Schubert: Symphony No. 8; Zauberharfe Overture; Rosamunde Ballet Music

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 8 in B minor ("Unfinished"), D. 759
Composed by Franz Schubert
Performed by Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt

2. Die Zauberharfe, melodrama, D. 644
Composed by Franz Schubert
Performed by Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt

3. Rosamunde, Fürstin von Cypern, incidental music, D. 797 (Op. 26)
Composed by Franz Schubert
Performed by Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt

4. Lucio Silla, opera, K. 135 Overture
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Tracks:

Rosamunde: The Magic Harp: Ov, D.644
Incidental Music, D.797: No.2 Ballet Music I in b (Allegro Moderato -
Incidental Music, D.797: Andante Un Poco Assai)
Incidental Music, D.797: No.9: Ballet Music II in G (Andantino)
Sym No.3 in D, D.200: I. Adagio Maestoso - Allegro Con Brio
Sym No.3 in D, D.200: II. Allegretto
Sym No.3 in D, D.200: III. Menuetto (Vivace) & Trio
Sym No.3 in D, D.200: IV. Presto Vivace
Sym No.8 in b, D.759 'Unfinished': I. Allegro Moderato
Sym No.8 in b, D.759 'Unfinished': II. Andante Con Moto

Tracks:

Sym No.2 in B flat, D.125: I. Largo - Allegro Vivace
Sym No.2 in B flat, D.125: II. Andante - Vars I-V
Sym No.2 in B flat, D.125: III. Allegro Vivace - Trio
Sym No.2 in B flat, D.125: IV. Presto
Sym No.4 in c, D.417 'Tragic': I. Adagio Molto - Allegro Vivace
Sym No.4 in c, D.417 'Tragic': II. Andante
Sym No.4 in c, D.417 'Tragic': III. Menuetto (Allegro Vivace) & Trio
Sym No.4 in c, D.417 'Tragic': IV. Allegro

Tracks:

Sym No.1 in D, D.82: I. Adagio - Allegro Vivace
Sym No.1 in D, D.82: II. Andante
Sym No.1 in D, D.82: III. Menuetto (Allegretto) & Trio
Sym No.1 in D, D.82: IV. Allegro Vivace
Sym No.5 in B flat, D.485: I. Allegro
Sym No.5 in B flat, D.485: II. Andante Con Moto
Sym No.5 in B flat, D.485: III. Menuetto (Allegro Molto) & Trio
Sym No.5 in B flat, D.485: IV. Allegro Vivace
Sym No.9 in C, D.944 'The Great': I. Andante - Allegro Ma Non Troppo

Tracks:

Sym No.9 in C, D.944 'The Great': II. Andante Con Moto
Sym No.9 in C, D.944 'The Great': III. Scherzo (Allegro Vivace) & Trio
Sym No.9 in C, D.944 'The Great': IV. Finale (Allegro Vivace)
Sym No.6 in C, D.589: I. Adagio - Allegro
Sym No.9 in C, D.944 'The Great': II. Andante
Sym No.9 in C, D.944 'The Great': III. Scherzo (Presto) & Trio (Piu Lento)
Sym No.9 in C, D.944 'The Great': IV. Allegro Moderato

Customer Reviews:

Feels like a "pig-pile" on the bottom-most review.......2006-08-26

Not too often I hear something on NPR that makes me pull over and listen hard but that happened a short while back with the recording of Symphony #2 in this set. Picked the entire box set up and wowser. These are fast, exciting, absolutely buoyant performances. The orchestra plays miraculously. Couldn't be happier and at this price!!

For those that don't know the earlier Schubert symphonies--well, for the cost of one top-dollar CD you can hear them and you'll be amazed these aren't heard more often. Boy Schubert (many of these were written in his teens) may not have been the world's greatest symphonic crafts-person back then (he was merely very good with rough edges) but his full melodic genius was present when he was probably two years old. Here I am playing, and REALLY enjoying a symphony by a sixteen-year-old.

Beethoven allegedly saw a score of Schubert's before he died (Beethoven, not Schubert)and was quoted as saying, "HOLY MACKEREL! This kid's got the chops!" Beethoven talked like that sometimes.

Great.......2006-04-10

Ricardo Mutti takes the Wiener Philharmoniker to the best performance of Schubert's Symphonies. They are the best.

Great Italian Schubert!.......2005-10-28

I certainly disagree with the last review. Maybe for some people Muti's Schubert is at the first glance not 'deep' enough. But I have never heard the symphonies in such a joyful manner, with fast tempi all the way. And the Wiener Philharmoniker here clearly show why they are regarded as one of the finest orchestras of the world: their performance is close to perfection. -- Highly recommended!

a massive disappointment.......2005-08-04

this box-set is reasonably cheap but even its low cost has not been a consolation for my disappointment. Given my tastes, this is "cold" Schubert. To me the worst experience has come with the "Unfinished" symphony. One of the most tragic statement in music history is transformed in a lifeless, boring, scholastic exercise.
Please give me back Furtwangler, Klemperer and Bruno Walter!!!

George Szell: Decca & Philips Recordings 1951-1969

Average customer rating:

Lots of Szell Brings A Re-evaluation
George Szell is best known from his Columbia recordings

George Szell: Decca & Philips Recordings 1951-1969

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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George Szell Plays and Conducts Mozart

ASIN: B0009A41XS
Release Date: 2005-08-09

Customer Reviews:

Lots of Szell Brings A Re-evaluation.......2005-09-21

Kudos to Decca for bringing together in one convenient set George Szell's recordings that were made for the Decca & Philips labels from the early 1950s and to mid 1960s (minus those recordings where he acted in the role of accompanist, ie: those with pianist Curzon). These recordings are very well known and have been collector's items for many years, so to have them together in a mid-price box is self recommending.

The Philips recordings were issued a few years ago as a 2-CD set in their "Early Years" series while a few of the Decca recordings have already been released as singles in their Classic Sound series (both series saw very spotty distribution Stateside). I detect very little change in the sound quality in these new Decca Classic Sound versions, though the couplings from CD to CD are better programmed here than they were before (Philips had to cram alot of music on those 2CDs).

The most-recommendable recordings in the bunch are Szell's Mozart 34, Dvorak 8, Beethoven Egmont, Mendelssohn Midsummer's Night and Brahms 3. Here, the usual Szell trademarks are fully on display: tight rhythms, crisp articulation and finely graded dynamics. However, I was unexpectedly disappointed in two recordings long held to be top Szell & basic repertoire recommendations: the Beethoven 5 and Sibelius 2.

The Beethoven 5 has always been touted as more relaxed and in better sound than Szell's CBS 5th with Cleveland. But comparing this new Decca re-issue to Sony's recent "Original Jacket" issue of the Cleveland 5th, I didn't find that to be true at all. The Sony version now stands - to me, at least - as the better representation of Szell in this warhorse, both as an interpretation and in recorded sound. Indeed, the Concertgebouw recording suffers from an extremely lackluster and sloppy second movement that probably could have used a retake. Something just isn't right here - conductor and orchestra are not on the same page of the playbook...which is not what one expects in a recording by such a strong-willed technician as Szell. As an overall performance, this Concertgebouw recording is now easily surpassed by Szell's Sony effort, not to mention alternate versions by Kleiber, Karajan, Bernstein and others (but, again, you need to hear the Szell/Sony in the Original Jackets remastering, not the earlier Essential Classics version).

As for the Sibelius 2, we have a situation where poor intonation and hesitant execution in the orchestra knock this version off the pedestal of received opinion. And, with Szell's live Tokyo performance with Cleveland now widely available, his Concertgebouw version comes in direct competition with - Szell himself, and in a much better and much more cohesive recording. With the "if only he had recorded this with Cleveland" caveat removed, the choice is now clear - get the Cleveland version if you want Szell in Sibelius 2. That recording remains a top recommendation, though Ormandy, Maazel, Vanska and even Karajan have all brought their particular strengths to this piece as well, strengths that are much different than Szell's forte(s). There's plenty of room at the top when it comes to great recordings of great music.

Having lived with both the Beethoven and Sibelius for years, it's a bit disconcerting to have to make the above observations, but there you have it.

For the rest of the set, it is good to have Szell's interpretations of Tchaikovsky and Schubert on hand in such good sound. But truth be told, there are better versions out there of these works as well, the Tchaik 4 in particular (which in Szell's hands hangs fire in the least-expected places). The Baroque recordings included here are testament to a long-gone era when the standard Baroque works (worques?) were made acceptable to orchestral audiences by beefing them up to quasi-Wagnerian proportions. And even here, Szell is bettered by his contemporaries like Adrian Boult and Karl Richter in similar repertoire. A Baroque curate's egg if there ever was one.

Having said all of the above, I can still safely recommend this set to just about anyone interested in Szell or the repertoire on offer. Yes - work to work, there are better versions available, some from Szell himself. But *overall,* this set will provide plenty of pleasure and musical excitement to everyone save the anti-Szell wing of the classical music zealotry.

Enjoy.

George Szell is best known from his Columbia recordings.......2005-08-31

George Szell (1897-1970) is best known from his recordings made in the 1950s and 60s for Columbia records, mostly with the Cleveland Orchestra, many of which are now on Sony Classical. But he also made a number of recordings during the same period for Decca and Philips in Europe, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam; Vienna Philharmonic, and London Symphony, all of which are included in this box. If you think of Szell as a cold, calculating technician - and he could be in some of his Columbia recordings - he has precision here in spades, but also warm sound, perhaps partly from the remastering for this release.

Szell's Concertgebouw Beethoven Symphony 5 is MUCH BETTER than his Cleveland recording. The precision is there, but it also sings, and is warmer than the Cleveland recording (Sony, coupled with Symphony 2). Szell's Vienna EGMONT is one of the best recordings of the work, if not THE best recording of the stereo age, even 36 years after it was recorded. The Sibelius 2 (also with the Concertgebouw) is warm and fine in every way. The Concertgebouw played beautifully for him, and it shows.

The Mendelssohn MIDSUMMER NIGHT's DREAM, Schubert ROSAMUNDE, Mozart Symphony 34, Handel WATER MUSIC and ROYAL FIREWORKS MUSIC are all excellent, too. Some may have favorite performances, but I cannot imagine anything better than Szell's Concertgebouw Mozart 34: perhaps Bohm (DG) and Krips (Philips).
The 5th disc has two classic mono recordings of the early 1950s:
Dvorak's Symphony 8, and Brahms 3, both with the Concertgebouw. The sound is just fine: beautifully remastered, and Szell's performances very solid and musical.

As you can tell, I'm very happy with this, and would advise anyone with $30.00 spare change to pick it up at their first opportunity.

Mengelberg Conducts Beethoven & Schubert

Average customer rating:

Mengelberg serves up Beethoven and Schubert.
Mahler's First Booster Plays Beethoven & Schubert

Mengelberg Conducts Beethoven & Schubert

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000AE7AM
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Customer Reviews:

Mengelberg serves up Beethoven and Schubert........2003-12-24

The great Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg would often justify his so-called "changements" to Beethoven scores by saying, "Don't argue with me - I am the best pupil of the best pupil of Beethoven". There are very few "changements" evident in these famous recordings, so well presented in this Naxos issue. A figure that occurs for the first time in the "Coriolan" Overture at about one minute in is always stretched out for an extra beat whenever it occurs. The "Turkish March" is played through twice, as it was in an earlier recording by the same forces made in 1930. Otherwise everything is as the composers indicated in their scores, and performed and recorded in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw probably with more precision, excitement and impact than they ever dreamed possible.

Mahler's First Booster Plays Beethoven & Schubert.......2003-10-04

Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951) was the long-time conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra--and briefly, until wrangling sent him back to Holland in 1931, the co-conductor, with Toscanini, of the New York Philharmonic--who among Mahlerians is well-loved because he was the first conductor of note to take up the music of Gustav Mahler. His only Mahler recording, sadly, was a single performance of the the Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony, already available on an earlier Naxos CD in their Mengelberg series, an extraordinarily good transfer from 78 rpm discs.

This disc gives us an opportunity to hear him shorter pieces of the central Germanic repertoire, and since Amazon has not yet posted the contents of this disc I'll do so now:

Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Allegretto and Finale; Coriolan Overture; Leonore Overtures Nos. 1 & 3; Egmont Overture; the second movement Scherzo of the 8th Symphony; 'Turkish March' from The Ruin of Athens.

Schubert: Marche militaire, Op. 51, No. 1; Rosamunde Overture.

All are with his own orchestra, the Concertgebouw, and make no mistake about it--this orchestra was in superlative condition during the fourteen year period, 1927-1942, over which these recordings were made, although by 1942, when the Marche militaire and the Turkish March were recorded, most of the Jewish members of the orchestra were gone and there is some indication of a falling off of instrumental ensemble. Also, those later recordings are in somewhat muffled sound as compared to those even from the 1920s; perhaps it has something to do with the War. Still, transfer engineer Mark Obert-Thorn has done his usual sterling job. Generally the sound is better than one could have wished. I grew up with a 78 rpm pressing of this Coriolan Overture and it seems to me that this transfer is clearer than what I remember from all those years ago.

Mengelberg was a meticulous conductor; his rehearsals were widely known in musical circles as exhaustively detailed and sometimes exasperating for the musicians. Still reports are that his orchestra loved and respected him. He was sometimes criticized, particularly in the era that followed his heyday, as being too wayward or romantic in his interpretations. These performances put the lie to that assessment. These are fairly straightforward readings, although there is sensitive shaping of the material. Only once did I feel he was a little eccentric, and that was in that most 'mechanical' of Beethoven movements, the Scherzo from the Eighth Symphony with its ticking harmonic accompaniment. Here, he makes rather too much of the dynamic contrasts. Still, this is nothing like as wayward as that of, say, Karajan in his last recording of the Eighth when he smoothed out ALL contrast.

I particularly liked the First Leonore Overture, partly because Mengelberg and his merry band play it as if it is great music, not just an also-ran. And it was a delight to hear more of the Prometheus music than just the Overture, including the third of the pieces (the Allegretto) Beethoven wrote that contains the theme used in the Eroica Symphony and the Eroica Variations for piano.

Best of all, though, are the dramatic overtures: Coriolan, Egmont, and Leonore No. 3. These are masculine, forceful, emotionally engaging performances in more than acceptable sound. And I can't quit before I extol the beauty and grace of the Schubert Rosamunde Overture.

These are not performances that should be anyone's only recordings of them, obviously, because of the limited recording techniques available at the time. But they are valuable documents from a great conductor's legacy.

TT=68:30

Tracks:

Sym No. 8 in b, D.759: Allegro Moderato - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Wiener Symphoniker
Sym No. 8 in b, D.759: Andante Con Moto - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Wiener Symphoniker
'Die Zauberharfe' Ov, D.644: Andante-Allegro Vivace - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Wiener Symphoniker
'Rosamunde' Ballet Music, D.797: Allegro Moderato-Andante Un Poco Assai - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Wiener Symphoniker
'Rosamunde' Ballet Music, D.797: Andantino - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Wiener Symphoniker
'Lucio Silla' Ov, K.135: Molto Allegro - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Royal Con Orch, Amsterdam
'Lucio Silla' Ov, K.135: Andante - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Royal Con Orch, Amsterdam
'Lucio Silla' Ov, K.135: Molto Allegro - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Royal Con Orch, Amsterdam

Music Track:

Music Track

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