It’s good to have these wonderful Guido Cantelli/Philharmonia performances bundled together on one disc, despite the fact that all three recently have been available on CD. Simon Gibson’s excellent remastering of the stereo Schubert Unfinished for the two-disc compilation “Guido Cantelli Artist Profile” (EMI 68217 2) sounds essentially the same here, while the better-sounding (mono notwithstanding) Mendelssohn Italian resembles its twin on Testament (SBT 1034). The 1953 Schumann Fourth is the least impressive of the batch regarding its engineering, but the present transfer boasts more bloom on top, definition at the bottom, and a higher volume level when played alongside its previous, out-of-print incarnation (EMI Great Recordings of the Century CDH7 63085-2).
By all accounts, Cantelli rode the Philharmonia musicians hard, yet they play like angels for him. The Unfinished is a model of lyrical beauty and subtle inflection from beginning to end, replete with eloquent solo wind playing and gorgeous horn work in the second movement. Cantelli’s Schumann–lithe, fiery, full of drive, perhaps a little severe for some tastes–also features well-considered details, such as how the busy string figurations are clearly balanced in relation to sustained brass chords. In the Mendelssohn, Cantelli’s tonal refinement and blended sonorities always serve a steady, forward-moving pulse in the first three movements. However, the concluding Saltarello takes effervescent and incisive wing, and the winds really dance! While I’d pick Cantelli’s complete NBC Symphony recordings to showcase the short-lived conductor’s stylistic range, this disc nevertheless provides an excellent and inexpensive introduction to his formidable podium artistry.
