Performance ****      Recording ***

"Stokowski makes strong cases for each of these symphonies, heard here in New York, US, or world Premiere Performances. Sound in the Hovhaness (1942) is particularly bright and clear."

 

"...More than history. More than time-travelling. In-depth vivid musical enjoyment in unhackneyed repertoire. A glimpse of Stokowski the champion of the perceived peripheral."

Rob Barnett

"This very well-planned disc, which contains four brief symphonies, adds to our, knowledge of Stokowski as superlative and sympathetic exponent of orchestral scores written during his long lifetime. He was a notable champion of contemporary music. Even in old age and he had extraordinary and unerring mastery of diverse composing styles, from Vaughan Williams to 12·note Schonberg. "

Alan Sanders

"...all four performances come from live concerts, and are followed by warm audience applause, but it’s only in the Serebrier that there is much in the way of audible audience noise. There are highly informative booklet notes from our own Robert Matthew-Walker; altogether the disc must surely be a mandatory purchase for Stokowski enthusiasts."

Calum MacDonald

"Recent months have witnessed a positive deluge of CDs devoted to the art of Leopold Stokowski, especially significant give the unfortunate demise of the Stokowski Society … Remarkably characterful is a programme put out by Guild where Stokowski – ever the maverick explorer – conducts 20th-century symphonies. The least successful here is a rather tentative performance of Copland’s Second, or Short, Symphony, whereas the First Symphonies of Alan Hovhaness (1936) and Darius Milhaud (1939), both of them strong pieces that Stokowski and his wartime NBC Symphony respond well to, fare far better.

Perhaps the programme’s most remarkable item is the 18-minute, single-movement First Symphony by the teenage Jose Serebrier – a Stokowski protege – which, although cast rather in the shadow of Shostakovich (or so it seems to these ears) leaves a powerful impression. On that occasion Stokowski conducted the Houston Symphony Orchestra."

Rob Cowan