Norman writes:

>Old stuff, didn't CBS/Columbia use the Columbia Symphony Orchestra"
>name for various East and West Cost, but creditable, ensembles?

Yes, here is a list of some of the personel.  The Walter/Stravinsky
Columbia stereo lp's are some of my favorite discoveries of the vinyl
era and some of the best Columbia recordings, though no match for London
or EMI at the time.  BTW, if you have a "mint," (no scratches, scuffs,
crayon marks from your children, etc), stereo "6 eye" dark grey and black
label Columbia Walter Beethoven 6th, it's worth over $100 in the Lp
market if sold by a trusted source.

Concertmaster - Israel Baker (frequent chamber-music collaborator with
Jascha Heifetz)
Principal second violin - Harold Dicterow (father of the present
concertmaster of the NY Philharmonic)
Principal viola - Sanford Schoenbach
Principal cello - George Neikrug
Principal double bass - Anton Torello (formerly principal of the
Philadelphia Orchestra)
Principal flute - Arthur Gleghorn
Principal oboe - Bert Gassman
Principal clarinet - Kalman Bloch
Principal bassoon - Fred Moritz
Principal horn - Sinclair Lott
Principal trumpet - Robert DiVall
Principal trombone - Robert Marsteller

The following is quoted from a gentleman named CB over at audioasylum.com:

   "Although the CSO was (is) often maligned for its occasional
   lack of ensemble finesse, there were some outstanding players
   in this line-up, especially the woodwinds and horns. It should
   be noted that all the principal woodwinds of the CSO were
   principals in the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the time.

   To give you just two examples of the outstanding talent in the
   CSO, principal bassoon Fred (Fritz) Moritz was, prior to his
   emigration to the U.S., principal of the Berlin Philharmonic for
   several years. There he played under such luminaries as Nikisch,
   Furtwaengler and Weingartner. In the U.S. he single-handedly
   founded a style of bassoon-playing which centered around a
   neglected aspect of technique called "flicking". In contrast to
   many East Coast bassoonists (including those in New York, Philly
   and Boston), Moritz's playing was marked by flawless technique,
   clear, resonant tone, and a total absence of the ugly "chuffing"
   on many notes that was characteristic of American bassoon sound
   at that time. Listen to his phenomenal rendition of the bassoon
   solo in the last movement of Beethoven's Fourth to hear how good
   he was.

   Sinclair Lott was the preeminent horn player in a town that
   boasted some of the finest horn-playing in the world at the time.
   People rave about British horn playing of the '50s and '60s
   (Dennis Brain, Barry Tuckwell, etc.), but the Los Angeles players
   were equally as strong, IMO. Lott's rendition of the treacherous
   little horn solo at the beginning of the fifth movement of the
   Pastorale is flawlessly beautiful."

John Smyth
Sacramento, CA

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