Stokowski and the Fabulous Philadelphians were a partnership made in heaven and remained so until the inevitable rift. During that halcyon period Rachmaninov came to see conductor and orchestra as his collaborators of choice. Indeed this continued undimmed when the orchestra became the long term property of Eugene Ormandy. Stokowski maintained his allegiance even while living his gypsy career from band to band. Stokowski it was who premiered the Rachmaninov Third Symphony and many other works by this composer in Philadelphia.

In 1975—then 93 years young—Stokowski went into the studio in London with the National Phil to record the Third Symphony for Desmar. The disc opens with a luxurious (7:03) rendition of the Vocalise, the composer’s own orchestration, but full of the conductor’s tenderly attentive ministrations. These act in a beneficent way and bring out the work’s lushly romantic side. It had me thinking of the Second Symphony’s long and elaborately spun luxuriance. The sound, though now with just a suggestion of glare, is out of the analogue top-drawer. This carries over into the Third Symphony which has a leisurely unfolding power though nowhere near as measured as Svetlanov with the USSRSO in the 1970s. Stokowski’s way is hectic at 10:34 in the first movement where things seem to come close to grief in the mêlée. It is impetuous and exciting stuff. The chattering urgency of the finale is well communicated. That said I did I wonder about the strange tizzing noise around 5:34 in the LH channel. This is a possessed and thundered out finale goaded onwards; at this point more redolent than ever of The Bells. The feral exuberance is remarkable with the notes seeming to tumble one over another—one can almost see the conductor wild-eyed with white hair flying amid the brilliant glitter and thunderous attack. Would that he had recorded the Symphonic Dances at the time—he might then, on this form, have supplanted the classic Kondrashin analogue version.

The notes are by Edward Johnson and are the same as those on the 1998 EMI reissue.

Short playing time but there are compensations.

Stokowski conducted the world premiere performances of the Third Symphony in 1936 and never performed it again until 1975 when he made this recording. It does make me wonder if he was much of an enthusiast for the music. One cannot tell from this performance, a display of his ability to exploit the colors of the orchestra and churn up some excitement. One might infer that this was his general approach at the premiere, a performance praised by Rachmaninoff…but I wonder about that, too, given that Rachmaninoff himself got to record the symphony a few years after the premiere and, at least in one respect, his performance is not like Stokowski’s at all. I refer to the second movement, marked Adagio ma non troppo, in which Stokowski seems to give great weight to the non troppo, impatiently rushing the first part of the movement. I have never heard it pushed along at this pace. The brilliant middle section is taken at a more conventional tempo. It also seems odd that this conductor, who was so cavalier about cuts during his career, conscientiously observes the first-movement exposition repeat. Otherwise, the National Philharmonic certainly plays for him and the sound is vivid enough. I no longer own the original LP so I can’t say if Newton added any extra resonance—it’s a bit too much, at least for my taste. More clarity would have been appreciated. Those familiar with Stokowski’s musical personality will anticipate his sensuous treatment of the Vocalise and they are not likely to be disappointed.

The main item on the second disc, with the National Philharmonic, is Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony. Stokowski gave the world première of this work, but he did not perform it again until these sessions near the end of his life (he handed over the Philadelphia Orchestra to Rachmaninov for the first recording—discussed below). A couple of seemingly contradictory observations need to be made about this: on the one hand there are a few precarious moments of lax ensemble, but on the other I don’t know any recording of this piece (including Rachmaninov’s own) that is as consistently imaginative, or as dazzling at climaxes. Provided you can live with the occasional imprecisions, this is a joyous performance. The Vocalise is lovely and the recorded sound is opulent.