My listening post this morning is in front of the TV with The Andy Griffith Show in the background, next to the lights of the Christmas tree, and quite near a cup of fresh-brewed coffee.
The episode is “Ellie Saves a Female,” and it first aired on 17 April 1961 – which is two days after today’s performance from Hungarian-American conductor George Szell (1897-1970), the Cleveland Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F major was recorded.
The people in the picture above are Ellie (Elinor Donahue, on the left), Andy (Andy Griffith, in the middle, and Frankie (Edris March – who retired from acting after this one episode – on the right).
This episode of TAGS (that’s how cool people abbreviate The Andy Griffith Show) represents, roughly, how America was back in 1961, which helps put today’s performance in its historical context.
What do I mean?
Here’s the plot of “Ellie Saves a Female”:
Ellie crosses the line when she insists on a farm girl wearing make-up and perfume against her hard-pressed father’s wishes, leading Barney to commit an abduction.
Lots of stereotypes and sexism there – not that I am wont to use such terms. But this episode has a very quaint, backwards feel to it…not unlike how rural American was in the early 1960s.
So while shows like The Andy Griffith Show were filmed and broadcast, Maestro Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra were playing music like the one in today’s recording.
I’ve encountered Maestro Szell seven times previous to this morning, on…
Day 16. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 34. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 53. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 70. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 88. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 106. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 124. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Not a bad record: Three “Meh!” and four “Huzzah!” ratings. That’s actually quite respectable.
Let’s see what this morning brings.
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 8 in F major), from this particular conductor (Szell, at age 64) and this particular orchestra (The Cleveland Orchestra), at this particular time in history (April 15, 1961) on this particular record label (Sony Classical) is as follows:
I. Allegro vivace e con brio…………………………………9:46
II. Allegretto scherzando…………………………………….3:51
III. Tempo di menuetto……………………………………….5:30
IV. Allegro vivace………………………………………………….7:52
Total running time: 26:19
My Rating:
Recording quality: 4 (noticeable tape hiss, missing a bit of top end; still, not bad for a recording that’s over half a century old)
Overall musicianship: 3 (competent, by the books, never magical or remarkable)
CD liner notes: 0 (none; boo! hiss!)
How does this make me feel: 2 (“Meh!”)
I was all set to give this a “Huzzah!” rating. It began strongly in Movement I. But the energy leaked out within the first 3-4 minutes. I actually found myself bored by about half way through the first movement. Between the lackluster recording and the rather dispassionate performance, I lost interest.
There’s a kind of sluggishness that permeates this performance. I don’t know if Maestro Szell was going for moods of reverence or stateliness, but whatever he intended just comes at as staid, an orchestra unwilling to cut loose. Even the dynamics of the coda of Movement IV are tempered to the point of sounding tentative, tepid.
To put it another way, the episode of The Andy Griffith show is vastly more entertaining.
Maestro Szell’s performance is not one I could ever see myself recommending, or even hearing again.
“Meh!”