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Stokowski Edition: Music From Russia Vol. 2
Stokowski, Hauge Residentie Orchestra, Southwest German Radio Orchestra
Stokowski Edition: Music From Russia Vol. 2
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (11) - Disc #1

Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet Overture Prokofiev: Selections from Romeo & Juliet, Alexander Nevsky-Cantata Op. 78

     
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Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet Overture Prokofiev: Selections from Romeo & Juliet, Alexander Nevsky-Cantata Op. 78
 

CD Reviews

Indispensable for Stokowski's only reading of Nevsky (at 88!
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/21/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Leopold Stokowski, who was still a figure of dubious respectability when he died at age 95, has been lucky since then, with one reissue label (Cala) bringing out the best of his studio recordings and another (Music & Arts) a selection of live broadcasts. This CD of the latter begins with a 1951 performance of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet from the Hague. The sound is table-radio mono, but the volatile spirit of Stokowski's reading is still there.



From Baden-Baden come three excerpts from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet,dating from 1955--in much better mono than the first item. Given that Stokowski made a wonderful recording of Prokofiev's Cinderella Suite, it's no surprise that these tantalizingly few excerpts are equally charismatic. The SWF Radio Orch. gives its all, and the intensity is such that it's hard to take a breath anywhere.



But the main attraction is the Alexander Nevsky cantata from 1970, broadcast from Amsterdam with the (unknown) Hilversum Radio Philharmonic. The sound is very good FM stereo. One can't expect the playing and singing to match Reiner's classic version from Chicago (on RCA), but Stokowski is much more flexible, capable of much more in the way of color and atmosphere. The chorus is a little rough-and-ready, but that actually helps: these are medieval Russian peasants, after all, not a Bach choir. The whole enterprise has fervor and grip, which Nevsky needs if it isn't to tumble into bombast and patriotic hokum. I imagine everyone at this concert was nailed to their seats--I was."