When
Leopold Stokowski had the
Philadelphia Orchestra (1912-1939), they recorded for RCA in the U.S. When
Eugene Ormandy had the
Philadelphia (1939-1977), they recorded for CBS. When
Riccardo Muti (1980-1993) and
Wolfgang Sawallisch (1993-2003) had the
Philadelphia, they recorded for EMI in England. With
Christoph Eschenbach in charge of the
Philadelphia (2003-?), who do you think they record for? Not an American label, not an English label, not a German label, and not a French label -- no,
Eschenbach and the
Philadelphia record for Finnish label Ondine.
That's all right. Ondine is a fine label with warm sound and worldwide distribution and
Eschenbach and the
Philadelphia are much better served than the
New York Philharmonic, the
Boston Symphony, and the
Cleveland Orchestra, all of which at the time were working without recording contracts. Besides, the most important thing, the quality of the music-making, is still first-rate. True,
Eschenbach's
Philadelphia sounds nothing like
Sawallisch or
Muti's, much less
Ormandy or
Stokowski's
Philadelphia: it sounds clean, lean, and colorful. And true,
Eschenbach sounds like none of his predecessors: he sounds muscular, modernist, and much, much edgier.
That's all right, too. In these superbly recorded, superbly played, and superbly conducted performances of three mid-twentieth century masterpieces by
Martinu, Klein, and
Bartók,
Eschenbach and the
Philadelphia sound like a world-class conductor and orchestra at the peak of their form -- brilliantly played, commandingly conducted, deeply felt, and profoundly musical. Anyone who loves great orchestral music will love this disc.