Search - Ottorino Respighi, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov :: The Original Jacket Collection: Eugene Ormandy [Box Set]

EUGENE ORMANDY FINALLY GETS HIS BOX SET!

Dub Taylor | Paris, France | 07/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to believe that the CD was introduced in 1982 and it has taken 26 years for Eugene Ormandy to have a proper box set released by Sony/BMG of some of his magical Columbia/CBS stereo recordings. How do you choose 10 CDs of Ormandy's Philadelphia Orchestra recordings to include in a box set? He was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1936 to 1980! His recordings ranged from the 78 era to the LP, stereophonic and up to the early 80's when he did digital recordings for CD. He created the standard for several eras of recording history in the 20th century. Many Americans grew to love and know classical music by hearing Eugene Ormandy and his Philadelphians over the years through his many recordings. I was one of them. As a teenager in the '60's many of my first LPs of classical music, which began my collection, were by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on Columbia Masterworks (remember that great label?). His early stereo recordings of the standard repertoire were how many music lovers and audiophiles (in those days you were called a "Hifi nut"!) started their classical record collections and auditioned the sound on that new Stereophonic sound system! It's now 2008 and hearing these recordings again made me realize how good Ormandy really was! He was able to get at the essence of a composition without his own ego getting in the way. His performances are second to none and the sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy, particularly the strings, is unmatched to this day. The digital remastering of these stereo recordings by Sony/BMG is superb. They are packaged in mini LP replica sleeves with a booklet which contains track lists, recording dates, notes and a selection of photos of the maestro. The following works are contained in this Limited Edition set:

Disc 1 Respighi: The Pines of Rome, The Fountains of Rome, Roman Festivals

Disc 2 Moussorsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition/ Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

Disc 3 Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2, Vocalise

Disc 4 Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5, Serenade for Strings

Disc 5 Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, The Miraculous Manderin (Suite), Two Pictures

Disc 6 Mendelssohn & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerti (with Isaac Stern)

Disc 7 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1, Cello Concerto (with Mstislav Rostropovich)

Disc 8/9 Bach: Orchestral Transcriptions/ "The Bach Album"

Disc 10 "The Romantic Philadelphia Strings" including short works by Barber, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams and more

How does one pick just 10 CD's worth of Eugene Ormandy? It's an almost impossible feat. I would have chosen some of his Ravel recordings and then his wonderful "Symphonie Fantastique" by Berlioz. But that's just me. You can find many other of his excellent Columbia stereo era recordings on individual CDs at very reasonable prices. For now we have this wonderful box set as a tribute to a great musician and orchestra at their peak. Hey Sony/BMG, how about another one! Get it while you can!





"

Ormandy remembered and listened to anew

Steven A. Reading | San Francisco, CA | 01/28/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Santa Fe listner may be a "top 100 reviewer", whatever that means, but he

protests too much! His criticism is, in this case, simplistic and goes way beyond reviewing the set at hand.



First off, all orchestral musicians are individuals. Some will dislike

the conductor they must work with; some will tolerate; some will go over

a cliff for them. So a few grumbling, growling comments from some hardly

represent a mandate. Further, the worst place to review what the audience hears is often from the stage, no matter how one feels about the people in charge. Every conductor extolled in SFL's review had such

comments (some far more full of venom, by the way) as those about Ormandy



I am also of the baby boomer era...probably exactly Santa Fe Listener's

age. I have no nostalgia for Ormandy/Philly recordings because, frankly, I was listening to all of those other "approved" versions at the time.



I did hear Ormandy live, both with the Philadelphia Orchestra and as a guest conductor. Those concerts have stuck in my mind as some of the finest orchestral concerts I ever attended. I recall that Ormandy could

work miracles as a guest conductor. When I heard him live, I always became aware of the incredible sound an orchestra could produce under him. I also noticed that this was done with minimal choreography on

the podium (Bernstein was "king" then) and that one concentrated more on the music than watching the conductor. It wasn't an "interpretation-free zone". It was hardly "emotionally flat".



I did have some of these recordings in my collection, but rarely took a

serious listening of them. Everything SFL says was the chatter then.



Later, when Sony re-issued much of the Ormandy/Philadelphia material on

the now sadly gone "Essential Classics" series, I found out how wrong much of that chatter was. The Philadelphia Orchestra was truly a virtuoso ensemble made up of some of the most important players in the U.S.. Many players taught at Curtis Institute and trained the next generation in Philadelphia, not to mention the many musicians who

filled positions in the major orchestras all over this country. The Philadelphia Orchestra of the Ormandy era is one with tradition and

heritage at the heart of all it does.



When I listen to many of these recordings, it is not the conductor I am

listening to, but the playing. There is flexibility, unity of phrasing, little nuances which only a few ensembles have ever attained together.

This isn't "entry level" conducting. It is a conductor who HEARS something a different way...a conductor who knows his players well and encourages them to dig in a little more, phrase with style, and play

colorfully. It may not have all of the "interpretive insights" and the empty excitement wished for by some, bit these performances don't

sound just like anyone else's, either. Maybe Ormandy's critics are a bit too set in their own prejudices to notice what some of the rest of us HEAR. SFL's review is full of that same old condescension we have been berated with for years, including Ormandy's lifetime.



To the boxed set: This wouldn't have been my first choice all around. It is a good start. But, here are some other areas to explore:



Still findable on Amazon, used, look for the Brahms Symphonies 1 & 2.

Sibelius Symphonies 2 & 7 (emotionally flat??), later Shostakovich symponies, Prokofiev Symphonies 1 & 5, R. Strauss "works for the stage".



Archive is re-publishing many of the RCA recordings on CD for the first

time in the U.S. Check out the website...there are some wonderful

finds (try the late "Heldenleben" and Tchaikovsky "Manfred").



If you still do LPs, some of the best work this orchestra and conductor

ever did was on old mono Columbias which have never been re-issued...

Prokofiev Symphony 7, early Rachmaninov Symphony #3 (nothing like the later ones!) Isle of the Dead, Stravinsky "Rite of Spring", Sibelius

Symphonies 4 & 5 (the most driven #4 ever recorded)...on and on. These are often found in thrift stores and are worth the hunt.



Stereo LPs, particularly RCAs have gems which haven't been re-issued too.

Because Bernstein, Walter and Szell were also on Columbia, their versions of much of the standard repertoire made it to cd and the Ormandy versions, perhaps less "distinctive", never got a re-issue (try

the Schubert "Great" Symphony, Ormandy's holds its own with all of that

distinguished company in that difficult to pull off work!)





I'm a professional musician. No one holds all the truths. I wouldn't state that these are "favorite" or "best" versions. I don't believe anyone can state that. However, Ormandy's body of work was substantial

(hundreds of recordings) and of a very high order. One can learn much

about the orchestral repertoire from seriously listening to many of these recordings. There are judicious tempi, balances, turns of phrase,

extra bow on the string, beautiful(but dreaded these days)uses of portamento, careful dynamic gradations, incredibly satisfying sonorities,

all dispatched with authority and ease. For some of us, that can be a wonderful and satisfying intellectual and emotional journey by itself. For some, I guess, it never will be.....You be the judge!







"

Now for a Volume 2

L. Ackerman | Ashburn, VA (USA) | 07/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having read all reviews I will not repeat what has been already said, but rather, complement with a few observations. It remains interesting how those early Stereo recordings from the late 50s and early 60s sound so much better than the ones following (late 60s an so on). Be it recording venue, producer or miking, the lush and bloom of the former is noticeable and a pleasure to hear.

Some of these performances have a very romantic portamento which, given the Philadephia strings, is rather nice; especially since it is not done anymore.

There are masterpieces here, some best recordings and morsels. So it is a great representation of the Philadelphia under Ormandy. But, to my taste, the Rachmaninoff 2nd is tops. With so many recordings available (and in my collection) this one goes to the top. Lush, romantically milked, and beautifully recorded. Also Ormandy's Bartok is spectacular, from the point of interpretation, execution and recording (after all, Ormandy was Hungarian!)

Knowing how much more there is of Ormandy and Philly, I hope there is a Volume 2 in the works. This one was lovingly done."