. . .or click on the link here for Audio Player – New York Philharmonic – Guido Cantelli, guest conductor – February 22, 1953 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection.
No obscurities or overlooked compositions this week; just iconic musicians in milestone performances of much-loved works. I’ve been glued to this concert performance all weekend of Ravel‘s Daphnis and Chloe Suite Number 2, from February 22, 1953 featuring the New York Philharmonic, guest conducted by the legendary Guido Cantelli and broadcast by CBS Radio (on FM).
For those of you not familiar, Guido Cantelli was one of the truly bright and promising lights on the Classical music horizon in the years after World War 2. Chosen by Arturo Toscanini to be his successor, Cantelli was a gifted musician and Conductor and was just at the beginnings of what was to be a truly astonishing career when tragedy struck – Cantelli was killed in a plane crash outside of Paris in November of 1956, just days after being appointed Musical Director of the prestigious La Scala Opera in Milan.
He was just at the start of an exclusive recording career, and so comparatively little of his work has been preserved, save for a number of broadcasts Cantelli participated in. As a frequent guest-conductor of the New York Philharmonic, much of his work in New York has been preserved.
This recording comes from my own archive, so I’m not completely sure if it has been issued in any form. I assume it has. It if hasn’t, it needs to be because it’s one of the most compelling performances of the Daphnis I’ve run across since a great one by the French master D.E. Inglebrecht.
The sound is quite good – mono, of course. But it’s clear and the N.Y. Phil are smack in the middle of their glory days. Good stuff all around.
Enjoy – it will be back to the unknown and overlooked next week. Promise.
At the top of this week’s NYPSO/Cantelli Daphnis 2 is the name of Arnold Bax. It is underlined but nothing happens when I click. Have you some of his stashed away and how do I access it?
I have no idea how that got there. It’s in the TAGS section for no reason, other than Zemanta put it there becausde it pertained to an article about an Arnold Bax piece performed by the N.Y. Phil. I should remove it as it has nothing to do with Cantelli or Daphnis or anything, actually.
I removed it. It appears Zemanta goes by algorithms, and for some reason Bax showed up as a tag. Go figure.
Fascinating. These are things beyond my understanding. The Bax/NY Philharmonic piece might have entered into it because he – Bax – died in October 1953. Tx.
Don’t feel alone – it baffles me on a daily basis.
A great conductor indeed…….thanks for this live perf