The first in a multiple-part series featuring legendary conductors who shaped American music-making in the mid-20th century. With Europe in turmoil, opportunities abounded in the Americas, and many great conductors arrived from abroad and stayed to build orchestras, from the ground up, with their unique voices. This week’s conductors are Serge Koussevitzky, Eugene Ormandy, Fritz Reiner, Pierre Monteux, and George Szell. From Boston to San Francisco you can still hear the influence of these five conductors in all of the orchestras that they directed, and their stories are still loved by musicians young and old.
Maestros, Part I
Playlist
Episode 1
Johannes Brahms: Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Serge
WAGNER: Opera Overtures / BRAHMS: Academic
Naxos 8.111283
9:46
Roy Harris: Symphony #3 In 1 Movement
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
EMI 751182
16:31
Georg Frederic Handel: Semele, “O Sleep, Why Dost Thou Leave Me?”
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Koussevitzky, Dorothy Maynor
Koussevitzky Conducts American Music
Gemm 9492
4:01
Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5 In E Minor, Op. 64
III. Valse: Allegro Moderato
IV. Andante Maestoso, Allegro Vivace
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
EMI 751182
18:05
Episode 2
Sergei Rachmaninov: Symphony #2 In E Minor, Op. 27
III. Adagio
Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy
Rachmaninov: Symphony No 2, Vocalise
EMI 75128
13:00 (mvt.1 excerpt:20)
Max Bruch: Kol Nidrei, Op. 47
Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy
Gregor Piatigorsky, cello
Great Cello Concertos: Concerto In B Minor, Op. 104 /
“Kol Nidrei” / Concerto In A Minor, Op. 33
Sony Classical 62876
8:45
Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116
IV. Intermezzo interrotto – Allegretto
V. Finale – Pesante – Presto
Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy,c
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra, BB 123, Sz.116
Sony 94726
13:47
Manuel de Falla: El Sombrero de tres picos
III. Danza final (The Final Dance)
Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy
Falla: El Amor Brujo, Nights In The Garden Of Spain
Sony Classical Essential Classics Catalog 89291
6:40
Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures At an Exhibition
IX. La Cabane de Baba-Yaga Sur Des Pattes de Poule (The Hut of Baba-Yaga On Chicken’s Legs).
X. La Grande Porte de Kiev (The Great Gate of Kiev).
The Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy Conducts 20th Century Classics
Sony 417202
5:19
Episode 3
Richard Strauss: Don Juan, Op. 20
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner
Don Quixote/Don Juan
RCA 68170
15:59 (00:34 excerpt)
Bela Bartók: Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta, SZ 106 –
2. Allegro, III. Adagio IV. Allegro Molto
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Reiner
Concerto For Orchestra / Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta / Hungarian Sketches
RCA 61504
20:49
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35
IV. Festival At Baghdad, The Sea, Shipwreck
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Reiner
Scheherazade • La Mer
RCA 60875
11:43
Episode 4
Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 “Classical”
I. Allegro, II. Larghetto, III. Non troppo allegro,
IV. Molto vivace
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux
Symphony No. 1 in D major (“Classical”), Op. 25
Music & Arts Programs Of America Catalog 1182
14:29
Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka
Tableau 3: The Moor’s Room, Dance of the Ballerina, Waltz
Tableau 4: The Shrovetide Fair – Dance of the Nursemaids
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Monteux
Pierre Monteux Edition Vol 13 – Stravinsky
RCA 61898
20:59
Claude Debussy: Images III, Iberia
2. Les parfums de la nuit
3. Le matin d’un jour de fête
Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Monteux
Pierre Monteux Edition Vol 5 – Debussy: Nocturnes, Images
RCA 61900
12:10 (1:12 excerpt)
Episode 5
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony #35 In D, K 385,”Haffner”
4. Presto
Cleveland Orchestra/George Szell
Mozart: Symphonies 35 & 39
Sony 38472
3:38
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #3 In E Flat, Op. 55,”Eroica”
III. Scherzo: Allegro Vivace
Cleveland Orchestra/Szell
Beethoven Symphonies No. 3 & No. 8
Sony 89832
5:34
Sergei Prokofiev: No.5, IV. Allegro giocoso
Cleveland Orchestra/Szell
Heritage Prokofiev: Symphony No 5
Sony Classical Masterworks 63124
9:05
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No.20 In D Minor, K 466
3. Allegro Assai
Cleveland Orchestra/Szell
Rudolf Serkin, pn
Mozart: Piano Concertos 19 & 20
CBS Great Performances 37236
7:18
Richard Strauss: Don Quixote, Op.35 (excerpt)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Szell
Pierre Fournier, vc.
Strauss: Don Quixote / Horn Concerto 1 / Don Juan
Music & Arts Programs Of America No.291
12:23
Robert Schumann: Symphony #3 In E Flat, Op. 97, “Rhenish”
1. Lebhaft
Cleveland Orchestra/Szell
Heritage Schumann: The Four Symphonies
Sony Classical Masterworks 62349
9:13
Antonin Dvořák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, B 172
#7 In C Minor
Cleveland Orchestra/Szell
Dvorak Slavonic Dances
Sony Classical Essential Classics 89845
1:23 (excerpt)