Customer Reviews

Eugene Ormandy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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)
CD 9: Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Minneapolis, 1935)
CD 10: Schoenberg: Verklaerte Nacht (Minneapolis 1934); Miakovsky Symphony No. 21 (1947); Barber Essay No. 1 (1940)

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.

Sure, this 10-CD set, gathering early recordings of Eugene Ormandy, from 1935 (still Ormandy's Minneapolis years) to 1949 (his early Philadelphia years), is a musical treasure trove. It is in fact the straight reissue, by Membran (a German label specialized in budget-price reissues) of a similar box released in 2000 by another German publisher, The International Music (or TIM) company, on their History label (Ormandy: Maestro Brillante (Box Set)), part of a series devoted to the great conductors of the past (Koussevitzky, Furtwängler, Stokowski, Klemperer, Schuricht, Barbirolli, Beecham, Toscanini..), all listed and still offered on this website. It is the History box that I bought some years ago.

It reminds you of an Ormandy that you had entirely forgotten about, before he mellowed and seemed intent at revelling in the Philadelphia's sonic splendor and lushness rather than underlining the music's edges, muscles and sinew. Startlingly, this early Ormandy is the exact opposite (to make you wonder what alien could have later taken hold of his mind, and when), a conductor of unsurpassed drive and bite, that could easily be confused with his Hungarian compatriot George Szell. In the standard repertoire (Beethoven's Piano Concertos No. 3 & 4 with Arrau and Casadesus, both from 1947, Dvorak's Cello Concerto with Piatigorsky from the year before, the famous 1939 Brahms' Double Concerto with Heifetz and Feuermann - only the second recording ever of the piece, by the way, after Thibaud-Casals-Cortot conducting in 1929 -, Tchaikovsky's Piano concerto with Oscar Levant in 1949 and Symphonie Pathétique from 1936/7), this will come as a surprise to those who know Ormandy through his later years. The Brahms Double is one of the most thrilling versions ever recorded, not quite equalled in its passionate urgency by Heifetz' own 1960 remake (with Piatigorsky), despite the stupendous sonics, because of Alfred Wallenstein's less biting conducting in the first movement. Arrau's Beethoven 3rd will come as a startling shock to those who know him only through his subsequent recordings with Galliera, Haitink and Colin Davis. This can be compared only to Schnabel (in both his recordings, with Sargent in 1933 and Dobrowen in 1947, ASIN B00005K3PG and B000003XI4, sorry, I need to keep my 9 remaining authorized product links for later), Rubinstein-Toscanini (B000003EWT) or Serkin-Bernstein (B0000029XE): it is uniquely urgent in the outer movements, with muscular utterances and biting accents from the Philadelphians, powerful and even martial in the finale in a way that points to the Emperor. Arrau favors a slightly percussive touch, closer to Serkin than to Schnbael, with trills that are rather dry and don't come near the expressivity of Schnabel's, and digs deep in the keyboard in the first movement cadenza, making it sound almost like a Bach Fantasy adapted by Busoni. But his slow movements strikes a perfect balance between the flowing and the dreamy. I haven't heard Casadesus' 1959 stereo remake of Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto with Van Beinum and the Concertgebouw (it was reissued on Sony's Casadesus edition with the same performers' 1st, B00005KKNR, and is now difficult to find at reasonable prices) but I hope he hasn't changed his interpretive options. His recording from December 22, 1947 with Ormandy is one of my favorite versions, precisely because it strays from the accepted, more pastorale and bucolic approach to the 4th. It is a performance of great dynamism in the outer movements, with a recording that lets you hear with remarkable clarity Casadesus' transparent and muscular touch. Another feature that makes this recording stand out is that Casadeusus plays what I suppose are his own cadenzas in the outer movements - not only are they interesting, but I find them quite convincing. The two Beethovens sound fine for their vintage, much better, for instance, than Testament's reissue of the contemporary Schnabel recordings.

But, other than the languid Schoenberg Transfigured Night, the same kind of urgency and muscularity imbues Ormandy's conducting of the 20th Century repertoire: the Ravel Left-hand Concerto (Casadesus 1947) and the Sibelius First (1936) are intense and outstanding performances. The Mussorgsky Pictures is interesting for featuring not Ravel's famous orchestration, but one by a Lucien Caillet.

Second, the set also reminds you that Ormandy was quite daring in his choice of repertoire, making the world or US premiere recordings of many new works - Barber's Essay No. 1 (1940), Schoenberg's Transfigured Night (1934, premiere recording of the version for string orchestra - the original version for sextet had its recording premiere in 1925), Mahler's Second Symphony (1935, second recording after Oskar Fried's in 1924). For Griffes' Pleasure Dome of Kublai Khan (1934) and Myaskovsky's 21st Symphony (1947), I'm not sure, but I suspect it must be a premiere for the former, and possibly a US premiere for the latter. For Sibelius' First Symphony, Ormandy did indeed record the US premiere, but that was with the Minneapolis Symphony in 1935, and what we get here is his remake from a year later, with Philadelphia - a performance of "impassioned drive" (as the liner notes of the Biddulph release rightly put it). Too bad History didn't include Bartok's Piano Concerto 3 with Gyorgy Sandor, a premiere recording from 1946 (that's on Pearl, Bartók Premières). Incidentally, all the material gathered on this set can or could be found on other labels.

And precisely, here comes the hitch. In the course of writing this review, I compared History's transfers with those of other CD reissues that I happen to have in my collection (which I purchased recently, as my interest for historical recordings has considerably increased lately, either for the pairings not included on this History set, or because I was hoping for better sonics from more established labels like Biddulph, or because I had simply forgotten that I had the specific recordings already). That's when it really struck me how much the History set had been simply plundered from these other releases.

Take the Mahler 2nd, which is on Biddulph WHL032 (Symphony 2). The two transfers run exactly at the same speed, which would be highly unlikely in the case of independent transfers from 78rmps (given the slight differences in revolving speeds between various turntables). There is, in the History CD, a kind of soft electronic high frequency that you can hear over headphones in the softer passages, and that is not in the Biddulph, which first led me to think that the two labels might have used as their source the early LP release of Ormandy's recording, DMM 4 0 260 (information from Peter Fulöp's 1995 Mahler discography). But then, the Ravel left-hand Concerto sounds so undistinguishable from the transfer on Sony's Masterwork Heritage Ravel-Casadesus set, Complete Piano Music of Maurice Ravel (with an uncanny absence of any surface noise) that I began suspecting that History had simply pirated it. The suspicion was confirmed by certain surface clicks on Sibelius' First, that are exactly the same as on Biddulph's transfer, WHL062 (and the inclusion, like Biddulph, of Lemminkainen's Return, is another pointer, Symphony 1 E Minor Op 39 / Berceuse Tempest Op 64). From the surface swish I can say that it was Biddulph's Barber Essay, WHL064/5, that was History's source (Art of Eugene Ormandy - Orchestral works including: Myaskovsky: Symphony No. 21 in F sharp minor, Op. 51 / R. Strauss: Sinfonia Domestica / Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E flat major - Part 1 (2 CDs)), not Pearl's (Barber: Premiere Recordings). It comes as no surprise then that Miaskovsky, Griffes and Strauss' Sinfonia Domestica also sound identical with those of that Biddulph 2-CD set, a conclusion derived not only from the general ambience but also from various and unmistakable clicks and swishes. On the other hand, based on the same kind of sonic clues, it is evidently RCA's transfer that was used for their Brahms' Double Concerto (Heifetz Collection, Volume 5 (1939-1946)) and not Biddulph's, LAB041 (Brahms: Violin Concerto; Double Concerto). To shorten this story, I've made the same observations with Mussorgsky/Tchaikovsky (Symphony 6 / Pictures at an Exhibition), Strauss' Don Quixote (I'm now out of authorized product links, I'll provide them in the comments section, this one is ASIN B000001ZEV), both from Biddulph, and Dvorak's Cello Concerto on Sony Masterworks Heritage (ASIN B0000029VD). I don't have the RCA Rachs (ASIN B000003FGS) and Grieg (B000003F6Y), but I think the evidence is conclusive enough.

It becomes ironic when History/Membran pirates an alleged pirate: the only other "non-78rmp" reissue of Schoenberg's Transfigured Night was by Dante Lys, in 1996, which I don't have (ASIN B00000G4MH), but Wayne Shoaf's Schoenberg discography (available on-line) shows that the timings of both releases are identical, not only overall but section by section, which does hint to direct borrowing. This leads me to suspect that it was also Dante's release of the 1935 Minneapolis Bruckner 7th that was History/Membran's source (ASIN B00000G1H2), although I don't have the Dante for confirmation, and same with the two Beethoven concertos: B00000HZF6 and B000026CK3 (the latter is not listed here but available on the European sister companies) and the Levant Tchaikovsky mentioned above (ASIN B00000G2KI, badly listed, the name of the pianist doesn't even appear, it is paired with Grieg's Piano Concerto conducted by Efrem Kurtz). Now Dante Lys is a label that, while it existed, had that kind of bad reputation with collectors, so maybe there is a moral to that story, like "he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword"; but I happen NOT to share that negative opinion of Dante, and this is a good case in point: who would THEY have pirated their Schoenberg from, since there was NO other non-78rmp reissue? I've seen other cases with Dante, where obviously they published their own transfers direct from the 78rpms.

The release dates (the History box came out in 2000, these various other releases in the 1990s, and no later than 1999) make it possible. And so, now I understand why they didn't include Ormandy's 1946 Bartok 3rd Piano Concerto: the Pearl CD came out only in 2002.

Obviously, such pirating is not honest, and it is not even legal (I was tempted to turn the phrase around). Still, what the History/Membran set offers that the others don't, is gathering all these early Ormandy recordings in a single, cheaply priced box, in transfers that, as dishonest and unfair as it may be, are, for obvious reasons, rarely inferior to those of these other releases. Another consideration is that many of the original CDs have not been maintained in the catalog by their publishers (Dante is dead anyway and Biddulph died, and although they resurrected recently, they have not reissued most of their early releases), and they are either not offered or offered for steep prices on the secondary market. But then: count the sales History then Membran deprived those publishers of. How much was that a factor in their demise?

So, what is going to prevail: your refusal to encourage dishonest and illegal enteprises, or your concern for your bank account? Of course, you could have claimed ignorance before you read this review (which was my case when I bought the History set, but anyway I made up by subsequently buying all those original CDs). Well - not anymore. So this one REALLY deserves the "unhelpful" votes you are going to give it.

More than 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 falsely 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 bettered. 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!

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.

Eugene Ormandy is my favorite director and this is simply the bargain of bargains. Nothing lacking. Well I wish it came in a heaftier presentation case. The music is heaven on Earth. You have never heard classical until you have heard it under the baton of Ormandy.
My favorite classical collection period.
If you love classical don't go to the grave without this one.
I give this one a solid ten stars.

It is worth noting that all 10 cds in the collection are recorded in mono. However, for the price, most reasonable people will not complain. Its an excellent bargain. Highly recomended!

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.

When I see sets like this, I'm often cautious as many are poorly produced and rip-off. Not here! The set is well-produced and the sound (considering the age of the originals) is very good. No notes but this set appeals to collectors who don't need them. Each envelope has the recording dates which is appreciated. I can recommend this set whole-heartedly.

One person said this was a pirate of a pirate. So what! In cases like this where the recording labels (Columbia & RCA) are not interested in keeping these priceless recordings in the catalogue, I applaud labels like these that do. In some cases, they are direct copies of other labels and labels like this do a service by keeping them available when others are no longer produced or out of business.

This

EUGENE ORMANDY (1899-1985)

(Conductor)

CD 1

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, op. 37

1 I. Allegro con brio 15:37

2 II. Largo 10:30

3 III. Rondo: Allegro 8:30

Claudio Arrau (piano)

rec. 24 December 1947

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, op. 58

4 I. Allegro moderato 15:53

5 II. Andante con moto 4:36

6 III. Rondo: Vivace 8:49

Robert Casadesus (piano)

rec. 28 December 1947

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra

Total Time: 63:57

CD 2

MODEST MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881)

Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Lucien Cailliet)

1 Promenade I 1:38

2 The Gnome 2:33

3 Promenade II 0:50

4 The Old Castle 3:25

5 Promenade III 0 :28

6 Tuileries 0 :59

7 Bydlo 1 :52

8 Promenade IV 0:49

9 Ballet of the Unhatched Chickens 1:15

10 Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle 2:03

11 Promenade V 1 :39

12 Limoges: The Market Place 1:17

13 Catacombae 1:46

14 Cum mortuis in lingua mortua 1:54

15 The Hut on Fowl's legs (Baba Yaga) 3:36

16 The Great Gate of Kiev 3:47

rec. 17 October 1937

ANTONÍN DVO'ÁK (1841-1904)

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B minor, op. 104

17 I. Allegro 14:29

18 II. Adagio ma non troppo 10:37

19 III. Finale: Allegro moderato 11:36

Gregor Piatigorsky (cello)

rec. 17 January 1946

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra

Total Time: 66:40

CD 3

PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, op. 23

1 I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso 18:15

2 II. Andantino semplice. Prestissimo 6:33

3 III. Allegro con fuoco 6:14

Oscar Levant (piano)

rec. 8 December 1949

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, op. 74 "Pathétique"

4 I. Adagio. Vivace 16:20

5 II. Adagio ma non troppo 7:41

6 III. Allegretto 8:21

7 IV. Finale: Presto assai 8:36

rec. 1936/1937

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra

Total Time: 72:03

CD 4

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)

Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, op. 102

1 I. Allegro 14:19

2 II. Andante 6:39

3 III. Vivace non troppo 7:36

Jascha Heifetz (violin), Emanuel Feuermann (cello)

rec. 21 December 1939

EDVARD GRIEG (1843-1907)

Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 16

4 I. Allegro molto moderato 11:30

5 II. Adagio 5:14

6 III. Allegro moderato e marcato 9:26

Arthur Rubinstein (piano)

rec. 6 March 1942

CHARLES TOMLINSON GRIFFES (1884-1920)

7 The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan, op. 8 8:40

rec. 1934

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra

Total Time: 63:27

CD 5

SERGEJ RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)

Piano Concerto No. 1 F sharp minor, op. 1

1 I. Vivace 12:11

2 II. Andante 5:23

3 III. Allegro vivace 7:26

Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, op. 30

4 I. Allegro ma non tanto 13:57

5 II. Intermezzo: Adagio 8:39

6 III. Finale: Alla breve 11:24

Sergej Rachmaninov (piano)

all rec. 4 December 1939 & 24 February 1940

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra

Total Time: 59:02

CD 6

RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949)

Don Quixote, op. 35 (Fantastic Variations

on a Theme of a Knightly Character for Cello, Viola and Orchestra)

1 Introduction 5:35

2 Theme: Don Quixote, the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance 2:00

3 Variation I: The Adventure with the Windmills 2:29

4 Variation II: The Battle with the Sheep 1:27

5 Variation III: Dialogue of Knight and Squire 7:28

6 Variation IV: The Adventure with the Penitents 1:50

7 Variation V: The Knight's Vigil 4:01

8 Variation VI: The False Dulcine 1:01

9 Variation VII: The Ride Through the Air 1:00

10 Variation VIII: The Adventure of the Enchanted Boat 1:39

11 Variation IX: The Combat With the two Magicians 1:06

12 Variation X: The Defeat of Don Quixote 3:55

13 Finale: The Death of Don Quixote 4:40

Emanuel Feuermann (cello)

rec. 24 February 1940

Sinfonia domestica, op. 53

14 I. Bewegt 4:50

15 II. Scherzo 5:55

16 III. Wiegenlied 5:35

17 IV. Adagio 10:59

18 V. Finale 12:30

rec. 9 May 1938

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra

Total Time: 78:09

CD 7

ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896)

Symphony No. 7 in E major

1 I. Allegro moderato 17:41

2 II. Adagio: Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam 24:58

3 III. Scherzo: Sehr schnell 9:17

4 IV. Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell 10:13

rec. 5 & 7 January 1935

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra

Total Time: 62:10

CD 8

JEAN SIBELIUS (1865-1957)

Symphony No. 1 in E minor, op. 39

1 I. Andante ma non troppo. Allegro energico 9:40

2 II. Andante 9:24

3 III. Scherzo: Allegro 4:41

4 IV. Finale: Quasi una Fantasia 12:32

rec. 25 October 1941

Lemminkäis-Sarja, op. 22 (Lemminkäinen Suite, op. 22)

5 IV. Lemminkäisen Paluu (Lemminkainen's Return) 5:34

rec. 20 October 1940

MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand

6 Lento. Andante. Allegro. Tempo I 17:01

Robert Casadesus (piano)

rec. 22 January 1947

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra

Total Time: 58:54

CD 9

GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911)

Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection"

1 I. Allegro maestoso 19:38

2 II. Andante moderato 9:06

3 III. Scherzo: In ruhig fließender Bewegung 9:41

4 IV. Urlicht. Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht 5:31

(Lied für Alt und Orchester aus »Des Knaben Wunderhorn«)

5 V. Im Tempo des Scherzo. Wild herausfahrend 32:59

Corinne Frank (soprano), Ann O' Malley Gallogly (contralto), Twin City Symphony Chorus

rec. 6 & 7 January 1935

Eugene Ormandy conducting The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

Total Time: 76:57

CD 10

ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG (1874-1951)

Verklärte Nacht, op. 4

1 Grave 7:35

2 Molto Rallentando 6:25

3 Pesante 2:30

4 Adagio 10:36

5 Adagio 4:56

rec. 16 & 24 January 1934*

NIKOLAI MIASKOVSKY (1881-1950)

6 Symphony No. 21 in F sharp minor, op. 51 15:11

rec. 22 November 1947

SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981)

7 Essay No. 1 for Orchestra, op. 12 7:24

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra & * The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

rec. 20 October 1940

Total Time: 54:39