What is really astounding about this disc is that in a short time Stokowski took this young ensemble and transformed it into a professional orchestra that could rank with any in the world. Over the years this period in Stokowski s career has been woefully neglected. It wasn t until the 1990s that the LSSA issued the first LPs. It is good to have more documentation of this phase in The Maestro s life. In fact, recording locales are devilishly difficult to determine.
Sources offer differing information.
The second year s orchestra apparently made most of the recordings in LA and all but one of these items is from that period. The first year s group made recordings in Atlantic City, in South America and in New York. The Little Fugue was recorded in November 1940. Out of curiosity I pulled out Sir Henry Wood s orchestration of the Toccata and Fugue, played by Arturo Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic. What a difference.