5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
highly individual and effective performances, August 4, 2002
This review is from: Radio Classics: Leopold Stokowski conducts Klemperer: Merry Waltz; Brahms: Symphony No. 4 / Ravel Rapsodie Espagnole / Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (Audio CD)
This recording is taken from a BBC stereo broadcast of Stokowski's last British public concert, given, according to the notes just after his 92nd birthday. In it, you will hear music making that is both highly individual and compelling. The Brahms 4th is very passionate sounding because Stoki both obtains very intensely surging, full bodied sound from the New Philharmonia Orchestra and really shapes the flow of the music. In particular, he notches up the tempo for the climaxes of both the first and fourth movements, which gives them a rhythmic drive that is genuinely exciting. In the Vaughan Williams Fantasia, he employs a subtle rubato that effectively imparts a sensual quality to the music, a characteristic attribute of Stokowski in much of the romantic repertoire. The only drawback, I feel, is his performance of the Ravel Rhapsodie, for the reason that there are coordination problems in the orchestral playing in the Habanera and Feria sections.
The sound quality is both clear and full. A definite recommendation for fans of the music and/or Stokowski.
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