HDTT HDCD (CD-R) 143, 62:50 ***:
Taken from Sony 4-track prerecorded tapes, this remastering possesses the usual traits we associate with the Ormandy-Philadelphia sound, namely the streamlined luster of the strings and the dead-on accuracy of the wind playing. The incidental music to the Midsummer Night’s Dream without the Overture listed is something of an anomaly, although it does appear. We also get plenty of brass virtuosity in the opening Allegro vivace of the A Major Symphony. Silken luminosity reigns in all parts, but whether we need another seamless Italian Symphony is a matter for conjecture and individuals’ wallets. I always found Ormandy’s imagination wanting in classics I revered for their rhythmic and melodic possibilities. For the Italian Symphony, I gravitate to Beecham and Munch, even Toscanini and Koussevitzky, despite the sonic limitations of their period realizations. The homogeneity of sound from Ormandy’s Philadelphia players warrants our admiration, but I’d prefer to hear the musical licenses by Stokowski anytime over the routine exercise of standard phraseologies.
If HDTT were to make Ormandy (1899-1985) a subject of revival, I would suggest the music of Yardumian — who had a major falling out with the Maestro and suffered deletion from the retrospectives by the orchestra [Good suggestion – a wonderful composer!…Ed.] — as well as selected concerto repertory from Sony, featuring the stellar talents of Isaac Stern (Viotti Concerto No. 22 and Bartok First), Zino Francescatti (Vieuxtemps Concerto No. 4 and Walton Concerto) and Rudolf Serkin (Reger Piano Concerto and Strauss Burleske). The only other solo piece I gave Ormandy much credit for–and had him autograph for me–was his arrangement of Gaite Parisienne. Pretty tones without too much thought, ah yes! The third movement of the Symphony and the Nocturne do stand out for the Philadelphia woodwind quintet, especially the flute and French horn parts. But I’ve already praised these attributes–I would think George Szell’s band a natural preference for many connoisseurs out there.
— Gary Lemco
