Kirill Kondrashin was one of the most prominent Russian conductors in the generation following Mravinsky. He was born in Moscow in 1914 into a family of musicians, studied at the Moscow conservatory under Boris Khaikin, went to Leningrad in 1936 to be the conductor of the Maly Theater and to the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 1943. At the same time, he was conducting various Russian concert orchestras. In 1956 he left the Bolshoi Theater to devote himself entirely to the concert podium. He became the preferred partner of such great soloists as Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, David Oistrach, Sviatoslav Richter, and Mstislav Rostropovich. Tully Potter called him “probably the best concert accompanist of the twentieth century.” After Kondrashin’s work had increasingly shifted out of the country, he emigrated to the Netherlands in 1978 and became permanent conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra along with Bernard Haitink. From his home in Amsterdam, he kept up with his duties as guest conductor, including many at various West German radio stations. His concerts left a deep impression in Munich, and Kondrashin succeeded Rafael Kubelik as new Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1982. Before he was able to take over his new position, however, Kondrashin died of a heart attach shortly after a concert in Amsterdam in March 1981.

This release features Mahler’s First Symphony in a historically informed performance that features a large, modern orchestra and includes the Blumine movement, which was part of the original version of the symphony, the one preferred by the conductor, Sir Roger Norrington. With the inclusion of the Blumine, the listener can appreciate the return of pastoral motifs in the finale movement. Mahler’s First symphony, sometimes titled “Titan,” was written mostly in February and March of 1888, incorporating music that had been written much earlier. The first performance wasn’t well received, but after several revisions over the following years the work has become a staple in symphonic repertoire. Originally, Mahler called the work a “Symphonic Poem in two parts.” But finally he began to refer to the work as a symphony.

This is the only available official recording of Karel Ancerl conducting Josef Suk’s Asrael. Asrael is central to Josef Suk’s oeuvre and an outstanding work in the Czech music repertoire. The prominent standing of the conductor Karel Ancerl is due mainly to his success in establishing the Czech Philharmonic as one of the world’s most eminent and successful orchestras in only a few years’ time. Under his great predecessor Vaclav Talich, the most significant Czech conductor of the twentieth century, the orchestra was able to flourish primarily in its home country, yet under Ancerl it became, despite the restrictions of the Cold War, an orchestra that was celebrated everywhere, whose 1959 world tour went down in history as the longest and most extensive ever up to that time. A stirring intepretation of the Südwestfunk-Orchestra of Baden-Baden, digitally remastered from the SWR original tapes!

REVIEW:

Firstly, it is doubtful the orchestra was familiar with either score prior to this recording. Secondly, it appears that this was the conductor’s first engagement with them—though, unsurprisingly, he was invited back in 1969. To achieve such committed, marvellously played and eloquent performances of unfamiliar repertoire when conductor and orchestra had no prior relationship is a remarkable achievement.

The sound is pretty impressive, wearing its five decades lightly. It presents a very realistic aural picture of Ančerl’s interpretations. N,o one buying this disc will be disappointed on sonic grounds. What you will definitely get if you buy this disc is a memorable performance of a great Czech symphony. This an important release and a major addition to the Ančerl discography.