Columbia SAX 2517: Szell does Schubert's "Great C Major" -- Great Performance, Sound ... Not So Great

Columbia SAX 2517
Schubert: "Great C Major" Symphony
The Cleveland Orchestra
George Szell, conductor

Pressing: UK, ED1, blue/silver

Date first published: 1958

Stampers: BC 1009-A2, BC 1009-B2

Performance: 10/10

Sound: 6/10

Price range: $120-1234 (mean $361) on popsike.com

Comments: As you can see, this is one of the highest-priced Szell Columbia SAX albums on the market.  Is it all that it is made out to be?  Simple answer?  No.  I'm convinced that it must be due to the front cover photo of the Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna, which may be one of the most scenic classical album cover photographs that I've seen, but that's not enough to justify its price in my eyes.  When we go beyond the superficial, though, and dissect out the sound, we are left with the theme of the week on this blog:  high-priced disappointment.  I would have to characterize the sound on this album as having constricted dynamic range and a general murkiness, particularly with the strings and brass and most notable in louder passages of music.  By no parameters does this LP sound anything like a high quality EMI recording.  Schubert's "Great C Major" was one of Szell's specialties and deserved a great sounding recording.  Just listen to the Cleveland Orchestra play the last movement with a great deal of energy and gusto; however, I feel like only half the excitement gets translated to our ears via the recording.  It's really a shame.  I mean, if I had the nerve/insanity to pay $500-1000+ for a record (and let me reassure you, I did not in this case), I'd at least pick one that had a reputation for superb sound, but I think we all know that that is not how all collectors think.  People buy collectible records for all sorts of reasons, and for every collector who buys a rare record to listen to its contents, there's a collector who buys a rare record just to put on his/her shelf to age like fine wine or to show off to his/her friends as a trophy piece.  I once met a guy at a used book and music sale in suburban Washington, DC, who sat leisurely on the ground surrounded by piles of his vinyl acquisitions telling me that he never listened to a single record he bought.  They all went onto shelves and that was it.  What a waste of music!

EMI did, however, release more than one recording of the Great C Major around the time of this recording.  Otto Klemperer conducted the Philharmonia on SAX 2397 and Rafael Kubelik conducted the Royal Philharmonic on ASD 325 (more on those to come).  My initial listening impressions were that both of these were sonic (though not necessarily interpretive) improvements over the Szell SAX.  Josef Krips' classic Decca recording has been previously reviewed on this site (here); your best bet would be to forego the original and get the London Stereo Treasury or Ace of Diamonds if you want reasonably good sound.  Istvan Kertesz also recorded the work for Decca (stay tuned for this, too).  So, as you can see, there are many options available here.