Word: szell
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...rich phrase and richer orchestral sonority customarily works well. But this time he seems surprisingly nonchalant. His drowsy Jupiter, for instance, might better be called Saturn. The best set of these symphonies remains Otto Klemperer's (also on An gel), and- for crisp, detail-laden sound- George Szell's versions of 35, 39, 40, and 41, recently offered at a bar gain price ($6.98) by Columbia...
...SZELL conducted a wide variety of composers, and a large number of works. He was weakest where Barbirolli was strongest, in the post-Romantics. Nonetheless, a recording which Columbia released after his death, of the Bruckner Eighth Symphony, is a truly fine work. Szell's genius was diffuse. He conducted so many composers well that it is hard to single out one set of performances for particular distinction. Besides being a great conductor, he was a great man. Although his control of the orchestra was tight and somewhat tyrannical, he was still well liked. Before he died, he conducted several...
...deaths of Barbirolli and Szell leave a gap in the musical universe. This year, both were scheduled to give a large number of guest concerts with the New York Philharmonic, and several other orchestras. It will certainly be impossible to find men of equal stature, and it will be difficult to find competent men to replace them. There is a hiatus in the world of conductors at the moment; many of the older greats have died and retired, while the talented younger men are still too immature to take their places. A premature elevation to high status can ruin...
...Perlea, Szell, Barbirolli-all dead. Each of them leaves something of himself in his recordings, in the orchestra he led, in the students he taught, but there is no doubt that the world of conducting has been robbed of some of its finest people. Who will take their places? At the moment, it is hard to tell. Most of the men taking over major orchestras today are young, perhaps too young to command the positions they hold. Pierre Boulez has reached the stage where he is ready to take over the New York Philharmonic, but Michael Tilson Thomas is, alas...
...Szell and Barbirolli has come to an end. The school of conductors which they represent has been virtually laid to rest. Composers have changed, and conductors need new training, and new attitudes, to meet the requirements of the new music. It is hard to say where music is going, but easy to see that it is at a crossroads. Music is now a plastic art, and musicians also must be plastic. Conducting has come far from the day when the first conductor beat time with a large wooden staff. Each of the conductors we have recently lost added something...