One of my first transfers, redone and offered again..however for the first time on this blog.
I find Leinsdorf a frustrating conductor. His greatest, and best opportunity, for immortality was during his tenure with the Boston Symphony however, that time was marked with frequent discord with players, administration and in the end, the public. I do suppose that following a conductor like Munch, who was positively electric did not help matters either. To properly assess his promise, I think one needs to look back to his early career at the MET, in Cleveland and then Rochester, to get a really great picture of what potential he had but somehow lost, maybe frittered away, during his later years in Boston and as a roaming guest conductor for hire.
If you have not had a chance to hear his Cleveland recordings, do so. The Internet Archive offers up 7 wonderful documents of his brief, but somewhat unhappy, Cleveland tenure - the Dvorak 6th is terrific and the Schumann Spring is sparkling. It is a shame that Szell undermined Leinsdorf's talents, which of course led to the latter's not having his contract renewed. There was great promise in Cleveland since it was a super orchestra, honed to excellence by the great orchestral builder Artur Rodzinski. I chuckle when I think of Szell's wild claim that "he" made Cleveland. When I think of a conductor "making" an ensemble, I inevitably think of the wonderful Maurice Abravanel and his miracle in Utah. Szell too a very good orchestra and honed it to perfection.
Leinsdorf retreated to Rochester NY as a successor to Iturbi. Even though Leinsdorf disliked Rochester as a community, the orchestra was good and a number of convincing recordings came from this partnership. All were released on CBS' budget Entre and Harmony labels. I think this Eroica is the best of the lot. Though lean in texture, it is honestly delivered and well played by the Rochester band. Though Leinsdorf would re-record the Eroica in Boston, this earlier edition has an energy and enthusiam that the later account fails to deliver on. Boston, one of the top seven in the orchestral world, is just too much on autopilot for Leinsdorf.
I believe this record was from 1952. Correct me please if I'm mistaken!
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