Search - Gershwin, Toscanini, NBC :: American in Paris

Odd Collection, But Incomparably Brilliant Performances!

09/17/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The listener is advised to play this CD with care: very few musically- sensitive souls will feel in the mood to hear BOTH the "Grand Canyon Suite" and the Barber "Adagio for Strings" in the same auditing session.Taken individually, each performance is a classic, and is a well- recorded example of 1940s record technology. But it was nevertheless essential in the days of 78s to "squash" the loud passages, lest they 'over cut' the record grooves or distort the listener's playback. So you will find very little variance between loud and soft, especially in the "Grand Canyon" reading. However, surely no other conductor has approached this score as if it were a true masterwork, lavishing such passionate commitment and care on what is, after all, a rather cheesy piece. If Toscanini cannot convince you of its minor virtues, no one can.The Gershwin recording was considered by earlier critics to be severe and clipped, evidence of the Maestro not understanding the casual American jazz style. Today, however, now that we have been exposed to reissues of the composer's OWN performances of various piano pieces, we realize that Gershwin played his music with jaunty intensity, not lingering over the sentimental passages. Toscanini follows suit; only the earlier 1943 live broadcast offers a bit more expression and relaxation. This 1945 waxing, transferred perfectly to the digital medium, was a brilliant accomplishment.The world- premiere broadcast of the Barber "Adagio" was given by Toscanini in an NBC program in 1938; that (unreleased) reading was much more deeply- felt and emotional than this rather patrician and detached recording session of 1941. Careful auditors may detect the side-break in the original shellac disks, and the sound is a bit thin, as were many Victor 78s in the immediate pre-war period. Though recorded in Carnegie Hall, the audio quality is just slightly inferior to the archival disks of the 1938 broadcast.The Sousa marches are played almost demonically by the conductor (who had led a military band during World War I, and deeply appreciated martial music.) The extra "oomph" in the Maestro's readings was no doubt inspired by his anti-Fascist activism; yet the broadcasts preserved on certain "bootleg" disks have more emotion and swagger.The American nation anthem (played with patriotic ferver in March of 1942) adds a final fillip to this historic documentation of the Italian Maestro's very successful attempt to honor the music of American composers."