MrTimber101's channel

I haven't heard this music in many years since EMI released the complete symphonies of Saint-Saens with Jean Martinon conducting. Why isn't this played or recorded more often?

This rehearsal, like the actual performance, was recorded experimentally in stereo by RCA. The performance was eventually released, long after Toscanini's death. Some releases used sections from the rehearsals to cover the terrible breakdown that happened in the Venusberg music from Tannhauser....

We can hear how he was concerned with the little details that many other conductors missed. This is part of the final movement of the symphony and he sought a greater intensity than usually happened in performances of the music.

NBC recorded these broadcasts on transcription discs, using high fidelity RCA microphones. By 1948 or 1949, they began recording the broadcasts on magnetic tape. There were some recording sessions in the 1940s using optical sound film recording.

There are some recordings made in Studio 8-H which have better sound than this , especially the ones made without an audience present. It was apparently a question of where the microphones were placed. In 1939, there were some acoustical modifications to the studio and it clearly had more rever...

This is a really magnificent, beautifully recorded performance of one of my favorite symphonies. I always enjoyed the recordings that Eugene Ormandy made with the Philadelphia Orchestra. I was fortunate to see him and the orchestra in San Francisco, during one of their concert tours back in the...

This is the famous 1952 "studio" recording of the ninth symphony, recorded by RCA Victor in Carnegie Hall. It was included in the best-selling complete set of Beethoven's nine symphonies, which has been released on LP and CD over the years. It's still one of the best performances of the ninth a...

This is likely the 1952 Carnegie Hall recording of "The Ride of the Valkyries" with Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. It is quite majestic and thrilling. Toscanini said Wagner was his favorite composer.

I finally was able to listen to all of the concerto again. I had the original mono LP, which RCA Victor released in 1957. They later issued the stereo version. It remains one of the best recordings of this powerful work and I think it is one of Rubenstein's greatest performances. I saw Rubens...

Having been in high school in 1962 in the San Francisco Bay Area, I could really relate to this film and felt it was an accurate portrayal of what life was like for many teenagers at that time. It was a wonderful nostalgic film and much more, thanks to Lucas' outstanding direction and his very g...

This is a wonderful performance of very moving music. So little of Kabalevsky's music is heard today in the U.S. Of course, the performance was given the special attention that was typical of Toscanini.

I have since learned that this recording is actually taken from the NBC concert that was shown on television and preserved on kinescope, then later released on home video.

This is definitely a spirited and exciting performance of a wonderful work, from Monteux's final season with the San Francisco Symphony. He did return in 1960 to guest conduct the orchestra and make recordings for RCA Victor, his only stereo recordings in San Francisco.

This was the first recordings made with the Ruffati pipe organ in Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. The recordings give a good idea of the power of the instrument and how it enhanced performances of works for organ and orchestra in San Francisco. Previously, the orchestra mainly ...

Yes, it is interesting to learn that Reiner made recordings of two Haydn symphonies in September with New York musicians in September 1963. He was longer music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; officially, he was called a "music advisor." I suppose today they would use the title "cond...

This was a really popular show for a few years. While Harry Morgan had a long career, Cara Williams didn't do much after this, reportedly because she was hard to work with.

This was one of my favorite sketches, too. It was, of course, a spoof on the classic British film "Scott of the Antarctic."

This is one of the Chicago Symphony's first electrical recordings, made by Victor in 1925 in its Chicago studios.

I had never heard of Karl Krueger. He was clearly a very gifted conductor and this is a very exciting performance of Offenbach's delightful overture. Hopefully, this will help to "educate" some of us about this forgotten conductor.

I hiked to the top of Montara Mountain years ago with my white shepherd dog; we both enjoyed the climb, which is quite a workout. The view was great then, too.

This concert actually took place at Tanglewood in August 1990, only a few weeks before Bernstein's death.

Stokowski had last recorded with the Philhadelphia Orchestra late in 1940, for RCA Victor. When he returned in 1960, he made stereophonic recordings for Columbia Records. Typically, the sound is outstanding. Stokowski always sought the best possible sound in his recordings, whatever the techno...

If you watch closely, you will see Premier Nikita Khruschev applauding Van Cliburn at the end. Khruschev had not been at the Tchaikovsky piano competition in 1958, when Cliburn won, but he told the judges they should give Cliburn the prize if he was the best pianist. Obviously, Khruschev decide...

The final few seconds of the performance are missing.

Rene Leibowitz was a very fine conductor who deserves more recognition for his very remarkable recorded performances. This is certainly one of the more spectacular versions of the Mussorgsky music, as arranged by Rimsky-Korsakov. It compares favorably with the performances by the Philadelphia O...

The final minute or so of the cabaret music is missing on this copy. I discovered this when I listened to another recording of this suite. Otherwise, it is an excellent performance and very well recorded for 1943.

This symphony was premiered at the New York World's Fair in 1940 with Sir Adrian Boult conducting.

Toscanini admired our National Anthem. He felt it was often rushed or not played with real feeling. He gives us a wonderful example of how it should be performed in this historic recording.