Conducts Schubert & Brahms

On this CD:

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

2. Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
Composed by Johannes Brahms
Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Karl Bohm

Tracks:

I. Allegro Moderato
II. Andante Con Moto
I. Ziemlich Langsam - Lebhaft -
II. Romanze (Ziemlich Langsam)
III. Scherzo (Lebhaft) & Trio
IV. Langsam - Lebhaft - Schneller - Presto
I. Allegro Vivace
II. Andante Con Moto
III. Con Molto Moderato
IV. Saltarello (Presto)

Customer Reviews:

Classic Cantelli.......2003-09-16

Had Guido Cantelli not died in an airplane crash in 1956 at the tender age of 36, he would undoubtedly be known today as one of the world's most famous conductors. As is, collectors regard him as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th Century, and these vintage EMI recordings show why. This "References" title collects three of Cantelli's greatest performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra -- a 1953 mono performance of Schumann's 4th Symphony, a 1955 mono performance of Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, and a 1955 stereo performance of Schubert's "Unfinished." Cantelli made a surprisingly large number of recordings for EMI in the early 1950s and most of them have been reissued at some point on CD (by both EMI and Testament), yet many of them are now out-of-print. Classical fans curious about Cantelli's considerable skills should pick up this title before it suffers a similar fate.

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Webern for people who don't like Webern
Boulez's Romantic View of Webern
Subjective
Ill-conceived collection of things better left alone

Boulez conducts Webern, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000001GPO
Release Date: 1996-02-13

Tracks:

Passacaglia For Orchestra, Op. 1
5 Movements Op. 5: I. Heftig bewegt
5 Movements Op. 5: II. Sehr langsam
5 Movements Op. 5: III. Sehr lebhaft
5 Movements Op. 5: IV. Sehr langsam
5 Movements Op. 5: V. In zarter Bewegung
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: I. Etwas bewegte Achtel
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: II. Bewegt
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: III. Zart bewegt
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: IV. Langsam. Marcia funebre
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: V. Sehr langsam
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: VI. Zart bewegt
The Musical Offering: Fuga (Ricercata) a 6 voci
German Dances Op. posth. D 820: No. 1 - No. 2 - No. 3 In A Major
German Dances Op. posth. D 820: No. 4 - No. 5 - No. 6 In B Flat Major
Im Sommerwind

Customer Reviews:

Webern for people who don't like Webern.......2003-12-01

This collection of Boulez conducting Webern (now subsumed as part of his second 'complete' Webern edition--it isn't complete, though it's more so than the first) concentrates on early works and arrangements of works by other composers. Accordingly, it's an ideal introduction to Webern for those who are afraid of atonal music.

The Passacaglia was Webern's first published work, and is a striking essay in late Romanticism. This work is bursting at the seams with suppressed energy and chromatic lyricism, and Boulez and the Berlin Phil let rip here. It's not the more subtle reading that Webern's later scores merit, but I think the overheated interpretation is entirely appropriate to this work.

The Five Movements are one of Webern's early atonal pieces--there are still occasional hints of tonal harmony here--and we hear the lush transcription for string orchestra rather than the original version for string quartet. Here, Boulez's more romantic approach is more of a mixed blessing--the first movement gains from the extra broadness but the finale is a little slack.

The Six Pieces are the last works Webern wrote before turning to hyper-concise forms in the Four Pieces for Violin and Piano. Once again, there are still a few hints of tonal harmony in these pieces, particularly the powerful monolithic funeral march (the last such work in Webern's entire oeuvre) that forms the fourth piece of the set. I slightly prefer Boulez's earlier recording of this--the extra tightness of ensemble outweighs the broader sound for me.

The disc then moves onto arrangements. Webern's orchestration of Bach's Ricercare a 6 from the Musical Offering is one of his finest achievements. The melodies move from one instrument to another every few notes, creating an ever-changing coruscating range of colour. This is one of the few arrangements that really add to the original work--what we here is not Bach or Webern but a fusion of the two, both at their best. Both of Boulez's recordings are basically the same, clear and crisp, avoiding the lushness that other conductors have brought to this work.

Less ambitious is the orchestration of Schubert's German Dances. Unlike the Bach transcription, Webern here avoids writing in his own style and instead opts for a generically classical style. The work is thus a touching homage to Schubert, but it is not as powerful as the Bach.

Finally, Im Sommerwind is a early unpublished nature idyll in the style of Wagner or Strauss. It will probably appeal to fans of late Romanticism, but I found it left me somewhat cold, even though it is surprisingly well-written for a 20-year-old.

This would make an excellent introduction to Webern from the point of view of a lover of late Romanticism. Convinced Webern fans may be less attracted.

Boulez's Romantic View of Webern.......2001-05-01

Admittedly this isn't a recording for everyone. Those who are devout admirers of Webern as a 20th Century composer might be taken aback with how Boulez and the Berlin Philharmonic perform these works. Boulez views Webern here as a composer more at home in late 19th Century romanticism, paying homage to Mahler. So Boulez does emphasis the lush, crisp playing of the Berlin Philharmonic's string section throughout these works. And he emphasizes Webern's links to 19th Century romanticism and earlier musical periods by conducting Webern's orchestrations of Bach's and Schubert's music. Deutsche Grammophon's state of the art recording technology does a splendid job capturing the rich textures of Webern's music.

Subjective.......1999-06-15

Reviews are so subject that it is almost a waste of time writing them. What matters is that you experience the music and let it take you on a magnificent journey. Too many classical music critics and reviewers analyze the music to death until it loses what it was meant to do and that is entertain the listener.

Ill-conceived collection of things better left alone.......1999-04-04

Webern has known no greater intepreter than Pierre Boulez. Webern inspired this post-war generation of composers those who found sustenance in the European preservation of a new musical language. Anything American was inferior and continues to be do to our proclivities for pure entertainment and self-indulgence in our concert halls. It's bizarre that it was an American soldier during World War 2 that shot Webern while he was out for a cigarette from his modest cottage. This is an oddly conceived CD with Webern couched between his orchestrations of Bach and Schubert. We know Webern was an learned man, who kept a place of history always within his thinking. But he was also a visionary composer who had a very private introspective pallette of compositional ideas. And this CD does not really serve that side of Webern. The early "Passacaglia" I've heard better. Here Boulez rakes up the sonoric dirt so that the snarling trombones are in the forefront. I also thought this reading was too surface oriented something Boulez frowns upon, at least before. Webern's music is really not a social affair and when you make the "Five Movements" Op.5 here for string orchestra it is like letting someone into your diary. The large massive Berlin sound has to be controlled at least in Webern, and Boulez certainly knows where the pitfalls occur in this work."Im Sommerwind" was an early Idyll, an immature excursion into Strauss and Wagne which will equal them so why bother?. Webern's ultimate power is the distance placed between the orgies that was late Romanticism. Webern found the crumbs of this vast Romantic feast and there is not point revealing it.

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Great performances - an essential disc
Great performance, problematic sound issues
Essential!

Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Schubert

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Great Recordings Of The Century - Schubert: Symphonies nos. 3, 5, & 6 / Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Wagner
Sir Thomas Beecham conducts Tchaikovsky
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 ("Pastoral") & 8
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 93, 94 "Surprise", 103 "Drumroll"

ASIN: B00006JNAH
Release Date: 2002-11-05

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1 In D Major
Symphony No. 2 In B Flat Major
Symphony No. 8 In B Minor - Unfinished

Customer Reviews:

Great performances - an essential disc.......2007-03-18

Sir Thomas Beecham's Schubert recordings demonstrate his superb understanding of this music. On this disc, we hear his very fine performances of symphonies nos. 1, 2 and 8. The interpretations of two first symphonies are probably the best available. The "Unfinished", however, is better served elsewhere (e.g., Abendroth, Furtwängler, Munch, Szell), but Beecham's understanding is again very illuminating and moving as well.

The mono sound is excellent - don't let the previous review prevent you from grabbing this disc for technical reasons. The sound is full-bodied, reasonably clear and detailed.

Great performance, problematic sound issues.......2006-01-17

It IS possible to get a clean mono sound onto a CD. The Karel Ancerl Gold series proves that it can be done -- sound so well remastered and de-hissed, so vividly captured and richly detailed, you hardly notice it's mono you're listening to.

This is NOT the case here. There is moderately strong hiss and background noise throughout. The music is well-captured (remarkably so), but it's held back in having its full effect by the distractions in which it's embedded. It becomes a strain trying to appreciate Beecham's achievement. I think it's worth the strain and effort, but prospective buyers should be mindful of this circumstance.

In all other particulars the previous reviewer's opinion is essentially on the mark, particularly in regards to the earlier symphonies. It's remarkable to learn that those two works were very, very new in Beecham's repertoire at the time of recording (ca. 1952-53). His natural gifts simply abounded to Schubert's benefit.

I compared Beecham's 8th to several modern stereo versions (Sinopoli, Sawallisch and Abbado) and an LP mono version (Keilberth). I own (but have yet to listen to) the Muti, Marriner, and Kubelik full Schubert box sets, so this verdict is provisional, but it seems to me that Beecham does indeed stand toe-to-toe, interpretationally, with other versions of this work. Unless my unopened box sets reveal something earth-shattering, I'd have to agree with the previous reviewer once again.

Conclusion: buy this with your eyes open, but for those who can appreciate historic achievements despite the deficiencies of historic recording techniques and less-than-ideal modern processing and re-mastering, this can be recommended.

Essential!.......2004-05-23

What a wonderful Schubertian Beecham was! For me, these performances of the first two symphonies are simply unmatched by anything recorded before or since. They are the only versions you will want or need. The "Unfinished" is, of course, a more competitive field - but even here, this Beecham belongs among the very finest ever: Furtwangler, Mengelberg, Abendroth, and Fritz Lehmann (the latter has not yet made it to CD). And in the 2nd movement, no one has matched the hypnotic lyricism mined by Beecham. This is an indispensable disc!

Tracks:

Rhapsodie Op. 53
Gesang Der Geister Uber Den Wassern
Rinaldo Op. 50
Schlusschor/Final Chorus

Album Description

German conductor Helmuth Rilling (b. 1933) has long been acknowledged as one of the world's experts on the music of J.S. Bach. He founded the GÃ¤chinger Kantorei in 1954 and gained an international reputation. Often referred to as "the master-singers of Stuttgart," the GÃ¤chinger Cantorei are distinguished from other choirs by requiring superior music training of all candidates for membership, and by suiting themselves to the requirements of the works to be performed, from twenty-four to over one hundred singers. Its members come from all over southwest Germany and the German-speaking regions of Switzerland. The choir has played a considerable part in the rediscovery and representation of the Romantic choral repertoire, especially works by Brahms and Mendelssohn. Since 1965 Helmuth Rilling has also been conductor of the Stuttgart Bach Collegium and has toured with both ensembles around the world. Maestro Rilling presents a program of sweeping German Romanticism inspired by the works of Goethe and represented by the immortal Alto Rhapsody of Brahms, Schubert's Gesang der Geister Ã¼ber den Wassern, and an excerpt from the Brahms rarity Rinaldo. Rilling and his GÃ¤chinger Kantorei Stuttgart are joined by the world-class talents of alto Lioba Braun and tenor Carsten SÃ¼ss in performances that unquestionably establish Rilling as the preeminent interpreter of the Germanic choral tradition. This program is further evidence of the continuing vitality of Helmuth Rilling's musical concept as well as the relevance of Goethe for the twenty-first century. Destined to become one of the great choral discs of the decade, this album will be a most valuable addition to any choral music collection. Towards the end of the 1860s, Brahms was lodging with the Schumann family and began to realize a growing affection for Clara's daughter, Julie. On subsequently being told by Clara that Julie was engaged to be married to an Italian count, Brahms's reaction was to turn to composition as a solace and to set a piece for contralto, his favorite voice. The result was the Alto Rhapsody, two anguished verses of Goethe set to music of intense yearning. Written in 1820, Gesang der Geister Ã¼ber den Wassern (Song of the Spirits Above the Waters) is one of Schubert's most complex choral works, a virtuoso setting of a poem by Goethe for eight-part men's chorus and low strings. The poem is part Romantic mysticism and part dramatic description of nature, with waterfalls gushing forth from rocky crags and tumbling over stones & boulders until the water gathers into a gentle stream flowing into the glassy sea. The cantata Rinaldo is among the largest of Brahms's works for vocal and orchestral forces. Indeed, only Ein deutsches Requiem surpasses it in length and breadth, and yet it is almost never heard today. Completed in 1868, Rinaldo is again a setting of Goethe, with a theme taken from the time of the Crusades. The closing chorus, presented on this album, is its most famous highlight. The Viennese premiere of Rinaldo on February 28, 1869, with the composer conducting, was a success. Not every listener, however, was enthusiastic. Reviewing an 1833 performance, Eduard Hanslick found Brahms's musical portrayal of the title character devoid of passion. Nor has posterity been kind to Rinaldo: it has been shunted to the periphery of the Brahms canon. In part, the work's inability to obtain a stronghold in the repertory can be ascribed to the vagaries of reception history.

Giulini Conducts Weber, Schubert, Britten

Average customer rating:

Another fine live tribute to Giulini

Giulini Conducts Weber, Schubert, Britten

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Giulini Conducts Bruckner, Falla, Mussorgsky

ASIN: B0001IN0PI
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Tracks:

Adagio - Molto Vivace
I Andante - Allegro Ma Non Troppo
II Andante Con Moto
III Scherzo. Allegro Vivace
IV Finale. Allegro Vivace
The Building Of The House - Overture, Op.79
Carlo Maria Giulini In Conversation With Alan Haydock

Customer Reviews:

Another fine live tribute to Giulini.......2007-03-01

BBC Legends released this live CD for Giulini's 90th birthday, and the musicmaking on it is typically heartfelt, warm, and genuine. The dates range from 1968 to 1975 but only the latest recording, the Schubert Ninth, is in stereo. Luckily, the two mono recordings are clear and listenable. The opening Der Freischutz Over. is gentler and less dynamic than most; even so, it is natural and flowing.

Then follows the main work, the Schubert C major with the London Phil. (the rest is with the New Philharmonia). Giulini's way wth the music is modern only to the degree that he adopts a fast empo for the opening Andante. After that the Allegro section is broad and flowing. He doesn't emphasize dramatic contrasts, sharp accents, or haromic struggle. His is a romantic, old-fashioned view, but Giulini carries it off beautifully. You feel his sincerity in every bar, and even though the performance doesn't add up to greatness, it's very fine. The BBC's stereo sound is as good as many studio recordings of the day.

Giulini felt a greater affinity for Britten's music than any other foreign conductor, and he adds to his heartfelt War Requiem, also on BBC, with This Building of the House Over., written, as I remember, for the Matings at Snapes hall that was the center of the Aldebrugh Festival, which Britten presided over. The opening is a moto perpetuo reminiscent of Vaughan Williams's The Wasps, but with a hymn-like choral part and updated, ambiguously tonal harmony--a very engaging work that Giulini performs tenderly.

Serge Koussevitzky Conducts Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn

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Serge Koussevitzky Conducts Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn

Manufacturer: Pearl
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Serge Koussevitzky conducts Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D Op. 25 "Classical"; Danse finale from Chout, Op. 21bis / Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Op. 7 / Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini Op. 32
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 2, 5 & 7; Swanwhite; Pohjola's Daughter; Tapiola

ASIN: B000000WN6
Release Date: 1995-03-21

Tracks:

Sym No. 8 in b, D. 759 ('Unfinished'): I. Allegro Moderato
Sym No. 8 in b, D. 759 ('Unfinished'): II. Andante Con Moto
Sym No. 4 in A, Op. 90 ('Italian'): I. Allegro Vivace - Piu Animato
Sym No. 4 in A, Op. 90 ('Italian'): II. Andante Con Moto
Sym No. 4 in A, Op. 90 ('Italian'): III. Con Moto Moderato
Sym No. 4 in A, Op. 90 ('Italian'): IV. Saltarello (Presto)
Sym No. 1 in B flat, Op. 38 ('Spring'): I. Andante Un Poco Maestoso- Allegro Molto Vivace
Sym No. 1 in B flat, Op. 38 ('Spring'): II. Larghetto
Sym No. 1 in B flat, Op. 38 ('Spring'): III. Scherzo: Molto Vivace; Trio I: Molto Piu Vivace...
Sym No. 1 in B flat, Op. 38 ('Spring'): IV. Allegro Animato E Grazioso

Mengelberg Conducts Beethoven & Schubert

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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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Mengelberg: Wagner; R. Strauss; Mahler
Bach: St. Matthew Passion

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

Scott Morrison

Conducts Schubert/Mendelssohn/
Average customer rating:

Wonderful clear recording of two great pieces of music for the theater

Conducts Schubert/Mendelssohn/
George Szell
Manufacturer: Philips/Special Imports (Ger)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000132W
Release Date: 1997-04-17

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful clear recording of two great pieces of music for the theater.......2005-12-16

George Szell was a very important conductor in mid twentieth century. Not only did he do important work with European orchestras (he was Austrian), he built the Cleveland Orchestra into one of the premier orchestras in the world. He was famed for his ability to make rhythms lively and clear because of the tight ensemble playing he demanded.

These recordings are top of the line. First is the music Mendelssohn wrote as incidental music for a performance of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". It is such magical and perfect music that it is used often in movies. Then, of course, there is the famous Wedding March that has filled many a chapel as the bride comes down the aisle.

Oh, by the way, Mendelssohn was 17 when he wrote the overture. The rest comes from 1843.

The Schubert work is less well known, but just as wonderful. The play is lost, and there is a bit more music than is provided here and it came in a different order than presented here. However, this is the way that it has often been performed as kind of a concert suite.

The Mendelssohn was recorded in 1957, except for the notturno, track 3, which was recorded in 1967. The Schubert was recorded in 1960. The recording sounds clear and strong. A beautiful disk.