Toscanini Conducts American Composers, 1942 Recording – PASC495

Description

overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fLOEFFLER Memories of My Childhood (Life in a Russian Village)
CRESTON Choric Dance No. 2
GOULD Lincoln Legend
GERSHWIN Rhapsody In Blue
Live broadcast recording, 1942
Total duration: 54:03

Arturo Toscanini conductor
Earl Wild, piano
Benny Goodman, clarinet
NBC Symphony Orchestra

578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples/PASC495.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer’s Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fToscanini conducted two concerts in the 1942-43 season withNBC of American Music, a subject he rarely covered in his regular programming.Of the programme of November 1st, 1942, only the Loeffler had previously beenplayed with the NBC orchestra, and none of the other pieces would receive asecond outing under Toscanini’s baton. This was American music for a country atwar.
I was lucky to receive what I believe may be a previously unused source for thepresent transfer. Certainly the sound quality is significantly better than thatheard in previous transfers of this concert. Indeed, after XR remastering andconsiderable work on surface swish and other minor irritants associated witheven rarely-played acetates of this vintage, the sound quality is morereminiscent of a studio recording of the 1950s than a radio broadcast from theearly 1940s.
The frequency range of the present recording is pleasantly wide, extending tomore than double that of contemporary commercial discs. Backgrounds are quiet.XR remastering has added depth and detail, whilst subtle use of convolutionreverberation has greatly improved the notoriously unaccommodating acousticproperties of NBC’s Studio 8H. Announcements have been included whereavailable, in some cases patched in from inferior sources. The music is all ofthe highest audio quality for its era.
Andrew Rose578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f1 NBC Radio Introduction (0:30)
2 LOEFFLER Memories of My Childhood (Life in a Russian Village) (13:47)
3 CRESTON Choric Dance No. 2 (5:50)
4 GOULD Lincoln Legend (17:29)
5 GERSHWIN Rhapsody In Blue (16:27)
Earl Wild, piano (5)
Benny Goodman, clarinet (5)
NBC Symphony Orchestra
Arturo Toscanini, conductor

Programme introduced by Ben Grauer

XR remastering by Andrew Rose
Cover artwork based on a photograph of Arturo Toscanini
Broadcast of 1 November 1942
Studio 8H, NBC Radio City, New York City
Total duration: 54:03

578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers/thumbs/PASC495.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers/PASC495.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fAdditional Notes578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fLoeffler’s tone poem is peasant dark with an admixture ofRussian threnody to which we can add Mussourgskian surge and a sense ofevocative romanticism; maybe also a sly reference to Volga Boatmen. Its last movement,commemorating a death, is eerie in the extreme and beautifully extrapolated byToscanini. Paul Creston’s Choric Dance No. 2 opens quite melodramatically andsoon explores rhythmic implications with concentration and vivacity; more anexercise than a totally convincing piece but certainly bracing. This was thepremière of Morton Gould’s A Lincoln Legend, a piece that opens withcontemplative string writing but soon introduces a raft of quotations (JohnBrown’s Body among a number) in a determinedly vulgar melange – at least Ithink it’s determinedly vulgar. After the tumultuous Americana we return to themore reflective intimacies that had ushered us in.
The 1942 concert and the first disc conclude here with Rhapsody in Blue in aperformance given by Earl Wild. He was the youngest soloist to have played withthe orchestra and always wondered why he and not a raft of others had beenselected. Wild reminisced elsewhere that he later found out that Toscanini usedto listen in to NBC’s chamber concerts on Sunday mornings and had heard Wildthere – a more or less humble NBC staffer catapulted to fame. The Rhapsodycomes complete with a celebrity clarinettist in the shape of Benny Goodman,soon to test classical waters with the Budapest Quartet but not yet a studentof the legendary English player Reginald Kell. His nervousness shows with afluffed note at a registral change but it’s salutary to hear Goodman’s wailingopening bars. Toscanini unfolds during the performance and Wild is fine thoughnot as idiomatic as he was later to become (especially with Fiedler); theending is magnificent though and properly conclusive.

Jonathan  Woolf  MusicWeb International, 2004578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f

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