Original Masters: Leopold Stokowski, the Decca Recordings 1965-1972.(Sound Recording Review)

Original Masters: Leopold Stokowski, the Decca Recordings 1965-1972. Leopold Stokowski, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Hilversum Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Decca 475 145-2 (five-disc set).

My guess is that the average man-in-the-street wouldn't know too many of the twentieth century's great conductors, but two names would be instantly recognized: Arturo Toscanini and Leopold Stokowski. Interesting, because the two men were known to take almost diametrically opposed approaches to their music making, Toscanini sticking scrupulously to the letter of a composer's score and Stokowski altering the score to suit his needs. Each man has been praised and damned for his methods, but it is perhaps Stokowski who has incurred the wrath of more critics.

Stokowski spend the bulk of earlier career in Philadelphia creating a world-class, world-famous orchestra, leaving after 25 years to pursue a variety of conducting jobs all over the world, working well into his mid nineties until his death in 1977. Among other things, he did a series of recordings for Decca between 1965-1972, and they are collected in this five-disc set. As usual with the man, there is controversy, both with the performances and with the sound, but I can't imagine the man in any other way. Stokowski without controversy would be like salt without pepper; the two went hand-in-hand, but it made him not a whit less genius.

Anyway, disc one is devoted to some of Stokowski's famous, or infamous, orchestral transcriptions of piano and organ works, starting with his celebrated rendition of Bach's Toccata and Fugue for organ in D minor. You know, I was in my teens before I realized this work was originally written for organ. I guess I grew up on Stokowski's version for orchestra. This was one of the last times he recorded it, with the Czech Philharmonic, and it's as good as ever; as are a half dozen transcriptions of other Bach works and another half dozen of things by Byrd (Pavan and Galliard), Clarke (Trumpet voluntary), Schubert (Moment musical No. 3), Chopin (Mazurka in A minor), Tchaikovsky (Chant sans paroles), Duparc (Extase), Rachmaninov (Prelude in C sharp minor, another of Stokowski's signature pieces), and Debussy (La Cathedrale engloutie).

Disc two contains several of the set's most outstanding performances, Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony with the New Philharmonia and Scriabin's "Le Poeme de L'Extase." The Symphony takes a mite getting used to. It is so broadly taken in some sections you'd think the old man had fallen asleep, yet they all seem to work, and they lead into some of the most rousing climaxes imaginable. The "Poeme" is luxurious, but not so vividly recorded with the Czech Philharmonic as the man's earlier Houston interpretation (Vanguard).

Disc three I didn't care for as much as the rest. It includes Frank's Symphony in D with the Hilversum Radio Philharmonic and Elgar's ...