BaL 23.09.17 - Franck: Symphony in D minor

[Roehre]

Stokowski and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra on Decca - with that heavenly solo in the slow movement

[teamsaint]

my sole version is by the Suddeutsche Phil/Adolph.

twinned with Bizet No1 .

[richardfinegold]

I happen to really enjoy the piece and have a few recordings of it. I understand those who find it boring and full of repetition, as I will go several years without listening to it before I become (re)entranced.
I'll put in a plug for a recording that hasn't been mentioned--Paul Paray/Detroit SO on Mercury. Paray tended towards very swift tempos and this does help dissipate some of the longuers. The Monteux/CSO is probably the Gold Standard here for recordings.
For the Violin Sonata, I have always liked Heifetz/Rubinstein.

[Barbirollians]

There is of course a Klemperer in that Romantic Symphonies box - another worth a listen.

[Barbirollians]

I have enjoyed the Munch . I love the way he has Frenchified those Boston winds . Rather more gear changes than in Monteux and I would not prefer it but a very enjoyable account.

[visualnickmos]

Ormandy/Philadelphia is pretty good - as one would expect.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Bernstein's French National Radio Orchestra recording was among the worst examples of DG's early attempts at digital recording. A pity, because this is a work well suited to Bernstein's energy.

[Barbirollians]

I see what you mean about the Bernstein but boring it isn't which I think is the most important thing with Franck.

[Tony Halstead]

my sole version is by the Suddeutsche Phil/Adolph.

twinned with Bizet No1 .

Hmmmm....
who is/ was 'Henri Adolph'? Any connection with J. Hatto?

[Barbirollians]

Described on discogs as a pseudonymous conductor ....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

BaL 23.09.17 - Franck: Symphony in D minor

0930
Building a Library: Mahan Esfahani recommends a recording of César Franck's Symphony in D minor.

"Today, a new recording of Franck's only symphony is a rare event and it has all but disappeared from the concert hall. But with its satisfying cyclic form and impressive fusion of French and German musical traditions it was once a work that every self-respecting maestro had in his repertoire and which generated an impressive recorded legacy, a veritable Who's Who of the great conductors of the last century. There have been signs, though, of a renewed interest in it among some of today's conductors, represented by a handful of more recent recordings."


Available recordings:

South German Philharmonic Orchestra, Henry Adolph (download)
Wiener Symphoniker, Yuri Ahronovitch
Brunswick State Orchestra, Jonas Alber
Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Antonio de Almeida (download)
L'Orchestre da la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Orchestre Philharmonique & Royal de Liège, Christian Arming
Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Barenboim
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, Thomas Beecham (download)
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra, Roberto Benzi
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Orchestre de Paris, Leonard Bernstein
Orchestre National de France, Leonard Bernstein
Orchestre National de France, Leonard Bernstein (DVD)
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein (download)
American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein (download)
London Orchestra Society, Sir Adrian Boult
Orchestra de Paris, Semyon Bychkov
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Guido Cantelli
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma e Torino della RAI, Sergiu Celibidache (download)
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly (download)
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, André Cluytens
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Jean-Philippe Collard
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Antal Doráti
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit (download)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Philippe Gaubert (download)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini
Wiener Philharmoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Philippe Herreweghe
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Marek Janowski
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Armin Jordan
Sofia Symphony Orchestra, Vassil Kazandjiev (download)
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi (download)
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Kirill Kondrashin (download)
Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Jan Latham-Koenig
Bamberger Symphoniker, Fritz Lehmann (download)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Raymond Leppard
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton (download)
Savaria Symphony Orchestra, Peter Lucker (download)
Cleveland Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Lorin Maazel
French National Radio Orchestra, Jean Martinon
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Kurt Masur
Le Grand Orchestre de Radio-Paris Theatre Des Champs Elysees, Willem Mengelberg
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Willem Mengelberg
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Dmitri Mitropoulos
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
French National Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch (DVD)
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch
French National Orchestra, Charles Munch (download)
Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti
Royal Flanders Philharmonic Orchestra, Gunter Neuhold (download)
Orchestre Métropolitain, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
NDR Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Willem Van Otterloo
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Paul Paray
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson (download)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Artur Rodzinski
Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Rico Saccani (download)
Staatskapelle Dresden, Kurt Sanderling
Philharmonia Orchestra, Constantin Silvestri
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Simonov (download)
London Symphony Orchestra, Hilversum Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski *** (download)
Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov
New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell ***
BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini



Arrangements:

Simon Johnson (organ)
Thomas Murray (organ)

[richardfinegold]

I had overdosed listening to this work years ago and have rarely encountered it since, but I did purchase the Paray/Detroit recording as part of a large Mercury box a few years ago and listened to that recording a few times. Otherwise the Monteux/CSO recording is the one that stands out in my memory

[Stanfordian]

The Franck Symphony is a work that for some reason does not engage me and the main themes I find rather corny and disenchanting. I accept that it's me and my taste, not the work!

[seabright]

Oh dear ... I seem to have far more recordings of this work than is really necessary! The fastest at 33:58 is Paray / Detroit Symphony on 'Mercury' and the slowest is Stokowski / Hilversum Radio Philharmonic in 'Phase-4 Stereo' on 'Cala' at 43:42! ... In between are Boult on 'Chesky' (recorded for 'Readers Digest' in 1959 with the Philharmonia but issued both as the "London Orchestra Society" and the "RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra"); Beecham and the French National Radio Orchestra on a 'Seraphim' LP; Silvestri and the Philharmonia on 'Royal Classics'; and more Stokowski with the first American 78s of the work (1927) from Philadelphia on 'Music & Arts'; plus his 1935 re-recording of the work, also Philadelphia, on 'Biddulph'; and finally his "live" Hilversum radio broadcast from 1970 which was 5 minutes faster than his subsequent 'Phase 4 Stereo' recording for Decca. This broadcast came out on 'Medici Arts.' As these recordings are more than sufficient for my needs, regardless of the BAL final recommendation, I shall simply stick with them! Incidentally, Boult also whipped through the symphony at almost Paray's tempos, which makes me wonder if he wasn't exactly crazy about the piece but was just engaged by Charles Gerhardt to fill a gap in the 'Readers Digest' catalogue.

PS: I just remembered that Paray recorded it twice for 'Mercury': in mono in 1953 and again in stereo in 1959. The mono is currently available from 'Pristine Audio' and is a minute or so slower than the stereo remake.

[Serial_Apologist]

The Franck Symphony is a work that for some reason does not engage me and the main themes I find rather corny and disenchanting. I accept that it's me and my taste, not the work!

Poulenc satirised the main theme of its finale in his 1920 ballet score "Les Biches" rather well, though - as did Warlock in one of his two "cod pieces".