Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Russian Easter Overture

 (4 customer reviews)

For anyone not alive during his lifetime or that hasn't discovered his legend, Leopold Stokowski was one of the most remarkable musicians of the 20th century. Legendary for his score rewriting, his wanton, profligate sexual acumen, his Hollywood reputation (he conducted the score for the Disney film "Fantasia"), and his hundreds of recordings of highly colorful and inflected music like "Scheherazade", Stoki was a one-man show whose reputation was only equalled last century by pianist Artur Rubinstein.

Here's the stereo version of Stokowksi's "Scheherazade" with the Royal Philharmonic that I prefer to his London Symphony Orchestra account that was re-released on Cala about the same time as this came back into circulation. For me, there are two advantages to this issue that make it preferable to the Cala recording:

1. The reocrding has reater depth and more focus on bass line in the concluding movement that renders the overall sound more "Russian" than the London...Read more

This recording of the "Scheherazade" was a very pleasant surprise when it was played on WQXR last night. It is a very late example of the legendary conductor's output, made just two years before his death in 1977. I was fortunate enough to have crossed paths with the man twice in the early 1970s, singing in performances with the Westminster Choir that he conducted. For those who have not grown up with his work, this recording is a terrific example. The better you feel you know this work, the bigger the surprise of this performance will be. Stokowski was a "bad boy" as a younger man and a flamboyant, towering figure as a dramatic interpreter of orchestral literature. This performance shows his signal characteristic of "pushing the envelope" of good taste in pursuit of a breath taking effect. You will not find another conductor who could pull off the extremes of tempo that he does in this example. If you sit back and just let this performance envelope you, I can pretty much guarantee...Read more

Actually, yes. I am a great admirer of both Stokowski and Batiz and the latter has done some sterling work for Naxos, including one of my favourite recordings of Rachmaninov's "Isle of the Dead", so there is no reason at all why he should not be favourably compared with the Old Magician in the same piece.

My comparison was with Stokowski's fifth and final recording of this, Rimsky Korsakov's episodic and exotically scored oriental tone poem-come-symphony. Before I make any musical observations, I should simply say that if you want the particular coupling provided by either Naxos or RCA, the quality of both performances is such that you should either go with your preference or buy both, as the standard of playing is superb and the Naxos disc can be had for pennies on Marketplace. Stokowski's fizzy, volatile, super-charged reading of the rollicking "Russian Easter Overture" played by a virtuoso Chicago Symphony Orchestra makes and unusual and very welcome bonus - but the...Read more