Okay, you’re not going to find the insane intensity of Rostropovich/Vishnevskaya/Reshetin in Ormandy’s Fourteenth symphony, but as you might expect, this Western premiere recording is really well played, and surprisingly well sung. Simon Estes has a rich, dark bass sound, and Phyllis Curtin is, in her own way, practically as intense as Vishnevskaya. Ormandy’s conducting could be more volatile, particularly in the quicker songs, but he was always an excellent interpreter of this composer, and it’s good to see this disc reappearing in Japanese RCA’s Ormandy edition. The Britten pieces are also surprisingly effective given their late date in Ormandy’s career. Again, the “Storm” could be a bit wilder, but the Passacaglia is terrific. Sonically this really is pretty good for its 1970s RCA vintage. Available from Arkivmusic.com, on-demand.
