The Original Jacket Collection: Eugene Ormandy

BRAVA! ENCORE! AND ALL THOSE CLASSY WORDS!

Celebrating the "Philadelphia Sound"---the lushly expressiv e orchestral signature sound that Eugene Ormandy inspired from his background as a violinist--- this 10-disc limited-edition collection documents one of the greatest conductor/orchestra partnerships in musical history. Listen once again to Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra performs true classical gems, from Bartok to Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff to Rimsky-Korsakov. Encore!
Commemorating the diva's 75th birthday, the 15-disc collection includes works personally chosen by the operatic heavyweight. All aspects of her long career are here: famous Italian arias and rarities, German Lied repertoire, zarzuela arias and the complete operas of Salome and Norma. Like those in the companion Ormandy set, these recordings have been remastered in state-of-the-art sound from original sources, and presented with CD size reproductions of original LP jackets. Brava! September 3, 2008

EUGENE ORMANDY FINALLY GETS HIS BOX SET!

It's hard to believe that the CD was introduced in 1982 and it has taken 26 years for Eugene Ormandy to have a proper box set released by Sony/BMG of some of his magical Columbia/CBS stereo recordings. How do you choose 10 CDs of Ormandy's Philadelphia Orchestra recordings to include in a box set? He was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1936 to 1980! His recordings ranged from the 78 era to the LP, stereophonic and up to the early 80's when he did digital recordings for CD. He created the standard for several eras of recording history in the 20th century. Many Americans grew to love and know classical music by hearing Eugene Ormandy and his Philadelphians over the years through his many recordings. I was one of them. As a teenager in the '60's many of my first LPs of classical music, which began my collection, were by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on Columbia Masterworks (remember that great label?). His early stereo recordings of the standard repertoire were how many music lovers and audiophiles (in those days you were called a "Hifi nut"!) started their classical record collections and auditioned the sound on that new Stereophonic sound system! It's now 2008 and hearing these recordings again made me realize how good Ormandy really was! He was able to get at the essence of a composition without his own ego getting in the way. His performances are second to none and the sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy, particularly the strings, is unmatched to this day. The digital remastering of these stereo recordings by Sony/BMG is superb. They are packaged in mini LP replica sleeves with a booklet which contains track lists, recording dates, notes and a selection of photos of the maestro. The following works are contained in this Limited Edition set:
Disc 1 Respighi: The Pines of Rome, The Fountains of Rome, Roman Festivals
Disc 2 Moussorsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition/ Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Disc 3 Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2, Vocalise
Disc 4 Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5, Serenade for Strings
Disc 5 Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, The Miraculous Manderin (Suite), Two Pictures
Disc 6 Mendelssohn & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerti (with Isaac Stern)
Disc 7 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1, Cello Concerto (with Mstislav Rostropovich)
Disc 8/9 Bach: Orchestral Transcriptions/ "The Bach Album"
Disc 10 "The Romantic Philadelphia Strings" including short works by Barber, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams and more
How does one pick just 10 CD's worth of Eugene Ormandy? It's an almost impossible feat. I would have chosen some of his Ravel recordings and then his wonderful "Symphonie Fantastique" by Berlioz. But that's just me. You can find many other of his excellent Columbia stereo era recordings on individual CDs at very reasonable prices. For now we have this wonderful box set as a tribute to a great musician and orchestra at their peak. Hey Sony/BMG, how about another one! Get it while you can!


July 2, 2008

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