After Vladimir Golschmann left his post as Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony, he made many international appearances as a guest conductor and taped many distinguished recordings for Vanguard, conducting both Romantic and 20th century literature. Many of his sessions from the late 1950s and early ’60s with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra were quite excellent. This is not one of them. Perhaps the recordings were done in haste, but though Golschmann’s vision of the music seems sure, there are lots of bothersome intonation problems in the winds as well as a clumsy, unecessary cut in the famous “Wedding March”. The engineering is far better than the playing, with solid, well-defined bass and overall sound that captures all the instruments of the orchestra with real presence. Overall, this would seem to be a disc for Golschmann fans only; those looking for recordings of Mendelssohn’s miraculous music would be advised to pursue one of the reference recordings.
