REformation Archive

Arturo Toscanini = MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4, “Italian”; Symphony No. 5,“Reformation”; WAGNER: Parsifal, Prelude, Act I – NBC Symphony Orchestra (Mendelssohn)/ London Symphony Orchestra (Wagner) – Praga Digitals

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 18, 2017 | Classical Reissue Reviews

The natural power and persuasive brilliance of the Toscanini experience return in music of Mendelssohn and Wagner. Arturo Toscanini = MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 “Italian”; Symphony No. 5 in d minor, Op. 107 “Reformation”; WAGNER: Parsifal: Prelude, Act I; Good Friday Music – NBC Symphony Orchestra (Mendelssohn)/ London Symphony Orchestra (Wagner) – Praga Digitals PRD/DSD 350128, 78:54 (11/11/16)  [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****:  I can recall having traveled downtown to 49th Street in New York City, specifically to obtain from Sam Goody’s record store a copy of RCA LM 1851, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 and Symphony No. 5 with Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony, performances that benefit from the Carnegie Hall venue, 1953 and 1954. At that time, Toscanini’s presence on the podium carried a guarantee of propulsive energy tied to a virtually religious devotion to the letter of the composer’s intentions. Mendelssohn’s 1833 Italian Symphony seemed to convey an innocent, idealistic Mediterranean impression, with none of the gritty, new Realism I might find in contemporary cinema of the period, Fellini’s La Strada or Pasolini’s Accatone. Rather, the symphony invoked blue skies in the first movement and a somber but optimistic Roman processional in […]