The Neglected Bloch

Is Earnest Bloch (1880-1959) one of the 20th century's most underrated composers? I think so, and his music is certainly not played often enough. Although he was born in Geneva Switzerland, he spent a good deal of his life in the United States and took his American citizenship in 1924. Some of his major works include: Schelomo ( Solomon ), a work performed by many of our greatest cellists, Suite Hebraique, Israel Symphony, and his Sacred Service. I was first introduced to Bloch's music through a recording of the Concerto Grosso no.1 for strings and piano with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Rafael Kubelik. The recording we listened to this morning featured the Kristiansand Chamber Orchestra and was recorded in Norway on the INTIM MUSIK label. Yes, I never heard of that label either but the sound is excellent and the recording also features the Concerto Grosso no.2 and another wonderful piece, the Four Temperaments by Paul Hindemith. The performances here are exemplary; look for it on Amazon. We now eagerly await a recording of Bloch's Symphony in E flat conducted by a Bloch specialist Dalia Atlas. I certainly don't expect to hear this piece any time soon in a concert hall. Stay Tuned.

A RARETY FROM KUSSY !

British music is not something you would expect to hear from Serge Koussevitzky but in fact he performed quite a lot of it including the American premiere of William Walton's " Belshazzar's Feast " in 1932. The CD we listened to this morning with our Kona coffee included a 1947 performance of the Vaughn Williams Symphony NO. 5 in D on the Guild Historical label along with the Tchaikovsky " Francesca da Rimini ". Kussy's recorded legacy is no where near as comprehensive as Toscanini's or Stokowski's but what he left us is evergreen. The live performance of the Vaughn Williams 5th shows all the earmarks of this great orchestra; voluptuous strings, beautiful woodwind playing and tight ensemble. The Tchaikovsky, which is paired with it, receives a splendid performance but one that is not quite as exciting as a live 1946 one on a now defunct  AS DISC cd. Good luck trying to find that one.

Falling out of Love

When I was a teenager, the talk of the town, at least in the opera house in Philadelphia, was the tenor Franco Corelli. Franco charmed the women with his dashing good looks and great legs; and impressed almost everyone with his beautiful voice and thrilling high notes. Of course, since his manager was the impresario and wrestling promoter Ray Fabiani, he sang frequently in Philadelphia. I heard Corelli several times in my youth and was certainly primed to like him and like him I did in both La Boheme and with the Met in Turandot, but something has changed over the years: I've fallen out of love with Mr. Corelli's Art. I think the final straw was the re-release of a Met Tosca on Sony with Leontyne Price. Diction is usually indistinct, (and he's Italian) and notes incessantly slid into one another, plus everything is sung forte. In short, everything seemed to be done in the service and comfort of his voice, not in the service of the composer or the role he is playing. I also found his acting rather stiff and he seemed to be thinking "When is my next high note". The Opera Co. of Philadelphia is staging Carmen now so I listened to the Van Karajan recording with Franco and heard that the usual problems were all in place, and his French was-"Mon Deiu". I also listened to a Met broadcast from the 50's with Mario Del Monaco conducted by Dimitri Metropoulos. Del Monaco and Corelli's voices were similar, they were both Spinto or Dramatic tenors but Del Monaco's singing in this performance was more musical and accurate. Yes, he could be be very loud but in this recording he was engaging and dramatic. But of course his legs weren't as nice.

A difficult choice

It's been a few weeks since hurricane Irene made a mess of things, sparing my cd collection but ruining my basement. This morning, while listening to Bruckner, my wife posed an interesting question; " If your collection was in eminent danger, which 10 cd's would you save?" Off the top of my head I thought of a few that would merit consideration, and those would be the ones that I have listened to the most over the years. 1. Korngold's "The Sea Hawk" with Gerheart   2. Rachmaninoff Piano concerto no 2 with William Kapell. 3. Shirley Horn "Here's to Life". 4 Mahler's Symphony no. 2 from the New York Philharmonic set with Zubin Metha conducting. 5. A collection of string music which includes Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite on the Nimbus label. 6. The Pavarotti "Turandot". 7. Scheherazade with Stokowski, a public performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1962. 8. Wagner's "Immolation Scene" with Birget Nilsson , ( and  Stoky) from the Philadelphia Orchestra Centennial set. 9. A Handel collection with my beloved voice teacher Richard Lewis on the Dutten label. 10. My first Beethoven 9th with Bruno Walter from the 50's. Now, having completed my list of ten, I shudder to think what I have left out!

ANOTHER WORLD!

You may remember my blog "Bad Blood"when I talked about the 100th Anniversary Concert of the Czech Philharmonic performing the Dvorak "New World Symphony".  I have just received a new Exton recording of the same piece with the same Orchestra, conducted by Vaclav Neumann, exactly 1 year earlier.  There are many differences between the two versions besides the conducting and playing. The acoustics of the Hall of Artists in Prague seems finer and more vibrant when empty as in this recording. The playing is of ANOTHER WORLD and here they are playing for a legendary Czech conductor who they obviously loved. The interpretation is more autumnal than Albrecht's, at least in the 1st movement, but the Largo is one of the finest I have heard and the 3rd and 4th movements are equally gripping. It's a shame Exton CDs (Canyon Classics) are not more available and inexpensive in the U.S. because they are well worth investigating.

THEY SHALL HAVE MUSIC!

Do you remember the 1939 film, THEY SHALL HAVE MUSIC with Jascha Heifetz,Joel McCrea,and Walter Brennen? Well, after 39 hours without music we finally had our electricity back online and consisered ourselves lucky because much of S. Jersey is still without power. We did get water in our basement and might have to replace the rugs but that's a minor thing compared to some of our neighbors' problems. Our first post IRENE coffee concert included a terrific performance of Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suites with Jean Martinon and the Chicago Symphony, available only through a Haydn House CD or a good old RCA vinyl. I have ordered 3 Vaclav Neumann CD's from the Japanese Co. Exton, so stay tuned.

Ludwig and the Hurricane

It's Saturday morning and we sit in our den sipping our coffee from the Kona coast in Hawaii, it's called Pele Plantation and it's named after the Hawaiian goddess of fire. We are also listening to a recording of Beethoven's Symphony no. 6 ( the Pastorale ) with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Fritz Reiner, a former faculty member at my Alma Mater. I did not remember what a great performance this is and it's remastered by JVC on their XRCD series, expensive but well worth it. As we listen to the 4th movement called the STORM, we also await another storm called Hurricane IRENE. I expect this storm to last longer than Beethoven's summer shower. Stay safe!

Bad Blood

A friend recently bought a recording of the Dvorak "New world Symphony" with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Gerd Albrecht. This performance, the 100th Anniversary of the the Czech Philharmonic, promised great things plus, was recorded live by my favorite Company, Canyon Classics. Nothing prepared me for the disengaged performance that I heard as Albrecht audibly stomped on the podium, trying to motivate them. This performance was a culmination of the bad feelings that had been simmering for some time over a concert at the Vatican which was vetoed by Albrecht. This conflict even involved Czech President Vaclav Havel, and eventually led to the resignation of Abrecht. Music and politics don't mix!

Bass from Columbia

It was always said that Columbia Records lagged behind on the matter of bass response in their recordings of classical music. Well! that was certainly not the case with their reel to reel pre-recorded tapes. The stereo tape of an album called Ports of Call with Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra is a real eye opener, and was transfered to compact disc by a friend. Except for an unengaged "Claire de Lune", which sounded like a sight reading session, all the performances exemplify the great orchestra at it's best. I think I'll try to round up more reel to reel tapes!

The Fiery Cantelli

 As we sat sipping our coffee and listening to a Tchaikovsky 4th with Kubelik and the Chicago Symphony, I thought "something is missing". I went to a recording with the NBC Symphony conducted by Guido Cantelli on Christmas Eve 1949. This performance has to be heard to be believed- orchestra's just don't play like this any more. Cantelli's conducting is passionate and thrilling with no tears, but unfortunately it's available only in a 12 CD  set from Music and Arts. Maybe you can find it used on Amazon or Ebay. No more blogs for a week..........we're off to Mexico and the Western Caribbean...... Via con Dios.

Bon Bons from Ormandy

Have you ever heard of " Hi-Fi in 3/4"? I never have! This recording from 1953 features the music of Waldteufel and Lehar with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ormandy. This record typifies the  variety of music that the PO recorded through the 50's and 60's. Another example would be a Victor Herbert album from 1952 hard to find but worth the search. Both of these records are Delightful.......... and my wife agrees.

Removing the Thud!

When the recording of the Grieg Piano Concerto with Leon Fleisher and George Szell was remastered great pains were taken to remove the annoying thud that appeared frequently because of a loose floorboard. Unfortunately the dynamic range of the recording was compromised leaving a very dull recording of a very great performance. My friend David has solved this problem by using an old reel to reel tape of that performance and utilizing the newest soft wear to correct the problem. What a difference and what a performance. Leon Fleisher, who suffered many years with Carpal Tunnel syndrome, now teaches at my Alma Mater, the Curtis Institute of Music. More on us later.