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Thank you for this great sounding update! I remember that the old vinyl Victrola edition was one of the best recorded Toscanini discs that I had collected in the 60's. While we are on a Toscanini topic, do you plan to issue his Grand Canyon Suite? Thanks again...
Certainly no performance I have heard is as fast as this one. Still it’s a fine one & a well disciplined (apparently) Di Stefano, at his youthful best & a superb Siepi give it added distinction. I prefer Price & Elias in the Reiner recording but that one runs over 90 minutes which is the opposite extreme & less exciting, IMO. Still the Reiner also has Björling (his final studio recording) & Tozzi who compare favorably with Di Stefano & Siepi.
I’ve listened to a lot of recordings of this work and for my money, there is no better interpretation than this one. I don’t know if it was the friendship between Toscanini and Respighi, their mutual Italian heritage and Intrinsic understanding of the scenes depicted in the work, or simply the influences of Italian music history upon each man. I hear lots of Italian influences in the work, particularly melodically (I have several degrees in music and can’t help but wonder how Italian opera influence the composer.) And for people who love orchestration this piece is a clinic. (Respighi studied with Rimsky-Korsakov.) Toscanini’s tempos are spot on, the recording of the nightingale is the best I’ve heard and, thankfully, loud enough to be heard (it’s often too quiet in most performances). And I love that he gives just a slight pause between the movements - “fai un respiro corto,” in Italian: take a short breath - a pause he repeats just before the Appian movement’s triumphant final chords. I’ve heard performances of that finish that just slam right into those final measures a priori tempo. No, NO! This is the big finish. Give it the moment it deserves. Toscanini does. The recording doesn’t have the sonorous quality of recent ones or live performances but for something recorded in 1953, sound engineers did an incredible restoration job. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for your comments. This is one of our oldest posts, and oldest remastering from older sources. We have planning to do it again with better sourcing, and considering the nature of the recording the results should be quite impressive.
Fascinant enregistrement, très grand chef d'orchestre de l'aveu même de Karajan c'est dire, cet homme avait tous les talents immense compositeur encore plus
Really excellent sound. The acoustics of the venue were nicely suited to the atmosphere of the music and were captured well in the recording. Thanks, Paul.
This recording is the first LP historically. People complained why not Beethoven's Symphony to be first. However, as the Milstein's performance was so nice, they kept quiet. The other side was Joseph Szigeti's Beethoven, if I am right.
Stänchen as performed here by SR should be required listening for all voice majors in conservatory programs. And then Frank Sinatra's interpretaftion of "Send in the Clowns".😊😊😊😊😊
I really enjoyed these Wagners and truly wish his last recording of the complete Walkure set might be restored by your surest technique and sense of beauty!.
I have been wanting to do complete Wagner operas for quite some time. I have been considering moving into opera again, but the labels tend to frown on them and block our issues. This is why we haven't done opera, sadly. Perhaps we may be able to issue the acts separately. We will look into that.
Thank you! Compared to the later CSO version, I really appreciate how he subtly slows down around 18:35 and 18:56 after the epic climax. It's an extra touch I've always wished for in the CSO recording.
This version sounds to me more straightforward and less rubato than modern renditions. Is that so or is that just an artifact of the recording technique?
Your sense serves you well. Rachmaninoff seems to have always taken a more straightforward approach to his own music, and every else's for that matter, That was one of the reasons he was held in such high regard as a performer.
A majority of concert pianists voted Rachmaninioff best pianist of the 20th century. His superlative performance exhilarates the listener without the ‘Wow!’ factor of others, like Rubinstein and Horowitz. This makes one wonder…what is great?
It's there, but never to excess or over the top. That is what makes his performances so special. He gives the music what it needs but never makes it corny or overdone.
To my ears, this is a highly cultivated and reflected interpretation. Very welcome to get to know this. I am from Germany and it is a shame how many great artists this country lost due to the Nazi terror. Walter is obviously a case in point.
3:06 It certainly sounds like “I am Dr. Brahms, Johannes Brahms.” I don’t know German. Unless some people think it is someone else introducing him? The piano sounds like Hungarian Dance No. 1
By far, this might be the fastest version on record. However, its excitement and precision are overwhelming. A great Toscanini performance by the great Stokowski-Ormandy band. He once said: "Mendelssohn is my god..."
Searching does come up with one Cortot/Munch recording with the Paris Conservatory, but for this specific date, it looks like it was the London Philharmonic. EDITED TO ADD: Since I posted this, I've come up with conflicting results as well.
@@steveluciani I've found conflicting information for the orchestra on this recording date from a number of sources. The London Symphony Orchestra, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, or The Society des concerts du Conservitoire, depending on which release from which company.
