Britten - Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Beethoven - Symphony 7 / Falla - El amor brujo (BBC SO - L.Stokowski)
Britten - The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra | Beethoven - Symphony No.7 | Falla - El amor brujo (G.Lane; BBC Symphony Orchestra - L.Stokowski)
Classical | EAC | FLAC, IMG+CUE, LOG | Covers | 1CD, 374 MB
Label: BBC Legends | Catalog Number: 4005-2 | TT: 75'16''
Classical | EAC | FLAC, IMG+CUE, LOG | Covers | 1CD, 374 MB
Label: BBC Legends | Catalog Number: 4005-2 | TT: 75'16''
Only a favored number of very old conductors manage the secret of getting more fascinating as the years progress. Like Pablo Casals, Stokowski belonged to that tiny elite. for that reason I've collected all the BBC Legends issues devoted to him, which date from his frequent sojourns to England in his eighties and nineties. Britten's Young Person's Guide from a Proms concert in royal Albert Hall in 1963 with the BBC Sym. features more vivid, up-close sound. This reading has been reissued quite a lot and is marked by Stokowski's rather grave, measured interpretation. He takes this work more seriously than anyone else I've heard; the results are impressive, and more than once you think you're hearing him revisit one of his famous grandiose Bach transcriptions. As an earlier reviewer notes, each variation is turned into a set piece.
The Beethoven Seventh is from the same concert, and it's more problematic. The more classical music got, the less that Stokowski could plausibly work his magic, which depended on a great deal of personality and not a little distortion of the score. Yet in old age he didn't rough up Beethoven the way he did in earlier years; his Ninth Sym. from London is quite fine. This Seventh shows many similar characteristics, being assured and "straight," with fine balances and proportions. Like Casals, Stokowski was at pains to prove that old age doesn't bring a decline in energy. The Allegretto is taken a notch or two slower than anyone does today, as you'd expect from a conductor whose career began in the age of Nikisch. The Scherzo is lively without being as volatile as a younger Stokowski would have done it. One could even apply the word delicate to it. The finale, which works best at great speed and energy, gets halfway there. It's robust and convincing, as is the whole performance. Out of curiosity, it's fascinating to set this reading beside Casals from Marlboro (Sony), which is more wild and wolly.
always one to challenge audiences with modern music, Schoenberg originally planed to conduct Schoenberg's "Die gluckliche Hand" at another Prom in 1964 – and unheard of choice in that era of becalmed summer fare – but eventually substituted Falla's "El Amor Brujo," a specialty that he always injected with fiery excitement. This reading takes off like a rocket, and suddenly we are on Stokowski's home turf. His vocal soloist, Gloria Lane, is unknown to me, but she adds a strong, chesty voice to the mix. Leontyne Price was perfect in the role with her earthy, husky lower notes, and her conductor, Fritz Reiner, is cold compared to the smoldering Stokowski. Throughout the sonics from the BBC are exceptionally vivid for the time.
What it all adds up to is one of the most thrilling issues in the half dozen CDs commemorating Stokowski broadcasts in England.
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Tracklist:
Britten - The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra:
[1] I. Theme (Allegro maestoso e largamente)
[2] II. Variation A (Presto)
[3] III. Variation B (Lento)
[4] IV. Variation C (Moderato)
[5] V. Variation D (Allegro alla marcia)
[6] VI. Variation E (Brillante - Alla polacca)
[7] VII. Variation F (Meno mosso)
[8] VIII. Variation G
[9] IX. Variation H (Cominciando lento ma poco a poco accelerando)
[10] X. Variation I (Maestoso)
[11] XI. Variation J (L'istesso tempo)
[12] XII. Variation K (Vivace)
[13] XIII. Variation L (Allegro pomposo)
[14] XIV. Variation M (Moderato)
[15] XV. Fugue (Allegro molto)
Beethoven - Symphony No.7 in A major:
[16] I. Poco sostenuto - Vivace
[17] II. Allegretto
[18] III. Presto
[19] IV. Allegro con brio
Falla - El amor brujo:
[20] I. Introduccion y Escena (Allegro furioso ma non troppo vivo)
[21] II. En la cueva. La noche (Tranquillo e misterioso)
[22] III. Cancion del amor dolido. (Allegro)
[23] IV. El aparecido. (Vivo, ma non troppo)
[24] V. Danza del terror. (Allegro ritmico)
[25] VI. El circulo magico. Romance del pescador. (Andante molto tranquillo)
[26] VII. A media noche. Los sortilegios. (Lento e lontano)
[27] VIII. Danza ritual del fuego. Para ahuyentar los malos espiritus
[28] IX. Escena. (Poco moderato)
[29] X. Cancion del fuego fatuo. (Vivo)
[30] XI. Pantomima. (Allegro)
[31] XII. Danza del juego de amor. (Allegretto mosso)
[32] XIII. Final. Las campanas del amanecer. (Allegretto tranquillo)
Performers:
Gloria Lane - mezzo-soprano
BBC Symphony Orchestra - Leopold Stokowski
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 23. March 2014, 23:53
Leopold Stokowski / Stokowski - Britten, Beethoven, Falla
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