GREAT ORCHESTRAS: The Philadelphia story

[Disir]

Few orchestras can boast a single popular epithet, yet under the guidance of its longest-serving music directors Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy, the Philadelphia not only won universal approval as those ‘Fabulous Philadelphians’ but also cultivated what became instantly recognisable as the ‘Philadelphia Sound’. Combining an intoxicating richness and fiery intensity, Ormandy encouraged his hand-picked band of players to play with an emotional openness and superheated virtuosity as though the orchestra was a solo collective.
GREAT ORCHESTRAS: The Philadelphia story - The Amati Magazine





But before Ormandy there was Stokowski:





^^^First electrical recording. I love that one.

And Rite of Spring

 

[Snouter]

Very interesting. Classical music is a great thing. It is where music theory started. BUT...it is like the alphabet, I don't think of the letters of the words when I talk, nor do I think of written notation when I play. Duke Ellington made classical orchestras obsolete IMO!

 

[Picaro]

I prefer chamber ensembles over orchestras, but the Philly does indeed have excellent strings and rich sound. It would be great if classical music was more popular, but the genre needs to up its game and tech a little and expand its playlists along with newer arrangements. Some of the so-called 'Pop-era' divas have generated a new interest in new arrangements of assorted opera arias and the like the last 20 years, Sarah Brightman, Katherine Jenkins, Jackie Evancho, and others have shown there is a market for revivals, even it they never reach the sales levels of teenage and rap junk. Celtic music certainly created a whole new niche market for itself by modernizing and cross-over venues.

 

[Picaro]

Very interesting. Classical music is a great thing. It is where music theory started. BUT...it is like the alphabet, I don't think of the letters of the words when I talk, nor do I think of written notation when I play. Duke Ellington made classical orchestras obsolete IMO!

Ellington added big classical orchestra sections to his bands whenever he had a big enough house and could afford them for his shows. So did Count Basie, who was arguably a better musician as well. Wynton Marsalis has several excellent albums of classical music to his credit, his best work.