Customer Reviews

Serge Koussevitzky: Great Conductors of the 20th Century

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

 

 

It's sad that the "Great Conductors of the 20th Century" reissue series has not gotten more notice on Amazon and in other places, because it has my vote for the best reissue program thus far of the 21st Century. Drawing from the archives of all the major classical labels (EMI, Sony, BMG, DG, Decca, Philips, Supraphon, etc.), EMI and IMG Artists have assembled a wonderful series of affordable two-disc sets by the leading conductors of the last century. And unlike its counterpart, "The Great Pianists of the 20th Century," which are basically compilations of material already available on other CDs, the "Great Conductors" features rare and, for the most part, previously unreleased performances!

This particular CD, Volume 10, features the great Serge Koussetvitzky, a man to whom America's musical landscape will forever be indebted. While the recordings here are all in mono and are from the 1930s and 40s, the performances are nothing short of magical. The recording of American composer Roy Harris's one movement "Symphony No. 3" from 1939, and remastered here from the original shellacs, was the world premiere recording. Similarly the 1945 recording of Rachmaninov's "Isle of the Dead" was only the second ever made, after the 1929 recording by the composer himself. The performances of Liszt's "Mephisto Waltz", Sibelius 7th and Beethoven 5th Symphonies allow us to see a unique recreative artist at work. Finally, I was delighted to see that the Koussetvitzky/Boston SO recording of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony was included here so that my old RCA Gold Seal CD of Tchaikovsky's 6th finally had a partner.

Whether you are a serious collector of classical music or a beginner, the "Great Conductors of the 20th Century" has something for everyone. If the prized, rare performances previously unreleased on CD (or ever!) doesn't excite you, then use this as an opportunity to check out one of the greatest conductors ever recorded. Since stores are offering increasingly homogenized classical music sections, this conductor may not be in your collection, and that would truly be a shame.

Koussevitzky is one of the few conductors in this series whose entire career consists of pre-LP recordings, many caught in antiquated sound. He was born in 1874, the same year as Pierre Monteux, but of the two, not to mention Stokowski, Koussevitzky has survived as less well suited to modern taste. He had an impulsive conducitng style that changed tempo arbitrarily from bar to bar, and to modern ears this sounds too intrusive, even egotistical. During his long tenure with the Boston Sym. Koussevitzky commissioned more masterpieces (from Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, Copland, etc.) than anyone with the exception of Diaghalev, mostly financed with money from his rich wife.

I wish I could be more enthusiastic about how well this famous musician has lasted. All these recordings are in sketchy-to-good mono from the 30s and 40s. CD 1 begins with a virtuosic Tchaikovsky Fifth (1944) riddled with the condcutor's arbitrary phrasing--if you like Mengelberg, however, who was even more extreme, Koussevitzky's impassioned account may strike you as something special. The performance of Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead (1945) is much better--feverish and moody wihtout the usual depressing langours one often hears in this piece. I would rate this a genuinely great recording. The sonics are among the best here, also. CD 1 ends with Liszt's excitingly trashy Mephisto Waltz (1936) in a romping, unbuttoned, and often wayward account caught in reasonably good sound--but who cares?

CD 2 begins with the Sym. #7 of Sibelius, one of Koussevitzsky's best composers. It's in boxy 1933 sound with the BBC Symphony and yet fairly leaps out of the speakers. Sibelius's rhapsodic idiom takes well to the cnductor's moment-to-moment mood changes. Too bad we can't hear it better. Koussevitzky's BSO commisions are represented by the Roy Harris Third Sym. (1939) in an often-reissued world premiere recoding. The sound is decrepit, and the reading, though extroverted, pales beside Leonard Bernstein's famous stereo version from the Sixties. The biggest misstep on the compliers' part, however, is a Beethoven Fifth with the London Phil. (1934), which is in pointlessly dim sound. Like Stokowski, one appreciates Koussevitzky outside the main German repertoire; we should have had more BSO recordings from the orchestra's golden age rather than this fairly routine, if vigorous, reading.

Overall, this is a fair portrait of Koussevitzky, who like Beecham was a great musical personality if not a technically trained condcutor. Four stars for the best parts.

Lets start stating that Thaikovsky fifth is wild , caucassic , you feel the roughness and lyricism mixed and that's the way you must conduct Thaikovsky , specially in the last movement. I've heard this version at least one sixty times and believe me ; there are few performances that even get close to that. because they lack incandescence, balcanic rage, and dyonisiac rapture.
This is the jewel of the crown of this set. You may find out in the market Van Kempen Concertgebouw , Sawalish Cocertgebouw and Fricsay Berlin . I have them all but Koussevitsky wins. Don't forget that the strings , winds and woods of that orchesta are pure gold , the deep expressiveness and the craft of this master allows to develop the sense of the span , so necessary in this symphony. Because the three first symphonies of Pyotr Illich are imperial and the three last are introspective in their mood.
The Isle of the dead is superb.
And the Sibelius seventh is first rate. This is , after the fourth, the most complex symphony for winning . You must underline the inner mood , the forrest sounds and avoid to fall in a sentimental mood due this is an epic work.
Beethoven fifth is the less fortunate recording of the set. It's well played , only that there are giants versions that are far beyond this one.
But if you are a hard fan of Koussevitzky and if you really want to know how the Boston Symphony sounded in their golden years, you must acquire this album.
This is a historical document.

There is no doubt in my mind that Serge Koussevitzky was one of the last century's very greatest conductors. When his musical aesthetic was in sympathy with the composer's (which was most of the time), he delivered some superlative interpretations. And even when it wasn't (I'm not altogether thrilled with the Beethoven 5th here, for example), the ensemble cohesion and the impassioned sincerity of the playing were never open to question.

So why only three stars? That is mostly a reaction to the surprisingly MEDIOCRE quality of the 78 rpm transfers presented here by IMG. This is hardly anything new: several of IMG's other volumes in this series are similarly afflicted (e.g., the inferior sound of the IMG Weingartner Brahms 3rd & Beethoven 2nd when compared to competing issues from EMI and Naxos). And I think IMG has blown a precious opportunity to issue some classic Koussevitzky readings that are otherwise unavailable on CD. Here's a quick summary of what this 2-disc IMG set contains:

1. A BRILLIANT performance of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony (from 1944). For me, this heroic account is one of the work's classic readings. Perhaps a question should be posed here: Do you ALWAYS eat your chicken FRIED? Well, neither do I. Sometimes I like Tchaikovsky's chicken "a la King" (Furtwangler), with gravy (Silvestri), with ham (Mengelberg), broiled to a fine turn (Kempen), slow-baked (Stokowski), with paprika (Matacic), or as fast food (Mravinsky). The musical preparations I avoid are the partially frozen (Markevitch) and the half-baked (from many a contemporary chef d'orchestre).

Koussy's 5th is expertly seasoned and well prepared "a la Russe." But sadly, his performance receives the poorest transfer in this set: excess filtering has removed much of the high frequencies, especially in the strings. This recording has appeared in a better transfer on Biddulph 2-disc CD set WHL 034/5, with the 4th (from 1936) and Pathetique (1930), the Romeo & Juliet Overture (1936) and the Waltz from the Serenade For Strings (1936). Even my old LP of the 5th (RCA VCM-6174) is sonically superior.

2. This Rachmaninov "Isle of the Dead" (recorded April, 1945) is an acceptable transfer. For me, it ranks as one of the three great accounts, along with the earlier recordings by Rachmaninov (1929) and Mitropoulos (my favorite, on a Sony Masterworks Heritage CD, recorded March, 1945).

3. Koussevitzky's Liszt Mephisto Waltz is a fine account, but I still prefer the contemporary recording by Weingartner (IMG) . The sound here is less full and clear than on my early RCA LP.

4. This febrile "live" Sibelius 7th is a genuine classic and, to my ears, it's one of the three great accounts from the 78 rpm era (the others: the 1941 Beecham/NY Phil. on Sony and the 1940 Stokowski/All-America Youth Orchestra on Music & Arts). IMG's transfer of the Sibelius is inferior to both the EMI CD version and to my World Record Club LP from the 1970's.

5. Much as I admire the music of Roy Harris, I think his 3rd Symphony is dwarfed by the other master works here. Koussy's reading is a good one. The sound here is actually better than that heard on my aged LP.

6. This Beethoven 5th is a fascinating artifact of Koussy interfacing with Beecham's old London Philharmonic. But interpretively, I never found Koussy as convincing in Beethoven as he was in Haydn and Mozart (why not some of THAT here?).

IMG should have exercised a little more thought in choosing its selections. As noted above, several of these are already available in superior transfers elsewhere. Instead of this miserably-processed Tchaikovsky 5th, IMG could have issued Koussevitzky's mighty Tchaikovsky 4th from the late 1940's (otherwise un-available on CD - it's a better performance & recording than the 1936 account on Biddulph). Assuming IMG could have transferred it properly, then my battered LP copy (RCA LM 1008) could have gone to pasture.

Koussevitzky was truly one of the 20th Century's greatest conductors. So it's rather sad that IMG didn't treat his recordings with the respect that they deserve.

Lukewarm recommendation based on disappointing sonic transfers.

Regarding Koussevitzky's Tchaikovsky Fifth, the issue is certainly not the playing of the fabled Boston Symphony. It has more to do with what some might refer to as the conductor's "old fashioned" performance. I'm not indicating that this particular label necessarily has a negative connotation, here or anywhere else. I am referring chiefly to the tempos that are employed. In a number of areas throughout the symphony, Koussevitzsky's tendency to slow things down may not be appreciated by some. I might have enjoyed the conductor's entire effort more if the leisurely element had been less frequent or pronounced. Also, while this impresses as a fairly musical performance, there are moments where Koussevitzky seems a bit theatrical, especially in the final movement. I continue to prefer the more stalwart and convincing Szell/Cleveland interpretation....Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead is given a decent reading, but Mitropoulos (on the same mono playing field) offers more intensity. ( For the remainder of disc one, I did not listen to Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No.1. )

On disc two, there isn't much that is noteworthy about Koussevitzky's Beethoven Fifth in either sound or interpretation....And, I don't find too interesting Harris' one movement Third Symphony, though I've heard Bernstein give a better account than the one offered here by Koussevitzky. Lastly, it's unfortunate the conductor's moving, live performance of the Sibelius Seventh with the BBC Symphony couldn't have received better sound. There is some powerful feeling emitted here. If you can accept the less than ideal acoustics, you should come away very impressed with what you hear. Other than this Sibelius opus though, I initially had anticipated a more positive reaction to the other pieces from this distinguished maestro's set.

I totally agree with Mr Limpscomb(see below) regarding the quality of the transfers. It's a lost opportunity to hear Koussevitzky (teacher of Bernstein and brazilian Eleazar de Carvalho) in his prime.