Dimitri Mitropoulos: A selection of some of his best recordings (Part 1)

Great Conductors of the 20th Century: Dimitri Mitropoulos
Mahler: Symphony No.6 "Tragic"; *Berlioz: Romeo et Juiliette (excerpts); *Debussy: La mer; *R. Strauss: Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome
Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra; *New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Dimitri Mitropoulos
EMI Classics 5 75471 2 | Mono ADD

Berg: Wozzeck; *Schoenberg: Erwartung; Krenek: Symphonic Elegy for String Orchestra (In Memoriam Anton Webern)
Mack Harrell - Wozzeck
Eilleen Farrell - Marie
Frederick Jagel - Drum Major
Joseph Mordino - Captain; Soldier; Fool
David Lloyd - Andres
Ralph Herbert - Doctor
Edwina Eustis - Margret
*Dorothy Dow, soprano
New York High School of Music and Art Chorus, Chorus of the Schola Cantorum; New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Dimitri Mitropoulos
Sony Masterworks Heritage MH2K 62759 | Mono ADD

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 10 and *9
New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Dimitri Mitropoulos; *Efrem Kurtz
Columbia Masterworks Portrait MPK 45698 | Mono ADD

"Nice guys always finish last." That depressing aphorism was probably never truer than with the life of Dimitri Mitropoulos. A tall, craggy man with a gleaming domed top, and a robustly athletic physique, he had a gentleness of character that belied his tough exterior. Mitropoulos' Franciscan munificence was notorious. He spared no expense with the financially needy and drained himself completely in performances that pinned the listener to the wall with a white hot intensity that left one worrying for his health. Adored by his Minneapolis Symphony, he left for New York where he believed he would reach the pinnacle of his career. Instead, the underhanded machinations of the orchestra's musicians and board, not to mention a series of betrayals by his one time protege Leonard Bernstein, broke Mitropoulos' spirit and health. He returned to a Europe, where he had long been ranked as a great, that received him with open arms. What should have been a new beginning ended all too soon. During a rehearsal of the Mahler Third with the Milan Radio Symphony, he suffered a massive heart attack that blew out one of the chambers of his heart. He died penniless. Mitropoulos has indirectly been one of the most influential conductors that America has ever had. Even more so than Bernstein, Mitropoulos was a Mahler conductor par excellence who's tireless championship of this then unpopular composer set the foundations for the Mahler revival of the 1960's. His recordings and airchecks survive as a reminder of his genius and an eternal rebuke to the mediocrities that succeeded him.

This past month (November 2nd) marked the 49th anniversary of this great musician's death and as a tribute to this giant, I'll be posting a selection of some of his best recordings from Minneapolis, New York, and Europe. It is very unfortunate that Mitropoulos was a Columbia artist as that label's sound was inferior to what labels like Decca, RCA Victor, HMV, English Columbia, DG, and even Vox and Westminster were capable of at the time. This together with the fact that the bulk of his studio recordings were in mono and that much of the repertoire foisted upon Mitropoulos by Columbia was uncongenial to his style helped his legacy fade away. Sony/BMG has also been pretty hit-and-miss with the Mitropoulos reissues, sometimes releasing great recordings in poor remasterings or great recordings that are available for only a short while or hard to find outside of Europe. Fortunately, some of his greatest work can be heard in live recordings on labels like Orfeo, Medici, and Music & Arts.

His volume in the Great Conductors series was a very fine one; one of the best in that short lived series. The first disc is a blistering performance of Mahler's Sixth Symphony with the Cologne Radio Symphony. No one except Kyril Kondrashin comes close to matching Mitropoulos. There is none of the taffy pulling and portentiousness of Bernstein, the edgeless smoothness of Thomas, or the bland anonimity of Jansons, Haitink, Gergiev, etc. It is a performance where you feel the conductor and the orchestra just get straight to the soul of the music--no bullshit. There is not a single drop in tension and focus. The first movement treads forth inexorably, crushing everything before it like a tank. The major/minor seal is played with searing power and the orchestra has a dense, dark sound that works well in this symphony. The scherzo pounds out with steely vigor and the "old fashioned" trio sounds more macabre than usual. The Andante moderato is played with great lyric strength, though one feels Mitropoulos is less concerned with the romance of this music and more with the bracing alpine air; the Olympian heights. The finale is the most bleak and powerful on records. It surges with great muscularity. The hammer blow climaxes will knock you out of your chair, but the hammer blows themselves (as they often are) are not very audible. The final fff climax is truly shattering; all life and energy utterly spent. Mitropoulos was one of the very greatest Mahler conductors and he plays this symphony here with a messiaenic zeal. It should be noted that he gave the American premiere of this work in 1948 and that there is a New York Philharmonic broadcast of this work available. As good as that recording is, this one outclasses it. The sound quality here is very good mono; powerful and well focused. These Cologne broadcasts had some very good sound. The Cologne orchestra plays better than the NYPO and it must be said that the CRSO, on the whole, was a better orchestra than the NYPO. New York may have had better individual musicians, but it hardly mattered as they played quite raggedly as an ensemble. No such problems can be heard here.

Disc two of this set has a selection of very fine NYPO recordings. An athletic Berlioz Romeo et Juiliette, one of the very best ever recorded. A shame that Mitropoulos didn't record the whole thing. Also included is a very different take on Debussy's La mer. No atmospheric haze here. I've never imagined that Debussy could sound so muscular and granitic, so sinewy. But Mitropoulos makes it work! He had a way of grabbing the listener by the scruff of the neck and taking him on a musical journey, whether they wanted to or not. I won't be giving up my recordings with Desormiere, Coppola, Koussevitzky, Munch, and Inghelbrecht, but Mitropoulos deserves shelf space right alongside them. The disc ends with a thrilling and hot Dance of the Seven Veils, played with seductive rhythmic verve and very tight ensemble.

Now the next set is very special indeed. Mitropoulos was Erich Kleiber's assistant at the Berlin State Opera during the 1920's where he saw first hand some of the great man's productions, including the famous premiere of Wozzeck. The work immediately won him over and was among the many works that would occupy his study time during the next few decades. He finally had his chance to perform it in concert during his tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic and Columbia fortunately captured the occasion for posterity. The cast is one of the very best assembled with Eileen Farrell pouring out roulades of golden tone with no effort whatsoever. Her Marie is very warm and human; not as schizoid sounding as others make her seem. Mack Harrell's Wozzeck is powerful and wrenching. The cast it must be noted, save for Harrell, take a rather cavalier approach to pitch, especially Eileen Farrell. No matter as the fervor that Mitropoulos inspires from them makes up for it amply. Mitropoulos gets very full hearted playing from the NYPO despite a few mistakes here and there. Under his baton the opera's final pages have never sounded so heartbreaking.

The last disc is devoted completely to Shostakovich: the Tenth and Ninth symphonies. The Tenth leads out the disc in a searing performance under Mitropoulos; the symphony's first recording in the west. It's hard to believe that this symphony was greeted with derision by the New York press and it says a lot about the deep seated provincialism of this supposedly most cosmopolitan of cities. A "turkey"; music "without culture". Fortunately, posterity and Mitropoulos has proven these people wrong. This is really one of the very great recordings of the symphony. The climaxes in the first movement are almost unbearable. The second movement, at about 3'45", is the fastest on records. Faster even than Mravinsky or the composer himself with Moishei Vainberg playing a two piano arrangement of the symphony. No lapses in playing can be found here, the NYPO plays with total commitment. The Allegretto is dark and plenty mysterious while the finale bursts forth, guns blazing at the coda. The disc mate is a surprisingly powerful Ninth Symphony conducted by the nearly forgotten Efrem Kurtz. Kurtz was American Columbia's (and later English Columbia's) go-to man for recording Russian repertoire. The majority of his recorded output has failed to make it to CD, but what there is very fine. This Ninth is no different. It is interesteing to note that Bernstein opts for nearly the same speeds in his own recording with the NYPO. Unfortunately, the remastering of this CD leaves much to be desired. All you have is mid range sound, with the highs and lows zapped away. These recordings deserve better and one can only hope that they'll be given adequate remasterings some day (not likely).

If you need proof that Mitropoulos was a giant worthy to be ranked alongside Klemperer, Furtwangler, Mengelberg, and the rest, give these discs a try. There is more on they way!