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Kritzerland is proud to present its first-ever classical release, a legendary and historic recording:
RACHMANINOV
SYMPHONY NO. 2
Leopold Stokowski conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
and
ROBERT RUSSELL BENNETT
CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA
Bernard Herrmann conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
Louis Kaufman, violin
Quick – what do Eric Carmen’s hit song “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again,” Don Sebeskey’s “You Can’t Go Home Again,” Barry Manilow’s “If I Should Love Again,” Danilo Perez’s “If I Ever Forget You,” and the film Birdman all have in common? Yes, they all “borrow” from Rachmaninov’s brilliant Symphony No. 2. While Birdman used parts of the first and second movement, it’s the third movement’s theme that inspired everyone else – and indeed, it is one of the most achingly beautiful themes in all of classical music.
After the failure of his first symphony, Rachmaninov slipped into a depression that lasted years. He went into therapy and finally began to compose again. His first major composition after that was his second piano concerto (dedicated to his therapist), which was an instant success and remains one of the greatest and most well-loved and well-known piano concertos of all time. Confidence renewed and strong, he began writing what would become his second symphony. He composed throughout 1906 and finished the symphony in 1907, after many revisions. He himself conducted the premiere in 1908, where it was met with much acclaim, the polar opposite of the reaction to the first symphony.
Through the years following the premiere, Rachmaninov made all sorts of edits to the symphony. Complete performances were almost unheard of until the late 1960s. The cuts to the complete approximately sixty-minute work sometimes reduced it to as little as forty minutes, sometimes even shorter. Which brings us to the performance on this disc – the legendary Hollywood Bowl concert of Leopold Stokowski conducting the Rachmaninov second symphony in August of 1946. In what was almost unheard of back then, Stokowski performed it without most of the usual cuts. The performance was electrifying. Thankfully, at the time there were transcription discs made of the performances for archival purposes. While there were copies of that disc, they suffered from the usual problems associated with those kinds of discs.
In 1993, a CD was issued of the Stokowski performance. It was, of course, plagued with warbles, clicks and pops and ticks and was very difficult listening, although clearly the performance was one for the ages. However, thanks to a different reel-to-reel tape in better sound, audio restoration whiz, Chris Malone was able to work his magic some kind of magic and the result is the sound, while obviously still archival, is much improved and one can appreciate the musical magic the Stokowski and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony made. We hope listeners will agree that it was worth the time and effort (it took months) to now have this amazing performance available in the best archival sound possible.
Listening to the second symphony, it’s not impossible to imagine that Rachmaninov could have been an amazing film composer. The adagio could have underscored any number of classic romantic scenes in any number of classic films, just as the final movement’s opening could have underscored any of Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling adventures. But even though he never wrote music for film, his music has been used in some all-time classics. It is unthinkable to imagine David Lean and Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter without the Rachmaninov music. The second piano concerto was used to hilarious effect in Billy Wilder’s film of George Axelrod’s The Seven Year Itch. And of course the grandly romantic time-travel film Somewhere in Time (based on the novel by Richard Matheson) used Rachmaninov to very touching effect. The imdb currently lists Rachmaninov music used in over 180 films and TV shows.
As the companion piece to the Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 we offer the wonderfully melodic and sprightly Robert Russell Bennett Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, as conducted by Bernard Herrmann with the London Symphony Orchestra for a live radio broadcast in 1956, with the great Louis Kaufman on violin, the man for whom Bennett wrote the concerto. The concerto was first released on CD by Bay Cities in the late 1990s. Bernard Herrmann was a wonderful choice to conduct and it’s hard not to listen to the first movement of this tuneful concerto and not hear echoes of Herrmann’s own music for films like The Devil and Daniel Webster. For this release, Chris Malone has further cleaned up that original tape, most of which sounds fine – there was some unavoidable tape wear and damage at the top of the slow movement and a few instances of distortion, but it’s the music that counts, not to mention Louis Kaufman’s beautiful playing, and it’s wonderful to have it back in print.
Rachmaninov Symphony No.2/Robert Russell Bennett Concerto for Violin and Orchestra is limited to 500 copies only and priced at $19.98, plus shipping. CDs will ship by the last week of October, but never fear, we’ve actually been averaging three to five weeks early in terms of shipping ahead of the official ship date. To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com.
ATTENTION INDIEGOGO CONTRIBUTORS: IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE THIS RELEASE YOU MUST OPT-IN BY SENDING US AN E-MAIL – SEND TO kritzerland@gmail.com. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO RECEIVE IT, YOU DON”T NEED TO DO ANYTHING. IF YOU ARE NOT AN INDIEGOGO CONTRIBUTOR, ORDER AS YOU NORMALLY WOULD. THANK YOU.
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I, too, enjoy the Wallenstein, although it is one of the shortest seconds ever. I do like the Previn, but I have other performances I prefer to that one, most especially the Paul Kletzki and William Weller - but there are no bad seconds. But the Stokowski is something really special. He was just about the only conductor back then who didn't take the cuts - but his tempos are amazing and the music making is superb.
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This is an exciting release and am looking forward to hearing the music!
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Love the Bennett concerto - and there are some fun stories about Louis Kaufman, who I became pretty friendly with, in the notes.
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Well, that won me over - the note about the notes, I mean. Not to mention the sound clips! - seriously, for music from these sources and of this age, they sound great! Just the kind of fun and unexpected release I love.
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Chris Malone is a miracle worker. If you heard the before and after of this your jaw would hit the floor.
But as I say in the notes, with archival recordings or radio broadcasts of that age, I like to turn off the lights and pretend I'm back then listening to the radio - it puts everything into perspective and I just love that. The Herrmann was also a radio broadcast but by the time of that one they had tape.
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I know Robert Russell Bennett's work as an arranger of other composers' work very well, but his own compositions not at all; and Stokowski is Stokowski.
Good show for you, Kritz!
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I have to say I'm rather pleased by the reaction to this. Plus we've reached some classical collectors, too, so that's always fun.
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What, no one has guessed our new title? Shocking. Don't worry, you won't, as it's along these lines, a Kritzerland second - but a CD that just as well may be film music. Samples will tell you everything you need to know and the one thing I know about many of our Kritzerlanders is they sometimes will take a flyer because they trust what we do. 
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I am just catching up on the new releases on the board and spotted this. My mama introduced me to classical music when I was a young one. One of the very first composers she exposed me to was Rachmaninov. Her favorite Rachmaninov symphony? No 2. A family member inherited her unending classic vinyl collection and this was at the top of the stack. I picked up the cd release with Ashkenazy conducting but it may be time for an upgrade.
Nice surprise!
I'm not especially fond of the Ashkenazy performance, although I know it has its fans. Of the more modern (after 1960) performances, I love Walter Weller and Paul Kletzki for this symphony - the Previn is very good, but I pretty much have every version there is as it's my favorite symphony and every version, bad or good, brings a little something interesting to the table. But I'm here to tell you, Stokowski is up there at the tippy-top - it's a stunning performance and while the sound is archival, obviously, Chris Malone's work on cleaning up is amazing. If you heard the "before" and "after" your jaw would drop.
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Just got my copy today. AN EXCELLENT RELEASE. The Rachmaninov as conducted by Stokowski is just splendid, full of emotion. His rendition of the Adagio movement is one of the most expressive and lilting I've ever heard. At the other extreme, Stokowski really puts the orchestra to the test with some of the fast tempi in the second and fourth movements. Considering that the recording originates from a 1946 transcription disc, the sound is phenomenally clear and robust.
The Robert Russell Bennett Concerto for Violin and Orchestra is also a thoroughly engaging work. Louis Kaufman gives a heartfelt performance as violin soloist, and Bernard Herrmann turns in one of his finest jobs as a conductor of other composers' work.
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Just got my copy today. AN EXCELLENT RELEASE. The Rachmaninov as conducted by Stokowski is just splendid, full of emotion. His rendition of the Adagio movement is one of the most expressive and lilting I've ever heard. At the other extreme, Stokowski really puts the orchestra to the test with some of the fast tempi in the second and fourth movements. Considering that the recording originates from a 1946 transcription disc, the sound is phenomenally clear and robust.
The Robert Russell Bennett Concerto for Violin and Orchestra is also a thoroughly engaging work. Louis Kaufman gives a heartfelt performance as violin soloist, and Bernard Herrmann turns in one of his finest jobs as a conductor of other composers' work.
Now this is the kind of report I like to hear! Not that anyone opens this thread to read, but I do. And I've gotten so many lovely e-mails saying "More please." And there will be more.
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If you're looking for more classical to release I suggest a marvelous record from 1954 called American Life on SPA Records. Composers featured: George Antheil ("McKonkey's Ferry Overture"), Elie Siegmeister ("Sunday in Brooklyn"), Henry Cowell ("Saturday Night at the Firehouse"), and Alex North ("Holiday Set"). Four varied slices of Americana.
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