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I celebrated my 60th birthday earlier this month, so I treated myself to a little birthday present: the newly-remastered set of Szell's Beethoven symphonies on Sony-Japan SACD. I've finally worked my way through the whole cycle and thought I would share my impressions.
First, musical excellence: the performances are often extraordinary, and never less than good. I added that qualifier because Szell's approach emphasizes the drama of the music. When Beethoven tries to smile--think the Eighth Symphony--Szell doesn't seem to want to let him. That aspect aside, this has to be ranked among the best cycles ever recorded. I've always preferred it to HvK's famed early-1960s set, which DG tends to reissue every hour on the hour. And the playing!! Listening to, and marveling at, these performances brought something to mind that Anshel Brusliov wrote in his memoirs: "Every note was perfect, and every note was beautiful."
But how do they sound? The sessions were spread across several years (from 1957 to 1964), so the sound is variable. And make no mistake: unlike some of the best RCA Living Stereos, the basic sound is somewhat dated. But the good news is that the geniuses at Sony-Japan have wrought a remarkable improvement over any previous remasterings that I've heard. The result is that the sound is never less than listenable, and sometimes it's actually quite good. Two aspects which deserve mention: the bass has more heft and bite than I've ever heard from these recordings, and massed strings are noticeably sweeter, only occasionally becoming harsh. These are not entirely subjective reactions: I compared several movements from these new SACDs to my Original Jacket set, and there really was no comparison. Not even close. And this rendering of the Eroica is superior to an early single-layer Sony SACD that I still have in my collection. (And I'll keep it, BTW, because of cracking performances of three overtures that fill out the disc.)
Christoph von Dohnanyi once referred to Szell's Beethoven cycle as "the Bible." If you buy into that assessment, you'll most definitely want this new set, which represents the best sound these recordings have ever been accorded. But no one should buy thinking that the discs will sound like they were recorded yesterday. Those casually interested in exploring the Szell cycle would be better advised to get the Sony big box currently available for less than $20.
Nice job, Sony. Now how about the Leon Fleisher Beethoven concertos?
Follow Ups:
Where did you get them - did you go to Amazon.jp? (I used to buy JSACDs there).
Amazon marketplace seller (ImportCDs, IIRC). Paid about $120. There may have been more cost-effective alternatives, but I've done a lot of business with ImportCDs in the past.
I haven't posted in this Asylum for years, primarily since my (re)discovery of vinyl (I have a zillion SACDs and still play them - it is not my style to abandon any format and sell off my collection of those - which means that I operate a turntable, two SACD players, two RTR tape recorders, and a cassette deck), but I am prompted to by this topic, which is about the Szell recordings of Beethoven symphonies. This was an EPIC production (Epic was, of course, another Columbia label, and Szell recorded for Epic, while Walter and Bernstein were on Columbia) - I have a set of the original Epic LPs (as I do of the Fleisher/Szell piano concertos).
I have listened to many, many individual recordings and complete sets of the Beethoven symphonies over the years, and the Szell would be my desert island choice if I had to pick one. I can see where those who prefer a more subjective approach might choose others, but IMO the scores come alive when you listen to Szell and the Clevelanders perform these works. I hear Beethoven's voice when I listen, not someone else's. If I were to purchase one set SACDs of the Beethoven symphonies, I would go for these. (I own a ton of SACDs of Beethoven symphonies on SACD).
And yes, the Fleisher/Szell set of concertos would be my desert island choice for these works as well.
If you value this set, I can't see how you would be disappointed by the sonics of this current incarnation. Qualifier: I never owned any of the original Epic LPs back in my vinyl days. (I had a couple of them on Odyssey, but they didn't sound that great. Plus my loyalty was squarely with Bruno Walter's set in those days--and I still enjoy his Beethoven.) At any rate, you may decide you prefer your LPs to these new SACDs. There's only one way to find out!
Thanks for your overview, DB! Just by chance, I just today received Brusilow's "Shoot the Conductor" memoir, and I can't wait to read all the dirt that it no doubt contains! ;-)
I'm somewhat more of a skeptic about Szell than you and many other posters on this board are, but I still have the older SACD of Szell's Eroica in my collection. I also admire the Fleisher set of Beethoven Concertos (with Szell), and I'm probably more interested in that set than in the Beethoven Symphony set. As I've mentioned before, when it comes to the Szell/Cleveland recordings, I greatly prefer the older Epic recordings, engineered by Howard Scott, over the later Columbia/CBS recordings, especially the ones so horribly engineered and multi-microphoned by Andrew Kazdin. I believe all of the Beethoven symphonies were Epic productions, with Scott at the engineering helm, although documentation in the SACD booklet is sketchy to say the least. (The Overtures were not so lucky - horrendous examples of the really bad sound quality that began to intrude on recordings from such companies as DG, CBS and RCA in the mid-60's, although DG didn't get REALLY bad until the mid-70's IMHO.)
BTW, I just finished reading Fleisher's "My Nine Lives: A Memoir of Many Careers in Music", and, although I enjoyed it, I do feel that Fleisher comes off as just a bit too self-serving and self-satisfied in his writing. That won't prevent me from wanting to get a decent re-mastering (probably the SACD set you mention) of his Beethoven Concertos with Szell! ;-)
One last thing: who is the re-mastering engineer for the new Japanese SACD re-masterings?
Don't be surprised if you come away from the Brusilow autobiography with the same impression. The juicier gossip comes not from Cleveland but from his Philadelphia years and his complex, conflicted relationship with Ormandy. When Brusilow decided to pursue conducting, friction with his boss was inevitable. My overall take is that Brusilow was misguided in taking up the baton; one must conclude that the music world exchanged a first-rate concert master for a so-so conductor. After the Dallas fiasco, he never really got a shot at any sort of position with a major orchestra. (I'm going by his account, not my own research.)
As for the Szell/Beethoven: here's some of the pertinent data according to Sony's booklet:
Tape transfer and remix from original analog master tapes, DSD remastering (2016): Andreas K. Meyer (Meyer Media LLC)
Original recording session producers: Howard H. Scott, Paul Myers, Thomas Frost
Original recording engineers: Edward T. Graham, Frank Bruno
This set of SACDs was accompanied by a disc of Beethoven overtures. Perhaps they'll get to the Fleisher concertos in due course.
I loved Shoot the Conductor. Fascinating reading. Chris, you will enjoy it
Alan
But I'm not the library expert in the family so it might be there and I am not searching correctly.
I've seen him at a couple of shows, and I don't share his enthusiasm for DSD, but I can't argue with his very fine results.
Regarding the Brusilow book, I've read only the first couple of chapters so far, but the writing strikes me as being considerably more witty and funny than Fleisher's (or is it Midgette's?) is. I can see how it might have been easy for Brusilow to get into trouble! ;-)
Are you going to post a message about your view of the book when you've finished it? I would certainly hope so. I found it delightfully readable.
I learned great chunks of the standard repertoire by collecting Ormandy/PO LPs, so Brusliov's account stirred a lot of pleasant memories. Eventually you'll get to his droll retelling of preparing to play Ginastera's Concerto for Strings (in anticipation of a concert performance in the presence of the composer!). This called to mind my old Columbia LP of that piece (coupled with the Bartok Divertimento). I hope that Sony-Japan, which has served the Ormandy/PO legacy so well via CD reissues (love that original cover art!) will eventually get around to this one as well.
. . . has certainly made me want to re-listen to my Ormandy recordings (and possibly investigate some more) and has also confirmed my view of Szell. I especially like the part where the audience is wildly applauding after what Brusilow implies is one of Szell's perfect but soulless performances, and, as Szell comes out to accept the ovations, Gingold leans over and whispers to Brusilow, "Big deal". I loved that!
Also, the part where Szell stepped in and prevented Brusilow from going to Finland (with the Philadelphia) and getting some coaching on the Sibelius Concerto from the composer himself just confirmed to me what an a**hole Szell was.
Priceless!
Yes, I've seen those. Amusing faux pas brought about by someone for whom English was not a native tongue. (Actually, I'm guessing English was Ormandy's third language, after Hungarian and German.)
There may be a darker side to this. I remember a lengthy obituary of Ormandy published in Fanfare magazine (written by Roger Dettmer, IIRC). In it the author mentions this collection of verbal gaffes and suggests that it was collected and distributed by orchestra members wishing to subject the elderly conductor to public ridicule. (The assumption here is that the sheet was distributed in the later stages of Ormandy's career, when his relationship with the orchestra had started to deteriorate.) The author expressed his hope that Ormandy was not aware of them because they would have caused him pain and embarrassment.
I don't think we have any way of confirming or refuting this; I'm simply passing along what was in the article. What I find so amusing about the "Ormandyisms" is how often the intent comes through despite the mangled language. When Ormandy asked, "Who is sitting in that empty chair?"--well, there's a beautifully bizarre sort of logic to that.
Anyway, thanks for reminding me of these. I'm sure they're out on the web somewhere.
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