#75 The Smell of Puppet Theater

This is the very first BSO recording ever, from October 1917. The sound is so cute, it's like looking through tilt-shift lens. Miniaturized players with their Lego instruments and animated movements.

Muck's drive is almost removed, there's little drama (some of it at 2'25'' or 2'53''). The real drama happened in the real life: Swiss citizen Muck was arrested as a German alien. Without any trial or charge, Muck was deported at the end of the war. The issued discs had his name removed from the label, and BSO went for French conductors (Henri Rabaud and Pierre Monteux).

Composer: Hector Berlioz
Work: The Damnation of Faust, Rákóczy March
Recording: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Karl Muck