Original Masters: Leopold Stokowski, the Decca Recordings 1965-1972.

Original Masters: Leopold Stokowski, the Decca Recordings 1965-1972. Leopold Stokowski, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Hilversum Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Decca 475 145-2 (five-disc set).

My guess is that the average man-in-the-street wouldn't know too many of the twentieth century's great conductors, but two names would be instantly recognized: Arturo Toscanini and Leopold Stokowski. Interesting, because the two men were known to take almost diametrically opposed approaches to their music making, Toscanini sticking scrupulously to the letter of a composer's score and Stokowski altering the score to suit his needs. Each man has been praised and damned for his methods, but it is perhaps Stokowski who has incurred the wrath of more critics.

Stokowski spend the bulk of earlier career in Philadelphia creating a world-class, world-famous orchestra, leaving after 25 years to pursue a variety of conducting jobs all over the world, working well into his mid nineties until his death in 1977. Among other things, he did a series of recordings for Decca between 1965-1972, and they are collected in this five-disc set. As usual with the man, there is controversy, both with the performances and with the sound, but I can't imagine the man in any other way. Stokowski without controversy would be like salt without pepper; the two went hand-in-hand, but it made him not a whit less genius.

Anyway, disc one is devoted to some of Stokowski's famous, or infamous, orchestral transcriptions of piano and organ works, starting with his celebrated rendition of Bach's Toccata and Fugue for organ in D minor. You know, I was in my teens before I realized this work was originally written for organ. I guess I grew up on Stokowski's version for orchestra. This was one of the last times he recorded it, with the Czech Philharmonic, and it's as good as ever; as are a half dozen transcriptions of other Bach works and another half dozen of things by Byrd (Pavan and Galliard), Clarke (Trumpet voluntary), Schubert (Moment musical No. 3), Chopin (Mazurka in A minor), Tchaikovsky (Chant sans paroles), Duparc (Extase), Rachmaninov (Prelude in C sharp minor, another of Stokowski's signature pieces), and Debussy (La Cathedrale engloutie).

Disc two contains several of the set's most outstanding performances, Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony with the New Philharmonia and Scriabin's "Le Poeme de L'Extase." The Symphony takes a mite getting used to. It is so broadly taken in some sections you'd think the old man had fallen asleep, yet they all seem to work, and they lead into some of the most rousing climaxes imaginable. The "Poeme" is luxurious, but not so vividly recorded with the Czech Philharmonic as the man's earlier Houston interpretation (Vanguard).

Disc three I didn't care for as much as the rest. It includes Frank's Symphony in D with the Hilversum Radio Philharmonic and Elgar's "Enigma" Variations with the Czech Philharmonic. I used to own the Elgar on LP and finally dumped it because the sound was so unrewarding. Here, the sonics are much better, mastered better perhaps, but the reading still seems too overly romanticized. The old man's Franck never caught fire for me, either.

Ah, but disc four presents a different story. It starts with Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique with the New Philharmonia, which does nothing particularly startling or innovative but turns out remarkably exciting. I could have wished for a less jaunty walk to the scaffold and more atmosphere in the "Witches Sabbath," but the piece makes an excellent setting for Stokowski's showmanship. Following that are several works by Ravel, the "Daphnis et Chloe" Suite No. 2 with the London Symphony being the highlight of the whole box for me. It's sensuous, sensual, stirring, and better recorded than anything else in the set.

Concluding the show, disc five provides a mundane reading of Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite," mostly sound and fury, followed by the second-best thing in the box, Debussy's "La Mer," in a performance of unqualified expressiveness. Bringing up the rear is Messiaen's "L'Ascension," a relatively modern work (1935) of poetic mysticism that sometimes eludes Stokowski's grasp.

All of the music on the five discs was recorded, as I've said, between 1965-1972 and utilizes Decca's Phase-4 technology, an attempt to recreate a spectacular sonic reproduction with close, multi-miking. Arthur Lilley was the recording engineer in these sessions, and no matter where he recorded in Phase-4, the results were uniformly the same. They will please some listeners and infuriate others, depending on the listeners" ideas about natural sound. On the plus side, the clarity, dynamic range, and impact are often quite impressive. On the down side, bass is not always well rendered, sometimes sounding distant or weak, louder passages tend to break up and sound harsh, and the imaging is flat and compartmentalized. Whole sections of the orchestra speak at once while other sections practically go dead, a hole-in-the-middle effect evoked on some occasions. It can be maddening.

To its credit, these new remasterings sound better than the few earlier LPs and CDs of the same material I had on hand, smoother, less hard and glassy. The best of the lot are "Daphnis et Chloe" and "La Mer," appearing more unified than the rest, but none of the sound is up to the work EMI engineers were doing around the same time in the early seventies with their competing Studio Two quadraphonic discs. I should mention, too, that as with other recent Decca boxed sets, the discs are difficult to get out of their cardboard sleeves without leaving fingerprints. Nothing is easy.

Nevertheless, while Decca's Phase-4 sound may be hit-and-miss, it's never awful, and the performances are so compelling they make for worthwhile, must-buy listening.