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.