Over the years live performances from Salzburg’s Grosses Festspielhaus have dribbled in from EMI, DG, ORFEO, and others depending on the artists involved. We can still buy several recordings of complete operas from the 1930s conducted by Toscanini and Bruno Walter. Some years after WW2 Salzburg became the destination of choice for the event-going Jet Setters who also frequent only the most fashionable restaurants. And a good thing too, because the most prestigious conductors, instrumentalists, singers and orchestras also wished to be seen and heard there. The house orchestra was the Vienna Philharmonic. It doesn’t get better than that. DG has issued a 25 CD set, 50 YEARS GROSSES FESTSPIELHAUS (DG 4779111) containing notable performances from 1960 thru 2009, 18 originating from ORF masters and 7 from DG and Decca. The first 11 discs contain five operas: Rosenkavalier (Karajan 1960); Idomeneo (Fricsay 1961); From the House of the Dead (Abbado 1992); La Traviata (Rizzi 2005); Eugene Onegin (Barenboim 2007). The next 10 CDs contain 8 concerts: Mozart 40 & 41 (Bohm 1966); Schubert 3rd/Heldenleben (Mehta 1967); Mahler 8 (Bernstein 1975); Haydn - The Seven Last Words (Muti 1982) and many others of equal merit. This is a rewarding collection and a welcome addition to the budget packages now available from all of the majors. Here are committed performances from all concerned in a wide range of works bound together only by the venue.
Margarita Höhenrieder came to our attention playing the Beethoven First Piano Concerto with Fabio Luisi and the Dresden Staatskapelle on a Euroarts DVD (2057718). Here, for the first time in my experience we have a pianist who displays in her demeanour and playing unalloyed joie de vivre. A must–have DVD for Beethoven lovers. A new CD from Solo Musica (SM147) contains the Chopin Third Sonata Opus 58, recorded in 2010, and a well deserved reissue of Höhenrieder’s extraordinary 1986 traversal of the Liszt Sonata in B minor. Her playing exhibits an amazing transparency and flawless articulation in performances that maintain high electricity and momentum. Her palette of textures and nuances in both works was respected by producer and engineer who recorded her performances faithfully. The Liszt sonata is not played as if it were the hundred metre dash, instead Höhenrieder reveals both the poetry and power of Liszt the Romantic; serene, contemplative episodes contrasting with dynamic passages of great power and authority. A unique interpretation, I believe, and certainly memorable.
The late Charles Mackerras belonged to the handful of conductors who became internationally known as the leading exponents in classical music in the late 20th century. Although there are recordings of Mahler’s First, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and Das Knaben Wunderhorn, this is his first Fourth, recorded in concert with the Philharmonia Orchestra on 16 February 2006 (Signum SIGCD219). Mackerras dusts off the score and gets straight to the point with brisk tempos and an ingenuous, optimistic outlook. The second movement is light-heartedly eerie. The third movement is extraordinarily beautiful, one of Mahler’s most expansive adagios, which could be the best on record... it certainly is for the exquisite balances and impact and timbre of the bass drum. The childlike, innocent view of heaven, sung by Sarah Fox, closes Mahler’s joyful opus. Signum Records is a privately owned company founded in 1997 and now also issues new live recordings of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Respected engineer Tony Faulkner is responsible for the exemplary recording.
In a recital given at the Edinburgh International Festival on August 28, 1960 Isaac Stern and Dame Myra Hess performed together for the last time. They played Brahms’ Second Violin Sonata, op.100; Schubert’s First D384; Howard Ferguson’s Second, op.10; and Beethoven’s Tenth, op.96. Dame Myra (1890-1965) was one of England’s best known pianists and was famous around the world. I have the feeling that she was not as flexible here as in the past. Certainly most collectors will be taking note of Testament’s new CD (SBT.1458) of this recital in order to hear the incomparable Isaac Stern. He is heard here in a period when his playing and artistry was truly second to none. In addition to his thorough understanding of Brahms, Schubert and Beethoven he had an individual expressivity and the noble dignity of his playing is unmistakably Isaac Stern at his best. This disc has found its way to my player many times over the last weeks. I like it a lot.
