Customer Reviews

Great American

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

 

 

Felix Slatkin's renditions of Ferde Grofe's "Grand Canyon" and "Mississippi" suites are good, though the spacious fidelity required for this music isn't here--even by 1956 standards, the acoustics are cramped. Contrast this with the big-sounding Andre Kostelanetz version from 1941 that was consistently reissued on Columbia for decades, from shellac to vinyl, and then from monaural to reprocessed stereo. (Why isn't this masterful performance on CD??) Otherwise, the scrunched dynamics and tape hiss are no worse than one would expect from the period--better, perhaps. Frankly, I didn't know that stereo existed in 1956, but apparently it did. Though it sounds a tad empty, this is authentic stereo.

The real reason to buy this CD, however, is the Grofe-conducted "Death Valley Suite," which I happen to love in spite of its many faults, not the least of which is a joyous but corny Stephen Foster medley that abruptly pops out of the sand in "Desert Water Hole," the third movement. This is very 1939 in character, with the feel of a patriotic movie short, making it only slightly anachronistic for 1949, the year of the suite. The concluding "Sand Storm" plows along in triple-forte fashion with howling wind machines and a shameless indulgence in whole-tone modality, the storm ending with an augmented-triad overlap of woodwinds and strings. A lovely and richly-scored reprise of a second-movement theme brings this fun, if not awfully serious, work to an end. For a 1954 recording, "Death Valley" sounds very good, with less tape hiss and dynamic flattening-out than there could have been. Oh, and there's the fastest "Cloudburst" ever recorded, with Grofe again at the baton, as a bonus track. This is also from 1954. A very nice buy.

Back in 1956 Ferde Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite" and "Mississippi Suite" were given lush performances by the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra with Felix Slatkin conducting. I loved the recordings when I first heard them (on a monaural LP), and they still sound just about perfect to me on this 1997 Angel CD. More recent recordings may have a bigger sound, but many miss the music's grandeur and sweep as it paints the Grand Canyon at sunrise and sunset. The instrumental balance in the famous "On the Trail" section is right on the mark, and the "Cloudburst" finale avoids the histrionics of some more recent recordings. The lesser known "Mississippi Suite" is another gem included on the CD, performed here with romantic flair. Particularly moving is the lovely lullabye in the "Old Creole Days" movement. The CD also includes Grofe's "Death Valley Suite" and a fast and furious "Cloudburst" performed in 1954 by the Capitol Symphony Orchestra with Grofe conducting. All in all, the music justifies the CD's claim for Grofe as a "Great American" composer of gorgeous tone poems.

I used to listen to the Hollywood Bowl Symphony performance of Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite on vinyl. After years of abuse the vinyl copy was trashed. Some years later, I found a performance of the same work on vinyl and I was not as impressed as with this particular performance (I don't remember who performed it). This performance on CD is still my favorite and I would recommend it to anyone. Sunrise will transport you to the Canyon just before the sun comes up and is a wonderful piece (my favorite of the work). On the Trail has some wonderful dynamics. All in all, a wonderful composition and great performance.

Angel has always done a great job of recording and the music is wonderful.

The price was acceptable; condition and delivery were good.