The hard Szell?

[Barbirollians]

Dave is right - the tchaikovsky 4 came on a Decca CD coupled with the music from Egmont - strange coupling great performance . There appears to be a much cheaper alternative coupling http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tchikovsky-S...7339587&sr=8-5The Tchaikovsky 5 I have was a CBS Odyssey CD .http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tchaikovsky-...7339471&sr=8-4

The Eroica was on Sony essential Classics .http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Sy...7339681&sr=1-2

Jayne - I thought that was what Ernest Bevin was rumoured to have said about Herbert Morrison .

Agree with aeolium too . That Casals/Szell performance is superb.

[amateur51]

Jayne - I thought that was what Ernest Bevin was rumoured to have said about Herbert Morrison .

[Biffo]

Just to add to the above, there is also a live Salzburg Festival performance of the Eroica with the Czech Philharmonic (mono) available either from Sony as a single disc coupled with the Egmont Overture or part of a seven-disc set from Orfeo of Szell's Salzburg performances from 1958-68. The latter box is mainly Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn but includes a Bruckner 7 (available separately from Sony), all mono.

[pastoralguy]

Here's another story.

At the end of Szell's tenure with the Scottish Orchestra the players made him a small presentation. Szell replied, "I'd like to thank you for your generosity during my time here. I've only ever asked for one pitch but you have invariably given me several...!"

[bluestateprommer]

One more review of Michael Charry's new bio of Szell, from Down Under:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/wielding-a-baton-for-great-maestro-20111006-1la6p.html

Current sales rank on Amazon.co.uk as of this posting: 85,522. Not bad.

[Karafan]

Well, for Petrushka, Karafan and others, your wish for a George Szell biography has been granted, c/o Michael Charry, who has written such a tome called George Szell: A Life of Music. Review from Tim Page in the Wall Street Journal is here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052702303406104576445911683308584.html

The Amazon.co.uk link is here, but it's not yet been released in the UK (read further, however):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Szell-Life-Music-American/dp/0252036166/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312756877&sr=1-1

On Amazon.com here in the US, this book has been released:

http://www.amazon.com/George-Szell-Life-Music-American/dp/0252036166/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312756907&sr=1-1

Unless you're in a super-hurry to get your hands on it, you could wait some time for some more used copies, at cheaper prices, to appear down the line. However, don't let my advice stop you if you really, really want the book .

Thanks for the heads-up, Bluestateprommer! Much obliged....

[barber olly]

[QUOTE=Dave2002;87324]As I recall Szell's T4 was originally on a Decca LP, while T5 was on CBS. He may have done more, but those were the ones which I think were most praised.

The Decca Tchaik 4 was not issued in Szell's lifetime as he was, for some reason, not happy with it. Joy of joys when it did come out it was on the bargain World of... label, at the same time his Cleveland 5th was on CBS Classics (mid-price). On the strength of these we can only imagine what he would have made of the Pathetique!

[bluestateprommer]

There was a radio feature on NPR today about Szell, with author Michael Charry, and 2 short spoken clips from Szell:

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/07/156219408/remembering-george-szell-powerhouse-conductor

The transcript isn't 100% complete of the radio feature, FYI.

For a "counter-point of view", Tully Potter has some choice comments about Szell here:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/the-forgotten-great-conductors

BTW, the Amazon rankings on Charry's biography as of this writing:
Amazon.com = 3,719
Amazon.co.uk = 558,511

[Karafan]

There was a radio feature on NPR today about Szell, with author Michael Charry, and 2 short spoken clips from Szell:

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/07/156219408/remembering-george-szell-powerhouse-conductor

The transcript isn't 100% complete of the radio feature, FYI.

For a "counter-point of view", Tully Potter has some choice comments about Szell here:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/the-forgotten-great-conductors

BTW, the Amazon rankings on Charry's biography as of this writing:
Amazon.com = 3,719
Amazon.co.uk = 558,511

Thanks for the link!

[Barbirollians]

Finally , I have acquired a reasonably priced copy of the live in Tokyo double album.

As it is only 83 minutes and there is some applause it might now be squeezable on to one CD.

The performances ,however, are priceless. The Mozart 40 especially in the third movement might seem thick textured to some modern tastes but what rhythmic drive and excitement . Oberon is no wimp in this account of Weber's overture and as for the Sibelius ... If you thought his Concertgebouw account was exciting !

Yet it is different also at times more wistful but maybe that is a subjective assessment -Szell had only two months to live at the time of this performance .

[richardfinegold]

Thanks for the link!

I have to say I disagree with virtually everything Tully Potter wrote. What a pompous ass he is.

[Petrushka]

Finally , I have acquired a reasonably priced copy of the live in Tokyo double album.

As it is only 83 minutes and there is some applause it might now be squeezable on to one CD.

The performances ,however, are priceless. The Mozart 40 especially in the third movement might seem thick textured to some modern tastes but what rhythmic drive and excitement . Oberon is no wimp in this account of Weber's overture and as for the Sibelius ... If you thought his Concertgebouw account was exciting !

Yet it is different also at times more wistful but maybe that is a subjective assessment -Szell had only two months to live at the time of this performance .

New copies on Amazon UK are to be had for £16.46 + £1.26 delivery which seems reasonable to me but I see that it's coming from the USA so wouldn't want to be clobbered with any hidden charges.

[Alison]

I have to say I disagree with virtually everything Tully Potter wrote. What a pompous ass he is.

Well said !

[Once Was 4]

Well said !

Here's a tale told to me by an old colleague and good friend who played in the SNO under Alexander Gibson for many years.

Long after he had left the Scottish Orchestra, Szell was invited back to conduct some kind of anniversary concert. He accepted the invitation much to the dismay of several of the players who knew of his reputation as an extremely unpleasant man. For weeks they practiced their parts over and over again - even going into huddles to have unofficial sectional rehearsals.

At last the day came and, with fear and trembling, the orchestra assembled to await their grilling. Which did not come. Szell took them through the pieces making the odd comment politely. That is until they came to rehearse a violin concerto with a Czech soloist. Before they began Szell made a comment to the soloist in Czech not knowing that one of the front desk string players was fluent in this language. Translated into colloquial English it was to the effect of "you have heard nothing till you have heard this lot!" And was not a complement.

This reminds me of a conductor, still very much with us and whose name comes up frequently in this forum, whose opening gambit to the orchestra in which I was then employed was "I have heard that this is POTENTIALLY a good orchestra!"

[Karafan]

I might be 11 years late, but I am here to right a wrong, so here is the Szell contract renegotiation anecdote, courtesy of John Culshaw.

"Szell was Hungarian, and almost impossible to outwit.

I was present in Zurich when he came to see Rosengarten, to negotiate a new contract and, for once, Rosengarten was slightly nervous. He needed Szell, and Szell knew as much.

Rosengarten had his ammunition ready, and it was formidable when he chose to use it at full force; but Szell, taking his example from (I believe) an incident in the life of Berlioz, sailed into Rosengarten's office, bearing the last thing Rosengarten expected, which was a broad grin.

"Mr Rosengarten," he said, "we are here to discuss a contract, which you think is going to be difficult. Let us be clear about one thing immediately. I know that you are an artist, a man of great sensitivity and musical perception, which I would not dare to match. I, on the other hand, am a simple business man, whose only interest is money. I shall therefore put forward proposals which, needless to say, are not subject to alteration". It was the only time in my life that I saw Rosengarten floored with one blow, for his standard technique was to spend ten minutes flattering an artist until he judged that the moment had come to announce the lowest possible terms. Szell, in turning the tables on him, left him speechless. The contract was signed, on Szell's terms".

I have just indulged in the huge Szell Complete Columbia Recordings box (106 wonderfully-remastered discs, original sleeve artwork, gorgeous hardbacked coffee table book and all housed in a bombproof outer case). What a beauty it is!