NBC Symphony Orchestra Robert Shaw Chorale Giuseppe Verdi - Arturo Toscanini NBC Symphony Orchestra VolXI (27 tracks) +Album Reviews

At long last, Toscanini's recordings are somewhat listenable

madamemusico | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | 07/09/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have enjoyed Toscanini's performances of classical music since I was a teenager, now almost 35 years ago, but I was never very happy about the thin, shrill sound of his recordings. Why did they sound so bad? It took me years to discover that, unlike Stokowski or Koussevitzky, Toscanini had no interest in the technical side of making records. As long as he could hear all the orchestral "voices," he was content, if not entirely happy. This left the technical end of the business up to various producers and engineers at RCA, many of whom had their own crackpot ideas about how to position microphones. (Please remember, the early RCA Opera Series LPs sounded just as thin, shrill and dry as Toscanini's recordings; remember the Reiner "Carmen," or the Cellini recordings of "Rigoletto" and "Il Trovatore.") What this did was compress the tremendous crescendos that Toscanini achieved, turning them into crunching sounds that simply overwhelmed the microphones. And then, when these tapes were processed into LP discs, they compressed the sound even more, with the result that Toscanini sounded as if he were conducting a military band in your bathroom instead of a real, live symphony orchestra in Carnegie Hall.With the advent of 20-bit remastering, however, and the dedication of real music-lovers intent on restoring (as much as possible) the sound of the original tapes, RCA has issued a mere 24 CDs of the Toscanini legacy in this new format (in 12 2-CD sets). Luckily, the series includes his Beethoven symphonies, which were landmarks of the time, as well as Italian orchestral music that meant a lot to him (see listings). And it also includes these 1950-54 performances of the Cherubini Requiem, as well as the Verdi Requiem and Te Deum.Words cannot describe how wonderful this Verdi Requiem sounds, especially in comparison to the original LPs (may they rest in pieces). Only in two or three places do the massed sound of choirs, brass, strings and percussion have the "nasty" crunching sound as in the past. Otherwise, even in the "Libera me," the percussion and brass sounds wonderfully natural. And, finally, one can hear the natural Carnegie Hall ambience around the voices of the soloists, Herva Nelli, Fedora Barbieri, Giuseppe DiStefano and Cesare Siepi, who are all in fabulous voice.As for the performance: I have been told by many Toscanini experts that his 1940 performance with Milanov and Jussi Bjorling far surpasses this one, but I once owned that recording and don't you believe it. Granted, the "Ingemisco" and "Offertorio" are swifter and tauter here than in the 1940 recording, but they sound wonderful in context. Indeed, I found myself both emotionally moved and intellectually satisfied by this Requiem as I have been by no other...not even the great Giulini and Karajan recordings. For the first time EVER, I perceived an underlying structure in the work, rather than just hearing it as a sort of suite of interesting but disconnected fragments. I also heard orchestral details that passd unnoticed in even the best digital stereo versions, i.e. sinister oboes and bassoons in the earlier sections, pizzicato strings in the "Libera me." Please, please believe me, this is a MIRACULOUS performance.The "Te Deum," from 1954, boasts the most modern and natural sound of all. But what really surprised me was the clarity and warmth imparted to the Cherubini Requiem, which was recorded in the "notorious" Studio 8-H. Suffice to say that, in comparison to all other available versions of these works, these are THE preferred performances...especially so now that you can actually hear them without cringing."

New sound is a major improvement

pm444 | Okemos, MI USA | 06/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought the 1990 remastering of the Verdi "Requiem" but after one or two times, I did not listen to it very often, since the sound was compressed and the loudest passages were badly distorted. This new remastering is a significant improvement over the older one, and allows the listener to really enjoy the performance, unhindered by sonic annoyances. The performance was a live radio broadcast, with all of the intensity and power that the best such performances can have. Highly recommended as the definitive "historical" performance of the Verdi "Requiem"."

A remastering to rejoice over

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've heard before-and-after examples of BMG's amazing remastering job on the old Toscanini archive, and this Verdi Requiem is one of the very best. Despite the original microphone placement, which puts the chorus a bit too far back and the inner woodwinds too close, those are quibbles compared to the vibrant solo voices and the sudden expansion of space compared to the pinched acoustic we've winced over for fifty years.

This is a work that Toscanini has only himself to compete with. He didn't take a revernet approach to the Requiem--the whole cast of Aida has taken a wrong turn and wound up in church. Much of the time the soloists are clearly competing, and why not? Siepi, Di Stefano, and Barbieri in full voice are magnificent. Herva Nelli had no significant career on records aside from those with Toscanini, but she comes across here as a secure, committed dramatic soprano.

That Toscanini's reading fits on one disc testifies to its fiery tempos and untethered drama. The Robert Shaw chorale wouldn't be bettered until professional choruses became the norm in following decades; too bad they are the least audible aspect of the recording. I think this Verdi Requiem must be judged a first-choice, along with the Debussy La Mer, among the newly remastered "Immortal" series that I've encountered so far."

A Singer's Verdi

Robert E. Nylund | Ft. Wayne, Indiana United States | 02/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although Verdi really challenges singers in so much of his music, there's no question that he wrote well for the voice. This is quite apparent in Toscanini's January 1951 broadcast concert of Verdi's "Requiem." Having performed this music, this writer can attest that this is a recording to treasure. The soloists are outstanding (probably singing their best), the chorus is excellent, and the NBC Symphony plays as well as it ever did. The added excitement is in hearing a live performance, without any retakes, and the incredible drama and emotion of the music in Toscanini's hands.

Yes, Toscanini actually yells during the "Tuba mirum," as the brass blares its terrifying call, just before the chorus enters fortissimo. Was Toscanini urging on his performers? Certainly this is overwhelming music. My former choral director told us that Verdi wrote with a sense of fear as the approaching Day of Judgment, even if the composer notoriously despised organized religion. Did Verdi fear God's anger and judgment? He certainly had a healthy respect for divine providence and this performance displays that.

Some listeners complain that this is just another Verdi opera. It's true that it sounds a lot like "Aida," which was composed within a few years of this work. However, Verdi used the musical language he understood; there is a definite sense of drama throughout the music, even as he treats the traditional Latin text with great respect and even awe.

The performance took place on the 50th anniversary of Verdi's death, a date that Toscanini would long remember because of his close relationship with the composer. Toscanini was asked to lead the musical forces at Verdi's funeral in January 1901. By 1951, when this Carnegie Hall performance took place, Toscanini must have wondered how much time remained for him. He was to have some serious health problems during that year and his long-suffering wife, Carla, would finally pass on. Certainly, as the years had passed, the Requiem took on greater significance as a lasting memorial, not only for Verdi's friend Manzoni but for Verdi's own prestigious career.

The recurring setting of the "Dies Irae," the Day of Wrath or Day of Judgment, with its pounding bass drum characterizes this powerful music. The choral singing is particularly difficult at those times and the singers here are outstanding. The very challenging double chorus singing during the "Sanctus" is especially good with its lightning-speed precision. Yet there are also sensitive, even sweet, moments, culminating with the soprano's more hopeful singing during the "Lux aeterna" or "Eternal Light," leading finally to the "Libera me," in which the chorus joins in hushed tones. Herva Nelli seldom sang as well as she did in those closing moments. The music always has left this listener with a sense of peace, probably as Verdi intended.

This 1951 recording may have been surprassed by the later stereophonic recordings (especially by Sir Georg Solti), in which Verdi's spectacular use of brass and percussion are absolutely amazing, but this is a performance that is closer to Verdi's own intentions.

Near the very end of Toscanini's long career, he conducted Verdi's very last work, a setting of the traditional hymn "Te Deum." This took place on March 14, 1954, in an NBC concert which also included one of Vivaldi's concerto grossos and the prologue to Boito's "Mefistofele." It has long been said that this was the last great concert that the Maestro conducted because of his overwhelming emotions over his impending retirement and the abandonment of the NBC Symphony. Indeed, the two concerts that followed this one were not up to Toscanini's usual standards, which is particularly unfortunate because they were the only time that Toscanini and his orchestra were taped in stereo.

The Robert Shaw Chorale, which had sung so well in the Verdi "Requiem" three years earlier, shone particularly bright in Verdi's "Te Deum." The singers and the orchestra succeed briliantly during the many mood shifts of the music, as Verdi imaginatively scores the powerful text. What a wonderful, moving, and enjoyable performance!

Toscanini had a particular fondness for the music of the early Italian romantic composer Luigi Cherubini and this is quite apparent in his performances both of the "Requiem" and Cherubini's only symphony. The performance is from NBC Studio 8-H with exceptionally good sound.

"

Despite the sound, impressive!!

Marcelo Castellanos | Toulouse, France | 05/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A friend of mine listened to this CD and said: "Puff, it is hard to make a deconvolution between the trumpets and the rest of the orchestra"... That is, soloists are perfectly catched, but trumpets in Tuba Mirum fill everything and you cannot hear the chorus just in the beginning. Violins are hardly audible in some parts but, on the whole, it is a very, very great performance. First, you can make a comparative with famous Giulini's Requiem, stereo sound, and it is incredible to see that his Kyrie is slower than Tosca's, losing all the strength and frenzy environment that Tosca achieves. But, Giulini's goes revved up in Dies Irae, much more that Tosca's, and again loses enchantment. Tuba Mirum is much more the same tempo for both. Briefly, Tosca yields a more uniform performance than Giulini and that is why this performance catches you up with emotion and strength. It is sublime, pity for the mono and loudness of the trumpets. Regarding the soloists, Di Stefano is simply gorgeous. His top register is brilliant here, and his phrasing seductive as ever. But when you go to Hostias, it is "perfection". I have listened to it 20 times or more, incredible his singing there. In Giulini's, Pavarotti is sensational too, but Di Stefano is capable to touch the Heaven itself. The bass, Siepi, is attractive in all his register with his widened rich voice. Herva Nelli sounds like Callas, yes, in certain low tones, and, for the mezzo, Barbieri, compare to the Giulini's one in Kyrie. She is more "menacing and loose" when singing "Christe", ...In summary, a great performance, that maybe, is the Reference."

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