steviefromalaska
06-10-2016, 07:32 AM
Leopold Stokowski was not only one of the greatest (perhaps the greatest) conductors of the 20th Century, he was also one of the most influential musical figures whose brilliance on the podium brought ensemble virtuosity to a level never equaled before or since. Within a half hour Stokowski could turn even the most provincial of orchestras into a world class ensemble. He was also responsible for the introduction of the works of J.S. Bach into the modern orchestra repertoire through his orchestral transcriptions and his championing of new works by living composers. One area where Stokowski reigned supreme was in his programming the music of Richard Wagner frequently in his concerts and especially with his symphonic synthesis arrangements of Wagner’s operas. This download features one of these incredible arrangements from Wagner’s opera TRISTAN UND ISOLDE. In the 1930s & again in the 1950s Stokowski recorded his Symphonic Synthesis from Tristan und Isolde fairly complete and he recorded essentially all of his arrangements from Tristan over in superb stereo separately for RCA & CBS. This download brings together Stokowski’s Symphonic Synthesis in stereo for the first time by combining and remixing these individually recorded concert fragments to create 50+ minutes of Stokowski conducting his arrangements of Wagner’s stunningly beautiful score for Tristan und Isolde in glorious analogue stereo. I have tried to make the transitions of recordings Stokowski made over a 15 year period with three orchestras as seamless as possible. The orchestral playing is astounding, especially the Liebesnacht track played by The Philadelphia Orchestra, which Stokowski earlier built into the virtuoso ensemble known as the “Stradivarius of Orchestras” and he returned to in 1960 after a 20 year absence. The download also includes as a Bonus Track Stokowski’s 1961 Living Stereo recording of Wagner’s Overture & Venusburg Music from Tannhauser. I hope you enjoy this prime musical example of the art of Leopold Stokowski. We shall never see his like again on the world’s orchestra podiums.
Leopold Stokowski conducts his Symphonic Synthesis of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde
FLAC: https://mega.nz/#!bxNWAYJR!huKrmChQomNqy88a_Ap1iSPO6skZg-u_DMqSSCtxV0Y
Leopold Stokowski conducts his Symphonic Synthesis of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde
FLAC: https://mega.nz/#!bxNWAYJR!huKrmChQomNqy88a_Ap1iSPO6skZg-u_DMqSSCtxV0Y
