Fine: Symphony 1962 / Serious Song / Toccata Concertante

Irving Fine (Composer), Irving Fine (Conductor), Erich Leinsdorf (Conductor), The Boston Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: The Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Irving Fine, Erich Leinsdorf
• Composer: Irving Fine
• Audio CD (May 27, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Phoenix USA
• ASIN: B00005Y7D5
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #385,246 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony 1962

2. Serious Song

3. Toccata Concertante

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare and Wonderful Composer, February 19, 2002

By 

T. Beers (Arlington, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fine: Symphony 1962 / Serious Song / Toccata Concertante (Audio CD)

Irving Fine died far too young in 1962, just as he was on the brink of realizing the full promise of his wonderful talent. A student of Walter Piston at Harvard in the '40s, Fine was influenced early on by Stravinsky (who wasn't?). The irresistably jaunty "Toccata Concertant" is unthinkable without reference to the cool/hot and spiky neoclassical works Stravinsky wrote in the '40s (think "Symphony in Three Movements"). But Fine has his own take on Stravinsky's international style, a take that is recognizably American in its sheer vigor and optimistic sound. "Serious Song" for strings, on the other hand, is an absolutely gorgeous tonal adagio that tears your heart out. Both of these wonderful works are played to the hilt by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Fine's hometown band, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf who followed Charles Munch as Music Director in Boston during the 1960s. (They were recorded by RCA in 1966-67 in truly superb stereo sound; the masters were subsequently licensed to Desto records and now to Phoenix.)

Like the original RCA Lp, this Phoenix CD couples the "Toccata" and "Serious Song" with a live performance of Fine's only symphony, recorded under the composer's direction at Tanglewood only weeks before his death. Unlike the other two pieces, "Symphony 1962" is a serial composition and one of the best imaginable arguments for serialism's capacity to sustain an emotionally satisfying style. It's truly unfortunate that Fine didn't have more time to walk down the path he opened up with this magnificent composition. But here it is for us to enjoy and I can't imagine a better way to get acquainted with Fine's astonishingly attractive music. Note: the live recording of "Symphony 1962" is real stereo albeit not as satisfying as the studio recordings of its two companions. Still, it's totally enjoyable and, in fact, a priceless memento. (And totally superior to its only rival, a digitally-recorded performance by the Moscow Radio Orchestra on Delos that may or may not still be in print.) Even if - especially if - you've never heard of Irving Fine, I urge you to buy this disc. You're in for a real treat!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shining works, June 4, 2008

By 

David Thierry "[e-mail]" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Irving Fine - Symphony 1962/ Toccata Concertante/ Serious Song For String Orchestra (MP3 Download)

I loved this recording decades ago when it originally came out on lp and was thrilled to find it again on cd. The musical samples speak for themselves. Hard to believe the Symphony was written in serial style as it moves and is beautifully orchestrated with a very moving finale. Don't miss out on Fine. It's absolutely criminal that these works remain unknown and are rarely if ever played. Superb music and very accessible.