I would second everything Steven Schwartz said about this great disc.
The Szell/Fournier Don Quixote has been a favorite of mine since I was
a teenager.  One of the highlights in this performance is the episode
with the sheep.  Szell plays it with an utterly straight face, every
flutter-tongued note precisely in place, which makes the mounting panic
only that much funnier.  I laugh out loud every time I listen to it.  The
variation depicting the flying horse ride is gloriously played, and very
moving, as are the quiet variations, which are full of true noble feeling.
A joy.

>Strangely enough, this performance has never before now been widely
>available.  It appeared first on the old Epic label in roughly 1961,
>disappeared from the US and resurfaced as a British CBS LP in 1969.
>During the early CD days, it showed up on CD and cassette, if at all,
>before vanishing from the U.S.  market, probably coming to light in Japan
>and Europe.

While I guess it hasn't been available for some time, I recall first
purchasing it on an Odyssey LP in the 1970's.  I think there was also a
Japanese CD on Sony back in the early 80's, when CD's were still a novelty.
It was an import in the U.S., of course, and probably very expensive.

Don Juan usually lasts about 20 minutes, but in Szell's very famous
performance it's something like 15 or 16.  And yet, all the music is there
and then some; it's exhilaratingly swift (in the fast parts) but never
frantic.  Szell and the Clevelanders' combination of superb craftsmanship,
breathtaking virtuosity, and dashing style has never sounded more thrilling
than it does in this wonderful remastering.  If you haven't heard it, do
not wait!

Let's hope Sony continues reissuing (and remastering) those grand old Szell
recordings.

Pete Caleb ([log in to unmask])