Ormandy conducts Berlioz, Dukas, and Mussorgsky

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice; Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain (arr. Rimsky-Korsakoff)
Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy
Sony Essential Classics SBK 89833 | Stereo ADD

What a surprise! I’ve long been a fan of Eugene Ormandy’s work, but even I wasn’t expecting this recording to be so good. Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique is one of those great masterworks that only a few conductors are able to convincingly pull off. Strange this because the score gives ample opportunity for the conductor to strut his stuff and pull out all the stops. But few ever take up Berlioz’s challenge. I really wasn’t expecting Ormandy to bowl me over with dramatic strength--but that’s exactly what you hear in this recording.

To be sure, Ormandy is no arch romantic. He’s no Mengelberg or Golovanov. But excitement and ardor abound here from beginning to end. In the first movement, Ormandy and his orchestra shape the initial appearance of the idee fixe beautifully, shot through with youthful anxiety and longing. The second movement’s waltz is not the nightmarish vision of Klemperer or Szenkar--a vision of the outsider looking in. Rather, here the hero is himself dancing along, twirling away, hoping to lose himself from the memory of his beloved through the intoxicating rhythms of the dance. Lovely English horn and oboe set the stage for a luminous Scene in the Country that for once seems all too brief. But the biggest surprises of all are the last two movements. A crackling, goosestep of a March to the Scaffold played to the very hilt. The Philadelphia brass play gloriously here. This really must have been one of the all time greatest brass sections ever. They sound powerful and majestic here, but they’ll never assault your ears like the Chicago brass could. Was this orchestra ever capable of making an ugly sound? The Dream of a Sabbath Night brings everything to a stunning close. Not only thrilling is Ormandy’s vision of this music. Equally thrilling is the chance to hear this orchestra--one of the very greatest--tearing into this music with heady abandon.

The rest of this disc is very fine too. Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is the perfect showpiece for Ormandy’s Philadelphians. Ormandy, quite a sorcerer himself, conjures up magical playing from his orchestra. Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain is very good, but here I would prefer Abbado or the spooky orchestral pyrotechnics of Stokowski.

In this recording Columbia afforded Ormandy some of the best sonics it ever produced. Beautiful and lush sound complement the orchestra perfectly. Only the Mussorgsky sounds a little distant and diffuse.

If you haven’t gotten the hint yet, run, don’t walk to get this recording. Here is a recording of the Fantastique that deserves space next to Szenkar, Klemperer, Walter, Meyrowitz, and Mitropoulos.