"The people who assembled this package deserve our deepest thanks for making these rare and glorious recordings available again. Furthermore, they have done wonders with the sound. The Columbia items from the late forties sound as good or better than many '50s recordings, and the RCA releases from the 30s and early forties have never sounded better. Even the Rachmaninov sounds better here than on either the Naxos or BMG editions. In short, this is an indispensable addition to the collection of anyone who loves this music.
CD 1: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 (with Claudio Arrau) and 4 (with Casadesus) (both 1947)
CD 2: Mussorgsky/Cailliet: Pictures at an Exhibition (1937), Dvorak Cello Concerto (with Piatigorsky, 1946)
CD 3: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto (with Oscar Levant, 1947) and Symphony No. 6 (1937)
CD 4: Brahms Double Concerto (with Heifetz & Feuermann, 1939), Grieg Piano Concerto (w. Rubinstein 1942), Griffes: The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan (1934)
CD 5: Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 1 & 3 (w. Rachmaninov, 1939/40)
CD 6: Strauss: Don Quixote (with Feuermann, 1940), Sinfonia Domestica (1938)
CD 7: Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 (1935)
CD 8: Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 & Lemminkainen's Return (1940); Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (with Casadesus, 1947)
"As conductor of the Philadephia Orchestra for 50 years he made more recordings than any other conductor. He was a great accompanist. He could conduct almost any music ever written and probably came close to doing so. Here we have 10 CDs, no notes, and fair to good sound.
CD 1 contains Beethoven's 3rd and 4th piano concertos played by Claudio Arrau and Robert Casadesus (1947)Both are excellent and the Casadesus belongs on any top 5 list.
CD 2 contains the Caillet orchestration of Musssorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition which is not as thrilling as Ravel's. Dvorak's cello concerto, played by Gregor Piatigorsky, fails to compete with records made by other cellists.
CD 3 contains a solid performance of Tchaikovsky's 6h symphony recorded in 1937. Ormandy re-recorded this in better sound many years later. Then there is the piano concerto no. 1 in a wild and eccentric performance by none other than Oscar Levant.
CD 4 is a real gem. Brahms' double concerto is on fire with Heifetz on the violin and the great Emanuel Feuermann on the cello. Next comes Arthur Rubenstein with a superb performance of the Grieg piano concerto.
CD 5 contains Rachmaninov playing his first and third piano concertos. These recordings have never been out of the catalogue and never will be. They are great.
CD 6 contains music by Richard Strauss. The Sinfonia Domestica does not measure up to his other tone poems and there is not much that Ormandy can do with it. However, Don Quixote receives a magnificent performance with brilliant solo work by Feuermann on the cello.
CD 7 is devoted to Bruckner's 7th symphony. You will like it if you like Bruckner. Otherwise, proceed to the next disc.
CD 8 contains a solid performance of Sibelius' 1st symphony and the best recording I have ever heard of Ravel's piano concerto for the Left Hand with, again, Robert Casadesus (1947).
CD 9 is Mahler's 2nd symphony with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1935). The sound is not good but one can tell what a fine Mahler conductor Ormandy was. It is a shame that he did not record more Mahler.
CD 10 ends with Schonberg's Verklarte Nacht, Miaskovsky' 21st symphony, and Barber's Essay No l, none of which are most people's favorite works, but do attest to Ormandy's wide range as a conductor.
In summary, a great collection."
A Very Important Collection
F. Tibets | Boston | 04/23/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is one of the best sets released by The International Music Company. These recordings from Ormandy's Minneapolis years and first decade in Philadelphia remind us that he was an extremely important and vital presence on the American musical scene. Here we have the first Mahler and Bruckner recorded in the US, and done splendidly by the very fine Minneapolis orchestra! Let's not forget marvelous Sibelius (at a time when this composer was hardly an orchestral staple) and the novel arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition by Lucien Cailliet or the first ever recording of music by Griffes. In short, this set is a steal for under 20 bucks and I think, an essential purchase for the collector. Sound is good enough throughout."
Early Recordings from a Master Conductor
T. Beers | Arlington, Virginia United States | 11/01/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Almost 25 years after his death, Eugene Ormandy still does not get the recognition he deserves as one of the truly great conductors of the 20th century. This compact, 10 CD set from Membran helps put Ormandy's achievement -- and stature -- in proper perspective. All the performances date from the conductor's early years (1930-1949), first as Music Director of the Minneapolis Symphony -- today's Minnesota Orchestra -- and thereafter as Stokowski's successor in Philadelphia. It's necessary to mention Stokowski, because many people claim that Ormandy merely carried on what Stokowski had already achieved by building the Philadelphia Orchestra into what Otto Klemperer called "one of the wonders of the world." That Ormandy was more than a Stokowski epigone is demonstrated by his pre-Philadelphia, Minneapolis recordings. Whether conducting Schoenberg's 'Verklaerte Nacht,' Mahler's 'Resurrection Symphony,' or Bruckner's Seventh Symphony (the box incorrectly assigns the Bruckner recording to Philadelphia), Ormandy delivers stunningly dramatic and beautifully realized performances that explore musical textures in unique and illuminating ways. Yes, the Philadelphia Orchestra recordings demonstrate its complete superiority over Minneapolis, but it is astonishing what Ormandy achieved in Minnesota. Herbert von Karajan once remarked that the test of a conductor is not what he can achieve leading a world-class orchestra, but whether he can make a fifth rank orchestra sound like a second rank orchestra. When Ormandy left Minneapolis after only five years, he had turned a provincial band of the third or fourth rank into an orchestra that had to be reckoned among America's best outside the 'Big Four' (in 1936, the orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago). But, as proven by all the performances in this set, Ormandy was much more than an orchestra builder. No performance better demonstrates Ormandy's performance credentials and stature than his 1940 Philadelphia recording of Strauss's sprawling "Symphonia Domestica." Despite marvelous recordings by Karajan, Clemens Krauss, Kempe, Reiner, Szell, and Strauss himself, I have never heard a more convincing, beautifully shaped, and musically interesting performance of this often disparaged work. Ormandy never loses sight of Strauss's expansively conceived 'grand line,' but, at the same time, manages to project a wealth of meaningful textural detail and orchestral color that no other conductor has matched. Other noteworthy recordings included in this set are classic performances of the Brahms Double Concerto (with Jascha Heifetz and Emmanuel Feuermann), Strauss's 'Don Quixote' (Feuermann, again), Rachmaninoff's First and Third concertos performed with the composer, the Dvorak Cello Concerto (with Gregor Piatigorsky), and a very rare, late 1940's recording of Nikolai Myaskovsky's marvelous 21st Symphony. Other reviewers have pointed out how well these vintage recordings sound in these CD transfers. They are, nevertheless, old recordings which pre-date high fidelity technology. Ormandy re-recorded most of this music later in his career, in some cases two and even three times, and his later recordings boast superb 'hi-fi' sound. But these early Ormandy recordings provide a sense of fresh discovery that eludes some of those very famous hi-fi mono and stereo re-makes. By all means explore Ormandy's later recordings. But, for heaven's sake, don't avoid the musical wonders contained in this ridiculously inexpensive set from Membran. Believe me, you won't regret your modest investment!"
Great music overcomes lousy sound
Michael Capizzi | Illinois, USA | 04/24/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've said it many times before on these pages, but for this review it is most important: the performance trumps the engineered sound. It's not an absolute, but pretty close. If you love great classical orchestral music, then this is an incredible bargain. Ten discs filled with a wide variety of truly great music, and there is not a weak performance among the many provided. Eugene Ormandy is almost forgotten today, buried by the likes of Berstein (who was not his equal) and Karajon (who was). But he guided the Philadelphia Orchestra for most of the middle twentieth century and molded the group into one of the world's finest. The evidence is in this boxed set. The vast mahority of the pieces were recorded in the 1930s and, unfortunately, the sound gives prrof of that. Like listening through a long tunnel. But some times you must listen with your intellect to augment the ears. Rarely will you encounter performances like this. Here the best soloists of the century at their prime doing their work backed up by a great orchestra at its prime; and when the orchestra steps to the front, for example, on Night On Bald Mountain, or Strauss's Don Quixote, hold your hat. Oscar Levant soloing on a non-Gershwin piano concerto is a quirky, but nice,surprise. And I've never heard a better Dvorak cello concerto. This set isa great example of the significance of the cd era which allows for bringing back great performances of the past at budget prices. I can understand the desire of a collector to have great recorded sound. It's something we take for granted. But that shouldn't exclude investigating what past greats did to enrich our lives. This boxedf set isa good place to start."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1