Legendary Conductors of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (review)

This five DVD set focuses on the three conductors of the Boston Symphony Orchestras during the 1960’s - Charles Munch (1949–1962), Erich Leinsdorf (1962–1969), and William Steinberg (1969–1972, although two selections from a concert he guest conducted in 1962 are included). These broadcasts are important not only in that they allow comparison of the styles of three very different conductors, but also because of the pioneering work of WGBH in the field of televised concerts.

These groundbreaking tapes were a part of the semi-regular broadcasts of the BSO that began in 1955 and continued through the 1970’s at the rate of about one every other month. ICA has begun a program of bringing out a significant number of these from the pre-Seiji Ozawa years (during which the shows were called “Evening at Symphony”) featuring the regular conductors as well as guests such as Pierre Mon-teux and Claus Tennstedt. To those who are historically inclined, the opportunity of seeing some of the legendary but somewhat forgotten players of that era is reason enough to own this set. Just among the winds, clarinetists Gino Cioffi and Manny Valerio, trumpeter Roger Voisin, horn player James Stagliano and English horn player Louis Speyer (whose career stretched back to the premiere of Le Sacre du Printempsin 1913) were joined by the next generation including Ralph Gomberg on oboe, bassoonist Sherm Walt and flautist Doriot Anthony Dwyer. Dwyer’s case is particularly interesting - as the first woman to occupy a first chair in a major American symphony, she represents a major change in the culture in the industry, although it is curious to see that there were other women performing on these broadcasts on cello and horn - one wonders who they were and how they came to be engaged as substitutes.

The first of these concerts in 1955 was televised from the Kresge Auditorium at M.I.T., but by the time of these performances recording had moved to Harvard’s Sanders Theatre where it remained until 1963 when Symphony Hall was finally equipped with permanent broadcast facilities. The technical evolution of these concerts from the earliest to the latest in this set is remarkable, although perhaps the biggest surprise is that the quality of the direction and camera work was so high to begin with. Tapes of sports events from this period, for example, are extremely primitive looking today with their inflexible and distant camera work not to mention the lack of continuity. These broadcasts were directed beautifully, with closeups, section features and panning shots that demonstrate true knowledge of the music on the part of the directors (David M. Davis in the earlier years and William Cosel later). Even the lack of color in all but the last selections does not detract from the highly polished appearance. Occasionally some extra musical moments intrude - the fire engine passing by between movements of Debussy’s Iberia, the re-tuning between movements of the Schubert Symphony no. 9, etc.

The three conductors profiled in this collection all came to the BSO with different agendas and personalities and each was fairly conservative in his programming. A quibble with this series is...