CANTELLI in New York, Vol. 3: Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, Monteverdi, Handel, Hindemith (1956) - PASC523

These two CDs preserve Guido Cantelli's programmes of his last subscription concerts and are valuable for two reasons. First, they contain Cantelli's very last concerts which he gave in America, but second and more importantly three of the compositions - both of the Brahms and the Verdi - were the first time that the conductor had performed these works. Additionally, Cantelli had only conducted the Wagner and Hindemith once: the Wagner was given in Italy during 1945 so it is unlikely that it was recorded but,fortunately, the Hindemith - a new addition to Cantelli's repertoire - was broadcast with the NBC Symphony Orchestra and is available on a Pristine Audio CD, PASC 111.

Keith Bennnett (author of "Guido Gantelli, Just Eight Years of Fame")

These two final broadcast concerts conducted by Guido Cantelli were sourced from high quality mono FM radio recordings and offer excellent sound quality throughout. That said, there were some issues with wow and flutter which I was able to deal with using Capstan pitch stabilisation software, and other minor sonic technical issues were easily overcome. Commentaries were quite long between most works, and these have been trimmed down  - at times considerably. I chose, however, to leave the very final closing as broadcast - it was the last time Cantelli would appear on US radio and on a US concert platform. The following month he headed to London for recording sessions with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and for the rest of the year conducted in London, Milan, Johannesburg, Modena and, finally, in Brescia, Italy on 15 November 1956. Nine days later he was to lose his life in a fatal plane crash in Paris, France, having just a week earlier been named Musical Director of La Scala, Milan.

NB. The arrangement of Handel's Largo from Xerxes is attributed by the commentator to the Italian composer Bernadino Molinari, whereas the New York Philharmonic Orchestra's official archive suggests the more common arrangement by Arthur Luck. An examination of the printed concert programme for the evening is of no help - there is no mention here of the arranger (by contrast the Monteverdi arrangement is properly attributed to Ghedini). An examination of the recording indicates that Cantelli does not, in fact, use the Luck arrangement - Luck begins with strings, Cantelli with wind; Luck proceeds with solo violin and harp, Cantelli with solo violin and other orchestral instruments, and so forth. We have been unable to verify 100% that a Molinari arrangement is used here but have no reason to doubt it, despite this contradicting the "official" record.

Andrew Rose