# 100 Favorites: #64



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

*Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 3
Stokowski, National PO (EMI)*










Stokowski and Rachmaninov had a long musical relationship. In fact, Stoki premièred Rachmaninov's Third Symphony with the the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1936. Oddly, Stokowski didn't conduct it again until he made this recording for the tiny, UK-based Desmar label in 1975. Although it was made only a few years before his passing, I think this recording is one of his best in Stokowski's massive discography. If you listen, you'll quickly realize why Rachmaninov entrusted this symphony's première to Stokowski. This is colorful, voluptuous, intoxicating music that aligns perfectly with Stoki's strengths as a conductor.

Here's a brief quote from Stokowski on Rachmaninov's art:
_"The musical personality of Rachmaninoff is unique. His music expresses the intensity and nostalgia, the vitality and the vivid coloring, the dramatic rhythm of the Slavic art. The emotional and imaginative side of his music is rich in the mysterious and the intangible -- those remote moods of the spirit which carry us far from everyday life and open for us visions of the heart which completely transforms our existence."_


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