Further Material about Leopold Stokowski

However, Robinson also speaks of Stokowski's life-long preference for self-sufficiency.  In Robinson's view, Stokowski tried systematically to avoid dependency on others, whether orchestral boards, wives, agents, or friends ².  This observation may seem too harsh or perhaps too categorical, but is reflected in the biographies (such as Oliver Daniel) and reminiscences (such as Abram Chasins) about this great conductor.  So, at the risk of simplistic characterization, might this quest for control and self-sufficiency extend to an avoidance of sharing the interpretation and performance of great works with the leading soloists?

Consider the many concerti that would seem logically to have been at the core of a Stokowski - Philadelphia repertoire.   The two Brahms Piano Concerti, the Brahms Violin Concerto, the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto, just to name a few.  These would likely also be among the favorite concerti of the Philadelphia audience. The Tchaikovsky was in fact a featured work for Stokowski's very first concert as a conductor, with the Paris Colonne Orchestra, May 12, 1909, with his wife Olga Samaroff as piano soloist.  The Tchaikovsky concerto was also part of the first Philadelphia Orchestra concert of November 16, 1900 ⁸. None of these did he record with the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Further, looking at Enno Riekena's excellent Stokowski Discography of Stokowski's recordings, we see that Stokowski did not record the Brahms and Tchaikovsky piano concerti commercially.  There exist a non-commercial release of a live recording of each of these from the 1960s.  And the Brahms Violin Concerto seems not to exist in any recording.  This is striking, given that these concerti would seem to be in the heart of the repertoire favored by Stokowski.  Judging by the number of his performances and recording, Brahms and Tchaikovsky would seem to be among his favored composers.  Yet the concerti, which are among the most popular with the public are not a feature of his performances or recordings over his sixty year career.

First is the series of wonderful and famous recordings of Rachmaninoff concerted piano works: the 1924 recording and the 1929 recording of the Second Piano Concerto and the 1934 recording of the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.  These are recordings not only with a soloist, but with the composer, who also was also one of the great pianists of the twentieth century.  It would seem that Stokowski could feel open to share the interpretation with the composer of the work.

       Rachmaninoff in the 1920s

Rachmaninoff and Stokowski Disagree on Interpretation

However, even in the case of Rachmaninoff, Stokowski sometimes resisted the composers suggestions regarding performance.  They had disagreements about the 1924 recording of the Second Piano concerto.  Also, in 1930, Time Magazine reported:

" ... In the 18 years he has been in Philadelphia, Stokowski has stayed just that - young, energetic, pliable. There have been changes in the man himself ... From a simple, naive person he has changed to one who is autocratic, imperiously sure of his countless opinions on acoustics, lighting, radio, printing, painting, the habit of applause. At a recent rehearsal he and Pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff almost came to blows over the tempo of a Rachmaninoff concerto concerning which Stokowski felt he knew better than the composer. Indicative, too, is the feeling of his men, changed now from one of adoration to respect ... Stokowski has permitted himself to develop prima donna tendencies but the public at large continues to encourage them ... ". ³

Listening to the 1929 performance, I would speculate, without any source, that Stokowski was more inclined to savor the opulence of the music, while Rachmaninoff inclined to a more rapid pace.  Although this Time Magazine account may well be exaggerated, it does reflect that even with Rachmaninoff as soloist, Stokowski may have felt that he "knew best".  (click here to read about and listen to the 1929 Stokowski - Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no 2.)  In fact, during his career, Stokowski, whenever a composer might be present during his rehearsals, and perhaps suggest a change, Stokowski would say "oh! the composer is here and wants a change; let him conduct!".  Stokowski would then hand the baton to the flustered composer.

Heifetz and Stokowski Disagree on Interpretation

Another famous concerto soloist example is the Christmas eve December 24, 1934 recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Jascha Heifetz.  This recording, although a fiery performance by both Heifetz and Stokowski, was never released commercially until a single copy (Heifetz's copy) was restored in the 1999 Philadelphia Orchestra, The Centennial Collection CD release, overseen by Mark Obert-Thorn, with musical restoration by Ward Marston. 

In his program notes to this recording, Barrymore Laurence Scherer said "...According to Ward Marston, who learned of this from a member of the Orchestra who played in the session, Heifetz at one point asked Stokowski to have the violins play more softly in a particular passage in order to lend greater definition to the solo line.  Stokowski - who loved manipulating the knops of a recording console almost as much as conducting itself - felt this request an intrusion upon his prerogative to balance the sound.  Therefore, in a gesture rather foreign to the Christmas spirit, he addressed the Orchestra saying 'Everyone else, play louder.  Violins, you stay the same.'  Understandably, Heifetz was not amused, and he subsequently refused to approve the finished recording for release." ⁴   Is this a further example of Stokowski's desire to control without regard even to so eminent a colleague?

Jascha Heifetz in a well known 1935 Alfred Eisenstaedt photograph

A third example of a concerted work recorded by Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra is the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante recording of 1940.  Of course, this recording was by the first chair soloists of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  It also broke Stokowski's twenty year haiatis of a recording of a work by Mozart (following Stokowski's May 9, 1919 acoustic recording of the third movement Minuetto of Mozart's Symphony no 40 K550).

Beyond few recordins with instrumental soloists, there were many recordings with vocal soloists.  However, looking at the soloists Stokowski used, such as Agnes Davis, Ruth Cathcart, Robert Betts, and Eugene Loewenthal in the Beethoven Ninth, or Jeanette Vreeland, Rose Bampton, Paul Althouse, Robert Bette, and Abrasha Robofsky in the case of Gerre-Lieder, these were not famous, independent singers.  It was a practice of Stokowski to personally coach the singer in advance, as did other conductors.  Rose Bampton was at that time a Curtis Institute student that Stokowski included in several recordings.  Also listen to the interview with Jennie Tourel in Interviews of Leopold Stokowski as to her work with Stokowski.  In such cases, perhaps the vocal soloist was more in the category of the first chair instrumentalists in the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante under Stokowski's direction, rather than a strong, independent artist such as Heifetz, seeking to share the interpretive decisions with Stokowski.