Search - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Igor Stravinsky, Leopold Stokowski :: Leopold Stokowski conducts Scheherazade and Petrouchka

Stokowski at his best, but the sound is variable

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Scheherazade on this Testament reissue was made in 1951 with the Philharmonia in London, just two years after it begn to make recordings with Karajan. Stokowski was always welcome in England, and this reading is personal and distinctive. Stokowski finds many ways to binrg out phrasing and balance that keeps the listener alert and wanting more. The overall feeling is energetic and romantic but not to the vulgarized extreme of his garish Phase Four stereo recording for Decca in the Sixties. I think this would be one of the very best Scheherazades ever recorded if it weren't for the patchy, dull sound--EMI was still using 78 masters (they were slow about adopting the LP); in any case this sounds like a reasonably good recording from the Forties. Too bad, given that this is a uniquely exciting and theatrical account.



The coupling is a complete Petrushka from NY with a pick-up orchestra called the Leophod Stokowski Sym. Orchestra--the concertmaster of the NY Phil, John Corigliano, is listed as a soloist, so this group was probably the Philharmonic in disguise. Leonid Hambro, the NY Phil.'s pianist, plays a great solo part here, full of wild energy. Stokowski's conducting is as wild as in Le Scare much of the time. Another mesmerizing performance, but the sound is not much better here. Loud tutti passages are distant and dim wihile solo voices sometimes jump out of the speaker. I found it one of the most exhilirating Stavinsky recordings ever, despite the dated sonics. Five stars for both works, with enthusiasm."

Best Petrouchka Ever

A. Ulyate | Los Angeles | 10/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wild--Stoki at his best. Great NY players of the 50s. Superior original 1911 version of the work."