Symphonic

January 7, 2023

# 96

Efrem Kurtz & The Philharmonia Orchestra
Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker
2001

(Originally released 1958 on Capitol Records)

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This compilation (P) 1989 © 2001 EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets
Product of EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

Genre : Symphonic

Efrem Kurtz was a Russian born composer, conductor and arranger.  He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1900.  His early conducting took place in Berlin, and throughout the 1930s, he was the conductor of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Efrem Kurtz emigrated to the United States in the early 1940s and became a naturalized citizen in 1944.  He was the musical director for the Kansas City Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony.  After a brief period of conducting in Liverpool, England, Efrem Kurtz returned to Russia for guest conducting appearances.  He died in England in 1995 at the age of 94.

I always thought this CD was recorded in the late 20th century, sometime in the 1990s.  But upon deeper research, it appears that this CD is a reissue of an album Efrem Kurtz and the Philharmonia Orchestra recorded in 1958.  Yea!  Much better!  At first, I was judging my assumptions on the appearance of the CD cover alone.  But, I can tell you, just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, nor can you judge a CD based on the cover.  I have so-so covers that feature great Christmas music, and I have CDs with great covers that are not great Christmas CDs.

Another side note, and I find this totally coincidental, but this review follows the Morton Gould CD and half that album has music from the same Philharmonia Orchestra, but with Morton Gould conducting.  I just pull these off the shelf in no particular order so that is a big coincidence.

Yes, so this is a CD reissue of an album from 1958.  I was thrown off by the cover because it looks very 1990s.  It shows a close-up photograph of a nutcracker.  Tchaikovsky’s name appears at the top and the words “The Nutcracker” appear below in flamboyant red script.  The main image and the title are superimposed over a background that is purposely out of focus and is primarily light blue.  The original cover was nothing ornate either.  It showed an inset picture of a ballet group on stage.  The album title appeared in alternating colors above the photo, and the conductor’s name below.  Nothing festive or ornate, but I do like the original cover better.

While looking up the history of this CD, I discovered it was released on CD for the first time in 1989.  On the back of this CD, in the copywrite notices, it reads, “This compilation published 1989”.  That was another thing that led me to believe this was from the 1990s.  It turns out that this version I have is really a re-release of that CD from 1989, which in itself, is a reissue of the 1958 album.  All the song titles add up; there are 7 songs on all three, the titles are the same, albeit some releases have the titles in Italian or French, depending on the country of release.  All signs point to this being a reissue of that 1958 album.

Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is one of those niche Christmas genres that I like to collect.  Currently, I have 10 CD sets dedicated to Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, and all are two CD sets.  It takes two CDs to hold the entire performance.  I also have 20 CDs of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite.  A list of my Tchaikovsky : The Nutcracker CDs can be found under the Lists heading above.  Some of the ones I have go back to the 1940s and were originally released on 78 rpm discs.  Others are on LP but most are on CD.

Pytor Ivor Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write the ballet in 1892.  This was two years after he wrote the critically acclaimed ballet The Sleeping Beauty.  The ballet is based on the short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T.A. Hoffmann in 1816.  After the completion of The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky was not totally pleased with his work, at least not as much as he was with The Sleeping Beauty.  The ballet takes place in a child’s mind at Christmas time.  The toys and seasonal decorations come to life and dance their way into the hearts of children of all ages.

Throughout the many productions of The Nutcracker, since the first one, different ballet directors would sometimes use children in the performance.  Some would use many, some would use few, if any, relying on the talents of older dancers.

Another interesting tidbit about Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is that after writing the score for The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky took 8 of the songs and formed them into a medley that has become well known as The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a.  Oddly, the suite, which premiered nine months before the ballet, and was critically more well liked than the ballet itself, became very popular, and still is today.  More often, an orchestra leader will opt to perform the suite, rather than the whole ballet in their Christmas presentations.

The back of the CD is also rather plain.  The author and the CD title appear at the top, as they do on the front.  A numerical track listing, including all the movements within the tracks, is listed.  It is all presented against an out of focus picture of colored lights similar to the front cover.

Unfortunately, the back of the CD cover is completely blank.  This would have been a great opportunity to put in a detailed history of the writing of the ballet, or the recording of the album.  It would remove all doubt as to the origins of this music.

Everyone is familiar with some parts of The Nutcracker, and many people have their favorites.  I’m no expert on Tchaikovsky’s : The Nutcracker but looking over the movements on the Wikipedia page and the movements on the back of the CD, it appears that some movements may be missing.  I assure you, all the most important movements are here, and only those immensely familiar with the complete ballet, would know the difference.  In my other belief, I’ve always been under the impression that the complete ballet runs longer than 76 minutes, thereby requiring 2 CDs to include the complete ballet.  The total time for this CD is 48 minutes.  I don’t think the entire ballet in all it’s completeness, is included here.  It may not be necessary to say, but this is a studio recording and not a recording of a live performance.

After the Overture, which is very familiar, a sixteen-minute movement begins.  It opens with the first dance, simply titled, March.  Trust me, you know the song.  What follows are less familiar passages until the next set of dances begins.  Like I said, it’s over 16 minutes and the arrangement changes as each dance changes.  Children’s Galop And Entry Of The Parents / Scene/ Waltz Of The Snowflakes makes up the rest of the 2nd track.

The 3rd and 4th songs are also less common Nutcracker movements;  Divertissement / Chocolate Coffee (Arab Dance) and Divertissement / Tea (Chinese Dance) / Trepak / Dance Of The Flutes, respectively.  Trepak should be a familiar title, and if you’re still stumped, you will know it as soon as you hear it.  It is the fast-paced marching song that begins with the brass declarations while the strings provide the answers.  This pattern is repeated over and over and is used as a very common way of showing off the diverse talents of an orchestra.  Only Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy is recorded more than Trepak.  Dance Of The Flutes is also very common.

Now, everybody has their favorite Nutcracker passages.  I think most people favor Waltz Of The Flowers.  After a wonderful introduction on the harp, the brass and woodwinds come in for the soft lead into the strings’ melody.  If you think, ‘water ballet’ this is the song that you would relate to that type of performance.  At almost 6 ½ minutes, it is the third longest piece on here.  It is a fan favorite and there is no shortage of enjoyment.

Pas De Deux follows.  It is more of a segway song, and not one that is highlighted on Christmas compilations.  It is used in the story as a transition piece between Waltz Of The Flowers and Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy, the other most popular movement from The Nutcracker.  After a soft beginning with the harp, the brass section picks up the movement and the strings join in for a triumphant blast of symphonic discourse.

The final song, or passage, on the CD is Variation 1 (Tarantella) / Variation 2 (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy) / Coda / Final Waltz.  Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy is probably the most recorded passage from The Nutcracker and appears on many Christmas compilation CDs, symphonic or otherwise.

Pytor Ivor Tchaikovsky was keen on using the celesta, the bell-like keyboard that was invented just a few years prior to the writing of the ballet.  No where in any Christmas song is the celesta more at home than on Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy.

This CD presents Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker in an almost complete form, from beginning to end.  This does not have to remain on the shelf throughout the year, although it is almost always heard only at Christmas time.  Efrem Kurtz is one of the earliest Russian orchestra directors and does a terrific job conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra.

You don’t need a bunch of The Nutcracker CDs in your collection, but it is nice to have at least one.  There are many great ones out there.  The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Leonard Bernstein all have CDs of The Nutcracker.  When you put great conductors with great orchestras, the end results are going to be very similar.  If you are looking to add one of these CDs to your collection, I can highly recommend this one by Efrem Kurtz and the Philharmonia Orchestra from 1958.

I give this CD :

*****

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January 7, 2023

# 95

Morton Gould
A Musical Christmas Tree
1988

(Originally released 1969 on RCA Red Seal)

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TMK(S) ® Registered * Marca(s) Registrada(s) RCA Corporation, except BMG Classics and Gold Seal logos TMs BMG Music © 1988, BMG Music

Genre : Symphonic

Morton Gould is one of the most awarded composers in modern music history.  Already a child prodigy by the age of six, Morton Gould became a prolific composer, conductor, arranger and producer.

Morton Gould was born in Queens, New York City, in 1913.  While staying in the New York area throughout his early life, Morton Gould played piano in movie houses, in vaudeville and on the radio.  It was his numerous appearances on radio that really moved his career forward at a fast pace.  At the early age of 19, Morton Gould was hired as the staff pianist for Radio City Music Hall in New York when it first opened in 1932.

 

Morton Gould led orchestras and composed music for radio, Hollywood films and television and was commissioned for musical scores from all around the world.  It was incredible to read about all the awards he was given throughout his lifetime.  Way too many to list here.  I encourage you to read his page on Wikipedia to get a full grasp of this man’s accomplishments.  Morton Gould – Wikipedia

The CD presented here is a reissue of his only Christmas album, recorded in 1969.  The title remains the same, but any resemblance to the original album ends there.  The original album featured 10 Symphonic Christmas songs performed by two separate orchestras; Morton Gould conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra and Morton Gould conducting the RCA Symphony Orchestra.  The reissue contains 6 bonus tracks.

The cover of the CD features a close-up photograph of an ornately decorated Christmas tree.  Many of the ornaments seen are symphonic instruments hanging on the branches.  The CD title appears at the top over the photograph.  The original album cover also showed a close-up of a decorated Christmas tree but purposely processed through a filter to appear distorted.  Afterall, it was 1969, and even Morton Gould could appear to be hip in the counterculture.  The original label name, RCA Victor Gold Seal, runs across the very top of the CD in a dark blue bar.  The letters are gold.

The back of the CD is rather plain, but informative.  It contains a numerical track listing with time signatures.  Where appropriate, writer credits are given.  Upon close inspection, it is revealed that Morton Gould wrote four of the sixteen songs on the CD, two of which were on the original album.  Also, where appropriate, the album the bonus tracks come from is listed.  That makes it easier to put years on the bonus tracks.  To the right of the track listing appears the UPC symbol and label logos, etc.  As on the front cover, the same RCA Victor Gold Seal title runs across the top.

One thing included on the back cover is the letters ADD.  This stands for Analog / Digital / Digital.  It means the original recording was done on an analog tape machine, and the remastering was done on a digital sound mixer, and it is presented in a digital format, that being this CD.  I like the ‘A’ at the beginning because that tells me that these are the original recordings (before 1985), and these are not re-recordings.

At the bottom of the back of the CD is a brief note of the performing orchestras that Morton Gould is conducting throughout the CD, including bonus tracks.

The front cover comes out and opens along a single fold-out.  Almost all of both pages is taken up with the same track listing as on the back cover, including credits for the individual orchestras for each song.  At the bottom of the second page is a brief proclamation of the inherent flaws possible due to the original analog recording.  Apologies are made for any flaws that the digital remastering was unable to fix, but that just reinforces the fact that we are getting the original recordings.  I can appreciate the producers of the reissue making this apology, but with digital technology, I would be hard pressed to hear any flaws such as tape hiss or background noise, and overall, the whole CD sounds great.

The back of the CD cover has a list of other Christmas CDs available on RCA Victor Gold Seal CDs.  The background for the back of the CD cover is again a close-up of a Christmas tree, but this time there are no ornaments, just small LED lights.

We have writer credits where applicable, and when there is no writer credit given, it is presumed the song is an old traditional Christmas hymn of which no known writer exists.  The songs on the CD follow the same track order as on the original album but the 6 bonus tracks fall between the 4th and the 11th songs.

There are only four songs throughout the CD that are not old familiar Christmas hymns.  Three of those are original compositions, and the fourth, Jingle Bells, is the familiar Christmas carol from the 19th century.  Two of the three original songs, Winter and Skiers Waltz, are ‘Winter’ songs and not necessarily Christmas songs.

Morton Gould was an incredibly talented arranger, and all the songs feature lush, symphonic arrangements.  All songs are instrumental.  The whole CD takes up 67:21 minutes, which is very good for a Christmas CD.

The first four songs on the CD were also the first four songs on the original album and all are performed by Morton Gould and the New Philharmonia Orchestra.  Adeste Fideles and The First Nowell feature traditional, grandiose, symphonic arrangements.  The 3rd and 4th songs, Home For Christmas and Serenade Of Carols are both original compositions.  Home For Christmas features a haunting melody for the introduction before becoming a festive triumphant arrangement of brass and reeds.

Serenade Of Carols is more somber.  Touches of familiar carols are arranged together into a medley with symphonic instruments.  The arrangement builds slowly into a large ensemble that continues the familiar sounds of carols we all know.  This is a treat at over 13 ½ minutes.

The next 6 songs are where all the bonus tracks lie.  They are placed in the middle of the CD and divide the two original orchestras present on the album.  If you removed all the bonus tracks, the CD would play in the same order as it was on the original album.

The first, Fantasia on “Greensleeves” is a lush arrangement of Greensleeves, also known as What Child Is This?  This arrangement steers off track slightly, that’s where the ‘Fantasia’ comes in.  It is a lush interpretation of this familiar Christmas hymn and features Morton Gould conducting his own orchestra, recorded in 1964.

The 6th and 7th songs are both passages from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Waltz Of The Flowers and Waltz Finale And Apotheosis.  After a triumphant introduction with brass instruments, Waltz Of The Flowers relies on a harp to lead us into the main body of the song.  The harp section is incredible.  The song then moves into the familiar melody we are all familiar with.  Lush strings, flutes and reeds move this most common passage from The Nutcracker forward.  It is the best song on the CD, albeit it was not on the original album.  At almost 6 ½ minutes, it is one of the longest songs on here.  Also, it is the only instance of this song in my Top 500 Classic Christmas Recordings.

The second song from The Nutcracker featured on the CD, Waltz Finale And Apotheosis, is a cacophony of triumphant symphonic instruments.  The whole orchestra is featured throughout the song, no one is left out.  Both Nutcracker pieces feature Morton Gould & The Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1966.

The 8th song, Winter, is an original composition that features an introduction of a soft arrangement that evokes visions of a light snowfall.  Less strings and more reeds keep the mood solemn.  This song features Morton Gould conducting the American Symphony Orchestra, and the only time they appear on the CD.  This recording was made in 1984, and it is the most recent Christmas song on the CD.

The 9th song, another original, is Skiers Waltz and again features Morton Gould conducting his own orchestra.  This is the oldest recording on the CD and was recorded in 1955.  The song features a heavily layered arrangement of screaming strings and brass instruments that cascade up and down the scales evoking images of skiers going down the slopes kicking up dry powder as they fly by.

Little David Play On Your Harp features a somber arrangement of strings, brass and percussion.  I’m not familiar with the song, and this is the only instance of it I have in my collection although I know it has been recorded by other artists.  It is a haunting arrangement that uses specific orchestral sections to tell the story of David and Goliath.  This comes from a Morton Gould album recorded in 1963.

The rest of the CD finishes out the original album.  The last 6 songs all feature Morton Gould conducting the RCA Symphony Orchestra, and because they were on the original album, they are all from 1969.

The arrangement for Good King Wenceslas takes a little different approach to this song than is mostly heard.  Piano, harp and pizzicato strings define the arrangement.

By all accounts, the only medley on the album, O Little Town Of Bethlehem / Away In A Manger, features a traditional symphonic arrangement.

As expected, The Little Drummer Boy begins with the percussive introduction heard in many arrangements.  It is not long before the rest of the RCA Symphony Orchestra joins in.  That in itself is a little different.  Most often, the song remains somber and subdued.  Here Morton Gould uses the whole orchestra to convey the familiar melody.

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear and Silent Night both rely on traditional arrangements.  While both songs are familiar, Silent Night possesses more brass in the arrangement than is typically heard.

The original album, and the CD, finishes with the only secular Christmas song, Jingle Bells.  While starting with a lush arrangement of strings and reed instruments, the song relies on the brass section to deliver the melody we are most familiar with.  Again, pizzicato strings add to the festivities while sleigh bells and cracking whips add texture.  This is one of the most symphonic arrangements of this song I can recall.

This is an all instrumental, Symphonic CD of mostly familiar Christmas songs.  Many of the arrangements are big, and in some ways, much bigger than expected.  Morton Gould shows his talents extremely well with this album.  If you enjoy Symphonic Christmas songs, you probably already have some Arthur Fiedler, Andre Kostelanetz and maybe some Andre Previn in your collection.  You may not be as familiar with Morton Gould as you are with the others, but I assure you, you would like this just as much.

With that being said, many people would not like this CD.  If you are the type that likes to sing along with your favorite Christmas songs, then you will not get that satisfaction with this CD.  This Christmas CD is best left for those that do like Symphonic Christmas music.  I find a place for all my Christmas music somewhere and this is best spread out over a larger playlist of more familiar arrangements.

Morton Gould is not a very well-known conductor and arranger, but he produced a terrific Christmas album in 1969.

I give this CD :

****

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