Search - Dvorak, Sibelius, Ravel :: Symphony 9 / Symphony 7 / Bolero

Stokowski's Only Recordings of the Sibelius & Ravel

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 05/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There were many great conductors in the 20th Century. And then there was Stokowski. Love him or hate him, Stokowski was an absolute wizard at getting an orchestra to answer his every beck and call. This fascinating CD from Music & Arts contains yet another Dvorak "New World" Symphony, plus Stokowski's ONLY recorded accounts of the Sibelus 7th Symphony and Ravel's "Bolero." All were recorded in 1940 with the All-American Youth Orchestra.



This is one of the most engrossing historical releases to come my way in many a moon. Purists will cavil at some of the liberties Stokowski takes in the Dvorak 9th - those agogic distortions, and yes, the added cymbal clashes in the last mvt. are here as well. I wouldn't begin to try comparing ALL of Stoky's versions (there are about 7 New Worlds), but I think this and the first one (with Philadelphia) are the most interesting. It's been a long time since the hairs went straight up on the back of my neck while listening to the closing pages, but it sure as heck happened here. My ultimate desert island choice would be the more idiomatic and utterly wonderful 1954 Talich/Czech Phil. account (Supraphon), but if I could take multiple versions, this one would go with me, too.



Stokowski was one of the great pioneers of Sibelius conducting, and I'm glad to hear his way with the 7th Symphony. While not as febrile as Koussevitzky's "live" 1933 reading (IMG), Stoky's way with this score strikes me as equally valid. Of course, neither would be a sonic first choice, but both versions are indispensable to any serious Sibelian's CD collection.



The Bolero is one of the strangest accounts I have ever heard. I was listening recently to Mravinsky's strait-jacketed 1952 account on a Multisonic CD (see my review) and felt it was quite regimented and utterly humorless. Ravel asked that the piece be played in a duration of about 16 minutes (recordings by Leibowitz, Rosenthal and the composer himself hover around that mark). Mravinsky takes over 17 minutes which, in his case, simply prolongs the agony. Here, Stoky dashes through it in 12 minutes flat! In its way, this reading is almost as humorless & regimented as Mravinsky's, but it's all over before you know it. "Wrong" as it is, this performance has an animal intensity about it that's pretty hypnotic. Too bad the rather dim sound isn't better (the other items here sound considerably better).



A genuine bonus that comes with this CD is a richly-informative booklet authored by Stoky maven Robert M. Stumpf, Jr. (who is President of the Leopold Stokowski Society of America). There are lengthy quotes from H. Creech Reynolds, who at age 20 was one of the players in the Youth Orchestra (one of the first ensembles ever to have numerous women in its ranks). Some of the anecotes regarding the orchestra's tour in South America had me in stitches. Reynolds also comments on Stoky's unusual attention to orchestral acoustics:



"In order to gain the firmest bass sound, he aligned the double basses across the very rear of the stage, with the cellos directly in front of them, so that all instruments faced directly outward for maximum clarity and force. The winds, which needed the least projection assistance, were seated in circles directly around the conductor - where normally the inner row of first strings are seated. The horns, all twelve of them, were in a row starting directly behind the inner circle of winds on his right ... Another innovation was that there was no concertmaster. The principal violin solos, in the Brahms 1st and Shostakovich 5th, were passed around among carefully selected players. The violins were seated back in the body of the orchestra and, more importantly, in the shell so that their sound became full, rich, and well blended as it was projected. This aided Stokowski's technique of mandatory free bowing during all legato sections for strings. It was a sin to change bow-stroke when your partner did."



This set is a must-have for Stokowski lovers. The Dvorak will involve owning yet another version, but after all, isn't one of the greatest pleasures in classical CD collecting the opportunity to explore new worlds?



Highly recommended."