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