Ormandy's all-Sibelius box is out!

[Lance]

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Ormandy's RCA & Columbia Sibelius Recordings, 8 CD boxed set (no notes)
RCA 10858 [8 hours, 39 seconds total timing] -- All Philadelphia Orchestra recordings

Symphony #1 (2 performances, r.1962/1978)
Symphony #2 (2 performances, r.1957/1972)
Symphony #4 (r.1978)
Symphony #5 (r.1975)
Symphony #7 (r.1960)
Finlandia w/Mormon Tabernacle Choir (2 performances, r.1959/1972)
Swan of Tuonela (2 performances, r.1960/1972)
Valse triste (2 performances, r.1959/1973)
Karelia Suite (2 performances, r.1968/1975)
Karelia Overture (r.1977)
Oceanides (r.1976)
Pohojola's Daughter (r.1976)
Violin Concerto w/Isaac Stern (r.1969)
Violin Concerto w/Dylana Jenson (r.1980)
Tapiola (r.1976)
En Saga (2 performances, r.1963/1975)

Eugene Ormandy had the occasion to meet Sibelius and discuss music during his lifetime thus providing a "direct connection" to the composer, so this music speaks with authority. Where two performances are given, one was recorded early on by Columbia and the later dates represent RCA recordings.

Ormandy's Sibelius recordings are superb. They should be, of course, given the Philadelphia Orchestra in it's true glory days. Amazon has this box now for about $16 for eight (8) CDs, making it about $2/CD, an outstanding price. (Mine was a little higher, but since the announcement of availability, the price has come down substantially.) Given this, the Sibelius "year," you might want to pick up this set! True bargain prices for some great music-making.

[Wallingford]

Rather a shame Sony/BMG couldn't find room for Ormandy's mid-50s performance of Tapiola, a fine one indeed.

[Lance]

The box does not indicate that it is Ormandy's "complete" Sibelius recordings for both labels. Never-the-less, it's quite a generous offering. Ormandy, among record collectors, is finally getting his due, and is being recognized for the fine work he did with, especially, his long stint with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Rather a shame Sony/BMG couldn't find room for Ormandy's mid-50s performance of Tapiola, a fine one indeed.

[Lance]

The box does not indicate that it is Ormandy's "complete" Sibelius recordings for both labels. Never-the-less, it's quite a generous offering. Ormandy, among record collectors, is finally getting his due, and is being recognized for the fine work he did with, especially, his long stint with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Given the fact that the box includes two performances of several works (I believe all the included recordings are in stereo), we will have to be happy with only the 1976 performance of Tapiola.

Rather a shame Sony/BMG couldn't find room for Ormandy's mid-50s performance of Tapiola, a fine one indeed.

[IN278S]

Now how about an Ormandy Shostakovich box? I'd buy that one.

[maestrob]

I'm assuming that the Shostakovich set will come next, but in the meantime, we'll have to make do with these excellent sets:



I grew up listening to the material on these excellent records, both live in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and on LP. Ormandy excelled at XXth Century repertoire; it's good to finally see these treasures re-released. Incidentally, Ormandy's 1953 (mono) recording of Prokofiev VII Symphony is the only recording ofthat work with the ending Stalin demanded that Prokofiev write for the last movement.

[erato]

A sure sign that they are preparing a giga Ormandy box, so that they can sell most of his recordings multiple times over.

[mikealdren]

Interesting that it doesn't include the marvellous Oistrakh performance of the violin concerto, however I suppose it has been much reissued.

[maestrob]

A sure sign that they are preparing a giga Ormandy box, so that they can sell most of his recordings multiple times over.

I'm not so sure about that. Ormandy's best work in the stereo era was in XXth Century repertoire, and Tchaikovsky, which have all been recently reissued (except for Shostakovich, which I'm awaiting with bated breath.). His Beethoven symphonies, and other romantic concerti were not so good, IMHO. We'll see, but the piecemeal presentations so far have been just right for my taste.

Just wait.....Lance will pick upon a megabox soon and prove me wrong......

[John F]

It's wet blanket time. I really don't think you can conclude that appreciation for Eugene Ormandy is rising, just because his record company is recycling some of his hundreds of recordings in limited edition megaboxes. How many copies in the edition, and how many are actually sold, will tell that tale. And in my view, Ormandy's reputation is not so great and his actual achievement not so exceptional that these numbers will be large. It would be interesting to find out if that's right.

[Lance]

You make an interesting point, John. In the early LP days of collecting, Ormandy was never at the top of my list. In "growing" on recordings, I've changed my mind about some of his recordings (have heard him live too, of course. I thought his Messiah was excellent, however, the inclusion of Eileen Farrell may have had something to do with that. His Sibelius and, as noted by Brian/Maestrob, his Tchaikovsky was very fine, as you would expect from the Philadelphia Orchestra. Should a megabox come forth by Ormandy, I would most likely NOT put that at the top of my want list. Since most of his collaborations with pianists, violinists, etc., have previously been reissued - and wonderful recorded performances they are - the megabox would undoubtedly be passed by yours truly. In some ways, I think of Ormandy of the orchestra as Iturbi at the piano (fine as he was in many things) but Hollywood got to him and the "serious" side went to the background. Although Ormandy wasn't "Hollywoodish," he was no Stokowski when it came to the Philadelphia Orchestra. Just one man's opinion.

It's wet blanket time. I really don't think you can conclude that appreciation for Eugene Ormandy is rising, just because his record company is recycling some of his hundreds of recordings in limited edition megaboxes. How many copies in the edition, and how many are actually sold, will tell that tale. And in my view, Ormandy's reputation is not so great and his actual achievement not so exceptional that these numbers will be large. It would be interesting to find out if that's right.

[John F]

Over the years, the context has changed. Back in the early '50s, Ormandy's recordings were up against Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler (not competitive in the US but definitely abroad), George Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham, just to name a few of the greats, and also conductors below the top level but with interesting musical personalities, such as Leopold Stokowski, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Charles Munch, and Rafael Kubelik. Ormandy could always be relied on for a correct, straightforward, no frills, solid but not stolid account of whatever he recorded, and of course there was also the sumptuous Philadelphia Orchestra sound. He was also a superb concerto accompanist.

In America, though not abroad, Ormandy's records outsold those of Szell, Mitropoulos, and the others on Columbia's roster, which is why Columbia usually chose him rather than them for the post-Beethoven standard orchestral repertoire and for some special projects such as the Mahler 10th. (When Leonard Bernstein came along a little later, the balance shifted.) And Ormandy dutifully obliged.

Nowadays, however, few active conductors are making recordings that are really competitive, on the musical level, with those of the early '50s. No doubt this has something to do with the enthusiasm I see among some CMG members for Ormandy's work; most of today's conductors, mainstream or HIP, make him look good. Also, the Philadelphia sound is unmatched today, even in Philadelphia, and Columbia's recording engineers made the most of it.

Columbia/CBS/Sony have an enormous Ormandy backlist of recordings that still sound good, and naturally they want to capitalize on it today, or try to. It will be interesting to see if there's still a market, 35 years after his retirement in Philadelphia and 30 after his death.

[parsifal]

My first contact with Sibelius 4th and 5th symphonies came through Ormandy´s Columbia mono-recording with the Philadelphia orchestra. I liked it pretty much. Then I´ve asked myself what happened to the recordings of Ormandy? He was a great orchestra leader, but was he a great conductor?

[John F]

I got Ormandy's record of the 4th and 5th symphonies too, mainly because it was the only LP with both symphonies and I had to watch my budget. Haven't listened to it in ages and don't remember anything about it; other recordings of both symhonies are the ones I go back to.

[maestrob]

Ormandy's popularity was also due in large part to his willingness to make pops recordings, such as his Christmas album for Columbia, or his film music album for RCA, the latter of which has not TMK been issued on CD. The Philadelphia Sound worked miracles on these discs, as well as on discs of popular classics, a category which really doesn't exist nowadays (Scheherezade, Russian Easter Overture, Romeo & Juliet, Kabalevsky, Bach Chorales, etc.).

Ormandy loved to tinker with scores (he re-barred The Rite of Spring to make it easier for him to conduct, he changed the scoring of the pizzicato strings to harp in Shostakovich V's 3rd movement, he and Rachmaninoff worked on a serious upgrade to the Second Symphony with many cuts, especially in the first movement, and the final chord Ormandy plays in Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings doesn't exist in the score, etc.). He came from a generation of conductors that felt at home with such liberties: if he had been an opera conductor, I imagine he would have happily gone along with the traditional cuts taken at the time.

Notwithstanding these foibles, Ormandy embodies (with the exception of his Beethoven Symphonies), in my mind, along with Bernstein, Von Karajan, Szell & Reiner, the epitome of great music making during the dawn of the stereo era.

[Lance]

Beautifully written!

Ormandy's popularity was also due in large part to his willingness to make pops recordings, such as his Christmas album for Columbia, or his film music album for RCA, the latter of which has not TMK been issued on CD. The Philadelphia Sound worked miracles on these discs, as well as on discs of popular classics, a category which really doesn't exist nowadays (Scheherezade, Russian Easter Overture, Romeo & Juliet, Kabalevsky, Bach Chorales, etc.).

Ormandy loved to tinker with scores (he re-barred The Rite of Spring to make it easier for him to conduct, he changed the scoring of the pizzicato strings to harp in Shostakovich V's 3rd movement, he and Rachmaninoff worked on a serious upgrade to the Second Symphony with many cuts, especially in the first movement, and the final chord Ormandy plays in Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings doesn't exist in the score, etc.). He came from a generation of conductors that felt at home with such liberties: if he had been an opera conductor, I imagine he would have happily gone along with the traditional cuts taken at the time.

Notwithstanding these foibles, Ormandy embodies (with the exception of his Beethoven Symphonies), in my mind, along with Bernstein, Von Karajan, Szell & Reiner, the epitome of great music making during the dawn of the stereo era.