Rhapsodies RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra

• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886):
• 1 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor 08:41
• George Enescu (1881 - 1955):
• 2 Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A, Op. 11 11:33
• Friedrich 'Bedrich' Smetana (1824 - 1884):
• 3 The Moldau 12:21
• 4 Overture 07:04
• Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883):
• 5 Act III: Prelude 10:13
• 6 Tannhäuser: Overture and Venusberg Music 25:09
• Total Runtime 01:15:01

Info for Rhapsodies

The flash and fire of Liszt, the emotional surges of Smetana, the guts and glory of Wagner - all the colors in Stokowski's rhapsodic repertoire are here on display.

The legendary Leopold Stokowski was one of the great personalities of the podium as well as a leading interpreter of Romantic orchestral repertoire. Stokowski's profound commitment to the emotional impact of classical music is captured on Rhapsodies, his most popular Living Stereo.

„All taste abandon, you who listen here. The combination of some of the most banal music ever composed performed by one of the most vulgar men who ever conducted captured in some of the most vulgar sound ever recorded is enough to drive listeners with refined sensibilities to despair. But for less discriminating listeners, the disc called Rhapsodies by Leopold Stokowski on RCA Living Stereo will be just the thing to clear the air after too much Mozart and Schubert. Stokowski, whose grasp of the distinctions between good and bad music has always been dubious, tears into Liszt's 'Second Hungarian Rhapsody' with unrestrained gusto, rips into Enescu's 'First Romanian Rhapsody' with unreserved panache, jumps into Smetana's 'Moldau' with both feet, and grabs hold of the Venusberg music following Wagner's 'Tannhäuser Overture' with undisguised passion. The Symphony of the Air, RCA's studio orchestra of the late '50s and early '60s, plays with more power than polish and more color than control, but, since that was probably what Stokowski was looking for, it only enhances the performance. RCA's Living Stereo sound was stunning in its day and staggering in our day. While certainly not for late-night listening, this disc will surely get you up in the morning.“ (James Leonard, AllMusicGuide)

'Leopold Stokowski's collection of Rhapsodies are painted broadly but with his characteristic fine control, and in sound that is larger than life.' (Kalman Rubinson, Stereophile)

RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
Symphony of the Air
Leopold Stokowski, conductor

Recorded February 1960 at Manhattan Center, New York City, USA

Digitally remastered

No biography found.

Booklet for Rhapsodies