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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Giulini was one of the outstanding conductors of the 29th Century and he leaves us a rich recorded legacy. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra featured in this 5cd set has consistently been amongst the World's finest. These recordings date from the late '70's and DG seem to have decided that the quality of the recorded sound was sufficiently high not to require remastering. I certainly didn't find sound quality an issue.
The composers represented here are Schubert, Dvorak, Mahler, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Britten. The Mahler's Ninth is one of the finest versions on cd and on its own is worth the cost of this set. I find it rather pointless to pick out other individual works; they are all very fine and there is not a dud to be found there. Don't worry if, as likely, the acquisition of this set involves substantial duplication of existing copies of these works. With such astonishingly fine musicianship on display here you will enjoy familiar works afresh.
This is value-for-money you would be foolish to ignore. Giulini reissues are coming out now: grab them.
The composers represented here are Schubert, Dvorak, Mahler, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Britten. The Mahler's Ninth is one of the finest versions on cd and on its own is worth the cost of this set. I find it rather pointless to pick out other individual works; they are all very fine and there is not a dud to be found there. Don't worry if, as likely, the acquisition of this set involves substantial duplication of existing copies of these works. With such astonishingly fine musicianship on display here you will enjoy familiar works afresh.
This is value-for-money you would be foolish to ignore. Giulini reissues are coming out now: grab them.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I haven't listened to the full boxset yet but I've already found a pearl on CD1: Schubert's Fourth, and it's not Giulini's conducting what makes it memorable, actually rather dull, un-Romantic, looking back to Haydn - and the pace is frustratingly slow - a trademark of the conductor.
So what makes me write this review? well, it's the sound of Schubert's Tragic - even under unfavourable conducting, Schubert's work stands out on itself as a Romantic masterpiece, like a flower blooming out of the leave all of a sudden. The Chicago Symphony's tone is superbly recorded, the richness of the bass is undescribable, the middle parts are there to be heard (which is often not the case) and the air between them and you is there, in your sitting room; this rare event is like watching the northern lights, it doesn't happen too often with recorded music, definitely not with a recording made in the mid-70s.
All my praise then for Mr K. Scheibe, the wizard behind this phenomenal recording, which might have made history in its time; some recordings of the boxset are made by another engineer and the difference is there to be heard. Even with similar equipment, at roughly the same time, working for the same label - one name makes all the difference. The acoustics of Chicago's Orchestra Hall might be also responsible in part, as some of the works are not recorded there. This is not the case of Dvorak's Ninth, which fills up the rest of CD1; Giulini turned my head just a couple of times in a couple of transitions, but this work is full of head-turning opportunities. I also turns out it was Mr Schweigmann at the helm of all things technical.
Well again after some time I've been able to carry on with listening this set, and I've got some good news: CD3 has a very interesting Dvorak's Eight, with fantastic brass sound - indeed the brass establishment at NY, Berlin and Vienna might have had their heads turned when the LP came out. Here was Chicago's brass reaching the world heights. Shame the conductor and/or acoustical team didn't restrain them when they overshadowed, and not highlighted, with their power the melodic climax of the 1st movement, set for the violins in the 2d section, a theme of a Beethovenian, Schumannian intensity. The serious development that preceded all this, just after the 1st, lyrical theme is stated out of the blue, shows Giulini at his best, a stark solemnity that befits the Allegro beautifully as the music develops towards that second, exhilarating subject. In the rest of the symphony it's just a joy to sit back and listen to the brass in the final movement. Dvorak's 8th is not quite a perfect symphony, unlike the next,and last, but it falls not too far away from perfection. It shows the composer's massive advance in the mastery of music structure, thanks to his looking back to the sonata form: this process of rediscovery of classicism will reach its height in the 'New World' symphony, a 'perfect' one at last...I'd say Brahms would have loved to write it!
Filler of CD3 are Mussorgsky's Pictures on the Ravel version, a very fine reading of conductor and players that really highlights the goodness of the composing and orchestrating work. This is also made possible by Mr Scheibe's mastery of the tricky Medinah Temple acoustics - his colleague Mr Schweigmann being a casualty even in the acoustically more favourable Orchestra Hall. The former venue much used surprisingly by CBS/RCA in the fifties; but CSO, like BPO at the time needed a new building with great acoustics and they were duly built, luckily for music lovers. I'll be back again on this boxset!
So what makes me write this review? well, it's the sound of Schubert's Tragic - even under unfavourable conducting, Schubert's work stands out on itself as a Romantic masterpiece, like a flower blooming out of the leave all of a sudden. The Chicago Symphony's tone is superbly recorded, the richness of the bass is undescribable, the middle parts are there to be heard (which is often not the case) and the air between them and you is there, in your sitting room; this rare event is like watching the northern lights, it doesn't happen too often with recorded music, definitely not with a recording made in the mid-70s.
All my praise then for Mr K. Scheibe, the wizard behind this phenomenal recording, which might have made history in its time; some recordings of the boxset are made by another engineer and the difference is there to be heard. Even with similar equipment, at roughly the same time, working for the same label - one name makes all the difference. The acoustics of Chicago's Orchestra Hall might be also responsible in part, as some of the works are not recorded there. This is not the case of Dvorak's Ninth, which fills up the rest of CD1; Giulini turned my head just a couple of times in a couple of transitions, but this work is full of head-turning opportunities. I also turns out it was Mr Schweigmann at the helm of all things technical.
Well again after some time I've been able to carry on with listening this set, and I've got some good news: CD3 has a very interesting Dvorak's Eight, with fantastic brass sound - indeed the brass establishment at NY, Berlin and Vienna might have had their heads turned when the LP came out. Here was Chicago's brass reaching the world heights. Shame the conductor and/or acoustical team didn't restrain them when they overshadowed, and not highlighted, with their power the melodic climax of the 1st movement, set for the violins in the 2d section, a theme of a Beethovenian, Schumannian intensity. The serious development that preceded all this, just after the 1st, lyrical theme is stated out of the blue, shows Giulini at his best, a stark solemnity that befits the Allegro beautifully as the music develops towards that second, exhilarating subject. In the rest of the symphony it's just a joy to sit back and listen to the brass in the final movement. Dvorak's 8th is not quite a perfect symphony, unlike the next,and last, but it falls not too far away from perfection. It shows the composer's massive advance in the mastery of music structure, thanks to his looking back to the sonata form: this process of rediscovery of classicism will reach its height in the 'New World' symphony, a 'perfect' one at last...I'd say Brahms would have loved to write it!
Filler of CD3 are Mussorgsky's Pictures on the Ravel version, a very fine reading of conductor and players that really highlights the goodness of the composing and orchestrating work. This is also made possible by Mr Scheibe's mastery of the tricky Medinah Temple acoustics - his colleague Mr Schweigmann being a casualty even in the acoustically more favourable Orchestra Hall. The former venue much used surprisingly by CBS/RCA in the fifties; but CSO, like BPO at the time needed a new building with great acoustics and they were duly built, luckily for music lovers. I'll be back again on this boxset!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Outstanding performances by a great conductor
16 Feb 2012
Format:Audio CD
Although he never received the publicity accorded to some more famous conductors, Carlo Maria Giulini was equal to, or better than, all such "star" conductors. In fact, Giulini was quite simply one of the half dozen or so greatest conductors of the 20th century. Although Giulini recorded with many major orchestras, some of his finest recordings were made with the Chicago Symphany Orchestra. Several outstanding recordings are contained in this wonderful collection. If you are familiar with these recordings from the time when they were available on LPs here's your chance to get them on CDs. If you are not yet familiar with this outstanding conductor, this collection is an excellent introduction to some of his finest work.
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