Symphony No, 3, Vocalise : Stokowski / National Philharmonic

Sergei Rachmaninov:
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 44
Vocalise, op. 34/14 - arrangement for orchestra

National Philharmonic Orchestra / Leopold Stokowski, conductor

Recorded 05/1975

Leopold Stokowski was a close friend and champion to many composers, especially post-Revolution Russians in exile in America, among them Stravinsky and Rachmaninov. Stokowski conducted numerous American premieres of Rachmaninov’s works including his Third Symphony in 1935 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, which met with indifference at the time although it is now considered his orchestral masterpiece. In 1975, at age 93, Stokowski returned to the studio to record the work with an orchestra of hand-picked London musicians and proved that he had new things to say about it in a performance bristling with tension and excitement. ( Newton Classics )