24 February 2019

Mahler Symphony no. 1 - Josef Krips (Buffalo, live 1957)





MAHLER
Symphony no. 1

VERDI
La forza del destino, overture

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
JOSEF KRIPS

Live - Buffalo, Kleinhans Hall
November 11, 1957.


In my opinion a terribly underrated conductor:
apart from the famous Mozart-Philips cycle, still a model of brilliance and good taste,
I discovered gradually his skill in the most different repertoires.
Almost nothing of what I heard from him is superfluous, many things are beautiful.

Now, about this Mahler 1 (never on CD, if I'm not wrong).
Fast and "airy" tempos, a delicious "valzerish" Trio in the Scherzo...
and a comic horn fail (obviously unwanted by the author) at the very end of the Trio,
before the reprise of "Tempo primo" (mis. 281-284).
Of course the Finale lacks in "grandeur" compared to Bernstein, Horenstein, Tennstedt, Haitink, Giulini, Kubelik and others, but the lyrical passages are rendered very well.

Hope you too will enjoy this fresh and antirethoric reading of M1.

The sound is just a bit congested in fortissimo, but overall really good considering the period.


FLAC
see comments

13 comments:

Guido said...

https://www1.zippyshare.com/v/2UQArTm7/file.html

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot!
Is this from a taped radio broadcast?

coppinsuk said...

This should be interesting to hear.

Many thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Douglas (UK)

rubingould said...

Thank you!

Grover Gardner said...

Terrific, thank you!

Anonymous said...

This sounds to me like a private tape; maybe it is the master of what WOULD have been a mono radio broadcast (there was no FM stereo in 1957; some crazies occasionally did AM/FM stereo on two stations but that PROBABLY wasn't being done in Buffalo!) It really surprised me that this was in true stereophonic sound; once somebody uploaded what was identified as a *1955* live Cleveland Orch. concert conducted by Van Beinum that was ALSO in true (albeit incredibly hissy) stereo...so strange and unexpected things exist, don't they? I had the chance to meet and interview Krips when he cond. the SF Symphony and attended many of his concerts: NOT ONE TIME did he do anything as exciting as this in SF. Perhaps he was 'past it' (I can tell you he was extremely morbidly obese by this date! When I went to his dressing room after a concert for the interview, his (quite young) wife was assisting him in removing his dress suite, and he was at first shirtless, which rather embarrassed ME but not him! I can tell you that he looked like 'the fat man in the carnival' and I was immediately concerned for his health!

No doubt about it: there are very few (almost no) existing commercial performances by Krips that are THIS hair-raising!
8H Haggis

Guido said...

All Welcome

@8H Haggis
Thanks for the personal anecdote, very nice!

Guido said...

P.S. I don't know what to answer to a "tranchant" judgment on his studio recordings and SFS concerts, but I remember very well the Testament (Brahms Strauss, Stravinsky) that made me fall in love with his "cheeky" and "jaunty" style.
Then, listening to his unconventional Bruckner, and his blood bond with the Viennese Waltz, I ended up considering him a precious outsider.

Anonymous said...

Pardon, Guido: but how is it "sharp" or "cutting" to merely say that Krips' SF concerts were 'not as exciting' as the Buffalo Mahler 1?

8H Haggis

Guido said...


I misunderstood... I thought it was an euphemism to say "not interesting at all".

Anonymous said...

Hi Guido!

Can you re-up this Krips recording, please?

Thank you very much in advance!

Chris M. (Kalvater)

Chester said...

new link, please !

Mike said...

Please re upload ! Thanx 4 sharing.