He has been called the most exciting younger conductor in the USA during the 1930s. Artur Rodzinski (1892-1958) galvanized audiences wherever he appeared as a guest, including Philadelphia, where he worked with Stokowski, and New York, where his 1937 concert performance of Strauss’s Elektra is still considered a landmark in the Philharmonic’s history. Earning a reputation as a builder of great orchestras, the fiery, volatile Polish conductor headed up and developed the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1929-33) and the Cleveland Orchestra (1933-43), and in 1943, became music director of the New York Philharmonic. Rodzinski amassed a fairly sizable discography in a relatively short recording career. During his Cleveland tenure, he made a number of important recordings for Columbia Masterworks, and he continued his association with the label after taking up his post in New York. Sony Classical’s new 16-disc box set of Rodzinski’s New York recordings, largely recorded in Carnegie Hall between 1944 and 1946, will fill an important gap in the classical catalogue. Rodzinski was perhaps most closely associated with the Russian repertoire and Wagner. Both are prominent in Sony’s new collection, including Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique”, Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Tchaikovsky’s “Mozartiana” and Nutcracker suites, Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony and Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with soloist György Sándor. Wagner occupies two well-filled discs, featuring the great American soprano Helen Traubel with other distinguished artists from the Metropolitan Opera, including baritone Herbert Janssen as Wotan. Artur Rodzinski’s range is further reflected by generous samplings of French music (Saint-Saëns’ Fourth Piano Concerto with Robert Casadesus and various works by Bizet, Ibert, Franck, Satie, Offenbach and Debussy), American repertoire (Gershwin, Copland and Morton Gould) and symphonies by Brahms (Nos. 1 and 2) and Sibelius (No. 4). This meticulously transferred and remastered collection of Rodzinski’s New York Philharmonic recordings represents a generous reward for the conductor’s many patient admirers.

Tracklist :

CD1
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

CD2
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

CD3
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100

CD4
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a
Tchaikovsky: Suite No. 4 in G major, Op.61 ‘Mozartiana’
Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody No.1 in A major
Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1
Wolf-Ferrari: Il segreto di Susanna Overture

CD5
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ‘Pathétique’

CD6
Brahms: Symphony No.2 in D major, Op.73

CD7
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 44
Robert Casadesus (piano)

Satie: Trois Morceaux en forme de poire
Gaby and Robert Casadesus (piano)

CD8
Gould, M: Spirituals for Orchestra
Copland: Lincoln Portrait
Gershwin: An American in Paris

CD9
Bizet: Symphony in C
Milhaud: Suite française, Op. 248 conducted by Darius Milhaud
Ibert: Escales

CD10
Wagner: Die Walküre: Act 3
Helen Traubel (soprano) – Brünnhilde: Irene Jessner (soprano) – Sieglinde/Ortlinde: Herbert Janssen (baritone) – Wotan/Vocal Ensemble of the Metropolitan Opera
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll

CD11
Wagner: Die Walküre: Act 1 Scene 3
Wagner: Tristan and Isolde: Prelude to Act I; Act I Scene 3 (Isolde’s Narrative): Prelude to Act 3; Act 3 Scene 4 (Liebestod)
Wagner: Lohengrin Act 1 Scene 2 (Elsa’s Dream); Act 3 Scene 2 (Bridal Chamber Scene)
Helen Traubel (soprano) – Sieglinde, Isolde, Elsa: Emery Darcy (tenor) – Siegmund, Lohengrin

CD12
Rossini: Guillaume Tell Overture
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Scherzo
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18; Movement 1
Leonard Pennario (piano)
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings in C major, Op. 48: II. Waltz
Tchaikovsky: None but the lonely heart, Op. 6 No. 6
Martha Lipton (mezzo soprano)
Bizet: L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2: IV. Farandole
Debussy: Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque)
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody, S244 No. 2 in C sharp minor

Columbia Symphony Orchestra

CD13
Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers Overture
Franck: Symphony in D minor – Movement 2 (Allegretto)
Debussy: Fêtes (from Trois Nocturnes)
Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges – Movements 3 (March) and 4 (Scherzo)
Gershwin: Summertime (from Porgy and Bess)
Genevieve Rowe (soprano)
Dinicu: Hora staccato arr Heifetz
Rimsky Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35: The Young Prince and Princess
Glière: Russian Sailors’ Dance from The Red Poppy

Columbia Symphony Orchestra

CD14
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63

CD15
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

CD16
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
György Sándor (piano)

New York Philharmonic, Artur Rodzinski