Cantelli at Oxfam

[Barbirollians]

My hair is standing on end after that Romeo and Juliet !

The Pathetique is very refreshing - thrillingly played without a trace of self-indulgence ( though I rather like a bit more self-indulgence in this symphony )

The Siegfried Idyll is very special and not just for Dennis Brain's horn playing.

[Ferretfancy]

I was very tempted by this box, but on checking I discovered that I had its entire contents on CD apart from the Tchaikovsky, which I have on Vinyl. Amazon have boxes of Cantelli's New York performances, but at rather steep prices.

Prompted as so often by this thread, I listened yesterday to the Mozart K201. It nearly cured my cold!

[richardfinegold]

I was browsing in my local Oxfam today, and found an LP of Cantelli and the Philharmonia in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, coupled with the Siegfried Idyll. I have the latter on CD, but not the Romeo. The Old Record Guide has high praise for it, revealing that it's a transfer from 78s. It was not unusual to find this back in 1951.
It's certainly a thrilling performance, and as it's available on a Testament CD with the Pathetique, I've now decided to buy it from Amazon.

The curious thing was the attitude of the volunteer staff in the shop when I asked them to price it, as it had no tag. The lady on the till had already failed to serve two other customers while I was browsing, because she could not work it properly, and seemed baffled by my request, vanishing into the bowels of the premises. After a longish wait, a surly youth of about eighteen appeared, and began shuffling through the rack. Was he thinking that I'd pinched the price label? Finally, and with ill grace he suggested £2.

I asked -"Is there any logical pricing system here? For instance do you rate old monos as less pricey than stereos? " " I don't know, he said, I'm not the music manager "
The truth is that nobody in the shop has any idea whether a disc is of interest or not. In the rack they had a late fifties recording on an obscure label of the Ravel Left Hand Concerto played by Paul Wittgenstein, no less. It was valued at £1, perhaps I've missed a bargain !

I would return to that shop and snap up the Ravel...

[amateur51]

Amazon have boxes of Cantelli's New York performances, but at rather steep prices.

Less than expensive at Sainsbury, Ferret

http://www.sainsburysentertainment.co.uk/en/Music/CD/Ludwig-Van-Beethoven/The-Great-Beethoven-Recordings-Cantelli-NYPO-Serkin/product.html?product=E10119451

[Barbirollians]

The Tchaikovsky 5 is another thriller albeit a great shame it was not recorded with the Philharmonia .

I rather wish he had - can imagine Dennis Brain might have reached new heights with Cantelli. Two great artists of the same age , who apparently had great respect for each other , killed within a year in travelling accidents .

[Pabmusic]

This anecdote is from John Boyden, and I reproduce it in his words. It is the 1970s and the relevance is obvious:

"...a highly regarded oboe player, then in the twilight of his playing career, walked into a recording studio in west London. Sitting in a corner, minding his own business, was a colleague from their days in the [1950s] Philharmonia, days when the orchestra was directed by the very best in the world, including the errant Guido Cantelli.

'Do you remember', the oboist began, 'when we did that Daphnis and Chloe with Cantelli?'

'Yes' replied the trumpet player, 'I remember'.

'Do you remember how he nearly ripped the control room door off its hinges, because he got so angry with us? Said we were the worst orchestra he'd ever had to conduct?'

'Yes,' agreed the trumpeter.

'I'll never forget how he came out from a playback and said the second fiddles should all be taken out and shot'.

'Didn't he lie on the floor and beat a tattoo with his heels, screaming his head off?' asked the trumpeter, entering into the spirit. 'And didn't he rip his music to pieces because he'd never settle for anything less than absolute perfection?'

The oboe player smiled broadly.

'That's the chap'.

Why?' asked the trumpeter. 'What about it?'

'Oh, I just saw a copy in the Portobello Road for 45 pence'.

[Barbirollians]

This anecdote is from John Boyden, and I reproduce it in his words. It is the 1970s and the relevance is obvious:

"...a highly regarded oboe player, then in the twilight of his playing career, walked into a recording studio in west London. Sitting in a corner, minding his own business, was a colleague from their days in the [1950s] Philharmonia, days when the orchestra was directed by the very best in the world, including the errant Guido Cantelli.

'Do you remember', the oboist began, 'when we did that Daphnis and Chloe with Cantelli?'

'Yes' replied the trumpet player, 'I remember'.

'Do you remember how he nearly ripped the control room door off its hinges, because he got so angry with us? Said we were the worst orchestra he'd ever had to conduct?'

'Yes,' agreed the trumpeter.

'I'll never forget how he came out from a playback and said the second fiddles should all be taken out and shot'.

'Didn't he lie on the floor and beat a tattoo with his heels, screaming his head off?' asked the trumpeter, entering into the spirit. 'And didn't he rip his music to pieces because he'd never settle for anything less than absolute perfection?'

The oboe player smiled broadly.

'That's the chap'.

Why?' asked the trumpeter. 'What about it?'

'Oh, I just saw a copy in the Portobello Road for 45 pence'.

Not quite sure how you mean its relevance is obvious ? - Yesterday's obsessive perfectionism is today's forgotten second hand record ?

The Tolansky documentary that finishes the set is clear enough evidence that Cantelli was an obsessive perfectionist who achieved amazing results . There must have been the risk that had he lived that for all his talent his Toscanini in a rage like behaviour might have led to orchestras not thinking he was worth the trouble or moreover that he might have suffered some form of burnout .

His recordings , however, have lived on as seen by the highly enthusiastic reception both to this set and the Testament releases that preceded it .

[Pabmusic]

Not quite sure how you mean its relevance is obvious ? ...

The thread concerns Cantelli recordings found at Oxfam. It's what put me in mind of the anecdote. (Perhaps I was wrong, and the relevance is not obvious after all.)

[Barbirollians]

Oh I see . I had overlooked the original postings .

[Pabmusic]

Oh I see . I had overlooked the original postings .

[Barbirollians]

Interestingly, I have come across two very highly rated performances in the box that whilst both are very fine don't reach the exalted heights of the others.

The Beethoven 7 has some lovely characterful wind and brass playing especially in the first movement and the finale is properly dancing but otherwise does not reach the same level as the three movements of the Fifth they recorded . The La Mer is again beautifully played but I get more sea splash and atmosphere from Barbirolli .

The Unfinished , however, is wonderful - joins Abbado and Furtwangler at the very top of my personal tree of the piece - as are the two Rossini overtures and the rest of the Debussy disc is superb especially the excerpts from Le Martyre Saint Sebastian

[amateur51]

This anecdote is from John Boyden, and I reproduce it in his words. It is the 1970s and the relevance is obvious:

"...a highly regarded oboe player, then in the twilight of his playing career, walked into a recording studio in west London. Sitting in a corner, minding his own business, was a colleague from their days in the [1950s] Philharmonia, days when the orchestra was directed by the very best in the world, including the errant Guido Cantelli.

'Do you remember', the oboist began, 'when we did that Daphnis and Chloe with Cantelli?'

'Yes' replied the trumpet player, 'I remember'.

'Do you remember how he nearly ripped the control room door off its hinges, because he got so angry with us? Said we were the worst orchestra he'd ever had to conduct?'

'Yes,' agreed the trumpeter.

'I'll never forget how he came out from a playback and said the second fiddles should all be taken out and shot'.

'Didn't he lie on the floor and beat a tattoo with his heels, screaming his head off?' asked the trumpeter, entering into the spirit. 'And didn't he rip his music to pieces because he'd never settle for anything less than absolute perfection?'

The oboe player smiled broadly.

'That's the chap'.

Why?' asked the trumpeter. 'What about it?'

'Oh, I just saw a copy in the Portobello Road for 45 pence'.

Great story, many thanks Pabs

[Barbirollians]

Magnificently sunny Italian symphony and an account of the Schumann 4 that is quite superbly shaped and despite a rather constricted mono recording - what brass playing in particular !

[Barbirollians]

Finally , made it back to the Brahms record . What an electrifying account of the Third Symphony - though the sound is a bit bass heavy on the first movement . Dennis Brain's horn solos take your breath away especially in the third movement . Has any other player ever come close to playing them so beautifully and with such tone ?- his first entry sent shivers down my spine!

This box is the bargain of bargains . I have rarely felt so enriched by a set of such life enhancing performances .

[Barbirollians]

I may be talking to myself as usual here - but what a scintillating account of the Brahms 1 in a Testament remastering that has more transparency than the old EMI mastering of the Third . The way Cantelli sets up the climaxes is so well constructed but without the very slightest sign of calculation . In the same class as the Karajan BPO live Festival hall recording for sheer excitement but more satisfying as an overall conception I think. I have rarely heard the shadows of Beethoven so clearly .

The lower strings are particularly fine .