Closing one's eyes, all that can be seen are a man and a woman, in an all-consuming embrace, as in Rodin's The Kiss. As for the recording itself, although pre-high fidelity, the sound is immediate and forceful, and clearly conveys the ambient acoustics of Boston's Symphony Hall. This 1945 recording is primitive by today' s standards, yet clearly convincing. It does better justice to its subject than many poorly-made modern digital recordings. Unfortunately, very little of what Koussevitzky is available on RCA Red Seal today.
Some recordings are available on bootleg CD labels.
Fortunately this one is available on a British independent label, Biddulph , catalog number WHL-045. I've recently purchased a copy from a local record store, and though the editing is seamlessly achieved from the original lacquer discs, it does sound as though Biddulph's re-recording engineers have used noise reduction methods which have clipped off much of the higher frequencies. Die Toteninsel and Vocalise are accompanied on Biddulph's disc with works by Shostakovich , Koussevitzky himself and an excellent rendering of Prokofief's Romeo and Juliet Suite. All rights reserved.