Columbia SAX 2341 Album of the Day

Columbia SAX 2341
Falla: The Three-Cornered Hat
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2, Alborada del Gracioso
Philharmonia Orchestra
Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor

Pressing: ED1

Stampers: YAX 390-4, YAX 391-4

Performance: 10/10

Sound: 8/10

Price range: $28-161, mean $56 on popsike

Comments:  I've posted blogs on a couple of Carlo Maria Giulini's Columbia SAX recordings, and in general, I would say that they are excellent.  This album is no exception.  Starting with the beautiful, tranquil scenic cover taken by Brian Dagleish (credited at the lower right hand corner).  They just don't make album covers like this anymore (though I don't mean for this statement to discredit contemporary classical record labels -- Hyperion, Chandos, Harmonia Mundi, just to name a few -- that really put an emphasis on high production value).  The selection of repertoire is very entertaining, none other than Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat and two of Ravel's great orchestral works, Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloe and Alborada del Gracioso.  All of them are given exciting, energetic performances ... this is truly fun and enjoyable music that really can showcase the color and power of the orchestra.  The sound is glorious, truly doing justice to the performances.  Dynamic range is very wide.  Bass is quite powerful. Just take the opening bars and the Final Dance of The Three-Cornered Hat.  Wow, can you really hear the impact of the percussion!  With the lone exception of the very final bars of the Daphnis et Chloe Suite which my Denon DL-110 just could not perfectly handle, there was a remarkable clarity to the recording.  Again, as with many of these fine Columbia SAX recordings, you can appreciate the recording hall acoustics.

The beauty of all this is that this is a relatively affordable SAX.  It's also reasonably common, so I think if you just stay patient, you can snatch up a copy without breaking the bank.  I have not heard any later pressings to be able to tell you if they are competitive with the turquoise/silver.  This record easily is the Album of the Day.

Update 7/8/2024:

The Stereo Record Guide, Volume 2 (The Long Playing Record Library Ltd, 1961) gives this record two out of three stars and a "demonstration" disc designation. In describing the Falla:

"Apart from a ludicrous balance at the opening when the drum completely drowns the trumpet fanfare, Columbia's well-spread and atmospheric quality is impressive, although I would have liked more glow to the strings. But Giulini's performance, for all its surface glitter does not penetrate to the heart of the music, the purely Spanish quality eludes him. The Neighbors is a case in point. The conductor approaches it musically but in rather matter of fact fashion, and there is little evocation of a warm, drowsy Spanish evening. The recording coarsens in the closing pages of the Final Dance."

Regarding the Ravel:

"Accent is on brilliance in Giulini's approach, both to the Alborada, where he tends to sectionalise the music, and to Daphnis, witness the rather inappropriate percussion-dominated climax of Daybreak. He does not rob the score of its sensuousness, but some of the sleepy warmth evaporates. Of its kind this is a very good reading but I feel Leinsdorf's Capitol version (SP 8395) of Daphnis and Chloe, Suite 2, truer to the spirit of the music. Columbia's recording is spectacular with a good spread, but the sound itself could sometimes be more transparent. The important cymbal parts in Alborada del Gracioso, with the bassoon solo, are almost lost. Reiner's RCA recording (SB 2044) gives a good example of just how this music should be balanced."