Composer: Franz Schubert, Antonín Dvořák, Sergei Prokofiev, Modest Mussorgsky, Gustav Mahler, Benjamin Britten
Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Carlo Maria Giulini
Number of Discs: 5
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalogue: 4779628
Release: 2011
Size: 1.5 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Schubert: Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, D. 417 – “Tragic”
01. I. Adagio molto – Allegro vivace
02. II. Andante
03. III. Menuetto. Allegro vivace
04. IV. Allegro
Dvořák: Symphony No.9 In E Minor, Op.95 “From The New World”
05. 1. Adagio – Allegro molto
06. 2. Largo
07. 3. Scherzo (Molto vivace)
08. 4. Allegro con fuoco
CD 02
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C, D.944 – “The Great”
01. 1. Andante – Allegro ma non troppo
02. 2. Andante con moto
03. 3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace)
04. 4. Allegro vivace
Prokofiev: Symphony No.1 in D, Op.25 “Classical Symphony”
05. 1. Allegro
06. 2. Larghetto
07. 3. Gavotta (Non troppo allegro)
08. 4. Finale (Vivace)
CD 03
Dvořák: Symphony No.8 in G, Op.88
01. 1. Allegro con brio
02. 2. Adagio
03. 3. Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace
04. 4. Allegro ma non troppo
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
05. Promenade I
06. Gnomus
07. Promenade
08. The Old Castle
09. Promenade
10. The Tuileries Gardens
11. Bydlo
12. Promenade
13. Ballet Of The Chickens In Their Shells
14. Samuel Goldenberg And Schmuyle
15. The Market-place At Limoges
16. The Catacombs (Sepulchrum romanum)
17. Cum mortuis in lingua mortua
18. The Hut On Fowl’s Legs (Baba-Yaga)
19. The Great Gate Of Kiev
CD 04
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D
01. I. Andante comodo
02. II. Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländler. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb – Poco più mosso subito – Ländler, ganz langsam
03. III. Rondo. Burleske. Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig – Presto
CD 05
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D
01. IV. Adagio. Sehr langsam
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 In B Minor, D.759 – “Unfinished”
02. I. Allegro moderato
03. II. Andante con moto
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings, Op. 31
04. Prologue
05. Pastoral – The Day’s Grown Old
06. Nocturne – The Splendour Falls On Castle Walls
07. Elegy – O Rose, Thou Art Sick
08. Dirge – This Ae Nighte
09. Hymn – Queen And Huntress Chaste And Fair
10. Sonnet – O Soft Embalmer Of The Still Midnight
11. Epilogue
This is the second in a two-box series of Giulini in America releases, reissuing recordings from the Italian conductor that have long been out of print. The first box covered Carlo Maria Giulini’s recordings from the late 1970s and early 1980s with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and focused on Beethoven and Brahms; these, from the mid-’70s, feature the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and are partly devoted to late Romantic pieces that put the famed Chicago brasses to work. These recordings were critical favorites in their day, but they had a low-key quality that sometimes worked against popular acceptance. The highlight here is perhaps the Mahler Symphony No. 9, which takes up all of the fourth CD and part of the fifth; the vast sweep, the poetic climb toward transcendence, the conductor’s willingness to draw out a quiet passage to the max, and the huge orchestration canvas all combine here to produce a magnificent effect. The Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition makes a fine Chicago brass showcase, and the often quietly melodic pair of Dvorák symphonies are also beautifully done. But some of the other pieces may or may not appeal to individual listeners. The almost poky opening movement of the Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 (“Classical”), loses the music’s acerbic quality, and the trio of Schubert symphonies will either be subtle or, at least in the case of the extremely deliberate second movement of the Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 (“The Great”), sluggish. Deutsche Grammophon was at its engineering high point in the mid-’70s, and the label’s technicians got impressively clear results when turned loose in Chicago’s well-upholstered Orchestra Hall. The remastering has been sensitively done and Giulini fans, at the least, will be glad to have these recordings in one place.
As the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first principal guest conductor from 1969 to 1972, Giulini was adored; from 1976 to 1978 he made some of his greatest recordings for Deutsche Grammophon – here they are, collected into a single box for the first time.
This is the follow-up to our Giulini/Los Angeles box last year (4778840). Here are the complete recordings that Giulini made with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on DG – essential performances from Schubert to Prokofiev and Britten – many now being restored to the catalogue – and including his Grammy® award-winning Mahler Ninth.
Capbox packaging – New liner notes by Bernard Jacobson in English, German and French – Sung texts in English, German and French