{"product_id":"toscanini-in-stereo-rossini-tchaikovsky-wagner-1954-pasc119","title":"TOSCANINI in Stereo: Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Wagner (1954) - PASC119","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eROSSINI \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eOverture to The Barber of Seville\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eTCHAIKOVSKY \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSymphony No. 6 \"Pathétique\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eWAGNER \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eLohengrin - Prelude to Act 1\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eWAGNER \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eGötterdämmerung - Dawn and Siegfried's Rhine Journey\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 1954\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration: 74:52\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eNBC Symphony Orchestra\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003econducted by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eArturo Toscanini\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFanfare Review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fThis seems to me a necessary purchase for Toscanini fans578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eThere was definitely something wrong—or at least\ndifferent—about Toscanini in his last concerts. Winding down his long\ncareer, he started this last season two weeks late due to ill health\n(Pierre Monteux conducted those concerts), only beginning on November\n22, 1953, with his warmest, most relaxed, whimsical, almost nostalgic\nperformance of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eDon Quixote. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eEarly in 1954 he went through three grueling months in which he struggled to broadcast the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eMefistofele\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e Prologue and a complete performance of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eUn ballo in maschera\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e,\nwhich cost him considerable angst in canceled and rescheduled\nrehearsals, replacing the lead tenor, and the performances themselves\n(which garnered uncharacteristically poor reviews as overloud and\nunsubtle). The story of his mini-stroke in the last, all-Wagner concert,\nwhile conducting the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eTannhäuser\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\nOverture and Bacchanale, is well documented and has given an unfairly\nnegative slant to his better performances in that concert. Thus it was\nwith some trepidation that I approached my review of this disc, an\nall-new remastering of music from his stereo concerts, which have\nappeared previously on other labels (notably Music \u0026amp; Arts and Idis).\n\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eMuch to my surprise, this \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eBarbiere di Siviglia\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\nOverture is relaxed, warm, and quite genial. Hornist Harry Berv has his\nhand too far into the bell for his soft solo, a style popular at the\ntime that is no longer in use. And the sound of the orchestra? Amazingly\nquite warm, not at all what you’d expect from the harsher, shriller\nmono recordings of the NBC Symphony. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eBut it is in the Tchaikovsky “Pathetique” that\nreal differences surface. Perhaps it’s because I was raised on his 1947\nrecording of this symphony and, later, on the superior 1942 Philadelphia\nOrchestra version, but I miss the point-to-point continuity, drama, and\nsweep of those earlier readings. The virtuosic third movement is not\nquite as dazzling as his previous versions. This is slower, more pensive\nTchaikovsky, almost depressed in its feeling, particularly in the final\nmovement, which is nearly a minute and a half longer than his\nPhiladelphia recording. Perhaps this really does mirror Toscanini’s mood\nat the time; and yet, though it may not be his best version, it’s hard\nfor me to recall another stereo performance that is its superior. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eI’ve said in other venues that the final\nall-Wagner concert wasn’t as bad as has been made out, with two\nexceptions. The “Forest Murmurs” from \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eSiegfried\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e completely lacked continuity and flow, and in the Prologue from \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eGötterdämmerung \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003ethe\norchestra sounded a little rough (Berv cracks a high note and trumpeter\nHarry Glantz is tight and shrill), in addition to some slack playing.\nIn relistening, however, I found the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eGötterdämmerung\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e valid as a slower, more pensive reading, less exultant in celebrating the lovers’ tryst than foreshadowing Valhalla’s doom. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eProducer Andrew Rose states on his Web site that\nthe early stereo separation as well as the tight miking of these\nconcerts was “an uncomfortable listen.” I never really felt that way\nabout the Wagner concert, and in fact I was concerned coming into this\nthat I wouldn’t approve of his spreading the tone across the middle. I\nfelt it would distort Toscanini’s characteristic orchestral tone, make\nit too glossy and artificial, and the sweetness of the strings in the\nRossini worried me a little. Yet there are official, mono recordings of\nthe orchestra in which the strings are almost as sweet; it depended on\nToscanini’s mood regarding that particular piece of music. I did an A-B\ncomparison of the Music \u0026amp; Arts pressing of the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eLohengrin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\nPrelude with this one. I can confirm that Toscanini’s sound is not\ncompromised, and in fact the sound is much more natural. On the Music\n\u0026amp; Arts CD, after the opening chord, the first violins emerge from\nthe left speaker only, while from the right one hears an undercurrent of\ntape rumble. In this version, the “hole” in the middle is covered quite\ningeniously and the tape sound is gone; yet everything is still crystal\nclear, even the sharply attacked cymbal stroke at 6:41. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eThe reprocessing of this or any Toscanini\nrecording is a major bone of contention between the conductor’s rabid\nfans on one hand and millions of other classical music listeners on the\nother. Toscanini favored a dry acoustic during his performing days\nbecause it allowed listeners to hear each individual strand of the\norchestra as he heard it on the podium. In his two years of retirement,\nhowever, he came to dislike the sound of his own records—except for his\nalbum of Rossini overtures, which had quite a bit of ambient hall sound.\nThe reason for this may be found in any well-documented study of\nlistening to music on radio or records. Prolonged listening to\nimproperly balanced or excessive dry recordings causes listening fatigue\nthat takes pleasure out of the listening experience. Moreover, in\nclassical music, the lack of resonance conflicts with the natural sound\nspectrum that otherwise “binds” musical phrases via instrumental\novertones and sonic decay in a live acoustic setting. It is exactly\nthese overtones and decay time that Andrew Rose has restored, and it is\nexactly these which many Toscanini adherents find revolting,\ndistasteful, and (in their view) dishonest reproduction. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eThe final verdict, of course, is up to you. Writing of the Idis release of these recordings in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eAll Music Guide, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eBlair\nSanderson said that because of the “unnaturally dry and airless” sound,\n“one needs to be enthusiastic for Toscanini’s legendary interpretations\nto get past these audio obstacles.” That is not the case here. This\nseems to me a necessary purchase for Toscanini fans, but even a good\nchoice for those who thought his earlier readings too tense or too fast.\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESb\"\u003eLynn René Bayley \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis article originally appeared in Issue 32:3 (Jan\/Feb 2009) of Fanfare Magazine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PASC119.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"body\"\u003eAlthough all of these recording have been available either commercially or through private channels for some time, they have always failed to live up to their sonic potential. Well aware that stereo was the coming thing, Victor engineers arranged for what were to be Toscanini's final two concerts to be recorded in \"stereo\" - i.e. on two tape channels.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy the inverted commas? Well, when you hear the sound they produced it is most certainly coming out of two speakers, but it's not a particularly pleasant listen, and fails to capture any of the sense of perspective or width that one would expect to find in a stereo orchestral recording. It sounds like the microphone positioning is exceptionally close, and there's nothing of the acoustic of Carnegie Hall to be heard at all. At times the soundstage is overly wide and disconnected, the sound itself hard and harsh - an uncomfortable listen. This was greatly ameliorated by the re-equalisation part of the XR processing, but still the sound was flat and \"in your face\".\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn continuing this restoration, therefore, I soon realised that what it would need might go beyond the bounds of my previous work. I acquired new software for stereo ambience processing, allowing me to extract any hall reverberation present in the recording and enhance it, effectively pushing the orchestra \"back\" with respect to the ambient sound around it, but this remarkable software does not generate reverberation, working only with what it can extract from the recording itself. Here there was just about nothing to be had, and with some reluctance I applied a judicious amount of digital reverberation - just enough to give some space around the instruments.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI then returned to the stereo ambience processor, and was able to find a much better spacial balance between the orchestra and its space, narrowing the stereo field slightly for the direct sound, whilst retaining a broader soundstage for the reverberation, and effectively moving the orchestra back a few steps - whilst retaining the clarity and punch of Toscanini's sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI believe this recording may now come closer than almost any other in capturing the kind of sound one might have heard at a Toscanini concert in Carnegie Hall (though I'm sure if you were seated at the back of the hall it would be far more reverberant that this!). It is a great pity that so many of his finest performances have been available in poor quality sound, but here, at the very end of his exceptionally long conducting career, we may finally hear more clearly than before the true sound of the maestro at work.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"body\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eAndrew Rose\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"body\" align=\"left\"\u003eNB. \u003cem\u003eA section of nearly 2 minutes at the end of the third movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony has been dubbed into this recording from an inferior secondary source following the loss of this from the original master tapes. I have endeavoured to match as well as possible the sound quality of this to that of the rest of the recording, but there is some loss of clarity and some higher background noise levels to be heard here.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\nToscanini's Penultimate Concert, 21st March, 1954 (complete):\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"bodybigblue\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRossini\u003c\/strong\u003e: Overture to The Barber of Seville\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"bodybigblue\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTchaikovsky\u003c\/strong\u003e: Symphony No. 6 \"Pathétique\" in B minor, Op. 74\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\nToscanini's Final Concert, 4th April, 1954 (\u003cem\u003epart\u003c\/em\u003e):\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"bodybigblue\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWagner\u003c\/strong\u003e: Lohengrin - Prelude to Act 1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"bodybigblue\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWagner\u003c\/strong\u003e: Götterdämmerung - Dawn and Siegfried's Rhine Journey\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"bodysmallarial\"\u003eRecorded live at Carnegie Hall on 21st March and 3rd April, 1954\u003cbr\u003e These experimental stereo recordings were made by Victor\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Restoration and XR remastering by Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio, July-August 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"bodysmallarial\"\u003eTotal duration: 74:52\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"bodysmallarial\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,san-serif;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/thumbs\/PASC119.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PASC119.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Stereo 24-bit FLAC","offer_id":54932165001555,"sku":"jxm1789300868205","price":11.14,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Stereo 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":54932165034323,"sku":"txi1789300868206","price":8.17,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Stereo MP3","offer_id":54932165067091,"sku":"zpm1789300868207","price":6.37,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/1833\/9155\/files\/toscanini-in-stereo-rossini-tchaikovsky-wagner-1954---pasc119_1.jpg?v=1789300875","url":"https:\/\/vendnora.com\/products\/toscanini-in-stereo-rossini-tchaikovsky-wagner-1954-pasc119","provider":"luckagni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}