Customer Reviews

Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 ("Organ Symphony") is without question the most famous, and most frequently-performed, work in the symphonic repertoire for this pairing of forces. Over the years, it has received the attention of many conductors. A quick search of available recordings shows that most speciaiists in the French repertoire have committed performances to disc: Charles Dutoit, Charles Munch, Georges Pretre, Andre Cluytens, Paul Paray, Jean Martinon, Sir Thomas Beecham, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Jean Fournet, Michel Plasson, Louis de Froment, Louis Fremaux (some of them with multiple recordings).

But, for all that "French specialization," the all-time record for most recordings of this work is held by a Hungarian, Eugene Ormandy. The record (no pun intended) shows that Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded this work at least four times: twice with E. Power Biggs (the first of which, in the mid-'50s, is how I first came to know the work), once with Virgil Fox, and, finally (almost as a "career summation") with Michael Murray on this splendid Telarc CD.

Recorded at a time (1980) when Ormandy was preparing to relinquish his Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director position to his successor, Riccardo Muti, and when the novelty of digital recording was still unique enough that Telarc, in the vanguard of this technology, succeeded in securing recording rights for several major U.S. orchestras (including three of the "big five" if only for a limited number of releases), this performance is the equal of any, and the sound (from an unusual venue for the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Francis de Sales Church) remains "state of the art" nearly a quarter-century later. It is, arguably, one of the very best recordings of the Philadelphia Orchestra ever made, irrespective of repertoire. And the Cavaillé-Coll organ installation at St. Francis de Sales is a "near-twin" to the instruments actually played countless times by Saint-Saëns in Paris (at Notre Dame and at the Madeleine church).

Saint-Saëns was both a child prodigy and a composer who lived, and composed over, a long and fruitful life. But he was "only" fifty when he wrote this final symphony of his; all of his subsequent works were in different genres. He thought it a fitting capstone to his symphonic output, and who are we to argue? Composed in 1888, when Johannes Brahms was the leading symphonist of the day and such young "upstarts" as Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler were beginning to gain attention, Saint-Saëns's compositional aesthetic for the work (save for the fact that it incorporates the organ) is almost "reactionary" by comparison. It is immediately accessible to virtually anyone, such is its appeal. An adjective often used to describe Saint-Saëns's writing in this work is "suave"; I think this characterization is spot-on.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has rarely if ever sounded better than it does here. Famous for its "silky strings" during Ormandy's tenure, the whole orchestra is a model of refinement so vital for realizing the suave writings of Saint-Saëns; all choirs of the orchestra exhibit this refinement at every dynamic level. The organ-orchestra balances are perfect (clearly, Telarc did a remarkable job in establishing these balances in what is often a tricky venue, that of a rather reverberent church). And the dynamic and frequency ranges of the recording are nothing short of astounding; of present-day "demo" quality despite the passage of a quarter century.

My only complaint about this CD - and it is admittedly one that is "pocketbook dependent" - is that it offers rather a small amount of music for its cost. When it was newly-released (as a fairly early Telarc CD transfer from a 1980 digitially-mastered LP), matters were different, and CDs offering significantly more playing time than this one does were the exception. Nowadays, with 75+ minute CDs a routine matter, this recording - good as it is - should either be remastered to include more music (not a problem, given Telarc's large catalog), or offered as a "super budget" reissue (also not a problem, since Telarc has such a product line). This is the ONLY issue that keeps me from giving this recording a 5-star rating. For interpretive and sonic reasons, it clearly deserves such a rating; it remains the best recording of this work after all these years.

Bob Zeidler

If you've heard about the legendary "Philadelphia Sound" (which was killed by Riccardo Muti) and wondered what it was about, then get this CD. Many of the old Columbia (now Sony) recordings were made under less-than-great circumstances, and were mixed and equalized for the sound systems of the day (1950s and 60s), so they tend to sound strident and harsh and "gray." Many younger folks wonder what the big deal was over the so-called "Philadelphia Sound." Well, this CD should explain it to them. EO and the Philly Orch are lush without ever becoming bloated or "sugary." There is an intense spirituality at times, which betray Ormandy as a deeper conductor than he is often credited as being. This is probably the closest one can come to knowning what it was like to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra live back in those days, though the acoustic is more reverberant than one would get in the dry Academy of Music. In fact, perhaps it is a bit too reverberant. That would be my one slight reservation with the CD. There are some parts that are a little covered-over and smeared. It's only minor however, and there's nothing that would stand in the way of my recommending this disc. Be forewarned it's not a very long CD, and it wasn't even by CD standards when it was first released. But there's quantity and there's quality, and I'd rather have the latter.

If memory serves, Eugene Ormandy did the Saint-Saens Third Symphony several times in various recordings. Given the brilliant orchestration, plus the use of the great French pipe organ, this piece just has to be a show piece. It demonstrated vinyl LP stereo, then it demonstrated the early failed vinyl quad, then it demonstrated CD stereo, and now it arrives on SACD. This master tape was made in the transition years before superaudio surround sound actually arrived, yet it represented a sterling technical step forward, thanks to the 50 Hz soundstream system that allowed an increase in resolution and something closer to what fanatics have long called, tube-like warmth.

Now this soundstream master is successfully transferred into DSD superaudio, albeit limited to two stereo channels. Which just serves to demonstrate how very much can be accomplished in two channels, given the higher resolution that DSD procedures allow. Yes, the dynamic range and detail and sense of tonal presence are all remarkable and lovely. And if this doesn't approximate the holy grail of tube-like warmth, then I do not think we are ever going to get there via digital methods.

Such technical capacities would mean little if this disc were not also showing off the rich sheen of the famed Philadelphia strings, christened with woodwinds in platinum, and golden glowing brass. The organ is particularly effective, yet integrated always into the larger orchestral fabric. Needless to say, there are never any problems of musical technique with the members of the Philadelphia. They excel, as a matter of course. Yet we must not take their excellence for granted, even though they are so generous with their talents that being cup bearer to the gods must come to seem for a while like the most ordinary of musical occupations.

The Saint-Saens was recorded complete with organ, played by virtuoso Michael Murray, at the Saint Francis de Sales church in Philadelphia, so it has special claims to care and to adopting a clean, non-gimmicky approach. Nearby streets were actually closed to traffic during the sessions, and special voicing of the organ and the church as an acoustic recording venue were carried out.

All of this effort paid off handsomely, now that we can hear what the original master captured.

There is nothing eccentric in this performance. It is entirely mainstream in its tempos and accents. Ormandy was often under-rated, like Fritz Reiner ... competent, yes, but ... Hearing him again after all these years reveals the rock solid tempo management he could take for granted, as well as his ability to get out of the way of the music and let the composer ring through without mannerism or fuss. This is all to the good, since with a facile composer like Saint-Saens, it is easy to try to hitch things up a bit by plastering on somebody's version of Frenchification, gone usually all glitzy. The end results of such pushing and pulling is not only to maul and distort the music, but in the end to make the music seem even shallower and less substantial than ever.

Ormandy does not let his players play down to the composer, nor does Michael Murray condescend, despite the composer's use of the organ for color and weight, as well as for display.

The remainder of the SACD is a second complete French music organ recital, played solo by Michael Murray on the great organ installed in Boston's Symphony Hall. It is difficult to imagine an organist who could play this recital repertoire better, nor a better instrument upon which the music could be played. The famed acoustics of Symphony Hall add their hallowed luster.

Murray as an organist is a masterful twin to Ormandy as band leader. Fuss, muss, and fiddle are foregone in favor of the organist adopting a direct, astute, and very rewarding transparency as a channel of musical communication. The tonal occupations of each different recital piece come through, clearly, and if we have to hear something after the symphony so grandly concludes, it is hard to gripe about this recital being it.

Among the full-channel superaudio competition, I am favorably disposed to the Nezet-Seguin/Montreal Metro outing. It has its own special values. The recent recording by Eschenbach with Philadelphia is also getting loud raves, so that one is probably in the high running, too.

Yet if you grew up with Ormandy - or if you didn't, and have been wondering just what the talk was all about during his long-standing tenure as music director - this disc is a blessedly welcome blast from the past. Bravo to Telarc for re-releasing it in superaudio, and not just consigning it to the past.

Why just have one Saint-Saens' Third? Plus you can use the organ recital portion to help voice and balance your chosen subwoofer into the home system you have been dying to test. Sounds like a win-win-win, thanks to soundstream, and thanks to solid musical values.

So many reviewers here have said it so well, that I'm unsure I can say it any better, but I will try. I can pay no higher compliment to this performance by Ormandy, the Philadelphians and Telarc than to say, that this is the ONLY performance that is as perfect and as moving as the Charles Munch/Boston Symphony Orchestra RCA performance from 1959. That CD has the well-earned status as the benchmark of perfection in performance, even after forty years. I've probably owned a dozen recordings of this symphony and this is the one I invariably come back to, along with the one by Charles Munch. However, this one is so splendidly recorded, I believe it is an essential recording. Ormandy gives one of his last & greatest performances, and the Philadelphians clearly want to leave him a legacy, pulling all of the emotional depth present in the Munch/Boston/RCA release. Murray proves why he has earned so much respect as an organist & interpreter of French Organ repertoire. This recording is a little unique in that the recording space sounds quite large, and it has a little more reverberation than most, but Telarc did a magnificent job in being able to pick up so much detail. I cannot say enough about the detail of the woodwinds they achieve while still capturing the Philadelphia Orchestra's famed string (and brass) sections. The only possible way it could be any better is that the fast piano runs in the last scherzo are just a tad more faint than in most recordings due to the reverberation & recording space, but that is an EXTEMELY minor flaw compared to the richness of detail found all over this recording. The adagio of this symphony alone is worth the price of this disc. Ormandy, like Munch plumbs the depths of aching, of deep longing & the eventual ecstatic peace that make the adagio as admired as anything written by Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms or Mahler. I really believe that any of them would have been deeply moved if they heard this peace, and of course Mahler certainly did, and must have admired it deeply! Saint-Saens himself admitted, sincerely & quite humbly, after finishing this symphony, that he could do no more. He had achieved perfection, and Ormandy, Murray & the Philadelphians have paid tribute to Saint-Saens by doing the same.

This is an excellent recording. The balance between the orchestra and the organ was done with the utmost care. You can also tell that the orchestra and the organ were in the same room unlike later and earlier attempts the orchestra and organ were in two different places. The execution of Michael and the orchestra are excellent. It is still one of my most favorite CD's even after 15 years!

Ormandy, one of the 20th century's most important conductors, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Murray and the Organ/Acoustics of St. Francis deSales Church team up to bring the glory of God to CD format.

This is absolutely one of the finest recordings I have ever heard. At times its power will shake the floor, and at others (especially because the Philadelphia strings are at their best with this music) its breadth and fullness will move you beyond words.

Own this recording.

This recording that Eugene Ormandy made with organist Michael Murray in 1980 for Telarc was one of his last, and one of his best. Ormandy takes a more relaxed tempo in this version compared to the previous three (1956, 1962 with E. Power Biggs, 1974 with Virgil Fox), but this recording is just as majestic as the 1956 collaboration with Biggs. Unfortunately, at times, the orchestra is also mic'ed from a distance, particularly in the Poco adagio section of Part I. However, beginning with the introduction of the Maestoso in Part II, Murray's organ and the Philadelphia's French horns and percussion are right in our living room. I don't mean that a digital "representation" is right in my living room, but over my speakers (ADS and Klipsch) was delivered the most realistic sound I've heard from a digital recording yet (I suspect that the "distant" microphone placement was employed so as not to blow Telarc's monitor speaker cones from their housings upon reaching this overpowering point).

Telarc has long been famous for its superb digital recordings, and this showcasing of Michael Murray, Eugene Ormandy and
the Philadelphia Orchestra is one of their best. The finale, Allegro, blasted so powerfully throughout my house, with such
passion and aural intrusiveness, that it gave me goose bumps. Here is one of the few, rare, digital recordings from which you
can hear what Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra truly sound like. For that reason alone, you should buy this.

Much as I loved and admired Ormandy's performances, he was past his best conducting days when this recording was made. The acoustic and organ of LaSalle in Philadelphia is quite good and the orchestra was in good shape then, but Ormandy does not have the same control over the musicians he did in the 1960s. I hear more interesting details in his older RCA recording with Virgil Fox. However, neither that nor this recording really competes with the digital recording by Dutoit made in Montreal, or even the older one (on SACD now) by Munch with the Boston Sym. That recording was made from a newly found master and is better than ever despite a bit of clipping at climaxes. I also love Paray's old 1956 recording from Detroit. They play with better ensemble and than Boston and even slightly better brass, though certainly their strings are not as good. The sound is a bit leaden, but it remains my favorite performance. I wish a modern conductor would record this with a fine orchestra in an outstanding hall with organ and apply Paray's perfect tempi.

If any recording does justice to this remarkable work, this is it. Ormandy's performance combines great clarity with passion and feeling. This is especially true in the second movement, so stunningly beautiful in places that everything else momentarily vanishes. The last movement is also spectacular, a truly epic ending.

The problems posed by balancing an organ with a symphony orchestra are handled well, and the quality of recording is very good.

Even if you don't like Saint-Saens, buy this recording simply for the second movement. I guarantee it will become one of your favourite records.

I remember listening to on a cassette tape when I would commute for hours to and from D.C. It was calming then and it is calming now!