If you're not a fan of Dimitri Mitropoulos' conducting and you can't tolerate antique sound, this 10-disc set, Mitropoulos Conductor, is not for you. However, if you are a fan, and antique sound is as mother's milk to you, this collection provides a treasure trove of great performances. Mitropoulos fans may already be familiar with most of these performances since most have been previously released, either commercially or in pirated editions. Still, the extraordinarily high quality of the performances will make this set compulsory for listeners devoted to the conductor. As anyone familiar with Mitropoulos' work knows, he was perhaps the most intense conductor ever to lead an orchestra. In performance after performance, he turns in readings of overwhelming intensity, with every line, harmony, rhythm, color, and note bearing its full weight of meaning. In his magnificent account of Schumann's Third Symphony with the Minneapolis Symphony from 1947, the opening and closing Allegros have rarely had this combination of power and energy, and the fourth movement's Grave has never sounded so monumental. His Mahler First from 1940 is electrifying, his Rachmaninov Second from 1947 heart-rending, his Borodin Second from 1941 galvanizing, his Chausson Symphony from 1939 imposing, and, perhaps best of all, his Berg Concerto with violinist Joseph Szigeti from 1945 is enormously moving. Although there are some unusual items here -- the conductor himself takes a turn as soloist in Bach's Fifth Brandenburg Concerto and Krenek's Third Piano Concerto -- and although the sound is undeniably antique, with little done in the remastering process to make it more palatable, this set should appeal to anyone interested in Mitropoulos.
Mitropoulos: Maestro Spiritoso
Dimitri Mitropoulos
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Mitropoulos: Maestro Spiritoso Review
by James Leonard
Track Listing - Disc 1
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 10:07 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 06:32 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:53 | Amazon | |||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 12:44 | Amazon | |||
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 | ||||||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 17:04 | Amazon | |||
6 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:39 | Amazon | |||
7 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 08:47 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 2
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symphony No. 3 in A minor ("Scottish"), Op. 56 | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 11:15 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 03:45 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 09:33 | Amazon | |||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 07:19 | Amazon | |||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 10:48 | Amazon | |||
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ("Rhenish"), Op. 97 | ||||||
6 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 09:39 | Amazon | |||
7 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:41 | Amazon | |||
8 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:29 | Amazon | |||
9 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 05:26 | Amazon | |||
10 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:57 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 3
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symphony in D minor, Op. 48 | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 19:14 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 09:11 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 09:19 | Amazon | |||
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 | ||||||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 10:46 | Amazon | |||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 05:44 | Amazon | |||
6 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 05:53 | Amazon | |||
7 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 11:09 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 4
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symphony in B flat major, Op. 20 | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 12:01 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 08:16 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 10:51 | Amazon | |||
Suite No.7 for orchestra ("Scènes alsaciennes") | ||||||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 06:02 | Amazon | |||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:56 | Amazon | |||
6 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:25 | Amazon | |||
7 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 05:45 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 5
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 19:06 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 07:26 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 06:23 | Amazon | |||
Symphony No. 2 in C minor ("Little Russian"), Op. 17 | ||||||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 09:00 | Amazon | |||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 08:10 | Amazon | |||
6 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:20 | Amazon | |||
7 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 09:38 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 6
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symphony No. 2 in B minor | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 06:56 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 05:13 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 08:17 | Amazon | |||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 06:25 | Amazon | |||
Violin Concerto in A minor, B. 96/B. 108 (Op. 53) | ||||||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 09:36 | Amazon | |||
6 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 11:08 | Amazon | |||
7 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 09:51 | Amazon | |||
8 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 12:54 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 7
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 15:36 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 07:17 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 10:56 | Amazon | |||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 10:20 | Amazon | |||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 20:10 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 8
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chopiniana, for orchestra (after Chopin) | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 02:39 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 05:48 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 05:38 | Amazon | |||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 02:57 | Amazon | |||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 05:40 | Amazon | |||
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 | ||||||
6 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 08:38 | Amazon | |||
7 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 08:08 | Amazon | |||
8 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 08:33 | Amazon | |||
Symphony No. 1 in D major ("Classical"), Op. 25 | ||||||
9 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 03:49 | Amazon | |||
10 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 04:02 | Amazon | |||
11 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 01:12 | Amazon | |||
12 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 02:57 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 9
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symphony No. 1 in D major ("Titan") | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 13:33 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 06:14 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 10:23 | Amazon | |||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 17:21 | Amazon | |||
Le tombeau de Couperin, for orchestra | ||||||
5 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 03:00 | Amazon | |||
6 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 03:12 | Amazon | |||
7 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 03:20 | Amazon | |||
8 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 02:19 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 10
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Violin Concerto | ||||||
1 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 10:28 | Amazon | |||
2 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 14:30 | Amazon | |||
3 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 13:43 | Amazon | |||
4 | Dimitri Mitropoulos | 13:37 | Amazon |