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Fascinating! A million thanks!

Interesting! Never heard this..

This sounds good. Is there a recording of the whole symphony on TH-cam?

Fascinating just how little Mirtopoulos has to say during the rehearsal. Was he the sort of conductor who would play through an entire movement and then go back and fix a few points or is this perhaps far enough along in the rehearsal process where just a few verbal cues were needed? In either event, a really valuable document into how the Maestro worked.

Terrific to hear the rehearsal!

Here's part two - even more of Mitropoulos speaking and working with the MSO! th-cam.com/video/k8F8N_h9Dtg/w-d-xo.html

Just adding, he was 21….

I found a 2nd part of this recording! It is in MUCH better shape quality-wise and has quite a bit more of him speaking. Coming soon!

I suspect this is also from the Thursday afternoon Young People's Concert of November 20, 1947, which was broadcast live by KUOM, with Yves Chardon conducting. The same Young People's Concert program, including the Schumann, was given a few days earlier as well, on Tuesday afternoon, November 18, 1947, across the river at the old Saint Paul Auditorium.

The Thursday afternoon Young People's Concert was on November 20, 1947, and was broadcast live by KUOM.

Chardon displays a nice, light touch here, just perfect for a youth concert. It's taken at a pretty good clip as well. Listening to it just on its own, it would be nice to pair this Scherzo at a concert for children with some Mendelssohn, such as Midsummer Night's Dream or the second movement of the Scottish Symphony. Thanks for posting!

Gran vitalidad de este hermoso movimiento,muy bien,gracias,otra joyita recuperada

Most likely this was from either the Minneapolis Symphony Young People's Concert from Northrop Auditorium on November 18, 1948, or the one that took place at the Saint Paul Auditorium on October 27, 1948. Both concerts were broadcast live by KUOM according to contemporary radio listings. Yves Chardon was the conductor on both dates.

Not sure who your mystery conductor is but this a nice, frothy reading that brought the smiles out in full force at our place and got us in the mood for the upcoming New Year's concert from the Musikverein!

Disculpe,Strauss

Cómo si la dirigiera el mismo Stress,notable

This is generally in better sound than what I have heard. It's always marvellous to have a new source for an old recording. Is the Carmen that you have bits of, possible a Met performance from 1949 or 1950? Anything from either of these would be marvellous. Also, any other opera from the 1940s.

I haven't heard this work in over thirty years! Love its jazzy night club by the beach vibes. Thanks for posting!

That first movement opening seems always so different, depending on the conductor. I first heard on Bernstein's live series from Vienna. No one else does it like he does. He kind of lets it form out of the void, and then he wakes the orchestra up. I always pay attention to what others do. I have been listening for about the last hour on the big stereo. These are real treasures.

Está rapsodia de Debussy es seductora ,está versión va de la mano con esa maravillosa sensacion

31:00

Great find. Szell RARELY conducted Beethoven's violin concerto. Seems odd that he didn't perform it as often as the piano concertos. Szell's most easily obtainable recording is from 1934 with Bronislaw Huberman. So this is a welcome addition.

The sound is significantly better than a copy of this that I have. In addition to dumping Melchior, three years later, Bing also canned Helen Traubel, who was still singing like a champ at this point in her career.

Just a note or two about some of the cast. Melchior's contract wouldn't be renewed by the Met's incoming General Manager Rudolf Bing. There are always two sides to a story. Melchior felt he wasn't being offered what an artist of his standing warranted and could make more money appearing in films. He had made five between 1943 and 1948. Bing, who prized professionalism in his charges above all things, felt that Melchior was lazy, skipped too many rehearsals and was past his best before date. As it was, Melchior only appeared in one more Hollywood film and the Met's Wagnerian wing went into decline despite the Herculean efforts of tenors like Set Svanholm and Ramon Vinay, who did their level best to replace the jolly Dane. The broadcast is in fact a glimpse into a seismic shift in the Met's repertoire into the 1950s. Most folks assumed that Bing would continue to keep Wagner at the forefront but that wasn't the case. The great Wagnerians that trod the stage in the 1930s and 40s were either gone or in vocal decline. The Melchior of this broadcast is a far cry from his splendid performance in 1940. In the Bing era, Mozart, Verdi and Puccini took centre stage because Bing had the singers on hand to sing the roles. Big voices in the Wagner Wing were in short supply until Birgit Nilsson came along. After Traubel departed, Margaret Harshaw filled the bill quite nicely, eventually singing an astounding fourteen different Wagnerian roles at the Met. Herbert Janssen, who was the Met's leading Wagner baritone throughout the 40s was another veteran who didn't make last long into the Bing Era. His performances were cut down to three or four a season and he retired in April of 1952 after a performance of Meistersinger on the road in Boston. In particular, he was a superb Wolfram in Tannhauser. Bing dispensed with Helen Traubel in 1953 when she pointedly told him she could make better money singing in night clubs! That may be true but what is also true is that her high notes had receded over the years. Astrid Varnay had an off and on relationship with the Met, singing Ortrud and Elsa, Elisabeth and Venus, Kundry and Sieglinde in her early days and then returning much later in her career, with a pair of compelling but grotesque portrayals of Klytemnestra and Leokadja Begbick in Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Black-toned bass Deszo Ernster filled out the big roles in the Wagner wing until 1963. He was also a wonderful, hearty Rocco in Fidelio. Frank Guarrera in a rare performance in Wagner had the longest career of the cast, singing a whopping 680 performances at the Met between an Escamillo in 1948 and Gianni Schicchi in 1976. Escamillo, Figaro, Lescaut and Belcore were his usually fare so Wagner's Herald must have been an interesting change of pace. There is a huge mural on the side of a warehouse in his native Baltimore that is a terrific tribute to one of opera's bubbliest baritones. Milton Cross was the erudite voice of the Met from 1931 to 1974. During that time, he missed only FOUR Saturday afternoon broadcasts, twice due to illness and two more following the death of his wife. His final broadcast was a December, 1974 Turandot. He died of a sudden heart attack only a few days later. Thanks as always for posting.

Always look forward to your posts. Thanks!

I have the complete performance of all 3 Acts which was released by Danacord in 1987 and the sound is perfectly acceptable. Fritz Stiedry is the conductor (nothing special from him), and there are several cuts, especially in Act 2.

Uno de los tenores wagneriones más maravillosos del siglo 20. Mil gracias

Lohengrin. Mr Bing was a little bit stupid, sometimes...

Thank you! Wonderful

A terrific intro to a wonderful performance. I remember the days when radio stations shut down for the day and the test pattern appeared on the television screen from 11:00 pm or Midnight until 6:00 am or so. Mitropoulos has the full measure of Schumann's orchestration in this performance and what can often come across as thick and heavy has a gossamer lightness that is really appealing. Thanks for posting!

This was Mitropoulos favorite Schumann symphony. Let's dedicate this broadcast in his memory since Mitropoulos died exactly 64 years ago at the age of 64 while rehearsing Mahler's 3rd symphony at LaScala in Milano, 2 November 1960.

Ein tolles Dokument. Ich weiß nicht, ob Szell und Milstein sich gut verstanden haben, aber musikalisch passen sie sehr gut zusammen.

Carlo Fischer was born in Washington DC but lived and worked in Europe for many years before returning to the States, which likely explains his cultivated transatlantic accent. He was first cellist in Pittsburgh when Victor Herbert was there before joining the Minneapolis Symphony. He donated most of his scores to Minneapolis Public Library.

The order of the pieces that Friday evening in January 1949 was as follows: the Sheppard piece opened the concert, then the Prokofiev Concerto with Francescatti, which was followed by a Francescatti encore (with the orchestra!) of the Saint-Saens "Rondo Capriccioso"; after intermission, the Rabaud opened the second half, followed by the Schumann Rhenish Symphony offered here. This concert was not broadcast live by KUOM, so you are correct that Marchant must have recorded it via the station's own microphones and studio line to Northrop. The big old Northrop auditorium was a notoriously "dry" recording environment and was made even less resonant after some hall renovations altered the space immediately above its stage after Ormandy left in 1936. Mitropoulos had a wooded orchestra shell created and positioned on the stage that supposedly projected the sound out into the hall a little better. Even so, one Mercury recording engineer in the 1950s is said to have ruefully quipped "Northrop is where sound goes to die." Also of interest: this concert took place the same month it was announced that Antal Dorati had been chosen as the new conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony, and Mitropoulos was quoted in the local press saying he thought Dorati was "an excellent choice" as his successor, adding "his progressiveness, youth, and intelligence more than offset anything in the way of lack of age and experience." There was some grumbling at the time that Dorati, at age 42, might be too young, despite having done wonders in Texas rebuilding the Dallas Symphony and that he had extensive prior experience as a ballet conductor both in Europe and the USA.

Mitropoulos-Schumann,combinación maravillosa,volver a los grandes directores del siglo pasado es glorioso. Muchas gracias por su dedicación incansable al rescate de estos tesoros

Another wonderful post! So refreshing to hear this work played with a natural musical flow, and not getting bogged down in tempo/dynamics. All the voices come through as they should!

My god what an ingenious Schumann 3rd!

Lovely. Exciting indeed. Thank you. His studio RCA recording was recorded on January 20, 1947 at Cyrus Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis.

Interesting, and wonderful as always!

Maybe it's just me but it seems like the brass section was struggling with some intonation issues - especially the french horns. But it's crazy hard to keep a french horn in tune!

Thank you once more. Yves Chardon (1902-2000) was also cellist with the Minneapolis SO under Mitropoulos and prior to that with the Boston SO. Mitropoulos recorded his arrangement of Ravel's 'Pièce En Forme De Habanera' for Columbia with Chardon as soloist. He also conducted Chardon's 'Rhumba for Cello & Orchestra' released by Nickson Records 30 years ago on CD. "Yves H. Chardon, 97, of 307 Heritage Village, Nashua died on March 6, 2000 at his home after a short illness. Mr. Chardon was born on December 27, 1902 in Ville de Villiers-Sur-Marne, France, the son of the late Arthur and Yvonne (Montardon) Chardon. He was a cellist for the Boston Symphony and then moved to Minneapolis, MN. While there he was an assistant conductor for the Minneapolis Symphony and also played as a cellist. He formed the Florida Symphony in Orlando, FL and moved on to play for the Metropolitan Opera in NY City for 25 years where he was the principle cellist. He then retired to New Hampshire. Family members include: his wife of 44 years, Iris (Schoening) Chardon; one son, Alain Chardon of Westport Point, MA; two daughters, Christine Schneider of Birmingham, MI and Roxane Chardon of Hollis, NH; seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. "

Thank you once more. Yves Chardon (1902-2000) was also cellist with the Minneapolis SO under Mitropoulos and prior to that with the Boston SO. Mitropoulos recorded his arrangement of Ravel's 'Pièce En Forme De Habanera' for Columbia with Chardon as soloist. He also conducted Chardon's 'Rhumba for Cello & Orchestra' released by Nickson Records 30 years ago on CD. "Yves H. Chardon, 97, of 307 Heritage Village, Nashua died on March 6, 2000 at his home after a short illness. Mr. Chardon was born on December 27, 1902 in Ville de Villiers-Sur-Marne, France, the son of the late Arthur and Yvonne (Montardon) Chardon. He was a cellist for the Boston Symphony and then moved to Minneapolis, MN. While there he was an assistant conductor for the Minneapolis Symphony and also played as a cellist. He formed the Florida Symphony in Orlando, FL and moved on to play for the Metropolitan Opera in NY City for 25 years where he was the principle cellist. He then retired to New Hampshire. Family members include: his wife of 44 years, Iris (Schoening) Chardon; one son, Alain Chardon of Westport Point, MA; two daughters, Christine Schneider of Birmingham, MI and Roxane Chardon of Hollis, NH; seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. "

Otra joya rescatada para la posteridad ,mil gracias

GREAT ❤❤❤❤❤

Is there a recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony that was performed at the same time? There might be private recordings available.

Another wonderful treasure

Phenomenal! Crystal clarity at extreme tempos, beautiful expression, abundant musicality. And I've never even heard of him. Have to do some digging ... Anyway, THANK YOU!!!

Awesome, thank you!

Mil gracias,excelente

This is an important recording. Thank you so much!