The performances on this disc are predictably fine–vintage Stokowski in fact–and not too badly recorded given their provenance (Royal Albert Hall, 1969). There’s only one problem: Stoki recorded all of the major works here commercially for Decca in much better sound, with better playing and more charismatic interpretations. BBC Classics even has a finer Poem of Ecstasy on its own label, coupled to Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. Stoki’s Phase 4 recordings of Mussorgsky’s Night on the Bare Mountain, Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture number among his most successful late efforts, and hearing them live in merely serviceable sonics definitely entails a loss of impact and atmosphere–sort of like looking at a color film on a black and white screen.
If you collect Stokowski, you might want to hear this if only to prove that yes, he really did do live what you hear on those heavily-manipulated and multi-miked discs. But so much of this conductor’s persona evolved from his work in the studio that there’s a real ethical issue in posthumously releasing live concerts when better, officially approved commercial alternatives exist more or less ready to hand. There’s nothing embarrassing here in this Russian extravaganza, but I can’t shake the thought that somewhere the grand old man, who took such pains getting the sound of his recordings exactly to his taste, is turning over in his grave.
