Although many of the
great analogue recordings of the past
are now available on CD issues of the
recordings made in Los Angeles by Capitol
records (now part of EMI) just at the
beginning of the stereo LP era form
a large and regrettable gap. Many featured
conducting by Felix Slatkin (father
of Leonard), the Roger Wagner Chorale
and excellent performances by Hollywood
studio orchestral musicians playing
frequently as the "Hollywood Bowl
Symphony Orchestra." This recording
is a very welcome addition to the CD
catalogue and we can only hope it is
the first of many.
To a music lover who
lived in Los Angeles at the time of
these recordings the name Wallenstein
was never spoken politely. Although
on this and other recordings of the
time he turns in a respectable job of
work, he was notorious for abysmally
poor live performances. The orchestral
musicians could make so much more money
playing soundtracks for films that they
would rarely bother to make rehearsals,
sending a student to sit in as a substitute,
and Wallenstein put up with this. Hence,
the orchestra would frequently sight-read
a whole concert, even for noted guest
conductors. One evening when Bruno Walter
conducted the Prokofiev Classical
Symphony the violin section entered
nearly a quarter-tone flat. I recall
that I angrily yelled out something
impolite. When the orchestra’s patron,
Mrs. Norman Chandler, wife of the publisher
of the Los Angeles Times newspaper,
decided to raise the salaries, many
of these same players became star performers
in the new orchestra under Wallenstein’s
successors Eduard van Beinum and Zubin
Mehta, and made many recordings which
are still wonders of brilliance and
precision.
At any rate, everyone
turns in a first-rate job on this recording
and the soloists are all in exceptional
voice. You probably didn’t know Marilyn
Horne could sing with such bright agility
or that tenor Bressler, famous also
as a counter-tenor on many early music
recordings, had such a resonant mid
range. Those who know Respighi only
as the composer of loud brilliant works
for large orchestra will be charmed
by this work which is one of his "archaic"
compositions, like the Trittico Boticelliano.
The text is, not surprisingly, a conversation
among the Christmas Angel, Mary, Shepherds,
and a chorus of angels, beginning with
"Fear not ye shepherds..."
and ending with "...For born is
the promised Messiah! Amen!" No
credit is given for the English translation.
The original LP cover art has been used.
The Monteverdi may
be the first stereo recording of this
excerpt from the Vespers. I have always
found it one of the most convincing
and enjoyable. The Roger Wagner Chorale
sing with beauty, precision, and enthusiasm,
and the recording is close, wide-range,
and detailed. However, the letter of
OI/OPP** is not observed (indeed, had
not been invented yet): the orchestral
instruments are modern, the sopranos
are not boys, the organ is small and
electronic, and the soloists use some
vibrato.
*HDCD is a registered trademark of Microsoft
Corporation. Any computer running Windows
XP and Windows Media Player 9 can play
an HDCD CD.
**Original Instrument,
Original Performance Practice.
Paul Shoemaker
Roger Wagner Chorale and Los Angeles Philharmonic
Orchestra/Alfred Wallenstein. 
