For years, connoisseurs snubbed Ormandy & Philadelphia recordings and I know not why. It may have had something to do with the way Columbia Records marketed them, which was a bit low-brow. Still, the well kept secret was that Ormandy outsold label-mate Leonard Bernstein by a wide margin, and now critics are going back and actually listening to these recordings and being bowled over. *Ormandys* problem was he was no charismatic showman but he had one of, if not *the,* finest-sounding orchestras in the world which he handled in the way a Formula 1 driver handles a sports car. What I find remarkable about Ormandy recordings (and recordings by the equally undervalued Dutch Concertgebouw Orchestra conductor Eduard van Beinum) is I keep hearing details--important details--in the music that I dont hear in other recordings. He must have done a lot of preparation. Ormandy also had a flawless sense of pace and, with his orchestra, probably the best strings and brass in the world.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 03:04:43 +0000
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