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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Conductors of 20th Century = Best Reissues of the 21st, May 25, 2003
This review is from: Eugene Ormandy (Audio CD)
It's sad that the "Great Conductors of the 20th Century" reissue series has not gotten more notice on www.Amazon.com and in other places, because it has my vote for the best reissue program thus far of the 21st Century. Drawing from the archives of all the major classical labels (EMI, Sony, BMG, DG, Decca, Philips, Supraphon, etc.), EMI and IMG Artists have assembled a wonderful series of affordable two-disc sets by the leading conductors of the last century. And unlike its counterpart, "The Great Pianists of the 20th Century," which are basically compilations of material already available on other CDs, the "Great Conductors" features rare and, for the most part, previously unreleased performances! This particular CD, Volume 13, features the great Eugene Ormandy. With so many of Ormandy's recordings available in the Sony Essential Classics series and on RCA/BMG, you would think there could not possibly anything left to release on CD. Well, guess again. Ormandy recorded a Brahms cycle in the late 60s for CBS, but to date they have only issued the first two symphonies on CD via a Sony Essential Classic "Take 2." Someone like me, who is relatively new to classical and can't go thumb through dad's old vinyl collection, has been left to dream at the prospects of Symphonies 3 & 4. Well, at least here we get number four, and it is a giant! I have nearly a dozen recordings of the Brahms 4, and Ormandy's is every bit as good as my personal favorites by Kleiber, Dorati and Szell. Speaking of Sony Essential Classics "Take 2" CDs, Ormandy also did all of Rachmaninov's Symphonies with Philadelphia during his time with CBS, but the version presented here was done for RCA in 1973, and it was Ormandy's first recording of the complete original version of the work. This set also features the world premiere recording of Anton Webern's "Im Sommerwind." But if those three items are not enough, then use this set as a rare opportunity to hear Ormandy away from the Philadelphians. Ormandy joins the Bavarian RSO for two live performances -- Struass' "Don Juan" in 1959 and Kabalevsky's "Colas Breugnon" Overture in 1965. Whether you are a serious collector of classical music or a beginner, the "Great Conductors of the 20th Century" has something for everyone. If the prized, rare performances previously unreleased on CD (or ever!) doesn't excite you, then use this as an opportunity to check out one of the greatest conductors ever recorded. Since stores are offering increasingly homogenized classical music sections, this conductor may not be in your collection, and that would truly be a shame.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Dumbest Thing Ever, January 2, 2006
This review is from: Eugene Ormandy (Audio CD)
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!)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like everybody else is saying, get it for the Brahms 4th!, November 15, 2005
This review is from: Eugene Ormandy (Audio CD)
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.
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