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DEBUSSY: La cathédral engloutie. (Feb 13, 1944).
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun ( Jan 9, 1944). . Excerpts
from Le martyre des saint Sebastien ( March 28, 1943), . La
soirée
dans Granada : MILHAUD: Symphony No. 1. Op. 210 (March 21, 1943). .
RAVEL: Suite No. 2 from Dapnis
et Chloé (Feb 21, 1843), . BEETHOVEN: Missa Solemnis in D, Op. 123 TIOMKIN: Paris Ubnder the Stars These Stokowsk / NBC Symphonhy recordings are welcome additions to the catalog, some appering for the first time. Stokowski specilized in Debussy and his transcriptions are justly praised. Afternoon of a Faun ws one of his favorites; he recorded it commercially at least 6 times, the first an acoustic in 1924. His interpretation on this performance from a concert anuary 9, 1944, is particularly langorous, with frequentyfrequent use of portamento. This 1943 broadcast of excerpts from Le martyre des saint Sebastien is his only recording of this music. CD notes suggest that Stokowski knew broadcast time was coming to an end and that is why he presents the Dapnis and Chloé excerpts at quite a frantic pace. Exciting indeed, and the fine players of the NBC SO did their work well. Andrew Rose has done his usual fine job in remastering these very old recordings. When Jascha Horenstein presented Beethoven's Missa Solemnis October 11, 1958, it was the first time he had conducted this choral masterpiece. Originally Otto Klemperer was to lead this opening concert at the 1958 Leeds Festival, but illness prevented him from doing so, and as Horenstein was known for his musicianship and expertise in large-scale orchestral works he was the logical choice. The four major singers and :Philharmonia Orchestra were joined by the 350 members of the Leeds Festival Chorus, and the concert took lace in in Victoria Hall. Horenstein gave another performance of Missa Solemnis for a BBC broadcast, which has been issued by BBC Legends. In that performance soloists were the same except for tenor Richard lewis replacing Peter Pears, and the BBC Chorus also participated. This 1958 performance is an important addition to the growing Horenstein discography, and producer Andrew Rose has effective utilized X remastering to provide audio to enhance the dry acoustics of the venus. An important issue for lovers of film music is this Intrada release of premiere rewordings of music by Dimitri Tiomkin. He is famous for his film scores which include High Noon, Lost Horizon, The Alamo and Dial M for Murder. This site has praised the remarkable Tiomkin Lost Horizon SACD originally part of RCA's famous Classic Film Scores series. This is a 1974 recording of Tiomkin's music for the 1937 film as well as several other scoresm all in quadraphonic sound and now issued in that format on Dutton Epoch (REVIEW). Tiomkin had a close relationship with famous choreographer and dancer Alberta Rausch. They worked together in many stage productions for which he wrote the music, and they were married in May 1926. They had collaborated with George Gershwin on a stage presentation of Rhapsody in Blue in which Tiomkin played the piano part; Gershwin was delighted with the result and with Rausch's choreography. Tiomkin composed numerous short pieces for Rausch to use in her stage presentations, vaudeville and films. This new CD offers a collection of them, called Paris Under the Stars. There are 27 selections including Snow Ballet; Exotica, Dancing Doll, Toe Dance, Hell Bent, amd a group of Vaudeville Dances. All of these are charming miniatures beautifully performed by the Slovak orchestra under Stromberg's spirited direction. The recording was made in Slovakia's Slovensy Rozhlas, Bratislava June 18 - 20, 2019 and engineers have provided a satisfying, full stereo sound. R.E.B. (January 2020) |