Guido Cantelli: The Complete Warner Recordings

Guido Cantelli was just 36 years old when he died in a plane crash in 1956.During his brief career, he was the defacto principal guest conductor of four major orchestras:The NBC Symphony, The New York Philharmonic, The Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and Milan's La Scala.Unprecedented.This ten CD box documents all of his EMI studio recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra in brand new remasterings.In 2012, EMI issued a nine CD box “Guido Cantelli - Icon: Fiery Angel of the Podium” (photo).(I would like to leave a direct Amazon link here, but Amazon no longer allows reviewers to do this - seems like a self-defeating policy.)The additional CD is accounted for by two recordings not in the earlier box:--- Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.4 in the unapproved 1951 recording (the better-known 1955 recording is in both boxes).--- rehearsal extracts (16 minutes) from the 1956 recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Cantelli died before he could record the first movement (the completed movements 2-4 are in both boxes).Also in both boxes is a 54 minute radio documentary written and narrated by Jon Tolansky (he prefers the 1951 Mendelssohn recording) + the 2012 essay is reprinted in the new booklet.Unlike the 2012 box, the new box is in modified “original jacket” format with original artwork on the front and track listings on the back.So, do you need an upgrade to the new box?If you are new to Cantelli, or if you must have everything Cantelli recorded, or you like original jackets, you need this box.But are the new remasterings worth the extra money?“Newly remastered by Christophe Hénault, Art & Son Studio from original tapes in 24-bit/192 kHz”.The 2012 box contained a mix of old 1980s remasterings (too filtered) + four CDs of the excellent Testament remasterings from the 1990s + 2012 remasterings of the newly released material.But there was a bit of a screw-up in 2012:EMI forgot about the superior Testament remasterings of Brahms Third Symphony, Franck’s D Minor Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony/Romeo & Juliet, and instead used the inferior 1980’s remasterings of these works.Testament also issued the 1951 Mendelssohn Fourth Symphony, but it was not in the 2012 box.The new Warner remasterings strike me as being of high quality, better than the 1980’s remasterings, and about equal to the Testament remasterings.But remember that I am 70 years old and can’t really appreciate subtle gradations in sound, especially at high frequencies.Still, I was favorably impressed by the new remasterings.Aside from the Philharmonia sessions, this box includes the EMI Tchaikovsky Fifth with the La Scala Orchestra of Milan, the Franck Symphony with the NBC Symphony, and Rossini & Casella with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome (his first recording session).Only the Santa Cecilia recordings were not remastered for the new box (2012 remasterings are used).The Franck Symphony was recorded in 1954 by RCA engineers in New York - very early in the stereo era.It has exaggerated stereo separation - not realistic concert hall sound, but fun to listen to over headphones.For me, this is definitely worth the upgrade from the 2012 box.BEETHOVEN:---- Symphony No.5 (movements 2,3,4) - Philharmonia (1956) STEREO + rehearsal (16 minutes, mono)---- Symphony No.7 - Philharmonia (1956) STEREOBRAHMS:---- Symphony No.1 - Philharmonia (1953)---- Symphony No.3 - Philharmonia (1955) STEREOCASELLA:---- Paganiniana - Santa Cecilia Orchestra (1949)DEBUSSY:---- La Mer - Philharmonia (1954)---- Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien Symphonic Fragments - Philharmonia (1954)---- Nocturnes (Nuages & Fetes) - Philharmonia (1955)---- Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune - Philharmonia (1952)DUKAS:---- The Sorcerer's Apprentice - Philharmonia (1954)FALLA:---- El sombrero de tres picos Dances (3) - Philharmonia (1952)FRANCK:---- Symphony in D minor - NBC Symphony (1954) STEREOMENDELSSOHN:---- Symphony No.4 - Philharmonia (two recordings: 1951,1955)MOZART:---- Symphony No.29 - Philharmonia (1956) STEREO---- Musical Joke K522 - Philharmonia (1955) STEREORAVEL:---- Daphnis et Chloe Suite No.2 - Philharmonia (1955)---- Pavane pour une infante defunte - Philharmonia (1952)ROSSINI:---- La gazza ladra Overture - Philharmonia (1952)---- Le siege de Corinthe Overture - Santa Cecilia Orchestra (1949)SCHUBERT:Symphony No.8 “Unfinished” - Philharmonia (1955) STEREOSCHUMANN:---- Symphony No.4 - Philharmonia (1953)TCHAIKOVSKY:---- Symphony No.5 - La Scala Orchestra (1950)---- Symphony No.6 “Pathetique” - Philharmonia (1952)---- Romeo and Juliet - Philharmonia (1951)WAGNER:---- Siegfried Idyll - Philharmonia (1951)

Fantastic cd boxed set.Many of the recordings have had the sound quality restored.Cantelli was a wonderful conductor,but had his life cut short by an air crash.

Cantelli's death at such an early age undoubtedly robbed the world of a great and burgeoning talent. I was fortunate enough to attend one of his performances at the then new Royal Festival Hall. I am grateful to have this memory trigger.

Some amazing performances here with good orchestral playing. Good to hear the vintage Philharmonia.

Guido Cantelli is one of the most talented conductors I've ever heard. He had an innate gift of musical interpretation, as "classical music is NOT just a bunch of notes by famous composers". When you listen to how he conducted Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 or Brahms' Symphony No. 3, one can't help but think the composers would have loved it. He had such passion and sensitivity, and he brought it out of the musicians as well. I'm just glad he was discovered, albeit he wasn't with us very long, but he left something behind for us to enjoy for years to come.

Livraison très rapide et article reçu en excellent état.

Splendido cofanetto con le principali registrazioni di Cantelli, genio della direzione purtroppo tarpato nel fiore degli anni e praticamente nel pieno di una carriera che si preannunciava straordinaria, e degna di Toscanini, suo mentore.La qualità delle registrazioni è variabile dal sufficiente al buono, purtroppo si tratta di registrazioni mono dei primi anni 50, non si può pretendere la luna, da questo punto di vista. Ma la qualità artistica è ai più alti livelli, alcune esecuzioni, come la sinfonia italiana di Mendelssohn o le 5 e 6 di Ciaikovsky sono strepitose per il controllo dell'orchestra e la chiarezza con cui il direttore fa percepire le linee melodiche. Queste registrazioni sono testimonianza di arte pura, un appassionato non può non conoscerle.

Donc très satisfait

Ever since I was a kid I had heard about the protege of Toscanini who had died in a plane crash at a young age. It's hard to believe I had never heard any of his recordings until now. I started with Brahms First and everything I have listened to in this set sounds right. It doesn't necessarily sound like performances I am used to by others, but it makes me want to hear it again and hear more. In Cantelli's case, his posthumous reputation is well earned. Start with his Brahms First and go from there.