Old Wine in New Bottles

In 2009, to celebrate their 111th year of making recordings, DG issued 111 years of Deutsche Grammophon in two collector’s boxes of 55 and 56 CDs containing landmark recordings from the earliest days to the (then) present. Issued as limited editions, they are still to be had… at a price! Since then they have produced more “111” collections: sets featuring the violin and the piano, as well as 11 Great Videos (a 13DVD set) – all a boon to the enquiring minds of countless collectors. The latest, 111 - The Conductors (DG 4797477, 40 CDs) offers outstanding performances from 40 maestros recorded by DG who were part of the classical music scene since the 1930s. There is absolutely no padding in this collection; each performance was critically praised in the initial release, very often becoming the recommended performance in its repertoire. Here are some: Daphnis and Chloe, etc. (Abbado); Saint-Saëns Third Symphony, etc. (Barenboim); Mahler First and Second Symphonies (Bernstein); Bruckner Eighth Symphony (Böhm); Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, Schoenberg (Boulez); Mendelssohn Fourth, etc. (Fritz Busch, 1950); Prokofiev Third Symphony, etc. (Chailly); Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphony (Y. and J. Loriod; Chung); Brahms Fourth Symphony, Kodály (de Sabata); music of Revueltas, Ginastera, etc. (Gustavo Dudamel); Johann Strauss works (Fricsay); Brahms First, Schubert Eighth (Furtwängler,1952); Beethoven Fourth and Sixth (Gardiner), Bruckner Ninth (Giulini); Mozart Violin Concertos Three, Four and Five (Gidon Kremer, Harnoncourt), Sibelius tone poems (Neeme Järvi); Mozart “Jupiter,” Schubert “Unfinished” (Jochum); Beethoven Ninth, etc. (Karajan 1962); Beethoven Symphonies Five and Seven (Carlos Kleiber); Dvořák Symphonies Eight and Nine (Kubelik).

Know that this is not a list of the best of the best, selected from the 40 CDs, but the exact contents of the first 21 discs, conductors A to K! These honoured performances with the finest orchestras, Berlin, Vienna, Boston, Leningrad, London and others, all in the best sound, are beyond any serious criticism. The other 19 include Lehmann, Leitner, Levine, Maazel, Markevitch, Mravinsky, Andris Nelsons, Ozawa, Nézet-Séguin, Rattle, Steinberg, Previn, Sinopoli, Thielemann, Minkowski, Schuricht … and the list goes on. An irresistible collection all around. See the complete track listing at deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4797477.

Deutsche Grammophon also offers special editions of selected conductors’ recordings, including Karl Böhm’s acclaimed interpretations in Karl Böhm: Great Recordings 1953-1972 (4797021, 17 CDs). Böhm was of the old school of conductors, in the best sense of that appellation. He conducted with a firm beat and, as far as I’ve seen or heard, was not inclined to romanticize. Included is a cross section of powerful performances, mostly with the Berlin Philharmonic with whom he had a close working relationship over the years: Beethoven, Symphonies 3, 5, 7 and the Missa Solemnis; Brahms Symphonies 1 and 2; Haydn The Seasons; lots of Mozart; Mahler Kindertotenlieder and four Rückert Lieder (Fischer-Dieskau); and lots of Richard Strauss. Just as one would expect. Also of interest is a 40-minute rehearsal followed by the complete performance of Schubert’s Ninth Symphony (Berlin, 1963).

As an aside, consider Böhm’s business-like tempi in Wagner’s Ring as heard in the 1966/67 live recordings from Bayreuth issued a few years ago, re-mastered on Decca (4782367, 14 CDs). It has been argued that Böhm’s faster-than-usual, objective tempi are a downside, but listening with a different attitude can lead to a different appreciation. Incidentally, Birgit Nilsson fans may know that of all her recordings including the Solti, she considered this to be her finest Brunnhilde.

It is a fact of life that in the performing arts, fame can be and often is short-lived for instrumentalists, vocalists and conductors alike. Appian Recordings has gone to a lot of search and research to issue a 2CD set of pianist Leff Pouishnoff – The Complete 78-rpm and selected Saga LP recordings (APR2022 aprrecordings.co.uk). I’m sure that some aficionados recognize the name but I did not. Leff Pouishnoff (1891-1959) was born in Odessa, the birthplace of so many famous names in the classical hierarchy. The parents of George Gershwin and Bob Dylan also migrated from Odessa. Pouishnoff studied composition at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov and Glazunov, graduating in 1910 with a Gold Medal. In 1911 he toured with violinist Leopold Auer. The Russian Revolution forced him into exile and he went to Persia, where he became the first pianist ever to tour that country. He went to Paris but soon moved to London where he did rather well, giving five recitals in Wigmore Hall during February and March 1921 playing Bach, Rachmaninov and Scriabin to great acclaim.

From 1921 on, one can almost track the course of his life via his recordings. He played at the Proms in 1922 and recorded four sides for Columbia that are to be heard on the first disc of this release. Six more sides in 1923. He made his North American debut in 1923, then back at the 1923 Proms, returning to tour the United States in 1924. It was in the 1920s he earned a reputation as a Chopin player and in 1926 gave a week of Chopin recitals in Wigmore Hall. So successful were they that he repeated the series in 1927.

In May 1926, the dawn of electric recordings, Pouishnoff set down the Rosamunde Ballet music of Schubert and Glazunov’s Polka. In March 1928 for the Schubert centenary, he recorded the Sonata in G Major “Fantasie” op.78 “that displays all of Pouishnoff’s best qualities, the luminous tone, elegance and suave control.” Heard here on CD1, it does. He made his last recordings for Columbia in February and March 1929. During the Second World War he continued playing and gave concerts for the troops but in truth, his halcyon days were back in the 1920s.

After the war, it seemed that his repertoire was out of favour, to be replaced by such heavies as Artur Schnabel and Wilhelm Backhaus playing more substantial works from the Austro-German school. He returned to the studio in mid-1948, this time for HMV where he recorded five Chopin sides. In 1958 Saga Records brought him back for some Chopin and the longer Theme and Variations by Glazunov and much more. Leff Pouishnoff died in June 1959, followed less than three weeks later by his wife, who chose to die. All his 78s are here and some Saga items although there is a mystery, detailed in the booklet, concerning the whereabouts of the missing Saga tapes. Along with the Schubert Sonata, which runs 31 minutes, and the Glazunov Theme and Variations at 18 minutes, there are 33 charming short pieces by the masters, masterfully delivered. Very pleasant listening. The two-disc set is priced as one.

Decca and DG are reissuing some outstanding analog recordings in new remastered editions on Blu-ray audio discs. I should say audio disc, singular, as there is the complete Karajan Ring Cycle on one disc, and a complete Salome with Nilsson sounding shockingly real on one disc. Now we have the five Beethoven Piano Concertos from Vladimir Ashkenazy with Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on a single Blu-ray disc packaged with three newly remastered regular CDs. These acknowledged performances and recordings enjoy a new reality, particularly on the +Blu-ray edition (Decca 4832579, 3 CDs & 1 Blu-ray disc).

In the 1930s and into the 40s, two high profile conductors shared the attention of the record-buying public in the United States: Arturo Toscanini and Leopold Stokowski. Both men and their orchestras, the NBC Symphony in New York and the Philadelphia, were then under contract to RCA Victor, which profited either way. Both men had their disciples and a free-bowing performance by the rapturous Stokowski could not be mistaken for the taut Toscanini. For Stokowski, the printed score was a point of departure. His recordings were in demand around the world, as were Toscanini’s. The Disney 1940 avant-garde film Fantasia with Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra recording (most of) the soundtrack widened his reputation and certainly attracted newcomers to the classics.

As it had been quite some time since I listened to a Stokowski performance, the arrival of a new compilation was unexpected and welcome. Leopold Stokowski: Complete Decca Recordings (4832504, 23 CDs) contains the recordings made in Europe from 1962 to 1973. Orchestras are The New Symphony Orchestra of London, the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the New Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic, the Hilversum Radio Philharmonic and l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. It was said that Bruno Walter could make any orchestra sound like the Vienna Philharmonic and similarly, a performance from anywhere conducted by Stokowski usually feels like a performance conducted by Stokowski. His performances of absolute music, symphonies, concertos, etc. were straightforward with variations of tempi and expression. In program music his interpretations could be and usually were flamboyant and hyperbolic. CD9 in this set contains three perfect examples: Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave and Mussorgsky’s Night on Bare Mountain in Stokowski’s own mighty orchestration, in over-the-top performances heard in Decca’s best Phase 4 sound. Phase 4 technology basically employed more than a score of microphones over the orchestra, enabling the recording engineer to spotlight instruments and re-balance the performance to suit his own taste, presenting an obvious dichotomy. It was the ultimate in multi-miking. The raison d’être for this collection is Stokowski plus the repertoire plus Decca’s Phase 4 sound. A partial list is in the set mentioned below but check amazon.co.uk for the complete track listing.

The 23rd disc is Leopold Stokowski A Memoir with voices of Stokowski, John Georgiadis, Hugh Maguire, Gervase de Peyer and other colleagues, plus excerpts of the recordings. An interesting section is Leopold Stokowski Remembers Gustav Mahler. Thomas Martin Recalls Auditioning for Leopold Stokowski has the double bass player recounting his audition for the Houston Symphony when Stokowski was their music director. An unusual and nice way to conclude the collection.

In 2014 Decca issued a 41CD set, Phase 4 Stereo Concert Series (4786769), that contained a broad collection of singular performances of some familiar standard repertoire and more, featuring international artists such as Sean Connery, Ivan Davis, Eileen Farrell, Ruggiero Ricci, Marilyn Horne and Robert Merrill. Conductors include Bernard Herrmann, Stanley Black, Edward Downes, Antal Doráti, Arthur Fiedler, Anatole Fistoulari, Jean Fournet, Henry Lewis, Lorin Maazel, Erich Leinsdorf, Charles Munch, Eric Rogers, Miklós Rózsa and Leopold Stokowski. There are nine Stokowski CDs that also appear in the above collection; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique, Pictures at an Exhibition, Scheherazade, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth and the 1812 Overture, Glazunov’s Violin Concerto with Silvia Marcovici, a collection of Bach transcriptions, excerpts from Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and suites from Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty ballets.

Well, this collection is certainly a curate’s egg, “Good in Parts.” Purists will certainly abhor most of it but others may simply revel in it.

Karl Böhm was one of the very last great conductors in the German tradition that had been omnipresent in the music world. No longer with us are the likes of Clemens Krauss, Erich Kleiber, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Felix Weingartner and Bruno Walter. DG has assembled a collection of his recordings under the title Karl Böhm The Operas with the subtitle Complete Vocal Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon (4798358, 70 CDs boxed with a 144-page 190mm-square book). The enormity of this collection of incomparable music-making is overwhelming and one might wonder what Karl Böhm was all about.

He was born in Graz, Austria on August 28, 1894 and after receiving a degree in law he attended the conservatory there, later enrolling at the conservatory in Vienna. He became an assistant repetiteur at Graz in 1917 and by 1920 he was the senior director of music there. In 1921 he was engaged by Bruno Walter at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In 1927 he was appointed chief music director in Darmstadt. A few more appointments later and in 1933 he conducted Tristan und Isolde in Vienna. He became director of the Semper Opera in Dresden succeeding Fritz Busch in 1934, remaining in there until 1942. He conducted the first performances of two Richard Strauss operas, Die schweigsame Frau in 1935 and in 1938 Daphne, of which he is the dedicatee. In 1938 he premiered in the Salzburg Festival with Don Giovanni, becoming a permanent guest conductor there.

After 1948 he conducted Don Giovanni at La Scala and from 1950 to 1953 directed the German season in Buenos Aires. In 1957 he made his debut at the Met in New York with Don Giovanni and became a favorite of Rudolph Bing. At the Met he directed 262 performances, including many premieres. He leaned towards Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner and Verdi, and certainly had a special connection to the music by his close friend, Richard Strauss. Böhm made his debut in Bayreuth in 1962 with Tristan und Isolde and directed performances there until 1970, and from 1965 to 1967 he conducted Der Ring des Nibelungen, Wieland Wagner’s last production. Böhm continued conducting and recording and in his last years he was associated with the London Symphony, with which he had an affectionate relationship and which had named him LSO president. He was still recording with them in June 1980 about one year before his death on August 14, 1981 in Salzburg.

Included in this edition are operas by Beethoven, Berg, Mozart, Richard Strauss and Wagner, plus two and a half CDs of Böhm speaking in German about his life, etc.

Soloists in top voice include Martti Talvela, Peter Schreier, Anton Dermota, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Fritz Wunderlich, Evelyn Lear, Gundula Janowitz, Birgit Nilsson, Sherrill Milnes, Hans Hotter, Gwyneth Jones, Christa Ludwig, Hilde Güden… and the list goes on.

Yes, it is an expensive set but the ROI (return on investment) is very high.

The Berlin of 1946 was a war-ravaged city divided into four sectors according to the nationality of the occupying force. The American, the Russian, the British and the French sectors each had their own restrictions and protocols. The situation was the setting for countless successful novels and films then and since. In the midst of the poverty and homeless refugees, Berliners turned to music and the performing arts. “Every shed and every garage might serve as a little temple of the Muses,” ex-POW Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recalled. “The plentiful supply reflected the demand. Every evening queues formed outside the box offices (where people had to queue in spite of everything).” The American radio station, the RIAS, formed a new symphony orchestra, the RIAS Symphony Orchestra. They gave their first concert on December 12, 1948. On the podium was a young Hungarian conductor, Ferenc Fricsay. In 1956 the orchestra renamed themselves the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and in 1993, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Berlin. Ferenc Fricsay: The Mozart Radio Broadcasts (DG 4798275, 4 CDs in a hardcover book) includes recordings from Deutschlandradio (1951-52).

The repertoire: Symphonies 1, 4-9, 23 and 27, the Bassoon Concerto K191, Sinfonia Concertante K297b, Cassation K63, Serenade K375, Ein Musikalischer Spass K522, Serenata Notturna K239 and Divertimenti K247 and 334. Also Sull’aria from Le Nozze di Figaro (with Suzanne Danco and Rita Streich) and In quali accessi, o Numi … Mi trade quell’alma ingrate  from Don Giovanni (Suzanne Danco).

From the very first bars I knew this was something special and during the afternoon played through all four discs. It barely matters that the pristine sound is mono. These are performances not for critiquing but for simple joy.

Last year some important omnibus editions did not reach us before the closing date of the December/January issue. Here are three outstanding productions of lasting interest that missed the boat: Wagner’s Ring Cycle conducted by Karajan on one Blu-ray audio disc from DG; The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon of the Amadeus Quartet and The Complete Piano Concerto Recordings of Vladimir Ashkenazy on Decca.

Karajan’s recordings of the Ring’s four parts were made one a year, beginning in August, September and December, 1966 with Die Walküre. Rhinegold followed in December 1967 and Siegfried was made in December 1968 and February 1969, followed by Götterdämmerung that October. The venue was the much vaunted Jesus-Christus Kirche in Berlin. Longtime associate Otto Gerdes was the executive producer and the ubiquitous Gunther Hermanns was the recording engineer. The LPs of Walküre appeared in 1967 with Gotterdammerung completing the cycle in 1970. In 1998 DG issued a boxed CD edition of the complete cycle in their Original Image re-processing. Now there is a third incarnation complete on one High Fidelity, Pure Audio Blu-ray disc (DG 4797354, slip-cased with a 400-page hardcover book). Let it be understood that the original recordings were all analog, made on magnetic tape. Certainly, there would have been backup tapes and microphones at various positions. Dynamic range was some 20db less than digital. Fifty years later audio engineers have newer technology at their fingertips that can, in the right hands, reveal but not create hidden information from the originals, resulting in “lossless high fidelity.” Does all this newer technology allow us to hear anything better than on the earlier Original Image CDs? What I had mainly hoped for was a more solid bass line on a firmer footing. Unencumbered by old technology the presence in the voices and exchanges between the protagonists are more convincing and the balances between instruments, top to bottom, is exemplary. Karajan paid meticulous attention to details, including the interaction between the characters to one another and the situation. As an example, in the first act of Walküre, as Siegmund, Jon Vickers’ declaration of love, Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond to Gundula Janowitz as Sieglinde begins very quietly, at first gently intimate before becoming quite impassioned, leading to her spontaneous response, Du bist der Lenz. Between them they now set in motion fateful events that set up the rest of the cycle right to the very end. One of the great scenes in opera. This disc displays and names an abundance of access points so that any scene, vocal or orchestral can be easily queued. If you wish you can start at the first note of Rheingold and finish at the last note of Götterdämmerung. Already very familiar with these performances, I am thrilled with the superiority of this transparent new edition.

It was a sad time for the music world when the Amadeus Quartet dissolved in 1987 after 40 years as one of, if not the world’s most esteemed string quartets. Their history is unique and is sure to remain so. Three of the four came together in an internment camp in Britain during WW2. Being Jewish, violinists Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel and Peter Schidlof left Vienna for England after the Anschluss and, as aliens, were interned lastly on the Isle of Man. After their release they studied, free of charge, with violin teacher Max Rostal who introduced them to cellist Martin Lovett. Schidlof changed his violin for a viola and in 1947 the Brainin Quartet was formed. They changed their name to the Amadeus Quartet for their premiere concert in London’s Wigmore Hall on January 10, 1948. Upon the death of Schidlof in 1987, the surviving members simply disbanded.

DG honours this 30-year anniversary with a complete edition of all the recordings that they had made, plus all that Decca had, together with the early recordings that the quartet had made for Westminster: Amadeus Quartet – The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon (DG4797589, 70 CDs with a 170-page full-colour book). As some works were recorded more than once over the years, we can make comparisons for ourselves and look for any changes in their overall interpretations or execution. For instance there are three performances of Beethoven’s Third Razumovsky Quartet, 1959 (Hanover), 1983 (Wigmore Hall) and 1987 (St. Barnabas, for Decca): one work, three dates and venues, two recording philosophies. How about four different Mozart Hunt Quartet recordings: 1951, 1956, 1963 and 1982. The quartet excelled in the Austro-German repertoire so we find much Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. Favourites include works by Bruckner, Dvořák, Smetana and Tchaikovsky. Guest luminaries heard with the group include Cecil Aronowitz, Christoph Eschenbach, Karl Leister, William Pleeth, Andreas Brau, Lothar Koch, Gervase de Peyer, Walter Klein, Rainer Zepperitz, Gerd Seiffert, Clifford Curzon, Emil Gilels and Benjamin Britten. Unexpected entries include Sir Ernest MacMillan’s String Quartet in C Minor and Two Sketches on French Canadian Airs recorded in Canada’s centennial year. The 70th disc contains some surprises. If I tell you now they won’t be a surprise.

Vladimir Ashkenazy has been performing for more than 65 years and is best known as a pianist, but he is also a world-class conductor. I recall around 1990 chatting over dinner with a well-informed gentleman from Decca and asking him when Decca will finish their Ashkenazy/Shostakovich symphony cycle. “Never,” he replied, explaining that a soloist cannot become a credible conductor to the record buying public. It just won’t happen. Years later Decca issued a box set of the 15 Shostakovich symphonies with Ashkenazy that is still an active title. Also an outstanding cycle of the Rachmaninov symphonies with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Ashkenazy is much more than a pianist. He is a superb musician and this shows in his playing.

Is there a pianist other than Ashkenazy on whom his or her record company has expended the time and money to record four complete versions of the Beethoven concertos? At this moment I can’t think of one. All four, including a DVD cycle are included in Ashkenazy The Complete Piano Concerto Recordings (Decca 4831752, 46 CDs, 2 DVDs, hardbound 115-page book). As with the Amadeus set above, comparing versions is a collector’s pleasure. As well as the Beethovens, this set is a music-lover’s treasure chest including, in alphabetical order, the following concerti: Bach BWV1052, Bartók complete, both Brahms, both Chopin, the 27 Mozart, the five Prokofiev, the complete Rachmaninov twice, all Schumann’s concerted works, both Scriabin and, of course, the Tchaikovsky First. There are lots of orchestral fillers and some solo recordings. On several of the concertos he also conducts from the keyboard. Other conductors include Solti, Mehta, Haitink, Kertész, Previn, Fistoulari, Maazel, Kondrashin, Zinman and Schmidt-Isserstedt. The two DVDs contain concerts from the Royal Festival Hall during March and April 1974 broadcast and recorded by the BBC. The London Philharmonic is conducted by Bernard Haitink in inspired performances of, you’ve guessed it, Beethoven’s five piano concertos together with the overtures Leonore 2 and 3 and Egmont. Dated video but well worth enjoying.

Doremi has, over recent years, issued an impressive resurrection of live performances of the young Martha Argerich from her earliest years. The latest is the second evening of a joint recital with the great violinist Ruggiero Ricci presented in Leningrad in 1961. The first from April 21 was issued by Doremi two years ago and here (Leningrad Recital II, DHR-8053) we have the following evening, April 22. Listening to this CD reminded me of what collecting recordings is all about. It’s about the ability to, at will, re-experience such sublime music-making as this that otherwise can be remembered only by those present or hearing the broadcast. Recordings such as this can resurrect, as they say, “immortal performances.” Not virtual reality but the next best thing. At this time Argerich was 19 years old, well before she won the Chopin competition in Warsaw and became an international celebrity. Ricci, at 42, was already well recognized as one of the leading violinists of the century. The result of two compatible intellects at work – at play – is evident. Their complete absorption into the music is profound. Quite extraordinary. You would need to hear it to appreciate it. Here is the repertoire with a comment or two. The Bach Chaconne BWV1004. Beethoven’s First Violin Sonata Op12, No1; the Franck Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major; Bartók Six Romanian Folk Dances Sz56; Paganini, Introduction and Variations for solo violin on Nel cor più non mi sento from La bella molinara by Paisiello and finally Tartini Devil’s Trill Sonata. The Bach Chaconne is astonishingly majestic while the Paganini is humanly impossible to play… except that he does so, easily and with style. There are delights in every track. The very natural, textured recording was made by Leningrad Radio in the Great Philharmonic Hall. There’s some audience shuffling but the performances, all 82 minutes, shine through.

Many of us continue to be thrilled by the Bolshoi Ballet DVDs and Blu-rays that have arrived from their distributor over the last couple of years. The latest is The Art of David Hallberg at the Bolshoi (BelAir Classics BAC617, 2 DVDs). A performance of Auber’s Marco Spada choreographed by Pierre Lacotte from 2014 is slip-cased with the now ubiquitous Sleeping Beauty choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich from 2011. Both ballets are still available separately. Well worth owning, Marco Spada is a dashing performance, but you may not want another copy of Sleeping Beauty.

Leonard Bernstein - The Remastered Edition (100 CDs)
Sony 541714

In her 1998 DVD Reaching for the Note, Susan Lacey recalls the way the moment felt. “It is very rare that someone dies and the whole community seems to be part of that event. It’s as if everything else stopped and for that moment the world turned around that event.”

Such was the case in New York City following the death of Leonard Bernstein on October 14, 1990. When the funeral cortege left from the Dakota, his apartment on the Upper West Side, there was already a large gathering across 72nd Street to pay homage and see him off. “There was this phalanx of motorcycle cops and police cars leading this enormous cortege out to Brooklyn’s Greenwood cemetery… When we came out on the Brooklyn side of the East River there was a big construction project and in spite of all the cops and motorcycles and police cars and everything, we came to a dead halt. And on the side were all these hard hats and mothers of various sorts with baby carriages and Orthodox Jews who just happened to be passing by. A perfect cross-section of New York City. And finally the sirens began again as this slowly started to move out, all these people! I especially remember the hard hats all waved and took off their hats and said. ‘Goodbye Lenny, goodbye.’ I can’t think of anything, anything, in the world that would have pleased Lenny more than that.”

Leonard Bernstein – The Remastered Edition does not pretend to be in any way encyclopedic, but it gives profound insight into every facet of his musical life. New York City claimed him but Bernstein, conductor, composer, pianist, educator, author and music lecturer was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on August 25, 1918, the eldest of three children of Ukrainian-Jewish parents. Soon after, they moved to Boston where father Samuel built up a prosperous business in hairdressing supplies. Samuel expected, naturally, that his elder son would go to college, return and take over the business. However, when Leonard was only ten, cousin Lillian’s unwanted upright piano was moved into their parlour and the die was cast. From the first note he knew that music was his calling. He could play by ear the tunes he had heard and improvise freely. At 13, he composed a piano concerto with a program, “a war between the Russians and the Gypsies.” At 14, after a disastrous year with two really incompetent teachers, he went to Heinrich Gebhard, one of Boston’s most respected teachers who entrusted him to his assistant, Helen Coates. She completely understood her earnest pupil’s impatience with practise and studies but instilled in him self-discipline. Bernstein credited her with being a decisive influence in his training. When he became known and successful he sent for her to be his personal secretary. She became his close friend and lifelong personal assistant and representative. Their letters are part of the Bernstein Collection in the Library of Congress.

At 16, he heard his first live concert when he went with his father to hear the Boston Symphony under Serge Koussevitzky who later became his teacher and close friend. He attended the Boston Latin School. In the summers at Sharon, Massachusetts, he produced and directed shows with the Boston Public School Orchestra with entertainments like Gilbert & Sullivan and Carmen. He graduated in 1935 and thence to Harvard, where he met many of those who would become his lifelong friends. He studied with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame Hill and Arthur Tillman Merritt. He met Aaron Copland who became a major influence. Also, Dimitri Mitropoulos asked him to play and was so exceedingly impressed that he invited Bernstein to rehearsals with the Boston Symphony. For Bernstein’s part, he was taken by the older conductor’s intellect, his unique conducting style and his personal dynamism. He graduated from Harvard in 1939 and enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied conducting with Fritz Reiner, orchestration with Randall Thompson, counterpoint with Richard Stöhr and score reading with Renée Longy Miquelle. Reiner said later that Bernstein received the only “A Grade” he ever awarded. After Curtis he spent some time in NYC, then in Boston where Koussevitzky, who was sort of a father figure, was a major influence on Bernstein’s emotional interpretations.

Shortly after he had been appointed (under Artur Rodziński) assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein made his life-changing major conducting debut. Guest conductor Bruno Walter was unable to conduct the afternoon concert of November 14, 1943. Bernstein was told early that morning that he was to conduct the concert. He had not rehearsed but stood before the orchestra and conducted the concert that was heard coast to coast on the CBS Radio Network. A star was born and Leonard Bernstein was well on his way.

In 1958, after he guest conducted major orchestras around the world, he was appointed music director of the New York Philharmonic, a post he held until 1969. After that he was seen and heard around the world conducting and teaching, making recordings and videos and, when he could make time, composing. In truth he most solemnly desired to be remembered as a composer. Consider his works for the theatre that include Peter Pan (1950), On the Town (1944), Trouble in Tahiti (1952), West Side Story (1957) and Candide (1956 rev.1973 rev.1989); also all the ballets, Fancy Free (1944), Facsimile (1946) and Dybbuk (1974), all of which are included in this unique edition of the remastered original recordings. His own works for the concert hall chosen for inclusion are the three symphonies, Jeremiah (Symphony No.1, 1942), The Age of Anxiety (Symphony No.2, 1949 rev.1965) and Kaddish (Symphony No.3 1963 rev. 1977). Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (commissioned by Woody Herman in 1949) is here with Benny Goodman. Torontonians heard this work with Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Roy Thomson Hall in the late 1980s.

Mahler figured prominently in Bernstein’s programs, recording all the symphonies except the Eighth with the Philharmonic during his tenure there. His Mahler was something to hear and see, as his demeanour suggested an enraptured identification with the composer. Mahler’s symphonies Two, Three, Six and Nine are here together with Kindertotenlieder and excerpts from Rückert Lieder both with Jennie Tourel, and Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Christa Ludwig, Walter Berry and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. In this unique collection are the works of 70 composers from A to Z in compositions ranging from marches, incidental music, ballets, encore-type pieces, chamber music, concertos, symphonies, operas, ballet music, lieder, film music, overtures, etc. Assisting artists include Isaac Stern, Lucas Foss, Adele Addison, Glenn Gould, Eileen Farrell, Andre Watts, Charles Bressler, Felicia Montealegre, Benny Goodman, Zino Francescatti, Regina Resnik, Erich Kunz, Yehudi Menuhin, Julius Baker, Judith Raskin, Judith Blegen, Robert Casadesus, Barbara Cook and others. Also heard are the Juilliard String Quartet, the Westminster Choir, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera Chorus and the Camerata Singers, among others.  

In summary: this edition is a collection of some significant recordings from 1945 to c.1976 issued by Columbia/Sony, either recently or newly remastered for the occasion. The opulent boxed set of 100 CDs in original covers includes a lavishly illustrated, 196-page hardcover book of presentation quality outlining the often complex remastering of the process. Compared to the previous releases of all the recordings that I have sampled these new incarnations are a revelation. For instance, I was disappointed in the perfunctory performance on the original release of Liszt’s Faust Symphony, also with the version on The Royal Edition. However, in this new presentation the sound is immediate and dynamic, revealing playing that is most certainly alert.

I wonder, out of the many hundreds of Bernstein performances of so many different works in the Sony archives, how particular recordings were chosen. It certainly wasn’t the choice of someone or other with little or no knowledge, nor was it a computer’s choice based on sales. For example, the performance of The Age of Anxiety decided upon is the original mono version recorded on February 27, 1950 with soloist Lucas Foss, a recording that required a lot of time and dedication to restore the less-than-mint original elements. How much easier it would have been to utilize the 1965 performance with Philippe Entremont. Regardless, it is the earlier performance that we hear on this well-chosen collection. Well-chosen indeed; there are works one would never think of including, but there is not one that I would remove.

There are complete details of every disc at arkivmusic.com and an interesting YouTube video about the project, titled Leonard Bernstein – The Art of Remastering.

Carl Schuricht was an esteemed German conductor in the first half of the 20th century. He was born in Danzig into a dynasty of organ builders in 1880 and studied at the Berlin Hochschule from 1901 to 1903. During his first years as a conductor he was to be heard in Mainz, Kreuznach, Dortmund, Goslar and Zwickau. From 1909 he conducted the Rühl Oratorio Society in Frankfurt-am-Main. From 1912 to 1944 he was the chief conductor and general music director of Wiesbaden and was also active as a guest conductor. He was a guest of the St. Louis Symphony in 1927. After 1944 he conducted and recorded with the finest orchestras, the Vienna, Berlin and London Philharmonics, the Swiss Romande Orchestra, etc. In 1956 he returned to North America with the Vienna Philharmonic on a 12-city tour, appearing in Washington, New York, Cleveland, Cincinnati and elsewhere on the East Coast, and including Toronto’s Massey Hall on November 28, winding up before the General Assembly of the UN in New York on December 10. He continued to conduct concerts and record in Europe over the next decade. He died in 1967.

Today, as time and technology march on, his name is really familiar only to collectors such as those who support the long list of his recordings at amazon.com (far fewer at amazon.ca and elsewhere). Newer editions appear from time to time, the most recent from Audite and Decca which contain interesting and engaging performances reflecting his sensitivity and understanding of the composer’s intentions.

Decca’s CDs are in a compact box, Carl Schuricht; The Complete Decca Recordings (4831643, 10 CDs). Part of this set is contained in Decca’s Original Masters five-CD set from 2004 with some interesting additions. There is a Beethoven Second taken from the 1947 78s with the Swiss Romande, produced by the renowned Victor Olof, who produced just about all the (then) state-of-the-art recordings in this collection, all of which, barring this one, sound very clean and dynamic. Another 1947 Swiss Romande recording features violinist Georg Kulenkampff and cellist Enrico Mainardi in the Brahms Double Concerto. There are many others worthy of attention leading to the tenth disc, an all-Wagner program played by the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, France’s leading orchestra at the time consisting of professors from the Conservatoire and their pupils. Heard are the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey leading into Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March from Gotterdämmerung. Heaven only knows how many times I’ve heard these but I do not recall being so affected by the poignancy of the Tristan nor the sweep of the Siegfried. There is a wealth of superior performances here, sounding clean and dynamic, so do check them out at arkivmusic.com for complete details, except recording dates.

The Audite CD (Lucerne Festival Historic Performances, Vol. 11: Carl Schuricht Conducts Mozart & Brahms, Audite 95645) finds Schuricht joined by pianist Robert Casadesus with the Swiss Festival Orchestra playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.27 in B-flat Major, K595 on August 19, 1961. Schuricht had been appearing at the Lucerne Festival since the end of 1944 when he conducted Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. He was welcomed there as “the only representative, apart from Otto Klemperer, of the generation of old German conductors still remaining active.” The Neue Zürcher Zeitung later reported that “Even if the 81-year-old has difficulty walking to his podium, his music making has remained astonishingly young. His economical, precise beat and the security and suppleness with which he effects modifications of the basic tempo give no hint of fatigue or decline of mental or emotional faculties.” The second item of concerts from Lucerne is the Brahms Second Symphony from September 8, 1962 with the Vienna Philharmonic. A listener might care to compare this performance with the 1953 version also with the Vienna Philharmonic in the above Decca set. It certainly shows what this 82-year “old German conductor” could draw from an orchestra.

I remember years ago collecting the recordings of Walter Gieseking, including the various Schubert shorter pieces that he played with such élan and affection that one would think that they were personal friends. Appian has released a four-CD set of Gieseking’s complete solo recordings of Brahms, Schubert and Schumann that he made for English Columbia in the 1950s (APR 7402, 4 CDs). After looking over the list of contents, I put disc two into my player to hear again Gieseking playing the eight Klavierstücke, Op.76; the Seven Fantasies, Op.116; the Three Intermezzi Op.117 and the six Klavierstücke Op.118. There were some disappointments but many more were just as I remembered. Perhaps the overload of hearing one piece and then another and another is not really an ideal way to judge a work, nor fair to the artists. An overload.

Of interest is that the above four works were recorded over three days, June 20 to June 22, 1950. Unlike many of his colleagues Gieseking enjoyed making recordings. He just sat there and played, so this must have been a treat for him. Also he claimed that he never practised as giving recitals was practise enough. He had the score clearly in his head. The third disc contains the two sets of Impromptus Op.90 and 142. The fourth and last disc with Schubert’s Six Moments musicaux Op.94 and Three Pieces D946 concludes with two Chopin pieces, the Berceuse Op.57 and the Barcarolle Op.60 and two Scriabin pieces, Poème Op.32 No.1 and Prélude Op.15 No.4.

A better way to clear one’s musical taste buds would be to return to disc one for Brahms’ Klavierstücke Op.119 and the Two Rhapsodies Op.79 followed by some music by Brahms’ close friend, Schumann. Here is a gentle reading of Kinderszenen Op.15 and an enthusiastic, at times passionate version of Carnaval Op.9; then a farewell with Schlummerlied, No.16 of Albumblätter Op.124 and some parting notes from the enigmatic Vogel als Prophet, No.7 of Waldszenen Op.82.

There was nothing pretentious about Gieseking’s playing. One gets the distinct feeling that he is sharing his thoughts. Simply, the art that conceals the art.