Stokowski Collectors for Discs from Cala/England

[Lance]

Leopold Stokowski has done much for me regarding the enjoyment of great music in the same manner what Glenn Gould did for Johann Sebastian Bach . 35 recordings (some issued for the first time on CD - and some even first time in stereo - were issued on Cala until Voume 35 was released in year 2009. Cala brought forth outstandingly released/restored recordings, many of Stokowski leading "His" Symphony Orchestra. Stokowski still appears to have a big following, and record companies have been generous in reissuing his recordings over the years from RCA, Columbia, EMI, and Decca (including Philips releases) - of the major labels. And there is much to be found on other labels such as Archipel, Andante, BBC Legends, CRI, Biddulph, Dutton, Everest, Guild Historical, Music & Arts, Naxos, Pearl, Tahra, Vanguard, and quite a few others. Has anyone else had a great interest in what CALA has produced for the marketplace? Some critics do not place Stokowski in the same league as a Toscanini or Furtwangler, however, Stokowski did much to bring great music to people who otherwise would normally be disinterested - and I'm not talking about shaking hands with Mickey Mouse either! (But it had to help!)

[John F]

Some critics do not place Stokowski in the same league as a Toscanini or Furtwangler

For most of his life Stokowski wasn't taken seriously by critics and record reviewers, partly because of his idiosyncratic interpretations of the standard repertoire, partly ( suspect because of his extraordinary popularity with the general public. It's not for nothing that Stokey was the conductor of Walt Disney's "Fantasia," and whenever Bugs Bunny got to conduct, he did a Stokowski impression.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX1ljYx3g3k

Yet even during the Philadelphia Orchestra years, Stokowski made recordings that were not eccentric at all, like this lovely performance of Mozart's wind sinfonia concertante with the Philadelphia's superb wind players.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBgdSOJmSEw

From the beginning, Stokowski was a champion of new music - not just the more digestible composers like Stokowski and Copland, he gave the first American performances of Berg's "Wozzeck" and the world premiere of Schoenberg's violin concerto. (Schoenberg herd it on the radio and approved.) And as he grew older, his approach to standard repertoire became less willful. Some critics even brought themselves to recommend some of his recordings with "his symphony orchestra," mainly individually contracted players from the New York Philharmonic plus freelancers. One of these was the 1950 recording of Schumann's second symphony, not a work one would expect Stokowski to conduct but he did more than once, and I still think it's an excellent performance.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8xrE_1Vrf0

An extraordinarily complete listing of the players in each of "his" orchestras is here:
https://www.stokowski.org/Stokowski_His ... hestra.htm

The compiler, James H. North, observes that in many of the sessions the number of string players is surprisingly small: "eight first violins, six second violins, four violas, four celli, and two double basses; each section is less than half the size of its counterpart in major symphony orchestras of the day. That anomaly continued throughout these "His Orchestra" recordings of the standard repertoire (Stokowski soon added a third double bass). Richard Mohr, who would produce most of these recordings, said "Stokowski had that unique knack of making it sound as though it were 18-16-14-12-10" 3, but some critics disagreed, finding the orchestra thin and underpowered."

[barney]

I never saw Bugs Bunny as Leopold before. Many thanks for posting that.

[maestrob]

Stokowski, unlike Toscanini, was fascinated by sound reproduction and the high fidelity recording process. During the 1960's and '70's, Stokey recorded some 20+ albums for Decca of standard repertoire plus even a few digital sessions for EMI, all exemplary IMHO except for a rather eccentric Rachmaninoff III. The Phase 4 collection has been issued as a box set, and is still available for those who are interested. Not eccentric at all, even with free bowing, and in glorious sound. It's sad that Toscanini didn't record during the 1960's: he would have benefitted greatly from the then new stereo technology.

[Lance]

Indeed, Decca's boxed set is wonderful to have. That Rach 3 symphony was originally issued on a Desmar stereo LP - and because Stokowski was so interested in sound techniques, that was the big push behind that symphony. There were even warnings on the LP edition to be careful of volume on the speakers!

Stokowski, unlike Toscanini, was fascinated by sound reproduction and the high fidelity recording process. During the 1960's and '70's, Stokey recorded some 20+ albums for Decca of standard repertoire plus even a few digital sessions for EMI, all exemplary IMHO except for a rather eccentric Rachmaninoff III. The Phase 4 collection has been issued as a box set, and is still available for those who are interested. Not eccentric at all, even with free bowing, and in glorious sound. It's sad that Toscanini didn't record during the 1960's: he would have benefitted greatly from the then new stereo technology.

[jserraglio]

Stokowski made experimental stereo recordings at Bell Labs in the early 1930s.

https://www.stokowski.org/Harvey_Fletch ... Stereo.htm

[maestrob]

Thanks for posting that link, Joe. I have heard all my life about the Bell Labs recordings, but this is the first time I'm hearing them, believe it or not! I would love to own them in a CD collection, but have never been able to track them down.