The opening of the Maison symphonique de Montréal has earned us, after that of the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Orchestra, a visit – this evening and tomorrow afternoon – to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, an ensemble with a rich discography .
Directed today by Alan Gilbert, this orchestra is a very old institution, born in 1842, under the name of the Philharmonic Society of New York. This society has succeeded in amalgamating other institutions. The end of these regroupings dates from 1928. The Philharmonic then merges with the Symphonic Society. It is under the name “philharmonic-symphonic” that the orchestra appears in the first of its most famous recordings: A hero’s life by Richard Strauss under the direction of his dedicatee, Willem Mengelberg, a legend in the history of the disc, engraved between December 11 and 13, 1928.
From Mahler to Toscanini
The New York Philharmonic had as legendary conductor Gustav Mahler during the last two years of his life (1909-1911). Too bad Mahler did not live longer, because in 1917, the orchestra began to record, with its then conductor, Josef Stransky, a Czech. The first sessions date back to January 20, 1917, and the first recorded work was the Raymond overture by Ambroise Thomas, using the acoustic process then in force.
Stransky’s recordings from 1917 to 1919 include Largo from Dvorak’s New World Symphony and the 2nd movement from Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Mengelberg also made some acoustic recordings, including the 1st movement of the same Fifth (1922). He then recorded, electrically, Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos 1 and 3. Among Mengelberg’s New York discographic projects canceled at the last moment, as revealed in a book by James North in 2006, are Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Mahler’s Song of the Earth.
Mengelberg left New York City, due to the growing popularity of Toscanini, who conducted the orchestra from 1928 to 1937. Toscanini recordings from this period, one, in particular, throne in the Pantheon in the conductor’s discography: Beethoven’s 7th Symphony recorded on April 9 and 10, 1936. There are also notable recordings of Wagnerian symphonic extracts.
Toscanini’s successor was John Barbirolli, but the wartime story was written in 1940 by Igor Stravinsky, who recorded in New York The Rite of Spring and a suite by Petrushka. A year later, Bruno Walter began to burn records with the orchestra. Walter produced a cycle of Beethoven’s Symphonies, although his only title with the orchestra was that of “artistic advisor” between 1947 and 1949.
Modern times
While in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Boston, chefs had long lives, chopsticks followed one another in New York. Arthur Rodzinski, Leopold Stokowski and Dmitri Mitropoulos (musical director from 1951 to 1957) were the predecessors of
Leonard Bernstein. Among the legendary records of Mitropoulos: Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven’s Concerto “The Emperor” with Robert Casadesus.
Leonard Bernstein burned the entire repertoire in New York. His Mahler records were landmark, as were his lesser-known but eminent Haydn recordings. Bernstein’s reign was also marked by audiovisual programs: the Young People’s Concerts.
Of Bernstein’s successor, Pierre Boulez, not much remains, because Boulez was then recording mainly in London and Cleveland. Zubin Mehta followed – in place at the time of the CD’s arrival and, therefore, very productive and present on the market, but with nothing notable – Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel, the latter documented by concerts published for download, including one integral Mahler.
For collectors, the orchestra itself has produced rare archives and concerts on CD. They are available on the orchestra’s website, in the “store” section, under the “special editions” section.
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