Leroy Anderson Completely Completed

 

I mean, where else are you going to find so much Leroy Anderson Americana in one place?

Amongst enjoying all of the five volumes included in this set aside, my gripes are mostly with the physical collection.

Each of the individual CDs time around 50 minutes. That leads me to believe this could have been a 4CD set instead of 5 discs.

While the first and fourth volume were my favorites, I believe the music could have been arranged better amongst the set as well. With the other volumes, I would have liked all of the Harvard Suites gathered together, and all of the vocal items should have appeared on the final installment with Goldilocks.

This is, of course, useless moaning, as the important thing is the music. Mainly due to unfamiliarity, I prefer the larger, multi-movement works here, but all of the music are gems.

A review from 2024

If you are only looking for Leroy Anderson’s most famous miniature orchestral gems, Leonard Slatkin on RCA with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra would be the way to go. With this 5CD set, we get all of those familiar bon-bons, plus many newly recovered from the Anderson estate.

To be honest, however, my interest in this set lays with the larger items, works which show Anderson’s ability with longer forms. These include the terrific Piano Concerto, the Irish and Scottish Suites, the three Suites of Carols, and the nostalgic remembrances of the composer’s Alma Mater, Harvard.

Also included are excerpts from Anderson’s Broadway show Goldilocks, as well as vocal/orchestral rearrangements of some of his orchestral miniatures.

Leonard Slatkin’s outlook on Leroy Anderson’s music is plush; certainly with a Golden Era hue which relaxes some of the tempos employed by the composer himself on MCA. Whereas sets of Anderson’s music can be found under Frederick Fennel on Mercury and Arthur Fiedler on RCA as well, Slatkin gives a different interpretations from those older recordings, and we are all the better for it.

The BBC Concert Orchestra is on board, and provide ample color and thrills to all of this music. The many soloists who come and go are excellent.

If you are interested in a whole lot of Americana from Leroy Anderson, this is the place to get it all, with little to ask for at its completion. I wonder if the 5CD set could have been reduced to four, as many of the discs are sub-60 minute presentations, but that is neither here nor there. Terrific music in satisfying performances!

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Works
Volume 1 (61.54)
Volume 2 (54.51)
Volume 3 (61.49)
Volume 4 (60.26)
Volume 5 (52.16)

Performers
BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor

Label: Naxos
Year: 2021
Total Timing: 4.51.16

 

 

 

 

 

Not every volume is a favorite and offer sparse runtimes individually. Yet for a one-stop shop of the music of Leroy Anderson, this is a great set.

Leonard Slatkin continues to be a wonderful advocate for US composers, and these performances with the BBC Concert Orchestra shouldn't disappoint.

I take the view of a differing interpretation from Anderson, Fiedler, and Fennell as a boon, not a comparative slight.

 

 

 

Find more Leroy Anderson recordings HERE!