Re: Chester Schmitz Recordings


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Posted by Richard on February 18, 2001 at 17:02:31:

In Reply to: Chester Schmitz Recordings posted by Chuck Jackson on February 17, 2001 at 20:54:31:

I tend to prefer early Chester, when he was still on the Alex. Ozawa is an officious control freak to have required him to change to the Hirsbrunner. The entire BSO has lost its once elegant though eccentric character and style under his leadership that is not worth the moderate gains in consistancy. That being said, look for the early stuff under Leinsdorf, Steinberg, Michael Tilson Thomas, and even early Ozawa. One favorite is Smetana's Ma Vlast under Kubelik on DG. And I heard this live in Symphony Hall. Watch for possible reissues of Sibelius 1, 2, and Finlandia under Colin Davis on Philips. RCA has the legendry Leinsdorf Prokofiev Romeo & Juliet in its vaults, but can we get the criminally moronic suits at BMG to reissue it?!

I believe that Holst Planets with Chester on tenor and Sam Pilafian on bass tuba may still be available on DG. William Steinberg with a BSO idomatically at odds with the piece, but a performance of unbelievable clarity and drive, if not yer usual "English."

An exception that prove the rule is Ozawa's complete Nutcracker, with extended excerpts from Sleeping Beauty on DG. Like the BSO from a generation ago in the BEST sense.

Somewhere in the WGBH archives, video as well as audio, is a live performance of Elgar's 2nd Symphony under Steinberg. Again, it's not quite "English" but Steinberg obviously loved the piece, and Chester certainly defined the part. Will THAT ever get ferreted out like some of the old Chicago stuff has. Stay tuned.


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