Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2, Ormandy & PhiladelphiaO (1959) ラフマニノフ 交響曲第2番 オーマンディ

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
(00:05) 1. Largo - Allegro moderato
(16:34) 2. Allegro molto
(24:35) 3. Adagio
(36:31) 4. Allegro vivace
Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985), Conductor
Philadelphia Orchestra
Rec. 19 April 1959, in Philadelphia [Columbia]
セルゲイ・ヴァシリエヴィチ・ラフマニノフ
交響曲第2番 ホ短調 作品27 (部分省略版)
指揮：ユージン・オーマンディ
フィラデルフィア管弦楽団
録音：1959年4月19日 フィラデルフィア [コロンビア]

[@leestamm3187]

Always good to know that there are other Ormandy fans out there. He was a truly great conductor and also a friend and musical colleague of Rachmaninoff.

[@culturalconfederacy]

Rachmoninoff preferred this version. In fact I didn't even know until today that there cuts made.

[@josephdiluzio6719]

"His tempos always seem right," Thomas K too is always right here in writing about the magnificent Eugene Ormandy

[@kimsteel366]

Cuts or no cuts, this version is ridonculously sublime! Lots of drama, chills, heart warming and tear jerking. 😍😍🔥🔥 Ormandy was no stranger to taking liberties with pieces, whether it's taking cuts (he did it also to Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for strings), or tweaking with the instrumentation (in the "Saturn" movement of Holst's "The Planets", he added the cello section to the bass section solo passage towards the end). Everything he did worked beautifully and powerfully. Kudos to the Maestro and the fantabulous Philly Orchestra! 👏👏👏👏❤❤❤❤

[@binacaman]

This performance is definitive. Cuts or no cuts, heh. Ormandy really got to the heart of this piece.

[@paullewis2413]

Unfortunately the cuts prevent this from being definitive but I agree Ormandy is outstanding and one of the very few conductors who does not over sentimentalize and keeps the momentum going. For me the definitive is Paul Kletski/OSR (rec. late 60's) who like Ormandy never slackens the pace and conducts the work complete. Either way these two are the only performances I want to listen to repeatedly, every other I've ever heard fails to deliver.

[@thomask1424]

Terrific performance. Ormandy is one of my favorite conductors - his tempos always seem 'right'. And Columbia's engineers were indeed wizards who made it sound as if each section has it's own microphone.

[@paullewis2413]

Agree about Ormandy. As an example, his recording of Sibelius "Four legends from the Kalevala" is by far the best ever. Here with the Rachmaninov 2nd symphony his pacing is superior to any other (apart from Kletski) that I've ever heard -shame about the cuts.

[@user-xb4pu5kc5n]

Philadelphia Sound ~ Ormandy Sound.

[@jimdouglas8208]

...........and I've been under the impression that this Columbia recording had been entirely surpassed by the 1970's RCA. Wrong, again. This is about as full filling as you could dare ask............and that almost 60 year old sound is clear and fresh. The RCA seems a bit darker, maybe even deeper, but this sweeps you into its endless passions like no other. A haunting work, here revealed with vistas that'll have your tear-ducts spilling over, personal and enriching.............

[@MrBoogallo]

Just the absolute best version right pacing right emphasis

[@jesseatwater393]

The cuts are too much for me. Once you know the whole thing, this is like a Reader's Digest book excerpt.

[@ulfwernernielsen6708]

A very emotional performance. Wonderful but not complete.Ormandy rerecordet this symphony in the seventies for RCA complete but this performance is more intense. I have the original Columbia lp and I have heard it hundreds of times.

[@hym2716]

素晴らしい！本当に素晴らしい！！これぞ本物の感動だ！！！

[@williamstolley2165]

Probably the best recording of the greatest symphony ever written.

[@ormandy]

BRAVO !!!!! I TOTALLY AGREE !!!!

[@bigcedock]

Maybe not the greatest symphony ever written, but arguably the sexiest. Hot, hot, hot!!

[@M2R7352]

9:39 10:35 19:08 22:58

[@koichi6508]

24:38 3rd mov.

[@bigcedock]

At my rather advanced age (81), it’s a great pleasure to recapture the sounds that, as the Germans say, “stamped” my musical youth. I think it was truly a golden age of orchestral performance - Reiner, Ormandy, Szell - Chicago, Philly, Cleveland - but many more in the US and Germany: Dresden Staatskapelle, for example. I keep waiting for the same thrill from the oncoming conductors and orchestras, who are, I’m positive, just as capable as the old guard. Or?

[@TheVaughan5]

I will never understand why Ormandy made those dreadful cuts to this wonderful score. His is the best performance by far keeping the momentum up as it should be but I get so annoyed when some of the music is suddenly cut! What a tragedy. With today’s technology those cuts could be interpolated by a good conductor following Ormandy’s pace, without being noticed.

[@ulfwernernielsen6708]

cameronpaul The cuts were suggested by Rachmaninov himself. It was the normal until 1968 when Paul Kletzki made the first complete recording. Ormandy did the same cuts in his 1951 recording as well as Steinberg in both his recordings and even Previn in his first recording from 1966 . Ormandy made a complete version recording for RCA in the seventies. You can find it on you tube also.

[@TheVaughan5]

@@ulfwernernielsen6708 Thanks for the information. I hadn't realized that Paul Kletzki's 1968 recording was the first of the complete score, it's a recording I've always admired because like Ormandy he keeps the pace up which for me is so important. I've heard Ormandy's RCA recording from the 70's but I don't think it is as good a performance as the earlier one. Cheers.

[@ulfwernernielsen6708]

cameronpaul I agree. Already 3 years ago I wrote a comment about this. This 1959 is one of my favorite recordings of the Rachmaninov 2 symphony because of the intensity. The earlier Ormandy recording from 1951 can also be heard on you tube.