Stokowski - Seasons Greetings

This record, a 45 rpm extended play published in the early 50s,
contains 4 Christmas classics
performed by the Leopold Stokowski Symphony Orchestra:

"Pifa" from Handel's Messiah
(27 march 1947)

Ippolitov-Ivanov/Stokowski
"In the Manger",
Traditional Russian Christmas music
(27 march 1947)

Debussy-Caplet
The snow is dancing
from "Children's Corner
(2 & 30 march, 1949)

Mozart "The sleigh ride"
German Dances K. 509, no. 3
(2 march 1949)


A very short program (approx 13 min),
so I've added more Xmas music from Stoky's catalogue.



Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols (NBC SO, 19 december 1943)
Bach - Sinfonia from Christmas Oratorio (Philadelphia, 30 april, 1 may 1929)
Again Pifa from Messiah (Philadelphia, 15 march 1930)

and the 2 Nutcracker suite recorded in Philadelphia, 1926 & 1934

"Nutcracker" Suite op.71a
- Philadelphia Orchestra 03,10,18/11/26
- Philadelphia Orchestra 26/11/34

Miniature Overture (Ouverture miniature)
March (Marche)
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Danse de la fée Dragée)
Trepak - Russian Dance (Danse russe).
Arabian Dance (Danse arabe)
Chinese Dance (Danse chinoise)
Dance of the Flutes (Danse des Mirlitons)
Waltz of the Flowers (Valse des fleurs)


tt: 1.17.31


FLAC (the same details written above are included in the folder)

Mahler 5 - Maderna (Philadelphia, 1971)

Not everyone shows appreciation for Maderna's work as a Mahlerian conductor:
and certainly here, who expect that everything written by the composer
must be 100% respected, will find many questionable solutions.

But in some passages I don't find comparisons with anyone else
(apart from Scherchen, perhaps)
and they really leave you breathless.

(one for all - II mov, 6:48 - 7:15)

Judge yourself, of course,
but it's certain that this completely anti-routine reading
can't leave you indifferent.
As always, your comments and opinions are welcome.


MAHLER
Symphony no. 5

Philadelphia Orchestra
BRUNO MADERNA

Live in Philadelphia - november 4, 1971

FLAC - separated tracks

Fritz Reiner conducts Bartók and Kodály - Live 1960

On request,
here's another "definitive reupload" on Mediafire.


Fritz Reiner conducts Bartók and Kodály:
three masterworks non included in the "official" discography
of the great hungarian conductor.
No Chicago, no Pittsburgh, no NBC...  but the New York Philharmonic.

And excellent performances:
in particular The Miracolous Mandarin is lavish,
hot, brutal, almost "pornophonic".



Kodály
Peacock Variations
march 12, 1960

Bartók
The Miracolous Mandarin, suite
march 12, 1960

Piano Concerto n. 1
(Rudolf Serkin, piano)
march 19, 1960


New York Philharmonic Orchestra
FRITZ REINER

FLAC (scans included)

Beethoven Missa Solemnis NYPO Walter live 1948

All right, another Missa Solemnis.
Then I'll stop for a while, I swear...

("for a while", on the other hand, is a very vague concept...)

But it's not my fault if Toscanini, Szell and even Walter have made
such beautiful and important readings of this monumental score.

Maybe the soloists are not up to some previously uploaded recordings,
but NYPO and Walter are absolutely at their best.

Also, Beethoven's year is coming.

BEETHOVEN

Missa Solemnis, op. 123

Westminster Choir

New York Philharmonic

BRUNO WALTER

Live - April 18, 1948

FLAC (separated tracks)

complete scans included

Mozart 39, 40 & 41 Berlin State SO Richard Strauss

"Definitive" reupload


MOZART
Symphony no. 39
Symphony no. 40
Symphony no. 41

Berlin State Symphony Orchestra
RICHARD STRAUSS

recordings: 1926 (nn. 39 & 41), 1927 (n. 40)
(No DG or Koch... Direct transfers from 78rpm)

FLAC (12 separated tracks)

Shostakovich Violin Concerto n. 2 Oistrakh (Ormandy and Martinon)

SHOSTAKOVICH
Violin Concerto n. 2, op. 129

DAVID OISTRAKH, violin

(two live performances)


London Symphony Orchestra
EUGENE ORMANDY (november 17, 1967)


Orchestre National de l'ORTF
JEAN MARTINON (october 10, 1971)


Two little known live performances starring "King David",
the first and the greatest performer of this Concerto.
Composed in spring 1967, it is also the last concert for soloist and orchestra written by Shostakovich, as 60th birthday gift for its dedicatee, David Oistrakh. Premiered unofficially in Bolshevo, near Moscow (13 September 1967) and officially on 26 September in Moscow, of course by Oistrakh himself (with the Moscow Philharmonic under Kirill Kondrashin).


FLAC

Stokowski live in Turin 1955

JACQUES IBERT
Féerique
   

MORTON GOULD
Latin-American Symphonette
     

MANUEL DE FALLA
El amor brujo (*)
(Oralia Dominguez, contralto)
         

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Symphony no. 5



Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI
LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI

Live - 6 & 8 (*) may 1955


Stokowski conducted other works during the two evenings (details in the folder),
but the recordings apparently did not survive.




FLAC & details included

Shostakovich 11 - BBCSO Sargent 1958

SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. 11 in G minor, op. 103 "The Year 1905"

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sir Malcolm Sargent

London, Royal Festival Hall
January 22, 1958


The Symphony was premiered on 30 October 1957,
by the USSR Symphony Orchestra (conductor Natan Rakhlin).
This is the 1st performance outside USSR: the US Premiere was given
by Stokowski and the Houston SO a few months later, on 7 April 1958.


FLAC
separated tracks

Bruno Walter plays and conducts Mozart - NBC Symphony (1939-1940)

On request, here's three rare NBC recordings by Bruno Walter.

Like in the previous Wagner post, we have the opportunity to listen Walter as a pianist
(as in the old EMI version of the same Concerto).

Nice sound quality for 1939 / 1940.


FLAC + complete scans

Beethoven - Missa Solemnis - Szell, live 1967

After Mozart's Requiem / Bruckner's Te Deum
and Verdi's Requiem
this Missa Solemnis concludes an ideal CD triptych
dedicated to great choral works
never recorded in studio by Szell.

As in the previous cases,
a very personal reading of absolute importance.
The fast tempos (tt 76 minutes) give the Gloria and the Credo
a bump and a momentum of great impact,
but also the Sanctus succeeds magnificently
(with a very good violin solo in the Benedictus).

Last but not least,
Robert Shaw's imprint on the choir is crystal clear.
Fortunately, the sound quality is also very good.




BEETHOVEN

Missa Solemnis in D major, op.123

Sara Mae Endich, sopran
Florence Kopleff, alto
Ernst Haefliger, tenor
Ezio Flagello, bass

Robert Shaw, Chorus Master
Cleveland Orchestra & Chorus
GEORGE SZELL


February 2-4, 1967
Severance Hall, Cleveland (live)


FLAC
(separated tracks)

Beethoven - Piano Concerto no. 1 - Gulda (Hindemith & Böhm)

BEETHOVEN
Piano Concerto No.1 in C, op.19

Friedrich Gulda, pf

Rias Sinfonie-Orchester
Paul Hindemith
(Live, 1957)

Wiener Philharmoniker
Karl Böhm
(Studio, 1951)

FLAC

Berlioz, Bernstein, Schumann - Bernstein (live 1967)

BERLIOZ
Le Carnaval romain, overture

BERNSTEIN
Chichester Psalms

SCHUMANN
Symphony no. 2 in C, op. 61

(chorus master Giulio Bertola)
Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Roma della Rai

LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Roma - June 5, 1967


FLAC

Stokowski conducts Haydn

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN


Symphony no. 45 “Farewell”
American Symphony Orchestra

(NY Town Hall - March 1, 1972) §


Symphony no. 53 “L’Impériale”
Stokowski Symphony Orchestra
(NY Manhattan Center - May 25, 1949) *



Symphony no. 60 “Il distratto”
American Symphony Orchestra

(NY Carnegie Hall - January 19, 1970) §

LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI, conductor

Live (§) & Studio (*)

FLAC

Bartók - The Miraculous Mandarin, suite - Boulez, Kértesz, Stokowski, Abbado

Bartók
The Miraculous Mandarin, suite


Orchester des Südwestfunks (Now SWR Baden-Baden und Freiburg)
PIERRE BOULEZ
(October 18, 1959)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
ISTVAN KERTESZ
(September 26 or 28, 1968)

American Symphony Orchestra
LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI
(May 19, 1969)

Wiener Philharmoniker
CLAUDIO ABBADO
(Salzburg Festival, August 23, 1981)


FLAC

Schoenberg - Gurrelieder - Josef Krips (live 1969)

Arnold Schoenberg
GURRELIEDER

GUNDULA JANOWITZ (Tove), sp
CHRISTA LUDWIG (Waldtaube), ms
MURRAY DICKIE (Klaus-Narr), tn
ARTURO SERGI (Waldemar), tn
HERBERT LACKNER (Bauer), bs
EVA PILZ, Sprecher

WIener Schubertbund Männerchor
Chorus Viennensis
Gemischter Chor der Wiener Singakademie

Wiener Symphoniker
JOSEF KRIPS

Wiener Konzerthaus - June 10, 1969

FLAC

Bernstein and NYPO in Venice 1959

Bernstein and NYPO in Venice 1959, realized as not commercial LP

Recorded at Teatro La Fenice during the NYPO/Bernstein european tour (including two famous concerts in Moscow), finally in good sound.

MOZART

Figaro ouv (excerpts) & Piano Concerto n. 17 (II & III mov)

plus Bernstein speech about Mozart.

FLAC

RT 034 Toscanini in Den Haag 1938

CHERUBINI
Anacréon Overture

DEBUSSY
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

DUKAS
L'apprenti sorcier

HAYDN
Symphony No. 101 "The Clock"


Bonus: Debussy rehearsal


Het Residentie-Orkest Den Haag
ARTURO TOSCANINI
March 23, 1938

FLAC

Mozart, Beethoven - Oistrakh, Giulini live 1968 & 1974

MOZART
Violin Concerto n. 4 in D, KV 218

Orchestra Sinfonica
di Torino della Rai

DAVID OISTRAKH
violin & conductor

LIVE - October 25, 1968



BEETHOVEN
Violin Concerto in D, op. 61

DAVID OISTRAKH, violin

Wiener Symphoniker

CARLO MARIA GIULINI

LIVE - May 25, 1974


FLAC

Prokofiev, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky - Romeo - Celibidache

Another OOP CD, published in the '90s.


The chronology of the orchestra shows these
as the only pieces performed on April 4th,
although the overall duration is too short for a symphonic concert.

The presence of the public is not perceived in any way
(no noise and no applause).
Moreover the sound is extremely good,
much better than the standards of Italian radio broadcasts in the early '60s.


Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, op. 64 (excerpts)
Berlioz: Romeo & Juliet, op. 17 (excerpts)
Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet, Fantasy-Overture


Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della Rai
SERGIU CELIBIDACHE

April 4, 1960


FLAC
Scans & Details included



NOTE: Shostakovich 5&9 Celibidache
New link: updated & available.

Stokowski - The first Wide range & Stereo recordings 1931-32

A CD published in the late '90s.
(I don't know if the content has been reprinted by other labels).


BERLIOZ
Le Carnaval romain

WEBER/BERLIOZ
Invitation to the Dance

MENDELSSOHN
Scherzo from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

WAGNER
Prelude & Liebestod
from "Tristan und Isolde"

SCRIABIN
Poeme de Feu, op. 60
(two excerpts in stereo)


MUSORGSKIJ
Pictures at an Exhibition
(two excerpts in stereo and two in mono)

Bell Telephone Laboritories, 1931-32


FLAC
(scans & tracklist included)

Bruno Walter conducts & plays Wagner

Although all these live recordings are quite rare
and certainly valuable,
the big reason of interest are the "Wesendonck Lieder".

In fact, Walter is not on the podium: he sits at the piano
accompanying one of the greatest Wagnerian singers
of the XX Century, Kirsten Flagstad.


WAGNER
Siegfried Idyll

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE
Prelude & Liebestod
Margaret Marshall, sp

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
BRUNO WALTER

July 14, 1953  (misdated on the booklet)



PARSIFAL
Prelude

New York Philharmonic Orchestra
BRUNO WALTER
March 23, 1952


Wesendonck-Lieder

Kirsten Flagstad, sp
BRUNO WALTER, pf

New York, Carnegie Hall
March 23, 1952


FLAC
(scans included)

Beethoven 9 NYPO Rodzinski, live 1946

BEETHOVEN
Symphony no. 9

Dorothy Kirsten
Nan Merriman
Donald Dame
Todd Duncan

Westminster Choir
(John Finley Williamson, chorus master)
New York Philharmonic
ARTUR RODZINSKI

Live - NY, Carnegie Hall
April 14, 1946


An important addition to Rodzinski's discography,
with particular reference to his "golden age" with the NYPO.

Here you can listen an extremely fast (60min)
and "clean" reading of the Ninth Symphony;
perhaps not particularly inspired,
although not "violent" like the last Toscanini performances.

In particular, sometimes it's refreshing to listen to the Adagio
in delicate and flowing versions like this
rather than in the more usual "very-slow-and-over-expressive" ones.

The sound is very good for a mid 40s live and the orchestra is at its best.

FLAC

Verdi - Requiem - Szell, Cleveland 1968

GIUSEPPE VERDI
Messa di Requiem

Gabriella Tucci, soprano
Janet Baker, alto
Pierre Duval, tenor
Martti Talvela, bass

Cleveland Orchestra & Chorus
GEORGE SZELL


Live, Severance Hall
Cleveland - february 5, 1968


Like Mozart's Requiem and Bruckner Te Deum,
another great choral work never "officially" recorded by Szell;
available for a short period in the 90s only on a Melodram CD (OOP, of course).

FLAC

Mitropoulos conducts Copland, Barber etc NYPO 1952-58

AARON COPLAND
Appalachian Spring, suite

ROBERT SHERWOOD
Introduction and Allegro

ALBERTO GINASTERA
Creole Dance

MOZART CAMARGO GUARNIERI
Prologo y Fuga

SAMUEL BARBER
Medea's Meditadion
and Dance of Vengeance, op. 23a

New York Philharmonic
DIMITRI MITROPOULOS



Some Mitropoulos rarities: live recordings 1952-1958


Flac & scans with details

Schoenberg, Webern, Hindemith NYPO Mitropoulos

SCHOENBERG
Erwartung, op. 17  (Dorothy Dow, soprano)


WEBERN
Passacaglia, op. 1


HINDEMITH
"Die Harmone der Welt", Symphony


New York Philharmonic
DIMITRI MITROPOULOS

nov 18, 1951
jan 1, 1960
oct 25, 1953

FLAC (complete scans & details included)

Mitropoulos, Rubinstein & NYPO

Another AS Disc, of course OOP.

Flac - Complete scans included.

Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem - Wiener Philharmoniker, Walter (1953)

JOHANNES BRAHMS

Tragic Overture, op. 81

Ein Deutsches Requiem, op. 54

Irmgard Seefried, sp
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, br


Edinburg Choral Union
Wiener Philharmoniker
BRUNO WALTER

Live - Edinburgh Festival
September 8, 1953



EDR is available on a CD Andromeda,
but here you can find also the Tragic Overture
performed during the same concert.

Brisk tempos as in the NYPO studio recording
realized by Walter the following year (20, 28 & 29 december 1954).
So, the overall duration is just over 79 minutes.

Flac

Karel Ancerl live in Köln 1970

Brahms
Variations on a Theme by Haydn Op. 56a

Dvorák
Violin Concerto in A minor Op. 53
(Saschko Gawriloff, violin)

Janácek
Sinfonietta


Köln Radio Symphony Orchestra (WDR)
KAREL ANCERL

Live - Köln
February 20, 1970

 
A complete concert (72 min) in excellent stereo sound.

Flac


Note.
"Beecham in Helsinki" is available again: updated link (may 25).
See the comment list in the post.

Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde - NYPO Rodzinsky 1944

Considering also the previous posts dedicated to Rodzinsky in New York,
it seems natural to continue the series with this CD (of course OOP).

Preceded by Mengelberg (1929, 1930) and Walter (1934, 1941),
Rodzinski was the third to conduct this work
on the podium of the NYPO (16, 17, 19 november 1944).

In New York he also conducted the Symphonies nn. 1&2 and the Gesellenlieder,
but unfortunately no recordings of those concerts seems to survive.

The audience applauds at the end of each Movement / Lied.
What to say? I do not know.
Maybe that night the MET was closed and the opera fanatics,
wandering around, had reached Carnegie Hall.
One moment... no, a concert at 3 o'clock, saturday afternoon.
Well, everything explains itself.

It remains only to imagine
how a casual audience could have properly appreciated what was being proposed,
but perhaps is better to ignore it and concentrate on listening.

CD ripped in Flac, scans included

Wagner - Monteux

"Standard Hour"
complete broadcast
with announcements.

WAGNER

Tannhauser, overture
Lohengrin, prelude I
Lohengrin, "Elsa's dream"
Die Walküre, "Du bist der lenz"
Die Walküre, Magic fire music
Tristan und Isolde, Prelude & Liebestod


Helen Traubel, sp
San Francisco Symphony
PIERRE MONTEUX

Live - April 22, 1951
Richmond (California), New Memorial Auditorium

Let's stay on Wagner

a little bit more.

Flac

Wagner - Meistersinger - Toscanini 1937

 

WAGNER
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg


Hans Sachs  Hans Hermann Nissen
Eva  Maria Reining
Pogner  Herbert Alsen
Jago  Herbert Alsen
Beckmesser  Hermann Wiedemann
Stolzing  Henk Noor
David  Richard Sallaba
Magdalena  Kerstin Thorborg
Walther  Charles Kullmann
Kothner  Viktor Madin
Vogelgesang  Georg Maikl
Nachtigall  Rolf Telasko
Zorn  Anton Dermota
Eisslinger  Eduard Fritsch
Moser  Hermann Gallos
Ortel  Alfred Muzzarelli
Schwarz  Carl Bissuti
Foltz  Karl Ettl

Wiener Staatsoper Choir
Wiener Philharmoniker
ARTURO TOSCANINI

Salzburg, Festspielhaus
August 5, 1937

(Sometimes misdated August 23 or August 8; but the opera was performed on August 5, 12 & 20).


As you know, this is not a opera-oriented blog (with few exceptions).
However, this vol. 33 is a must, because it concludes a long sequence of Toscanini rarities.

In particular, all the BBC-NYPO-WP live material in my possession.

This volume is too big, so I split the archive into two files.
Considering that we're talking about
the only AT complete recording of a Wagnerian opera, it could not be missing.

Toscanini conducting is not as heavy as the download.
It is difficult for me to think about a more fresh, better, alive, fun  rendition of the second act.

I don't have the Andante box (I'm pretty sure it's an excellent restoration),
but I've listened to several attempts  to "improve" a recording that cannot be ideal.
So I prefer to present this source, more "honest" and less "interventionist".
All in all, perfectly listenable
(some things included in other volumes are certainly in worse condition).


Flac

Monteux in Copenhagen 1962

BERLIOZ
Benvenuto Cellini, overture

TCHAIKOVSKY
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
Erling Bløndal Bengtsson, cello

BRAHMS
Symphony no. 3 in F, Op. 90

DR SymfoniOrkestret
PIERRE MONTEUX

Copenhagen, Radiohusets Koncertsal
Live recording - 7 october 1962

+ Bonus - Radio interview 1959

 Very good sound.

Flac

BACH-STOKOWSKI Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 (1946)

BACH-STOKOWSKI
Matthäus-Passion BWV 244
(Abridged - Sung in English)


Olive Mae Beach, soprano
Clemence Gifford, contralto
Joseph Sullivan, tenor
Leopold Wintner, baritone
Tudor Williams, bass


Los Angeles Chorus (Chorus Master: J. Arthur Lewis)
Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra
LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI

Live, Hollywood Bowl
August 29, 1946


I couldn't post it in time for Good Friday, but it was laborious.

Never "officially" published, a concert broadcasted for the U.S. Army.

This "collage" includes all the other Stokowski known excerpts
from Bach's Johannes & Matthaus Passions (details in the folder)
and his transcription of the Chorale from Oster-Oratorium BWV 249.

Flac, cover & back with details

Mahler 5 Houston Symphony, Barbirolli Live in NY 1966

MAHLER

Symphony no. 5

Houston Symphony

SIR JOHN BARBIROLLI

Live in New York, Carnegie Hall

March 24, 1966

Like the previous "Titan" conducted by Krips,
this unpublished Fifth is also very "adventurous",
outside the box and completely different from the 1969 studio version.

Contrarily to the "routine Mahler" which unfortunately is often heard today,
this is a visionary and suffered performance rich of surprises and contrasts.


Flac

Beethoven 9 WP Szell - Live 1969

BEETHOVEN
Symphony No.9 in D minor, op.125

Gundula Janowitz
Meriel Dickinson
Ernst Haefliger
Walter Berry

Chor der Wiener Singakademie
Wiener Philharmoniker
GEORGE SZELL

Live - Musikverein, Wien
June 22, 1969


Apart from the famous studio Recording in Severance Hall (1961),
another performance by Szell (live in London, 1968) is available on a BBC Legends double CD:
here is the only other known recording of this symphony by Szell.

Ok, maybe it's not essential to have another version of the Ninth,
but I like it for many reasons.
It is meticulous in a very "Szellian way"
(1st mov: extremely well shaped and not too fast;
on the contrary the adagio is not too slow)
and everything is "merged" with the inimitable WP timbre.


Flac
(see comments)

Pergolesi - Stabat Mater BP Abbado 1968

PERGOLESI
Stabat Mater

Janowitz, Forrester
Berliner Philharmoniker
CLAUDIO ABBADO


Live recording
Salzburg - august 6, 1968




Published in 1992, attached to the italian magazine "Il sabato".

A very rare live recording
not released later on commercial CDs.


"Philharmonica di Berlino"
and "44.96" (you'll read after downloading)
leave a bit perplexed,
but the quality of the recording is more than acceptable
and the two singers are exceptional.

BTW, the real duration is 45.04.


Flac with scans included

Bruckner Te Deum & Mozart Requiem - Szell live 1968

BRUCKNER Te Deum
MOZART Requiem

Judith Raskin
Florence Kopleff
Ernst Haefliger
Thomas Paul


Cleveland Chorus & Cleveland Orchestra
George Szell

Live, Cleveland
Severance Hall - may 9, 1968



A particularly interesting concert, especially because
both works are not included in Szell's "official" discography.


Flac

Bruckner - Symphony in D minor "Die Nullte" - Van Beinum

ANTON BRUCKNER
Symphony in D minor "Die Nullte"
1869 Ed. Woess. published by Universal Edition [1924]

RUDOLF ESCHER
Musique pour l'esprit en deuil


Congertebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
EDUARD VAN BEINUM

March 13, 1955 (Bruckner)
September 1, 1951 (Escher)


Apart from a Nixa LP (Henk Spruit, 1952),
should be the oldest surviving recording of this symphony.

"Musique pour l'esprit en deuil" (1941-1943)
was first performed in 1947 by the COA under van Beinum.
A work well known in the Netherlands
and reproposed with the same orchestra by Bernard Haitink and Riccardo Chailly.


Flac & Cue

RT 032 Rossini, Mozart, Brahms BBC SO Toscanini 1938

ROSSINI
La Scala di Seta, Overture

MOZART
Symphony No.41 in C, K. 551

BRAHMS
Liebeslieder-Waltzer Op. 52 (*)

(Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson, pf)

BBC Singers (Chorusmaster Leslie Woodgate) (*)

BBC Symphony Orchestra
ARTURO TOSCANINI

Live - Queen's Hall, London
June 3, 1938

(In the second part was performed Schubert's "Great", but someone thought it well not to record it.)


WARNING: some little gaps in Mozart & Brahms

These are the last toscanini recordings with the BBC Symphony in my possession,
with a final surprise: the "Jupiter" Symphony.

A pinnacle of Toscanini's Mozart
together with the "Haffner" Symphony (NYPO & BBC)
and the complete Magic Flute (WP 1937):
one of the best "Jupiter" ever recorded.

Unfortunately the flaws make the listening a bit frustrating, but as in the case of Don Quixote with Feuermann is better so that give up altogether. BTW I recently learned that a better source is preserved: I hope that sooner or later it will be published.

Flac
see comments

Furtwängler Symphonic Concerto - Kubelik live 1963

Furtwängler
Symphonic Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in B minor

Erik Then-Berg, pf
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
RAFAEL KUBELIK
27 june 1963


tt 63:47


Written between 1924 and 1937, the work received its world premiere in Munich on October 1937,
with Edwin Fischer as the piano soloist; Furtwängler conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.


"The piano concerto is cast in three movements: The first (Schwer, pesante in B minor) is an extensive sonata form movement of more than 30 minutes duration.
A second movement there follows an Adagio solenne in D major.
It is influenced by Bruckner's and Brahms' adagio style and lasts about 11 minutes.
The third movement (Allegro moderato in B minor)
is composed in free-form and has some hints of a rondo.
The work concludes in dark and gloomy mood with pianissimo dynamics." (Wiki)


FLAC
(see comments)



- Schönberg - Verklärte Nacht & Kammersymphonie n. 1 - Horenstein reuploaded
- Stokowski - Saygun Yunus Emre reuploaded

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

RT 031 Beethoven 5 (1939) BBCSO Toscanini

GEMINIANI
Concerto Grosso in g minor, op. 3 n. 2 (*)

BEETHOVEN
Symphony no. 5 in c minor, op. 67 (**)

BBC Symphony Orchestra
ARTURO TOSCANINI


Live - London, Queen's Hall
June 12, 1935 (*) - May 12, 1939 (**)


bonus

BEETHOVEN
Symphony no. 5 in c minor, op. 67

Grosses Odeon Streich Orchester Berlin
Friedrich Kark (?)
Odeon Records, 1910 or 1911



All in all it was not my intention to resume immediately the "Rare Toscanini",
but also considering the kind request by Louis
I've planned three additional volumes to conclude our BBCSO & Salzburg Festival survey.

So here you can find the Fifth performed in London on may 12, 1939.
Certainly one of his most beautiful and compelling, if not the best I know.
The audience seems to agree, judging from the final ovation.

According to the most complete and accurate Toscanini discographies another recording of this work by the same artists survives (Queen's Hall - may 23, 1938); unfortunately not (yet) in my possession.

The "program" was a bit short, so I decided to add a curiosity in appendix.
Many believe that the first recording of the Fifth is the famous version by Nikisch (1913).

This one was realized in 1910 or 1911.
The "Grosses Odeon Streich Orchester Berlin" is actually a Symphony Orchestra.
The conductor is uncredited: in the opinion of some Friedrich Kark (1869-1939), according to others Eduard Künneke (1895-1953)...
but he was a bit too young at the time.



Volume 32 will be a surprise for many of you ... At least I hope so.


Flac
(see comments)

Hermann Scherchen - The complete Ravel recordings

HERMANN SCHERCHEN
The Complete Ravel Recordings

Ma Mere l'oye
RIAS-Sinfonieorchester
january 30, 1949

Concerto in D for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra
Robert Casadesus, piano
Koelner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester
march 11, 1957

Boléro
Orchester Der Wiener Staatsoper
studio, 1957

La Valse
Südfunk-Sinfonieorchester Köln
october 25, 1962

HERMANN SCHERCHEN


As far as I know, never presented together on a single CD.
So, the only 4 known Ravel recordings by Scherchen
are finally grouped here.

You will notice the difference in the names of the Köln orchestras,
but the most famous, founded as Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk Orchestra, became Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, then WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln. Morover, the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln should not be confused with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln... Mein Gott!
In short, I left the names as I found them. ;-)

Thanks a lot for your "welcome back" messages.
It's nice to "see" (virtually) you here again!
Certainly we'll have the opportunity to exchange opinions and "personal greetings" in the near future.
I'm preparing several things and I'll try to recover even some deleted posts.

As you can see, I'm experimenting various file hosting services
looking for the most "friendly" and fast for the uploader and the downloader.

I embrace you all!

Flac
see comments

Mahler 2 - Cleveland, Bernstein (1970)

MAHLER
Symphony no. 2

Lorna HEYWOOD, sp
Christa LUDWIG, ms
Cleveland Chorus & Orchestra
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
July.9.1970
Blossom Music Festival



How to resurrect a blog?
Well, making it rise again through a change of rules.

Unfortunately, the rules have been set by me.
Fortunately have been changed by me.

So, remaining firm the concept that I'll not upload recent material,
sometimes in the case of unpublished live concerts we'll get to the '80s.

It may happen that you already have some of these proposals in your collection:
I can't check the whole web to see if it is like this or not,
but I'll try to select the best sources even in case of historical documents already known and widespread.

In particular, this is not the only mahlerian surprise in my drawer.


About this 2nd...

Perhaps a discontinuous and less inspired reading compared to the famous versions "officially" recorded in audio...
and video (with the London Symphony in Ely Cathedral, the most majestic and overwhelming), but full of beautiful moments and worthy of careful listening.

Not to mention the sound of the Cleveland,
already an additional interest.

A summer performance during the Blossom Festival:
so a "casual" audience was present,
also judging by the applause that followed I and II mov.

BTW It's the only appearance of Lenny on the podium of this orchestra;
morover, just in the days of the illness of George Szell, already hospitalized;
he died a few days later (July 30th).


Warning: a bit of tape hiss (untouched) which one must get used to for a while
and a disgraceful little "jump" in the terrifying "collapse" at the very end of the first movement.



FLAC
see comments


- Bruckner Mass 3 Celi reuploaded
- Pictures Reiner/Dorati reuploaded
- Bruno Walter portrait reuploaded
- Tchaikovsky 5 Furtwängler reuploaded
- Stokowski conducts Harrison, Weber, Goeb reuploaded

A new start

Probably you thought I was missing, at this point.

Well, no. I'll be here again with some news very soon.

 I'm reloading the weap... ehm, most old posts.
All Toscanini and many others
(Beecham, Rodzinski etc) are now updated.

I hope that our community will reborn and many "neophytes" will be added.

So, let me know through comments if you feel like going over these parts once in a while...

If so, very soon this blog will restart with regular new posts.

best

Guido

Meanwhile...

- Strauss 4 Burleske reuploaded
- Tristan Act 2 Barbirolli NY reuploaded
- Beecham in Helsinki and Beecham All Mozart 1947 reuploaded
- Furtwängler rehearsals (Beethoven) reuploaded
- DSCH 5 Horenstein reuploaded
- Malko Tchaikovsky 4 reuploaded