Leopold Stokowski The Magician
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The performances on this well-filled two-CD set come from the last decades of Leopold Stokowski's extraordinarily long life (1882-1977). The five selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet are dated 1954, everything else being recorded between 1960 and 1974. After opening with two idiomatic Bach transcriptions, much of the program concentrates on 19th-century romanticism, a glittering fantasy being conjured from Wagner's "Magic Fire Music." Even so, given the title The Magician, a reference to Stokowski's role in Disney's film Fantasia--and specifically The Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence--one might be surprised that there is no recording of that piece here.Equally surprising, though in a very different way, is the sheer energy the 92-year-old conductor brings to a 1974 reading of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture. With a deeply romantic intensity, Villa-Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 has surely never sounded more European, soprano Anna Moffo singing with impassioned commitment. At 28 minutes, by far the longest recording is Romeo and Juliet; beginning in almost detached tranquility, Stokowski builds to implacable tragedy. Finally, Shostakovich's suite The Age of Gold is witty and idiosyncratic, the high point being an especially lyrical and affecting Adagio. A feast of rapt music-making and vividly bold sound, this is an excellent anthology thoroughly deserving a sequel. --Gary S Dalkin
Leopold Stokowski The Magician, Music, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, George Enescu, Franz Liszt, Sergey Prokofiev, Sergey Rachmaninov, Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov, Dmitry Shostakovich, Bedrich Smetana, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Richard Wagner, Leopold Stokowski, American Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, NBC Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Anna Moffo, 20th/21st Century Ballet, 20th/21st Century Music for Voice and Keyboard, 20th/21st Century Orchestral Music, Ballet, Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra, Cantata, Choral, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, German/Austrian Romantic Opera, Opera, Orchestral, Orchestral & Symphonic, Romantic Overture for Orchestra, Romantic Rhapsody for Orchestra, Romantic Tone Poem/Symphonic Poem for Orchestra, Solo Voice(s) and Small Ensemble, Suite for Orchestra, Vocal
Average customer rating:
- The Magician...a well deserved reputation.
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Leopold Stokowski The Magician
Manufacturer: RCA
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ASIN: B00003ZA0N
Release Date: 2000-04-04 |
Tracks:
- Air (Air on The G String) - London Symphony Orchestra
- Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme BWV 140 - London Symphony Orchestra
- Coriolan Overture, Op. 63 - London Symphony Orchestra
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
- Die Walkure: Magic Fire Music/Feuerzauber - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- The Moldau (Vltava) - RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
- Academic Festival Overture, Op. 36 - New Philharmonia Orchestra
- Russian Easter Overture, Op. 36 - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 - Anna Moffo
Tracks:
- Roumanian Rhapsody, Op. 11, No. 1 - RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
- Aria (Cantilena) - Anna Moffo
- Danza (Martelo) - Anna Moffo
- Romeo At The Fountain - Members Of The NBC Symphony Orchestra
- Juliet - Members Of The NBC Symphony Orchestra
- Romeo And Juliet - Members Of The NBC Symphony Orchestra
- Romeo At Juliet's Tomb - Members Of The NBC Symphony Orchestra
- Juliet's Death - Members Of The NBC Symphony Orchestra
- Introduction - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Adagio - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Polka - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Dance - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Amazon.com
The performances on this well-filled two-CD set come from the last decades of Leopold Stokowski's extraordinarily long life (1882-1977). The five selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet are dated 1954, everything else being recorded between 1960 and 1974. After opening with two idiomatic Bach transcriptions, much of the program concentrates on 19th-century romanticism, a glittering fantasy being conjured from Wagner's "Magic Fire Music." Even so, given the title The Magician, a reference to Stokowski's role in Disney's film Fantasia--and specifically The Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence--one might be surprised that there is no recording of that piece here.
Equally surprising, though in a very different way, is the sheer energy the 92-year-old conductor brings to a 1974 reading of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture. With a deeply romantic intensity, Villa-Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 has surely never sounded more European, soprano Anna Moffo singing with impassioned commitment. At 28 minutes, by far the longest recording is Romeo and Juliet; beginning in almost detached tranquility, Stokowski builds to implacable tragedy. Finally, Shostakovich's suite The Age of Gold is witty and idiosyncratic, the high point being an especially lyrical and affecting Adagio. A feast of rapt music-making and vividly bold sound, this is an excellent anthology thoroughly deserving a sequel. --Gary S Dalkin
Customer Reviews:
The Magician...a well deserved reputation........2001-06-05
Up front, I'll admit I don't care for most of the selections in this 2 disk album; the second disk virtually is wasted on me. Thats why its not a 5-star. That being said, the Liszt, Wagner, Smetana, and Rimsky-Korsakov pieces are well worth the price of admission. Stokowski's coloration of arrangement and tempo are remarkable. His Hungarian Rhapsody and Wagner pieces are so unique, its like hearing the old war horses for the first time. Its a shame most of Stokowski's recordings predate high fidelity.
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