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Dimitri Mitropoulos 10 CD Set

Joseph Reichmann | Los Angeles | 07/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here are 10 CDs, all mono, with Mitropoulos mostly conducting the Minneapolis Symphony, unless otherwise noted. The recordings were made between 1939 to 1952 and the sound quality varies from poor to very good. Some are live performances and some feature famous soloists such as Chopin expert Arthur Rubinstein.

CD 1 starts out with Bach's 5th Brandenburg Concerto with the NBC Symphoy and Mitropolous at the piano. This is a very serious interpretation with little excitement but great piano work. Then comes a Bach Fantasia arranged for orchestra by the conductor. Like most arrangements, it is not as good as the original. The disc ends with an outstanding peformance of Beethoven's 4th piano concerto with Rubinstein and the N.Y. Philharmonic.

CD 2 contains both Schumann's and Mendelssohn's third symphonies (Rhenish and Scottish)both well played and the seldom performed 10 minute Mendelssohn Capriccio Brillant.

CD 3 has an unintersting overture by Lalo, and a brooding interpretation of Cesar Frank's Symphony. But, the gem of this disc is the performance of Saint-Saens' Second Piano Concerto, once again played by Rubinstein and the N.Y Philharmonc, a rendition which surpasses later Rubinstein recordings.

CD 4 continues with more French music. Chausson's symphony, with traces of Debussy and Frank, never has appealed to me, even in this recording. Massenet's Scences Alsaciennes is poorly recorded.

CD 5 is all Tchaikovsky. The Second Symphony suffers from a poor recording. Question: What would his Piano Concerto No 1 have sounded like if it had been written by Chopin? Answer: Listen to Arthur Rubinstein play it. However, I must admit that both conductor and pianist really strike it right in the last two minutes of the last movement.

CD 6 contains an excellent performance of Borodin's Second Symphony and a marvelous interpretation of Dvorak's violin concerto with Isaac Stern. Another uninteresting overture (this time by Glasunov) ends the disc.

CD 7 is all Rachmaninov with a solid performance of his Second Symphony. The highlight of this disc is The Isle of the Dead. This piece usually sounds dreary. Here it sounds eerie and creepy, maybe just what the composer wanted.

CD 8 Question: What would Chopin's short piano pieces sound like if they were subsequently orchestrated by someone other than Chopin? Answer: Listen to this 20 minute arrangement and find out just how horrible the result is. Prokofiev's Classical Symphony is just fair but his Third Piano Concerto (Robin Hood Dell Orchestra in this piece and the Chopiniana) with Mitropolous at the piano is as fierce as it gets.

CD 9 has a very transparent performance of Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin but also contains a reason to own this set. This is the first American recording (1940) of Mahler's First Symphony. This is not super hot Mahler (such as Bernstein) but well paced with the orchestra seemingly enthralled by what they are doing. No Mahler fan should be without this disc.

CD 10 is strange. Joseph Szigeti plays Berg's violin concerto, Mitropoulos pounds out Krenek's Third Piano Concerto, and the orchestra concludes with a scrappy Le Boeuf sur le Toit by Milhaud. None of these works will be on your favorite compositions list but all receive first rate performances.

This is a 10 disc set for under $20. It contains several superb performances and many good performances. Even with the crazy Chopin arrangements and poor sound quality in a few of the discs, this set remains one of the best deals available at Amazon.Com"