A FREE 128k MP3

Dor�ti

Kod�ly
H�ry J�nos Suite 

Bart�k
Divertimento for Strings

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

Antal Dor�ti conductor

Rec. 1950  

Download it now - for one week only - it's only free from our Cover Page!

"UPGRADE" to full quality lossless 16-bit or 24-bit FLAC downloads with notes here:

PASC 134    

"Lothar: Schneider Wibbel - Overture" is baldly announced as the first track of a collection of 1941-42 recordings by Carl Schuricht. You have to dig deep in the internet to find that the German composer Mark Lothar (1902-85) wrote his opera "Wibbel the Taylor" in 1938. The overture is a jolly piece, by no means negligible, and is smartly despatched by Schuricht and the highly efficient Berlin German Opera Orchestra, whose horn section is shown off to fine effect in a dramatic rendering of Franck's Le chasseur maudit. These are Deutsche Grammophon recordings in fair sound. The rest of the programme is played by the Orchestra of La Scala, Milan for La Voce del Padrone. A brilliant account of Reznfcek's Donna Diana Overture and a feeble piece for cello (Enzo Martinenghi) and orchestra by Zandonai called Serenata mediovale are but preludes to the main offering, Strauss's Symphonia domestica, the second ever recording of the work after that of Ormandy. Schuricht's tempi are on the whole fairly brisk, and the playing is well-drilled in a satisfying performance of the work marred by a somewhat close acoustic and ill-defined woodwind detail. The disc is an unlikely combination of conductor, works and orchestras, but well worth investigating (PASC320, 77mins).

A collection of "The Polydor Acoustics, Vol. 2" recorded by Bruno Walter with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra in 1923-25, surprisingly contains only one work, Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, that the conductor re-visited in the studio, though live performances of some others have been issued. The Beethoven is given an unusually lyrical performance, with marked rubati, and Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture undulates gently until a more forceful climax at the end. Schumann's Manfred Overture has an appropriately heroic quality, and Wagner's Faust Overture is strongly played, too. In Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini Overture Walter tries hard to convey the ardent nature of the piece, but is really defeated by the primitive recording process. Cherubini's Der Wassertr�ger ("The Water Carrier") Overture rounds off an interesting programme in which Ward Marston has done his best to provide decent sound for its time (PASC322, 61mins).

Oskar Frieds Grammophon/Polydor recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, from 1928 is relatively familiar from previous transfers. The basic sound, nasal, seedy, with sharp-sounding strings and ill-defined woodwind, was never easy on the ear, and Andrew Rose has been no more successful that others in creating a pleasant quality. Frieds performance is pacy, direct and surprisingly objective in style. A fairly swift (for its time) Adagio benefits particularly from his clear-cut conducting. The Bruno Kittel Choir sings very well, and the soloists are all satisfactory (PASC317, 62mins).

Pristine continue their exploration of Guido Cantelli's concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra with a programme from 27 December, 1952. The "Sinfonia" from Bach's Christmai Oratorio suffers from a very harsh recording, though Cherubinis Symphony in D, which follows, is a little better, but still rather boomy. This symphony is not a deathless masterpiece, but the last work played, Strauss's Tod und Verkl�rung, is worth the price of the disc by itself, for Cantelli's superlative performance is by turns atmospheric, very beautiful, with chamber-like textures, and then very dramatic and exciting. Fortunately the sound is better in this work (PASC319, 58mins).

EMI's coupling of Poulenc's Gloria and Organ Concerto, recorded in 1961 with Georges Pretre conducting the French National Radio Orchestra, has seen several issues, but Pristine's new version is different. In the original recording of the Concerto the strings were tuned slightly sharper than the organ, and with modern software at his disposal Andrew Rose has been able to correct these pitch problems (except where the organ and orchestra play together, of course). The soprano Rosanna Carteri and the French Radio Chorus sing in the Gloria, and Maurice Duruffle is the soloist in the Concerto. To these authoritative performances is added two 1937 Boite � Musique recordings by Poulenc and another composer, Georges Auric, of their two piano arrangement of Satie's ballet, Parade. Only part of the work is played in fact, and without Satie's eccentric scoring, including revolver, hooter, siren and typewriter, much of the music's point is lost. As fill-up Auric and Poulenc play two of Satie's Trois morceaux en forme de poire (PASC324, 65mins).

The classic 1927-29 HMV recordings by Jacques Thibaud and Alfred Cortot of Faure's Sonata No. 1, the Franck Sonata and Debussy's Sonata have also been reissued many times, and here I shall lazily use (without permission) words that I wrote elsewhere in a 1989 review of a previous reissue.

The French duo remind us that Faure's music has a very considerable toughness of character, and Cortot in particular brings this quality out by the rhythmic strength of his playing, and by ensuring that each note in the piano part is given its full value and importance - Faure was an economical composer and every detail of his scoring tells effectively. The expressive, almost passionate quality of the music is also superbly realised, yet Thibaud and Cortot know how to balance the Sonata's emotional content with its classicism and Gallic restraint.

Debussy's startlingly original, pathetic, ironic Sonata, the last work of a mortally ill genius in despair at the events of the first world war, is brilliantly caught by Thibaud and Cortot, who respond with great sensitivity to the work's rapid changes of pulse and mood. In the Franck Sonata Thibaud's portamento, slowish vibrato and warmth of tone suit the piece to perfection, and again he and Cortot illuminate the work with their insight into the composer's world. These two players spent their formative years in a musical environment which all three composers inhabited and their performances are immensely satisfying and highly authoritative. (PACM080, 66mins)

A pot-pourri of classic (and one not-so-classic) opera and operetta recordings come from Pristine Audio. Karajan's "Gala" Decca set of Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus was released in 1960 to launch the new Decca SET LP label (SET201/03). It boasted sumptuous presentation and production, with a velveteen box top and a host of 'guests' interpolated in the Act 2 party scene. Decca wisely isolated this gala interlude and the ballet (as printed in the Cranz score) by splitting Act 2 into bands, so you could skip the gala and/or ballet should you wish. Andrew Rose has followed suit here and put the gala sequence and ballet on to a separate disc so that Act 2 can run uninterrupted. Of the gala "guests", Giulietta Simionato and Ettore Bastianini provide most amusement as they deliver "Anything You Can Do" from Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun in American-English. The gala interlude has been transferred from the original SET Decca originals, but the main performance is taken from the first Decca LP re-issue (SXL6015/16), and there is nothing wrong with that. All of the main cast members are top-class artists. Hilde Gueden and Waldemar Kmentt are absolutely fine as Rosalinde and Eisenstein, and Erika Koth makes a pert Adele. The playing of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is faultless. The stereo sound is spacious and compares favourably with the Decca originals. As a fill-up to the gala disc, Andrew Rose has added some mono Karajan recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from the early 1940s - the overtures to Die Fledermaus and Zigeunerbaron and a couple of Strauss waltzes. These form an attractive bonus and do not sound their age. There is a lot of enjoyment to be had from this release (PAC0068/70; three discs; 3hrs 10mins) and it is certainly recommended, but there is a little more sparkle in the earlier Karajan recording with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and in the first Hilde Gueden Decca set under Clemens Krauss.

The not-so-classic performance in this release is Puccini's Turandot from the New York Met in 1961, conducted by the then 78-year-old Leopold Stokowski (PAC0071; two discs; 118mins). The cast features Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli, both in splendid voice, but the main attraction for me is Anna Moffo singing Li�. She was only 29 when she appeared in this production and did not record the part commercially. Stokowski, who was suffering from a broken hip at the time, certainly whips up excitement in his forces, but his conducting is not so vivid as either Tullio Serafin or Francesco Molinari-Pradelli on the EMI releases with Maria Callas and Nilsson again. The mono sound is perfectly clear and adequate for its age, and is better and brighter than on a previous Melodram LP issue (� MEL448). This recording could be added to any collection purely for Moffo, and possibly Stokowski, but I prefer Nilsson and Corelli in the HMV studio version.

We move on to what can definitely be described as the classic 1952 recording of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde under Wilhelm Furtw�ngler (PACO067; four discs, 4hrs 15mins). Originally issued on HMV LPs in 1953 (ALP1030/5) the mono sound is so good that it certainly doesn't seem 60 years old. Andrew Rose mentions in the notes that he has "cleaned up" the originals (which is fair enough) and extended the extreme top and bass - but you cannot add fundamental frequencies to an already existing pre-recorded
sound source. However, you can, with the help of, say, a graphic equaliser, increase the existing upper and lower levels of the frequency range. This can give the same impression of an extended frequency range. The result here is not entirely satisfactory. The extra 'top' has made the voices less warm sounding than the original and forte strings tend to be over-strident. The overall sound also suffers from too much added artificial reverberation in so-called ambient stereo mode. The performances are exemplary, however, and do not need any endorsement from me. With a line-up including Kirsten Flagstad, Ludwig Suthaus and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and a pre-eminent conductor, what more could anyone want? Unfortunately, I cannot whole-heartedly recommend this release because of its disappointing sound. If you want this performance then it would be better to look elsewhere.

Pristine Audio's final offering is a 1942 Met performance of Donizetti's comic masterpiece L'elisir d'amore (PAC0072; 120mins), conducted by Ettore Panizza. The heroine, Adina, is sung by the Brazilian soprano Bid� Say�o, and she is partnered by Bruno Landi as Nemorino. Salvatore Baccaloni takes the role of Dulcamara and Francesco Valentino is Belcore. The singing is tip-top in this wonderful work. Say�o sounds suitably soubrettish; Bruno Landi has a sweet voice but he can sound ardent enough when called for. Baccaloni plays around as usual, much to the audience's delight, whilst Valentino is content to stay on the sidelines. Panizza's conducting is sometimes rather too upbeat, but he holds his ensembles together well. There are a number of small cuts in the score, with a larger chunk missing in the concerted passage in Act 2 (called Act 3 in this Met production) before the Adina/ Dulcamara duet. This last exclusion was common practice in many performances of the time. The mono sound is clear but not free from varying but continuous harmonic distortion, particularly on the first disc. Considering the source material was glass-based lacquer discs, Ward Marston has made a pretty decent transfer. The dynamic range is very good with a limited frequency spectrum, which is to be expected from a recording of this era.

http://www.pristineclassical.com/LargeWorks/Vocal/PACO072.php
The name Ettore (originally H�ctor) Panizza is not very well known today, though he was held in high esteem seventy and more years ago. Richard Strauss admired him deeply. He was born in 1875 in Buenos Aires, where his father was a cellist at the Teatro Col�n. His father also became his first teacher. He later went to Italy and the Milan Conservatory. It was also in Italy that he commenced his conducting career. Up to the beginning of the war he also appeared regularly at Covent Garden. During and after the war he worked at La Scala, until 1932 when he moved to the US. Between 1934 and 1942 he was the principal conductor of the Italian repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera, succeeding Tullio Serafin in that capacity.
 
The reason why he is largely forgotten is no doubt that he made few if any commercial recordings. Fortunately there are a number of live broadcasts from the Metropolitan that have been preserved, among them a terrific Otello, from 1938 with Martinelli, Tibbett and Elisabeth Rethberg (see review). The present L'elisir d'amore may not be in that class but it has still many good things on offer. Good sound is not one of those things but it isn't really bad either. The transfers by Ward Marston are from a set of 5 double-faced 16 inch glass base lacquer-coated discs taken off the air in Providence, Rhode Island. The sound is rather aggressive, but it is a clean sound that lets us hear a lot of instrumental detail. Orchestral tuttis tend to be hard on the ear. The orchestra play well but the Metropolitan chorus of this period was not always the most homogenous of bodies. Panizza was no friend of leisurely tempos but he never rushes the music and he is pliable towards the singers and allows them space to inflect their solos.
 
Three Metropolitan mainstays and a fourth singer whose name is little known are heard in the leading roles. Salvatore Baccaloni (b. 1900) was widely regarded as one of the foremost buffo basses of the 20th century. He had a magnificent voice and immense comic talent but I believe that he should be seen as well as heard to make real impact. He is expressive, he knows how to colour the voice, his enunciation is impeccable, he has that special sense for timing but - and this is a strong 'but': he often becomes a little too much, there is too much business. He was, though, a great favourite at the Metropolitan, where he appeared more than four hundred times during more than twenty years. Francesco (Frank) Valentino (b. 1907) was not far behind, with close to three hundred performances during twenty-one seasons. He was Marcello in Toscanini's famous 1946 recording of La boh�me, but not a particularly good one. His throaty tone and rather unsubtle singing here has little of bel canto feeling, but I admit that his brusque manners suit his character, sergeant Belcore.
 
The third mainstay is the Brazilian soprano Bidu Say�o. She was born in 1902, made her debut at the Metropolitan in 1937 and stayed there until 1952, taking part in well over two hundred performances. She was granted an uncommonly long life, passing away as recently as 1999. Ms Say�o was one of the loveliest lyric sopranos of the era, testified not least by this and other live broadcasts from the Metropolitan. Here she is a youthful and sprightly Adina, nuanced and with apt coloratura (try CD 2 tr. 16!). Even better are the duets with Nemorino, where the two singers inspire each other to great things. Nemorino, some readers say, that's the odd man out, isn't it? Bruno Landi, never heard of him!
 
Well, the loss is definitely the listeners'. Here is a tenore di grazia, nimble, nuanced, beautiful tone, honeyed delivery but with brilliant top notes in reserve for the big moments. Cesare Valletti on the old Cetra recording from 1952 is the touchstone for many, Nicolai Gedda's 1964 recording another, and isolated recordings of the famous Una furtiva lagrima by Tito Schipa, Ferruccio Tagliavini and Leopold Simoneau are versions to return to. Bruno Landi may not be quite in their league but he is not far behind. Readers being tempted by my panegyrics will feel disappointed when hearing the opening of his entrance aria Quanto e bella (CD 1 tr. 4), where he sounds small voiced and undernourished, but I suppose he is entering backstage. After a few bars he is up front and can be enjoyed in all his glory. Una furtiva (CD 2 tr.14) is certainly delicious.
 
A few words about the singer. Landi was born in 1900, the same year as Baccaloni. He made his debut in 1925, as the Duke in Rigoletto, and sang for the next ten years in Italy. In 1935 he went to South America, where he was immensely popular. He returned to Italy and now sang at La Scala. In 1938 he made his Metropolitan debut, again in Rigoletto, and remained there until 1946, returning in 1951 for a single appearance in Il barbiere di Siviglia. According to the Metropolitan Opera Data Base he sang in 56 performances in a handful of operas. Besides the two already mentioned he appeared in La boh�me, La traviata, Don Pasquale and L'Elisir d'amore. There are a couple of other live recordings with him.
 
Let me, just for the record, point out that Giannetta is sung by Mona Paulee, who had made her Metropolitan debut in this same role a few weeks earlier and continued to sing cameo roles until May 1946 in a total of 158 performances. Her biggest role wasSiebelin Faust, which she sang only once, probably as understudy for someone who had to cancel. There is another 'soloist' as well, and a true legend: Milton Cross, the announcer for the NBC broadcasts from the very first one in 1931 until his death in 1975. During these 43 years he missed only two broadcasts!
 
Everybody needs at least a couple of good recordings of this delectable opera. The Cetra set with Valletti, The Decca recording with Di Stefano at his freshest, the EMI recording with Gedda, a later Decca with Pavarotti and the Sony (originally CBS) with Domingo. The present issue can't compete on sonic grounds and neither Valentino nor Baccaloni are ideal but Say�o and Landi are. A flawed performance saved by the tenor and the soprano. 

LINK