In conversation with Bill McGlaughlin, Joe Horowitz takes issue with RIcardo Muti’s claim, sampling astounding recordings from the past.
Listening Guide:
PART ONE:
1:13 — Muti’s claim
14:13 — Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, movement 1, performed by Arthur Nikisch and the Berlin Philharmonic (1913)
28:43 — Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, movement 2, performed by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra (1932)
52:01 — Mussorgky/Ravel “Pictures at an Exhibition,” performed by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony (1943)
1:05:14 — Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, performed by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony (1943)
PART TWO:
3:27 — Verdi’s Prelude to “La Traviata,” performed by Arturo Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic (1929)
10:20 — Mahler’s First Symphony, movement 2, performed by Dmitri Mitropoulos and the Minneapolis Symphony (1940)
21:31 — Schumann’s Second Symphony, movement 1, performed by Dmitri Mitopoulos and the Minneapolis Symphony (1942)
42:50 — Wagner: Brunnhilde’s Awakening, performed by Lauritz Melchior and Kirsten Flagstad, with Artur Bodanzky conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (1937)
PART THREE:
2:16 — Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5,movement 2, performed by Evgeny Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philhamronic (1960)
20:05 — “Minnehaha’s Death” from the Hiawatha Melodrama, performed by Kevin Deas with Angel Gil-Ordonez conducting PostClassical Ensemble (2013)