Few – if any – conductors are linked with the works of Richard Wagner in the eyes of the world’s music lovers to the same extent as Hans Knappertsbusch. Immediately after his conducting debut in Mühlheim/Ruhr from 1910 to 1912, he applied for a post as Assistant Conductor in Bayreuth. When in 1951 the famous festival reopened its doors, his name became legendary as the Parsifal conductor. The main focus of his concert programmes, however, was the works of the great Romantic nineteenth-century composers, especially Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner. Despite that subsequent generations have developed their own views on those works, Knappertsbusch’s recordings have retained their benchmark status to this day. Born in Elberfeld, now part of the city of Wuppertal, in 1888, Knappertsbusch was Music Director at the city’s opera house before he went, via Leipzig and Dessau, to Munich, where he eventually succeeded Bruno Walter as General Music Director. He was no fan of the Nazi regime, however, and so he left Munich and went to Vienna to conduct the Philharmonic and opera, returning eventually to Munich, where he died in 1965, after conducting his last Bayreuth Parsifal the previous year. This release in the Knappertsbusch Edition features the symphonies of Bruckner and Brahms.

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REVIEW:

Few conductors on disc have generated as much excitement in Bruckner as did Hans Knappertsbusch. But there’s a catch: namely, which editions of the scores he used. In its excellent collection of Brahms and Bruckner symphony recordings, Profil fights shy of relating this information, so I’ll do it here: No 3 (rec Oct 1954; 1890 version, rev Bruckner with J and F Schalk; edn T Rättig); No 4 (rec Mar 1944; 1888 version, rev F Loewe; edn A Gutmann); No 5 (rec June 1956; 1896 version, rev F Schalk; edn Doblinger); No 7 (rec Aug 1949; 1885 version, rev Bruckner; edn Gutmann); No 8 (rec Jan 1951; 1892 version, rev Bruckner and J Schalk; edn Haslinger-Schlesinger-Lienau); and No 9 (rec Jan 1950; 1903 version, rev Loewe; edn Doblinger). As ever I’m profoundly grateful to John F Berky’s invaluable Bruckner discography for helping me sort out this minefield. And the upshot of this muddle in terms of listening? Very little when it comes to appreciating the sheer drama of Knappertsbusch’s conducting and the fervent playing of the orchestras involved, but Bruckner purists will likely run a mile. The Brahms performances are just as striking, the Scherzo from the Fourth Symphony less giocoso than forged from iron. Knappertsbusch’s Brahms has breadth, girth, muscle, patience and drama laid on the line. I love it – but be warned, it runs counter to that ‘Brahms-lite’ approach that many listeners nowadays seem to prefer.

– Gramophone

Includes work(s) by Georges Bizet. Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Munch.

Complete Tracklist:

1. Veronika, der Lenz ist da - Jurmann, Walter 2:40
2. Ein Freund, Ein Guter Freund - Heymann, Werner Richard 02:18
3. Liebling, mein Herz lasst Dich grussen - Heymann, Werner Richard 3:25
4. Ein Lied Geht Um Die Welt - May, Hans 2:11
5. Wir sind von Kopf bis Fuss auf Liebe eingestellt - Hollaender, Friedrich 2:52
6. Die Dorfmusik - Fryberg, Marty 2:57
7. Eine kleine Fruhlingsweise - Lengsfelder, Hans J. 2:42
8. Mein kleiner gruner Kaktus - Reisfeld, Bert 2:18
9. Menuett - Boccherini, Luigi 3:20
10. In einem kuhlen Grunde - Gluck, Friedrich 2:57
11. Das Wirtshaus an der Lahn - Robrecht, Carl 3:04
12. Wiegenlied - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 3:04
13. O Sole Mio - Capua, Eduardo di 3:18
14. Liebestraume - Freiligrath, Ferdinand 3:18
15. La Paloma - Iradier, Sebastian de 3:09
16. Le Capitaine Craddock: Les gars de la marine - Heymann, Werner Richard 3:19
17. Avec les pompiers - Himmel, Henry 3:03
18. La Vainqueur: La route de bonheur - Heymann, Werner Richard 2:40
19. Whispering - Youmans, Vincent 3:11
20. Kannst Du pfeifen, Johanna? - Axelson, Sten 3:03
21. Funf-Uhr-Tee bei Familie Kraus - Brown, Nacio Herb 3:05
22. 15 Volks-Kinderlieder, WoO 31: No. 4. Sandmannchen - Brahms, Johannes 3:18
23. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Dwarf's Yodel Song - Churchill, Frank 2:38
24. Der Onkel Bumba aus Kalumba tanzt nur Rumba - Igelhoff, Peter 2:26
25. Auf Wiederseh'n My Dear - Hoffman, A. 3:25
26. Muss i denn zum Stadtele hinaus - Traditional 2:03

This performance, captured on February 14, 1994 in Dresden's Kreuzkirche, commemorates the February 13, 1945 bombing of Dresden. The interpretation is so compelling, and so effectively captured by the German radio engineers, that you almost wish these forces had found reason for a few more commemorative events! Nevertheless, Davis is almost always reliable in Berlioz, and the weight of the occasion seems to have inspired not just him but everyone involved to give of their very best.

The initial Requiem and Kyrie takes a little time to warm up, but Davis & Co. deliver a crushing account of the Dies Irae, with positively cataclysmic brass and timpani fusillades and a vast dynamic range. The various combined choirs sing magnificently, and more importantly have the lung-power necessary to balance the huge instrumental forces. Nor, despite the ample acoustic, is there so much reverberation that the more sensitive moments, such as the a cappella Quaerens me, get lost in an acoustic fog.

Indeed, after a terrifying Lacrymosa the performance generally becomes even more compelling. Tenor Keith Idaia-Purdy has a penetrating but somewhat nasal tone in the Sanctus, but the Agnus Dei must be one of the most moving on disc, solemn but never static, and bringing the work to a close with a feeling of cautionary repose that seems perfectly tailored to suit the occasion. I wouldn't rate this version higher than the two reference recordings, Bernstein and Munch, listed above, but it's certainly better than Davis' LSO studio recording for Philips. Requiem collectors (you know who you are) should certainly hear it. [9/5/2007]

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

BACH St. Matthew Passion • Karl Richter, cond; Irmgard Seefried, Antonie Fahberg (sop); Hertha Töpper (alt); Ernst Häfliger (ten); Kieth Engen, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Max Proebstl (bs); Munich Children’s Ch & Bach Ch; Munich Bach O • PROFIL 12008 (3 CDs: 197:03 & German only)


This is the latest reissue of Karl Richter’s fabled 1959 (sometimes labeled 1958) recording of Bach’s masterpiece, made roughly one year before Otto Klemperer’s equally slow and lyrically phrased EMI version was deemed an instant classic by most critics of the time. Only one singer is common to both recordings, and that is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Even though the Richter version is rather slow by today’s standards, Klemperer slowed down the clock even more, prompting the baritone to cautiously approach the aging conductor and ask him, on behalf of the other singers, why his tempos were so slow. As usual, he got a funny but biting retort from the conductor: “I had a dream last night, too. I also saw Bach and talked to him, and he said to me, ‘You are doing a fine job with my Passion. But who is this Fischer?’”


Nevertheless, in traversing the Internet I’ve discovered that this recording is still a favorite with many listeners, and not just those who grew up with it. Some argue that Klemperer is deeper and more profound, others the opposite. Some claim that Richter’s 1979 remake with the same orchestra (on DG Archiv), also with Fischer-Dieskau (this time as Jesus rather than the bass soloist) but with soprano Edith Mathis, tenor Peter Schreier, and bass Matti Salminen, is better because Richter pays more attention to ornamentation and orchestral parts. In the 1959 recording, none of the singers perform all their written trills that often echo the instrumental accompaniment, while in 1979 they do. The later Richter version uses a harpsichord in the secco recitatives instead of the organ heard in 1959. But compromises of taste must always come into play when listening to, or reviewing, any pre-1970 Bach. We tend to forget how much the recordings of Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus were game-changers in modern tastes, despite the occasionally strident or odd sound of those early period instruments.


For me, the greatest of all St. Matthew Passion recordings, on balance, is the stunning 1994 Helmuth Rilling version on Hänssler Classic 98925. Like the “three Karls” (Munchinger, Ristenpart, and Richter), Rilling was also there in the 1950s when the Bach revival was coming about in Germany, but since he was considerably younger than they were, he was able to keep on going much longer and absorb more of the historically informed performance practices that came about in the 1980s. Rilling, like me, has never really bought into the concept of straight tone for the strings or insisting that none of his singers have any sort of vibrato in their voices, but he did adopt a more rhythmically light approach, with smaller choruses than those used by Richter or Klemperer, without sacrificing his inherent ability to draw an emotionally committed performance from his forces. A good indication as to how much slower Richter’s 1959 recording is than Rilling’s: all of part I fits on the first CD in Rilling’s set, and clocks in at a little under 75 minutes, whereas Richter’s performance has to have the last three tracks of part I put at the start of CD 2, and his timing for that portion is 86:29. That’s a pretty wide disparity, and in this case you can not only hear but feel the difference. Richter’s performance of the opening chorus, “Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen,” takes 9:45 (still faster than Klemperer, who as I recall took around 11 minutes to perform it) while Rilling goes through it in 6:57. To his credit, Richter does not always have his orchestra and chorus play and sing in a strictly legato fashion; times were beginning to change (well, for everyone except Otto Klemperer), and there is more rhythmic pointing in Richter’s version. Also, the orchestra and chorus both sound lighter than Klemperer’s. I have no head count of the number of musicians used on both, but Richter sounds as if he is using fewer. In any event, his textures are far more transparent.


As for the soloists—taking those differences in style into account—both this Richter version and the Rilling have much to commend them. As much as I love Michael Schade on the Rilling version, Ernst Häfliger is definitely his equal as both a vocalist and interpreter. (Both tenors sing both the Evangelist and the tenor arias; on the Klemperer recording, Peter Pears is the superb Evangelist while Nicolai Gedda sings the arias.) Kieth Engen is a superb interpreter as Jesus, but so is Matthias Goerne in the Rilling set, and Goerne’s voice is a bit firmer of tone. (Engen had the beginnings of a bass wobble in his voice at the time of recording.) Fischer-Dieskau is a hard act to equal, let alone surpass, but Thomas Quasthoff gives one of his greatest performances on disc in the Rilling version. Irmgard Seefried, though only 40 at the time, sounds a little edgy in her top notes, which were starting to wear, whereas Christiane Oelze for Rilling is both bright and fresh-voiced. Contralto Hertha Töpper was even younger than Seefried (35), but a decade of singing Wagner roles began to undermine her vibrato a bit, too, though I find both her singing and interpretation quite affecting. Ingeborg Danz in 1994, however, is equally fine, possesses a firmer voice, and Rilling does not let the tempo sag occasionally as Richter does (listen to “Buss und Reu” in part I).


Yet, in the end, it almost seems like splitting hairs to choose between these two versions. The little flaws in the Richter version are venial rather than mortal sins. By and large, the feel of this Richter performance is not as heavy as Klemperer. Some find that a good thing, and some don’t; matters of personal taste always enter the picture, particularly where religious music is concerned. The bottom line is that, although I still prefer Rilling, if this were the only recording of this piece I had ever heard or owned I would certainly not be disappointed. Perhaps the best way to end this review is to say that if you don’t already own the Rilling recording, you might want to buy this one. Both are at the very pinnacle of St. Matthew Passion performances.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

This impressive and extensive release, part of Profil's Karl Richter Edition, presents Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat, as well as several of his Cantatas. In addition to Richter's brilliant interpretations, the prominence of the soloists in these recordings is also outstanding, as well as the quality of the Munchener Bach Orchester. Initially, the ensemble bore the name "Solistengemeinschaft der Bachwoche Ansbach" and served as a home orchestra of Bach Week, which has been present in the Middle Franconian residence since 1948. Richter dominated from 1955 to 1964 as organist, harpsichordist and conductor. Many cantata recordings were made in connection with concerts at Bach Week, not as a concert recording, but as a subsequent production, for which the group moved to nearby Munster Heilsbronn or directly to Munich. So it came that Richter finally brought "his" orchestra, the Munich Bach Orchestra, to Ansbach - but under the more marketable name.

This new release is the eleventh volume in Profil's Semperoper Edition, and features Johann Adolf Hasse's three-act opera Attilio Regolo. Attilio Regolo is an Italian-language opera seria by Johann Adolph Hasse based on the story of Marcus Atilius Regulus, a Roman general taken prisoner in Carthage, who elects death rather than ransom. Metastasio wrote the libretto in 1740 for the birthday of the emperor Charles VI but the illness, then death, of the emperor prevented the libretto being set to music at the time. Hasse's opera was performed in Dresden in 1750. The role of Regolo was taken by the castrato Domenico Annibale, while Attilia was composed for Hasse's wife Faustina Bordoni. Frieder Bernius leads an all-star cast for this interpretation of the rarely performed work.

André Navarra (1911–1988), together with Pierre Fournier and Maurice Gendron, was acknowledged as one of the “three great” French cellists who left their mark on the European concert life of their era. He was born in Biarritz, won first prizes at the age of 13 and 16, and gained early practical experience in chamber-music ensembles before celebrating his solo debut in 1931 with the Concerts Colonne. After a stupendous competition win in 1937 in Vienna he began an international career that was to last for more than three decades. In parallel, Navarra began teaching: starting in 1949 (until 1979) he was professor at the Paris Conservatoire; from 1953 he also taught at the Accademia in Siena and at the Vienna College of Music, and from 1958 to 1986 he was a member of the illustrious teaching team at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Detmold, where his colleague on violin Tibor Varga taught. He can be heard playing with Varga on this extensive release.

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REVIEW:

This desirable and generally well-transferred set features a wide range of recordings spanning the length and breadth of the fine cellist André Navarra’s career, the latest being from 1984 when he was well into his seventies and still playing with a full, vibrant tone. There are two versions of the Schumann Concerto, the broader one under Barbirolli (recorded live in 1962), the other from 11 years earlier under André Cluytens, both with ravishing accounts of the slow movement. In the Dvorák Concerto under Rudolf Schwarz, Navarra plays with great vitality and no lack of passion. Between this set and the Prague recordings on Supraphon’s equally recommendable collection you have a fairly comprehensive representation of Navarra’s art.

– Gramophone

The conductor Arthur Nikisch described Wanda Landowska as the high priestess of the harpsichord, “prima clavicembalista assoluta” and “Bachante”, not least on account of her intensive Bach studies. Her concert activities, her influence as a teacher and her many publications and record releases assured Landowska of a central role in the revival of 17th- and 18th-century music for harpsichord. The method of finger training that she developed for keyboard instruments of every kind is of inestimable value, as is her own technique of harpsichord playing. Many of today’s leading harpsichordists have come up directly or indirectly through her school. At her suggestion, composers wrote for the harpsichord: Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) composed his Concert champêtre pour clavecin et orchestre FP 049 in 1927/28 and Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) made Wanda Landowska the dedicatee of his 1926 Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra.

The historic recordings presented here should be of interest not just to lovers of Early Music but throughout the music world. They range from Jacques Champion de Chambonnières to Henry Purcell and François Couperin, from Domenico Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel (both born in 1685 like J.S. Bach) to Bach himself, while the Classical composers Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart round off the program. The Bach works include his Goldberg Variations (the Paris performance of 1933) and the “48”, the whole of the Well-Tempered Clavier, recorded in New York and Lakeville between 1949 and 1954.

REVIEW:

In Wanda Ladowska plays… we’re treated to another fantastically talented keyboard player… A fascinating snapshot of a great musician.

-- BBC Music Magazine

 

Christian Thielemann on Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung “From 2006 to 2010, I spent some 300 hours in the orchestra pit in Bayreuth just on the Ring… Each year I looked forward to this task anew, and I am by no means of the opinion that I have completely finished with it. The Ring is so multifaceted musically that it can never exhaust one’s curiosity and one’s urge to explore further. In the Ring, the conductor feels like a battery that is permanently being recharged. That’s because of the contrasting worlds you move through for 15 whole hours, and the four highly different temperaments of the tetralogy. The orchestra is gigantic, with contrabassoon, bass tuba and eight horns – yet how nuanced and differentiated Wagner’s handling of this machine is!... As I see it, then, the Ring cuts a swathe through “the German sound”, it shows its extremes and its facets, from light and playful to heavy, serious and fraught with meaning. The German sound, Wagner teaches us, is never only the one thing and never just the other. Holländer, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan, Meistersinger: when he comes to the Ring, Wagner starts again from scratch. In its compositional technique, in its treatment of the orchestra, in terms of its dimensions, harmonically, everything is different. When he composed the Ring, Wagner had no orchestra at his disposal to test whether what he imagined actually worked. Everything was playing out in his head. When he finally heard it in 1876, he did alter a thing or two – and would undoubtedly have liked to make even more alterations later. Not that I see any point in speculating about it. We have to address ourselves to the work as it is, and that task is hard enough.”

Louis Kaufman was born on May 10, 1905 in Portland, Oregon. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania who were very interested in the arts and took their son to concerts. Kaufman gave his solo debut in the New York Town Hall in 1928 under the auspices of the International Naumburg Competition, which he proceeded to win. He then went on to play with such acclaimed musicians as Pablo Casals (cello), Mischa Elmann (violin), Jascha Heifetz (violin), Gregor Piatigorsky (cello) and Alfredo Rossi (piano). He also played classical music in ensembles, such as the Musical Art Quartet, the Kaufman Quartet, the Westwood String Quartet, the Bach Chamber Symphony Group. In 1932 Kaufman married the pianist Annette Leibole and performed frequently with her in public. In 1956 Louis Kaufman and his wife returned to Los Angeles. The violinist continued to give wonderful concerts until the late 1970s. After an eye operation he decided to retire from active performance. Louis Kaufman died on February 9, 1994. He was probably the violinist who had recorded the most works in the twentieth century. In addition to building up this huge body of recordings he was also the inventor of the Kaufman chinrest for the violin. The recordings featured on this historic CD album are predominantly from the 1940s and 50s.

The present recording features music by the composers Edvard Grieg, born on June 15, 1843 in Bergen, Norway, where he died on on September 4, 1907, and George Enescu (born on August 19, 1881 in Liveni, Romania, died on May 4, 1955 in Paris). Despite all the contrasts in their origins and their biographical data, both composers have one thing in common: their affinity with the music of their homeland. Acclaimed by the international music press as a “virtuoso of astonishing brilliance” and a “thoroughly poetic artist” (Dr. Joachim Kaiser, Süddeutsche Zeitung), Luiza Borac has established herself as one of the most charismatic artists of her generation.

As pianist Andrei Hoteev puts it, Vladimir Sofronitzki's interpretations included an "improvisatory style", which corresponds with what musicologist Sigfried Schibli has noted as a characteristic of Scriabin's own playing, going on to say Scriabin "developed his own style of playing the piano" with "alertly varied rhythms and dynamics...combined with a delicate touch and spontaneous agogics." Indeed, Sofronitzki's Scriabin performances have often been praised for their idiomatic, "poetic" rubato together with a flair for musical architecture and rhythmic precision. In his desire for fidelity to the original, Sofronitzki's highly sensitive use of the pedal reflects his striving to abide by the composer's expressive markings as closely as possible. His affinity with Scriabin's oeuvre may derive from the fact that both the composer and the pianist himself were influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Having spent his childhood in Warsaw, where his family had settled when he was two years old, Sofronitzki came to be regarded as setting new standards for Chopin interpretation - an artistic focus that goes back to his first piano tuition in the Polish capital. In 1949, the centenary of Chopin's death, Sofronitzki performed all his piano works on five successive days at the great hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

REVIEWS:

The flow of melody and the highest transparency of musical events were top priorities for Vladimir Sofronitzky, whom Emil Gilels called the greatest piano player in the world and of whom the famous Heinrich Neuhaus said, « He plays like a god and looks like a god. » Let’s look closely at these two statements: Gilels speaks of the piano player not of the pianist. Consciously or unconsciously? And Neuhaus speaks of the god. God, is that power? Mightiness? Because Sofronitzky’s playing is powerful. It is dramatic and sonorous. This is Sofronitzky’s individualism: his feelings are those of sovereignty, of control. Poetry and tenderness are not his thing. And so the recordings of this edition impress me more than they touch me.

However, those who are intoxicated by consummate piano technique will be happy with this. In addition to the Etudes, Mazurkas, Preludes, Impromptus, Nocturnes and Poèmes, this box includes the legendary near-complete recording of the piano sonatas with Vladimir Sofronitzky. Only the first three movements of the 1st Sonata and the 9th Sonata, which the pianist never recorded out of respect for Scriabin, are missing and replaced by recordings by other pianists. Sofronitzky’s interpretations are phenomenal: he literally chisels the music into sculptures, relentless, accented, yet often very restrained and labored for nuance. Nevertheless, it is the enormously powerful playing that dominates and captivates the listener[.]

-- Pizzicato

These are historical recordings from 1946 to 1962, played primarily by Sofronitski; all the others are listed as guests. Profil celebrates Scriabin’s 150th birthday with a nearly complete collection of his solo piano works. This remastered collection has cleaned things up to today’s standards.

"Historical Recordings 1946-1962" is correct for all the recordings here except Scriabin’s tracks. There is not a bad performance in this collection. A few choices were made that I didn’t agree with, but, by and large, this is spectacular Scriabin...I was amazed at the musical concentration Sofronitsky summoned to play such beautifully shaped phrases on such an instrument. Anyone who enjoys Scriabin’s piano music will find exceptional performances on each disc here.

-- American Record Guide

The present Edition of Richter’s Schubert interpretations from 1948 to 1964 even has some album premieres to offer, taken from hitherto unreleased live recordings. One such is the two-movement version of the Piano Sonata no. 6 in E minor D566. The Moscow live recording from 1958 also shows that Richter is one of the very few pianists of note to have played both versions, the other being in three movements. That also applies to the shortened (Urtext) and full (ed. Brahms) versions of Impromptu no. 1 D946 and the largely unknown original version of the third Impromptu of D899 (in G major) and the popular version in G flat. Then there is the never officially published recording of the unfinished Sonata no. 15 D840, nicknamed “Reliquie” in the mistaken belief that it was Schubert’s last sonata. Schubert was a true lieder composer, and his piano works too have a song-like character. This Edition accordingly includes Sviatoslav Richter “accompanying” at the piano. The six Schubert songs recorded in 1953 and sung- in Russian- by his lifelong companion the soprano Nina Dorliac are a genuine rarity. The same album (no. 9 of this Edition) features another fine example of Richter the great solo artist as a team player, joining composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) in the Eight Variations in A flat D813 for piano duet.

Although the interpretations of Karl Richter can scarcely claim to be musicological validity according to the standards of today's so-called "historical performance practices", there are still numerous enthusiastic followers of this ingenious Kapellmeister, the generations of music lovers above all with his interpretations of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Händel and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Richter gave these pieces an unrivaled warmth, a loving touch and a grace, which one often has to look for in the old-music scene of today, often with the magnifying glass. This enormous set features Karl Richter conducting the most famous works by these most famous of composers, including Bach’s St. Matthews Passion, Goldberg Variations, and Partitas, Handel’s Organ Concertos, Mozart’s Flute Concertos, and more.