I belive that early copies of Leinsdorf’s Bartok Concerto came with an extra LP of BSO performances by Koussevitzky, Munch & Montuex but I’ve never seen it for sale anywhere. Does anyone have it and what were the contents?
I do have a copy. It’s called “The Aristocrat of Orchestras, Golden Years of the Boston Symphony.” The catalog number on the cover is SP-33-181, and the label also has a number of LM-2651.
Side 1 selections:
Wagner Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III, under Muck, recorded 1917
Prokofieff Classical Symphony and Satie Gymnopedies Nos 1 and 2, under Koussevitzky, recorded 1943 and 1949
Side 2:
Debussy Nocturnes: Nuages Fetes, under Monteux, recorded 1955 (?)
Berlioz, Damnation of Faust: the Ride to the Abyss, Pandemonium to Heaven (?), recorded 1954
I have pictures, but can’t figure out how to upload (they are also a little fuzzy, hence the question marks above). I wonder if this had a LSC version, although I wouldn’t be surprised if did not. At least side 1 of the album was definitely recorded only in mono, and I don’t know enough RCAs early stereo experiments to know about the second half. As I recall, they started stereo in early 1954, but I could be misremembering that.
RCA used two different photographs to grace the cover of LSC 2643, both of which show the BSO performing live in Symphony Hall. The above cover’s photo is apparently that of Leinsdorf with the BSO in his preferred arrangement of the musicians on the stage, but it is not uncommon to find a 2643 cover with Munch at the helm with a different arrangement. How RCA could mix up the orchestral/conductorial portraits on what was a prestige release – Leinsdorf’s first with the BSO – is beyond understanding. Or perhaps a foreshadowing of the carelessness with which they treated BSO/Leinsdorf recordings.
Actually, this site’s cover is the Munch version. Leinsdorf’s album cover has him leaning expressively toward the first violins. Although Munch’s BSO photo clearly shows Richard Burgin as the concertmaster, the recorded performance and Leinsdorf/BSO photo has the newly-appointed Joseph Silverstein in that position. Obviously the Munch/BSO cover for the Leinsdorf Bartok includes other musicians who were not involved in the recording or who later occupied different positions in the orchestra.
This same photo appears on my 1S/4S copy. Since the photo is glued onto the cover I suppose it is possible for a batch of the wrong selection to have been released.
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I belive that early copies of Leinsdorf’s Bartok Concerto came with an extra LP of BSO performances by Koussevitzky, Munch & Montuex but I’ve never seen it for sale anywhere. Does anyone have it and what were the contents?
Interesting! I will be eager to see if anyone has a copy of the record you are describing. I’ve never seen it.
I think I might have a copy of that. I have some mystery BSO sampler somewhere. I’ll try to remember to look tonight.
I do have a copy. It’s called “The Aristocrat of Orchestras, Golden Years of the Boston Symphony.” The catalog number on the cover is SP-33-181, and the label also has a number of LM-2651.
Side 1 selections:
Wagner Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III, under Muck, recorded 1917
Prokofieff Classical Symphony and Satie Gymnopedies Nos 1 and 2, under Koussevitzky, recorded 1943 and 1949
Side 2:
Debussy Nocturnes: Nuages Fetes, under Monteux, recorded 1955 (?)
Berlioz, Damnation of Faust: the Ride to the Abyss, Pandemonium to Heaven (?), recorded 1954
I have pictures, but can’t figure out how to upload (they are also a little fuzzy, hence the question marks above). I wonder if this had a LSC version, although I wouldn’t be surprised if did not. At least side 1 of the album was definitely recorded only in mono, and I don’t know enough RCAs early stereo experiments to know about the second half. As I recall, they started stereo in early 1954, but I could be misremembering that.
RCA used two different photographs to grace the cover of LSC 2643, both of which show the BSO performing live in Symphony Hall. The above cover’s photo is apparently that of Leinsdorf with the BSO in his preferred arrangement of the musicians on the stage, but it is not uncommon to find a 2643 cover with Munch at the helm with a different arrangement. How RCA could mix up the orchestral/conductorial portraits on what was a prestige release – Leinsdorf’s first with the BSO – is beyond understanding. Or perhaps a foreshadowing of the carelessness with which they treated BSO/Leinsdorf recordings.
Actually, this site’s cover is the Munch version. Leinsdorf’s album cover has him leaning expressively toward the first violins. Although Munch’s BSO photo clearly shows Richard Burgin as the concertmaster, the recorded performance and Leinsdorf/BSO photo has the newly-appointed Joseph Silverstein in that position. Obviously the Munch/BSO cover for the Leinsdorf Bartok includes other musicians who were not involved in the recording or who later occupied different positions in the orchestra.
Ha! I never knew about this mistaken photo. I guess it is an early pressing!
This same photo appears on my 1S/4S copy. Since the photo is glued onto the cover I suppose it is possible for a batch of the wrong selection to have been released.