Word: barbirollis
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...contribution to the current Sibelius festival, Columbia has brought out a new recording of the Second Symphony played by Barbirolli and the New York Philharmonic. Whatever one may think of this symphony--which has elicited for Olin Downes the tribute of "a symbol of the ancient faiths and indomitable spirit of man"--and from other critics something less than blind enthusiasm--whatever, I say, one thinks of it, one cannot deny its dramatic power and effectiveness. This dramatic power is what John Barbirolli fails to recreate. He is in general a pedestrian conductor, lacking the ability to envision a whole...
...Maestro Toscanini stepped down from the Philharmonic's podium,* the Philharmonic's board of directors were hard put to find a new conductor sufficiently tough to take his place. After some bickering, they compromised on a relatively unknown and inexperienced Britisher: stocky, floppy-haired John Barbirolli...
Earnest and anxious to please, John Barbirolli did his best to fill Toscanini's shoes. The orchestra tried to help him by pulling its punches. But before the first season was over, it was obvious even to Carnegie Hall's ushers that the fight was fixed. Box office fell off; even Manhattan's kindest critics began to grumble. Last October the New York Herald Tribune's bumptious new Critic Virgil Thomson called the Philharmonic's playing "logy and coarse," "dull and brutal," said it had "the sombre and spiritless sonority of a German military band...
Last fortnight the paths of the Chicago and the Philharmonic orchestras crossed. Frederick Stock took his men to Manhattan for a couple of concerts in Carnegie Hall, and John Barbirolli took his Philharmonikers to Chicago. Result was a two-way surprise. Expecting something special, curious Chicagoans turned out in droves to hear the famous Philharmonic. When they heard it their enthusiasm cooled like untouched soup. Shrugged the Journal of Commerce: "There can be no question about the superiority of our own orchestra's huge refulgent tone." Said the Tribune: "The Philharmonic simply does not coalesce into a satisfactory ensemble...
...York Philharmonic-Symphony, conducted by John Barbirolli; Columbia: 10 sides; $5.50). The great Finn's most popular symphony, full of surging tunes and brassy patriotics, tooled energetically by the Philharmonic, but less polished than the older Boston Symphony recording (Victor...