Big Mercury Box#2: Dorati Beethoven 5, 6 & 7th Symphonies

[richardfinegold]

Continuing my trawl though the latest Mercury box, Dorati and the LSO are found in stereo recordings of the above works plus assorted Beethoven Overtures.
My expectations for Dorati in this music were not high. When he took over the Detroit Symphony he began with a Beethoven Cycle of concerts that I recall as being lethargic and marred by imprecise playing. The concerts were filmed by Public Television and I cringed at the thought of my hometown Orchestra having these less than showboat character recordings displayed to the entire country.
These LSO recordings are thankfully a different kettle of fish. The playing standard andthe recording quality is high. The best is the 7th, which is the one that I will probably return to. Given both Dorati's reputation as a ballet conductor, and the 7th being "the apotheosis of the dance" per Wagner, I was curious to see if he would trivialize the music and slight it's granduer, but no such thing happens. The 6th is also excellent, if a bit hard driven. The 5th is good, but a few notches belowthe other two. There are some ritards in I that impede forward momentum, and the recording spotlights the famous solo oboe interlude, almost sounding like a Concerto Grosso. Similar ritards and unusual uses of rubato affect the other 3 movements, but it is a generally respectable account.

[cloughie]

Continuing my trawl though the latest Mercury box, Dorati and the LSO are found in stereo recordings of the above works plus assorted Beethoven Overtures.
My expectations for Dorati in this music were not high. When he took over the Detroit Symphony he began with a Beethoven Cycle of concerts that I recall as being lethargic and marred by imprecise playing. The concerts were filmed by Public Television and I cringed at the thought of my hometown Orchestra having these less than showboat character recordings displayed to the entire country.
These LSO recordings are thankfully a different kettle of fish. The playing standard andthe recording quality is high. The best is the 7th, which is the one that I will probably return to. Given both Dorati's reputation as a ballet conductor, and the 7th being "the apotheosis of the dance" per Wagner, I was curious to see if he would trivialize the music and slight it's granduer, but no such thing happens. The 6th is also excellent, if a bit hard driven. The 5th is good, but a few notches belowthe other two. There are some ritards in I that impede forward momentum, and the recording spotlights the famous solo oboe interlude, almost sounding like a Concerto Grosso. Similar ritards and unusual uses of rubato affect the other 3 movements, but it is a generally respectable account.

His 70s RPO cycle on DG was very good - no sign as yet on CD!

[VodkaDilc]

My Mercury Box No 2 is due to arrive from Presto today; they used a timed courier service for large items (free of charge at present). There seem to be plenty of treasures to explore.

[rauschwerk]

Was Dorati a great conductor, or did he merely record a helluva lot?

[cloughie]

Was Dorati a great conductor, or did he merely record a helluva lot?

My view is that he was a very good conductor who made some great recordings. He was also an orchestra builder/rebuilder eg his work in Detroit and Washington late in his career. Also a conductor of stamina - whilst not my choice for every single symphony his Haydn Symphonies are my reference set. Has anyone else given us the complete Kodaly orchestral music? My shelves would be lighter but less rich without AD.

[Arcades Project]

Was Dorati a great conductor, or did he merely record a helluva lot?

I only really know his Haydn recordings (& remember an lp of Roberto Gerhard's The Plague; but only its existence). Out of curiosity I dug out the Haydn symphony box from 'storage' (or the junk room with stuff in plastic boxes) & listened to a few of the symphonies: they came across to me as sadly mundane (& that's not a HIPP thing, though that's where my preferences lie: I played some of Scherchen's old recordings that DG reissued for comparison, & quirky they may be but they are full of life & excitement. Tremendous, in fact).

But I'm probably doing his work as a conductor a disservice. Didn't float my boat.

[richardfinegold]

Was Dorati a great conductor, or did he merely record a helluva lot?

I often wondered the same thing during his Detroit tenure. He was around 80 years of age when he took that post and many of his concerts were less than stellar. I am hearing a lot of his earlier work for the first time with this Mercury Box and and have increased my appreciation of his work several fold. I do think he was a great conductor, with a wide range. His real strengths were ballet and Hungarian Composers, but he ha a wide range. I just listened to the disc featuring Second Viennese school works and it's really good.