Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (complete) / Symphony No. 4 (complete)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

There aren't many Artur Rodzinski performances in the current catalog which is a great shame. Good as is the competition from Dorati, Mackerras, Tilson Thomas and others, I have to agree that this performance of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker is still the performance to own. And the Fourth Symphony is a delicious bonus. Both performances are marvels of orchestral clarity and superb phrasing. Yes, you will notice details in both scores that you've never noticed before. More important, Rodzinski had an uncanny talent for springing rhythms in ways that make many accompaniment parts and transitional sections seem as interesting (& meaningful) as the main lines of musical argument. Delightful! Although the recordings now are almost 50 years old, both are genuine stereo, resplendently re-mastered by Deutsche Grammophon from the Westminster originals. (Westminster was a high fidelity leader in the 1950s, so recording quality here is better than almost any other label could provide at the time.) Over the past year and a half, DG have released a number of Westminster recordings, by Rodzinski, Scherchen and others. I only hope this means that some of Westminster's vast catalog of chamber music and solo instrumental performances will also be released. Having acquired the rights to the Westminster catalog, DG is sitting on a true treasure trove; please release more!

These performances are by themselves legendary treasures framed into we should name top-flight acoustic legends.

The Nutcracker is - with the only exception of Ormandy- Philadelphia- who never recorded entirely, the most extraordinary version ever recorded. Pristine elegence and sumptuous refinement and idomatic eloquence are some of the most exciting adjectives to qualify it.

The Fourth Symphony is another surprising finding; the fate's call and the kaleidoscopic approach and dramatic feature are expressed with absolute conviction, radiant lyricism and fervent passion.

It's time for the new generations of listeners to intend to return and realize about the special significance of this talented conductor.

Recommendation of first priority!

Once in too great a while one stumbles across a recording of an old chestnut or warhorse that is unlike any previously encountered and yet is more "right" than the others. Gone here is the overweight grandeur that tends to bombast found in too many Nutcracker (and Tchaikovsky generally) recordings. This Nutcracker is all charm and bounce, with, as others have noted, chock full of important details that other conductors seem to have overlooked. It has the kind of texture and intimacy one finds more often in chamber music. With all the background tinsel and glitter made fully apparent it's actually genuinely magical.

The stereo sound is marginally dated by today's standards (my God, this was recorded in 1958!) but the absence of digital sheen and hyperbolic in-your-face presence actually works in the music's favor. Yet the sense of individual instruments miraculously seems better here than in any recent recordings I've encountered. This has to be one of the best engineered recordings in any catalogue.

I'm seldom one to say this or that recording is a top choice but in this instance the rule is broken. If you love the Nutcracker, or want to introduce it perhaps to a younger person this is the recording to get. The Fourth is surprisingly nice bonus. On first listen it seems excellent, with some qualities similar to its companion piece (amazing engineering again, and revealing attention to detail on the conductor's part). I won't bog this review down with a dissertation on Tchaikovsky symphony performances.

I've been deeply impressed by the Westminster recordings released and recently (and sadly) pulled from the catalogue. The Rodzinskis are all gems, and the often rough & scrappy & hell-for-leather Scherchens are almost always wildly enthusiastic or just plain fun, although some fastidious note-perfect reviewers hate them. Hopefully a reissue label like Brilliant or Regis will pick all these up and keep them in the catalogue.

A joyous, creative reading by an orchestra in top form. This is a beautifully remastered recording of a key performance of the twentieth century.

Although I have been a classical music announcer for almost 20 years, this is my first review of a classical recording. I have avoided doing it for a variety of reasons. Having listened to and/or played hundreds of recordings, it becomes increasingly difficult to single out particular performances as being that much better than the rest. There is no such problem with this recording. I have waited since 1988 (when it first appeared on CD in a substandard transfer) for this remastered version to appear. It has been well worth the wait. This is the NUTCRACKER against which all others must be measured. One of the first recordings of the complete score and STILL the best.

Artur Rodzinski knew better than almost anyone how to distinguish and embellish the different sections of the orchestra while never missing a beat. In other words the sound of Stokowski with the precision of Toscanini (he worked closely with both for many years). What you get in this recording is the clarity of chamber music with the power of a full orchestra. Here is Tchaikovsky the master orchestrater not the overblown sentimentalist that he often comes across as. This is one of his finest scores and Rodzinski and the Royal Philharmonic deliver from first note to last. Even the overly familiar sections that make up the famous Suite sound fresh and new here. And as if that weren't enough this double CD set features the Symphony #4 from the same 1956 sessions.

This is one of 5 new releases reviving the legendary Westminster label (there are 14 so far). Westminster is to Classical Music what Chess is to Blues or Blue Note is to Jazz. Deutsche Grammophon now owns the rights to these fabled recordings and is doing them up proud with the kind of restoration that they deserve allowing the Westminster "Natural Balance" to come forth in its best incarnation ever. The series is called Westminster-The Legacy and while they are ALL worth your time (even if you're not a fan of Classical Music), this one belongs in every library. The price is a knockout too. The most MAGICAL recording of the piece on the planet! And speaking of planets, DG/Westminster has also released Adrian Boult's 1959 recording of THE PLANETS which is...but that's another story.

...POSTSCRIPT: 10 years down the road, this recording is one of the few Westminsters still available new which is a testament to its quality and popularity.

I purchased this CD for my 4 year old grandaughter after taking her to see the Nutcracker Ballet this Christmas. She has spent hours listening and dancing to the music. She even listens to the CD to go to sleep. Excellent sound quality, and we love the arrangements. Excellent way to introduce classical music to little ones.

I had the recording of the Nutcracker in the LP version release by Westminster over 50 years ago(in mono). I have converted it to CD's so I can listen to it as much as possible. It is the recording that(along with the NYC Ballet's performances) converted the complete ballet from a rarely performed masterpiece to a Christmas staple. I highly recommend this performance.