Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Alexander Glazunov, Alexander Mossolov :: De Sabata Conducts Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 and Works by Stravinsky, Mossolov, De Sabata & Glazunov

Deemed "the best" when first issued.

04/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The recording project that has ensured that Italian conductor Victor de Sabataýs name is familiar to 21st Century collectors is the 1953 ýToscaý with Callas, di Stefano, and Gobbi. Naxos has now reissued another of his great recordings. Following its release in the late 1940s, Sabataýs recording of Beethovenýs Sixth Symphony gained extraordinary acclaim. Reviewing all available versions, the authors of the prestigious ýRecord Guideý, after expressing great affection for recordings by Toscanini and Bruno Walter, judged this Sabata recording to be ýthe bestý. Produced by Walter Legge, it was recorded in the Rome Santa Cecilia Academy, where it was found that the best results were obtained when the orchestra was seated at the back rather than the front of the hall. This is a ýPastoralý of extreme delicacy and refinement. Every main statement is perfectly judged as to rhythm and phrasing. Every line of filigree work and every accompanying figure is polished and perfectly placed. Never before have I noticed that the subsiding of the thunderstorm is actually some of the most magical rather than some of the tritest pages in the symphony. Collectors who are skeptical of historic reissues, doubting that 78 sides can ever be invisibly joined or that surface hiss can ever be eradicated, will find no grounds for complaint here. Neither problem occurs: the joining is seamless, and the hiss is inaudible even when the signal is very very quiet. Other reviewers might care to comment on the remaining items offered on this Naxos reissue. They comprise early items from de Sabataýs small recorded legacy, including one of his own compositions. It is to the ýPastoralý however, that I shall be returning, believing that quite possibly it is still ýthe bestý."