The Mercury Living Presence recordings have acquired legendary status and have been much sought-after by audiophiles and “ordinary” listeners alike for their outstanding sound quality and roster of famous artists in both core repertory and less well-known music. As well as a wide variety of Central European music, Mercury Living Presence achieved distinction for the wealth of American music that appeared on the label.
This set presents Frederick Fennell in a programme featuring the celebrated Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Eastman-Rochester “Pops” Orchestra. Fennell was one of the most famous conductors of wind bands and had studied at the Eastman school of music, where he joined the school’s conducting faculty in 1939. He founded the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1953 and that same year the ensemble made its first recording for Mercury — the first in a series of albums that would number more than 20 in the following years and which would range in repertory and scope from Monteverdi and Mozart to Hindemith and Stravinsky as well as lighter fare by such masters as Leroy Anderson and Eric Coates. Fennell ended his links with the Ensemble in 1961 when he became associate conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony; this was not a great success and Fennell went back to the academic world and the University of Miami. He continued his conducting activities and remained active in this and teaching until his death in December 2004.
