George Szell Before Cleveland

Photograph of George Szell on the cover of the album being discussed (presumably taken during his tenure in New York)

Through my connection to Naxos B2B, I have had the good fortune to receive announcements of recordings on other labels, some of which have appealed to me through historical interest. Earlier this month I learned of the SOMM Recordings release the first volume in a series of remastered performances of George Szell when he was in New York conducting the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra (as it was known at that time). Back in my student days, we used to joke about Szell’s skill at “playing” the Cleveland Orchestra (as if it were a massive pipe organ, rather than an ensemble). Prior to that leadership, he had made his debut with the St. Louis Symphony in October of 1939; and in New York he had performed with both the Metropolitan Opera and the Philharmonic.

The first release in this series couples the late nineteenth century with the early twentieth. It presents two symphonies, the first of which is the only one composed by César Franck in the key of D minor. This is followed by Jean Sibelius’ Opus 43 (second) symphony. Both of these compositions drew a lot of attention during my years in both high school and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Szell’s interpretations of both of these symphonies were consistently engaging. One might almost say that the intensity of his relationship with the Philharmonic “foreshadowed” the more intense relationship he would cultivate in Cleveland.

Ironically, both of these symphonies seem to have faded into the past (or, at least, my personal past). I have not written about Franck’s symphony since my examiner.com days, when I recalled my recording of Arturo Toscanini playing this composition. More recently, I had last encountered the Sibelius symphony when it was included in the third BBC Legends volume released by ICA Classics. In other words, listening to this recording of performances by Szell that pre-dated his Cleveland days amounted to drawing upon a rather powerful time machine!

That said, this was my first encounter with a Szell recording that was not made in Cleveland. Personally, I enjoyed listening to his approach to the Philharmonic-Symphony. The ensemble seems to have felt the same way. He would perform with them over the course of 27 years!