This was one of Eugene Ormandy’s last recordings, made just before his stepping down as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Nonetheless, the players turned in a handsome performance for their soon-to-be former chief, with rich, full string sound in the Poco Adagio and biting, brilliant brass in the opening Allegro and in the Finale. The Philadelphia winds sound especially piquant and lively throughout, particularly in the scherzo. It would seem the orchestra could do well enough without the conductor; Ormandy lends no special flair to the music but mainly keeps things tidy and fluidly moving. Ormandy’s earlier Sony recording offers a higher energy level, with more driven tempos in the second movement.
However, the 1962 sound can’t hold a candle to Telarc’s remarkably clear and dynamic 1980 recording, the full range of which we are finally able to hear thanks to DSD technology. Listening to Ormandy’s meticulous balances is to be reminded of what a masterful orchestral technician he was. The only drawback, and this almost always is the case in the Saint-Saëns Third, is the organ, which, though refreshingly recorded in the same space and time as the orchestra, sounds bright and over-reverberant, oddly lacking sufficient bass. In this respect, Charles Munch’s 1959 RCA recording still holds the palm.
For the coupling Telarc has appended Michael Murray’s Encores à la française disc, which offers an interesting and compelling program of organ music ranging from Bach to Dupré. The assembled works display the full range of possibilities of this magnificent instrument, as well as the technical prowess of Telarc’s engineers. Play this one loud and you will feel yourself very present in Boston’s sonically splendid Symphony Hall.
