Search - Johannes Brahms, Dmitry Kabalevsky, Sergey Rachmaninov :: Eugene Ormandy

The Dumbest Thing Ever

Wayne A. | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 01/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Recently I sat all my Nielsen First Symphonies all together and did a side-by-side on the first bars of the last movement. Something remarkable happens there that requires precision work to get it right and nobody (including Blomstedt) came close to Ormandy in this horse race. On recommendation I snickeringly tried Ormandy's Beethoven Fifth and it bowled me over--it's now my favorite, bar none. I'm completely at a loss to find better Shostakovich and I would love to get my hands on Ormandy's Mahler 10 recorded decades ago. What gives? What gives is that Eugene Ormandy and his over-hyped Fabulous Philadelphians were, despite everything, one of the greatest music producing engines ever. Throw your copies of Fanfare, the Goode Guide, and Penguin away, those reviewers clearly have pickles in their ears (I left out American Record Guide because, lo and behold, the editor has noticed this appalling phenomenon too). What Ormandy does, and does magnificently, is stand back and let the music speak through one of the world's finest orchestras. This lack of ego seems to bother some people, probably the same people who write reviews complaining about Berlioz's compositional skills. Elements of this somewhat feeble culture have a tendency to try to ride herd over their betters.



This is also one heck of a collection, especially for the Brahms and the Rachmaninoff (interesting that both Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff had high regards for the "mediocre" Ormandy). Just buy it!



[You'll note the same curious phenomenon with the equally reviled Leinsdorf [Mahler! Prokofiev! Dvorak!] and Van Beinum [untouchable Debussy! Brahms! Bartok! Stravinsky!]--if you tossed in Jochum and maybe Munch I could easily put together a first-class collection of the Classics without ever coming close to the usual list of razzle-dazzle superstar and wunderkind conductors. This is really making me wonder about a lot of things!)"

My favorite recording.

John L. Kenny | Plymouth Meeting,Pa. | 06/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ormandy's Brahms 4th symphony recording from the late 60's
is my favorite recording, bar none. It has a rhythm, musicality
momentum that I don't hear in other recordings of this masterpiece. The finale is played with tremendous power, drama
and a thumping rhythm . Solos are played beautifully.
The Sibelius piece is also brilliant.
I highly recommend this CD."

Like everybody else is saying, get it for the Brahms 4th!

Joey Joe Joe Jr. Shabadoo | Boston, MA USA | 11/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great rendition of Brahms' 4th symphony, which happens to be my favorite symphony by one of my favorite composers (he runs neck in neck with Beethoven, Bach and Mozart, and the lead keeps changing hands). I've heard a bunch of Brahms 4ths, including Giulini (1970), Abbado (1992, underrated), Karajan (1978) Kleiber (1980), Solti (1978), Dorati (1961), Jochum (1978), Ozawa (1990), Bernstein (1981), Haitink (1992), Kubelik (1983), and now the Ormandy, from 1967. The Ormandy is one of the oldest, and it sounds old (my only misgiving on this recording is the muddiness when it gets loud), but it is still up near the top of the heap in terms of interpretation. I would probably rate the Dorati, Giulini and the Kleiber ahead of it, with the Abbado and Karajan trailing just behind. I have lately found myself getting into Ormandy after hearing a recording of Dvorak's 9th with Ormandy/Philadelphia from an old LP of my dad's. If you are an Ormandy fan, then this is a must have, since you can't get the Brahms 4th anywhere else.



To be honest, the rest of the disc is nice, but I bought it for the Brahms. At this price, it is still worth it."