from the maestro. The 2nd Rhapsody has never
achieved the popularity of the first, but it’s a more serious
piece, and, very strangely, it could almost pass for an evening
in old Mexico so languorous is the music – Revueltas without
the attitude! Stokowski’s performance is excellent and highly
coloured and perfumed.
Stokowski recorded
Debussy’s Nocturnes three times complete and in the 1920s
he recorded the first two. This is his second recording and
the first he made for the LP. Incidentally, from 1947 to 1953,
“His Symphony Orchestra” refers to a pick up band consisting
of players principally drawn from the New York Philharmonic
and NBC Symphony Orchestras. Nuages is given a delicate
and almost winsome performance, the subtle shades of light and
dark are full realised. Stokowski does pull the music about
a little, there’s a couple of startling changes of tempo but
this is all part of the conductor’s vision and he makes me believe
in them. Fêtes is given a virtuoso performance, and
the middle section, starting with the quietest of drums, harps
and muted trumpets, Debussy’s “Dazzling fantastic vision”, starts
with the most incredible of pianissimos. As the parade approaches,
and the orchestration fills out, he builds a big climax which
never gets out of hand and is very well balanced. The end is
truly magical. After this, Sirènes starts too loudly, but it soon settles
down, and we have a sumptuous evocation of the Sirens, perhaps
a bit too homely these women, they don’t scare me! Oh no! And
at the end, where they fade away, the sound is terribly matronly.
The musical side is well handled by Stokowski with the balance
of light and shade, tension and release and the climax is gorgeous,
but, perhaps too much so for the femme fatales.
The Firebird
Suite was a Stokowski favourite, and this is the sixth of
his eight recordings of the work. The quality of the performance
is beyond question, The Round Dance of the Princess (movement
3) is delicious, here is the “Old Magician” working his special
brand of magic, and the Infernal Dance fairly jumps out
at you with its power and attack. It’s difficult to fault this
performance, even with Stokowski’s bringing the Infernal
Dance to a complete stop – no transition into the Berceuse
– and an unfortunate recording of the horns towards the end
where they bray their upward rushes just before the final statement
of the main theme for full orchestra, an unfortunate blemish
on an otherwise enjoyable experience.
All these recordings
are very clear and precise, if a little hard-edged, and the
sound is very forward, it’s almost as if you’re on the stage
next to the conductor, so bright is the sound. It’s impossible
to believe that these recordings were made over 50 years ago!
The final track
is very exciting for several reasons, the most important of
which is that this recording, made in 1941, is in a very basic
stereo. 78 rpm discs were found to be labelled left and right
and, sure enough, two microphones were used when the recording
was made and here is the result. In his excellent notes in the
booklet Edward Johnson speculates on how and why this was recorded
in the way it was. It’s a thrilling, and sometimes raucous,
account of a famous nugget and makes a marvellous and breath–taking
end to a most interesting disk.
If you demand perfect
fidelity to the score then this isn’t for you, if, however,
you believe in the validity of varied interpretation then this
is an absolute must!
Bob Briggs
Robert Shaw
Chorale of Women’s Voices/Robert Shaw, Leopold Stokowski and his
Symphony Orchestra, All–American Youth Orchestra/Leopold Stokowski
