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Andre Previn: The complete RCA and Columbia recordings

Posted by Chris from Lafayette (A) on October 18, 2020 at 00:45:06

I'm making my way through this set (at least a few tracks on every disc), and I'm up through disc 22 (out of 55) now. It looks like the set came out in late 2018 and it already seems to be OOP - although there is one last seller on Amazon who wants $1,200 for it.

I remember seeing so many of these titles available on LP as I was growing up, the vast majority of which I did not have the means to acquire at the time, although I did purchase a few of the RVW symphonies (1, 2, 3 and 7 - the latter with the controversial reading of the superscriptions for each movement by Ralph Richardson - the controversy lying in whether they should be recited at all - and I'm one listener who likes hearing them!). My impression thus far is that Previn seems to have been a much more vital and interesting musician in his Columbia and RCA years than he became later in his EMI, Telarc, Philips and DG recordings.

The very first CD really surprised me: the Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F with Andre Kostelanetz. Previn recorded these works twice more, with the LSO for EMI, and with the Pittsburgh SO for Philips. Those later recordings are of course very good and have held sway with a lot of listeners for a long time. Yet, I'd say that this first recording (in this set) reveals even more energy and command in Previn's playing - and Kostelanetz (perhaps more known for the pops repertoire, at least on record) makes an outstanding contribution too!

There's of course no space to go over the performances disc by disc, but I have to say that the performances on the first 22 discs exceeded my expectations, and the engineering is mostly excellent for its time too (although a bit light in the bass on the RCA's I've heard so far)! Anyone else have any favorites of Previn's RCA and Columbia recordings?

Edits: 10/18/20

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