Box Blather

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

I checked the booklet and the Complete Barbirolli on Warner set I have cites Christophe Hensault, Studio Art et Sons, Annecy for mastering, so I guess that's up-to-date. The last time I listened to Barbirolli's Sibelius I streamed it and am not sure if it was the latest master, although it sounded good to me. Is there a specific release of the Barbirolli/Sibelius you are referring to?

The set in question:




Check out the back of the set as it indicates a new remastering, which as @Brian pointed out came from the larger Barbirolli Warner set. It seems Warner is doing something similar with Klemperer as there has been a Brahms and Mahler box set that has been issued with the remastering from Art & Son.

[Mookalafalas]

I have no idea how they compare to the earlier/original masterings, but I found that whole Barbirolli box to be extremely impressive sonically. I listened to most of it in my office, through good headphones. I was blown away, from the beginning to the end, by the quality of the audio in relation to the date of recording. If that can be attributed to Art & Son, kudos.

[Spotted Horses]

What is the difference between these two?

Amazon descriptions

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CDK8TYT5/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DKVHW7HL/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A12NTYNRXW6BWG&psc=1

Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra - The Columbia Stereo Collection
Eugene Ormandy - The Columbia Stereo Collection 1964-1983

[Brian]

the green one is 1958-1963

[Spotted Horses]

the green one is 1958-1963

Thanks. I swore off CD buying, but I do not own a single recording of Ormandy, due to my contempt for U.S. pressed LPs during my early classical music collecting. The thought occurs to me that I've missed something important.

Of course, I can look for it all on streaming.

[André]

Ormandy was sometimes a bit on auto-pilot but most of the time he delivered the goods handsomely. Few conductors had such a huge repertoire and even fewer had an orchestra as good as Philadelphia in its best years (roughly 1955-1970).

[Que]

Ormandy was sometimes a bit on auto-pilot but most of the time he delivered the goods handsomely. Few conductors had such a huge repertoire and even fewer had an orchestra as good as Philadelphia in its best years (roughly 1955-1970).

I always wondered: what would be essential Ormandy? Competent and in a conducting style representative of his period, but that has been as far I got in my image of him...

[Jo498]

Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, probably Rachmaninoff (not my cup of tea, so I haven't heard any heard good things about it).

[André]

Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, probably Rachmaninoff (not my cup of tea, so I haven't heard any heard good things about it).

Sibelius and Rachmaninoff, emphatically yes. I'm not a fan of his Tchaikovsky (too sleek, not nearly neurotic/desperate  enough). OTOH, believe it or not, his Beethoven and Brahms symphonies and concertos are among the best, period. Superb Missa Solemis and Verdi Requiem as well.

But much of Ormandy's best performances are to be found in slightly peripheral repertoire: Hungarian (Bartok, Kodaly), American (innumerable releases) as well as sundry 20th Century works form all corners of the world.

[George]

I will give an enthusiastic third for Ormandy's Rachmaninoff.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, probably Rachmaninoff (not my cup of tea, so I haven't heard any heard good things about it).

I think Ormandy's strength as a conductor was in those orchestral showpieces. For example, his recording of Holst's The Planets is still one of the great ones in my book. Also, his earlier Bartók Concerto for Orchestra is also superb. And then there are the Respighi works like Church Windows and The Roman Trilogy which he recorded three times (!!!) that are firecrackers. He also did remarkable things in Shostakovich. I'm less impressed with his Austro-Germanic interpretations and, believe it or not, I never was a big fan of his Sibelius, which is highly praised by many listeners. But give him a work like Saint-Saëns' "Organ" symphony or Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and he truly shined.