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Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 / Theielemann, Staatskapelle Dresden [Blu-ray]

C Major Entertainment

Blu-Ray

$118.99 Apr 16, 2021

This release contains the international acclaimed Bruckner cycle of Christian Thielemann, a “magician of the Bruckner sound”(Kurier on Symphony No. 5) and the Staatskapelle Dresden, whose own Bruckner tradition dates back more than a century. Outstanding reviews emphasize the exceptionally high artistic quality of the concerts: “Once again Thielemann proved to be the unrestricted ruler on his ancestral territory, German Romantic repertoire” (Hamburger Abendblatt on Symphony No. 2). Christian Thielemann “displays the full musical maelstrom of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3” (Münchner Merkur). “Another Bruckner triumph for Dresden” (Sächsische Zeitung on Symphony No. 6). “… one would have to be hard-hearted not to be touched by this heartfelt music” (Der Tagesspiegel on Symphony No. 8).

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Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 / Theielemann, Staatskapelle Dresden [Blu-ray]
C Major Entertainment Apr 2021
Blu-Ray
$118.99

BERNSTEIN IN REHEARSAL & PERFORMANCE
EUROARTS Apr 2008
DVD
$24.99

LANGGAARD, R.: Antikrist (Sung in German)
Danacord Aug 1999
CD
$18.99

Bach: Concerts Avec Plusieurs Instruments Vol 5 / Cafe Zimmermann

Alpha

$20.99 Mar 08, 2011

BACH Orchestral Suite No. 3. Harpsichord Concerto in F, BWV 1056. Brandenburg Concerto No. 6. Concerto in d for 3 Violins, BWV 1063 • Café Zimmermann (period instruments) • ALPHA 168 (58:31)

This is the fifth, and presumably penultimate, release in Café Zimmerman’s imaginative and possibly unprecedented presentation of Bach’s “concerts avec plusiers instrumnents,” better known to us as his Brandenburg Concertos . Bach assembled the set in a fruitless attempt to solicit patronage from the Margrave of Brandenburg, whose reward for neglecting these unparalleled masterpieces is to have his title (if not his name) remembered for all time. Café Zimmermann, a small, multinational period-instrument ensemble based in France, is raising Bach’s ante by releasing the Brandenburg s one per disc, along with most of the other concertos—some in reconstructions—and the orchestral suites.

I haven’t heard the first three discs in the series, but I did have the privilege of auditioning Volume 4 for Fanfare 33: 1. The present disc only reinforces my reaction to its predecessor, which was emphatically positive. The concertos are played in chamber fashion, as likely was the case at Leipzig’s Café Zimmermann, from which our heroes have taken their name, where Bach’s concerts with the Collegium Musicum took place. The ensemble is expanded modestly for the suite in order to balance the three trumpets with a fuller string sound. The performances combine sparkling virtuosity, infectious zest, and scrupulous attention to our latest understanding of Bach’s musical practice, and compare favorably with the very best versions available. They should put the names of Café Zimmermann’s founders and artistic leaders, violinist Pablo Valetti and harpsichordist Céline Frisch, in the minds of anyone who treasures this incomparable music.

It remains for the listener to decide whether Café Zimmermann’s release strategy is right for him or her. If the attraction is the Brandenburg s, should you have to buy all six discs to get them? Personally, I prefer homogeneous packages from which I can devise my own programs, and hunting for individual works in a mixed collection can be inconvenient (though I encounter that all the time with the cantatas). On the other hand, Café Zimmermann’s ready-made programs provide instant variety and satisfying listening experiences. Plus, you get all that wonderful music and all those amazing performances.

FANFARE: George Chien

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Bach: Concerts Avec Plusieurs Instruments Vol 5 / Cafe Zimmermann
Alpha Mar 2011
CD
$20.99

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: A Centenary Tribute

SOMM Recordings

$29.99 May 16, 2025

SOMM Recordings is proud to mark the centenary of the legendary German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925-18 May 2012) by adding to his canonical discography with live recital and concert recordings from the Music Preserved archive. Fischer-Dieskau was at the very height of his powers from 1960-75, and the performances on this album date from that period. A bonus CD contains two interviews conducted by Jon Tolansky-appearing here in their entirety for the first time-the 75th Birthday Interview (2000) and 80th Birthday Interview (2005). The extraordinarily vast repertoire of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau over his 45-year career comprised lieder, operas, cantatas, and oratorios. He sang these in German, Italian, French, Russian, English, Hebrew, Hungarian, and Latin, from eras that spanned the Baroque to the latter part of the 20th century. Particularly, it was the controlled power and beauty of his voice, and the dramatic intensity and poetry of his interpretations, that led him to excel in the genre of German lieder. In this form he exerted a virtually unprecedented stylistic and interpretative influence-not only on the musical world of his day, but also on generations of performers to come. SOMM's centenary tribute opens with four songs by Ferruccio Busoni, all being works that were written late in the composer's career. They come from a programme that Fischer-Dieskau gave with Gerald Moore in 1962. At the 1971 Helsinki Festival, Fischer-Dieskau presented a recital with Irwin Gage, which was devoted entirely to songs with texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The recital, described by a contemporary critic as "a landmark event," featured compositions by contemporaries of Goethe, who lived from 1749 to 1832, such as the Countess Anna Amalia, Kapellmeister Johann Friedrich Reichardt, and Goethe's friend Carl Friedrich Zelter. The more familiar composers represented on this Goethe-inspired recital were active during the first part of the 20th century. They include Richard Strauss, Max Reger, and Ferruccio Busoni. This tribute to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau also includes six songs from a programme of works by Gustav Mahler, which was presented with his long-time collaborator, Karl Engel. Three of the songs are from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, based on texts of German folk poems, and three are from the collection of five Ruckert-Lieder, after poems written by Friedrich Ruckert. The musical component of this collection closes with a concert performance of three songs by Zoltan Kodaly, sung in Hungarian by Fischer-Dieskau. The composer proves himself an outstanding interpreter of his own music in conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. In the two interviews included on the bonus CD, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau discusses his early years, his teachers, the development of his career, and a small but revealing cross-section of his enormous repertoire.

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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: A Centenary Tribute
SOMM Recordings May 2025
CD
$29.99

Complete Organ Works III

CPO

SACD

$36.99 Jul 25, 2025

Friedhelm Flamme plays an extraordinary role in the organ catalogue of our record label. His discography, which ranges from the Baroque era to the 20th century, is a gift to organ connoisseurs and aficionados alike. Not only has he recorded a multitude of works of unknown composers, but has opened an impressive "organ museum" of more than two dozen productions on historical instruments that are seldom heard on record. This is the final release of our complete recordings of BUXTEHUDE's work. Here the German-Danish musician shows his compositional skills in an area that is justly called the ultimate discipline of Baroque keyboard players - the connection between prelude and fugue, which culminated in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach at the end of the Baroque era. It is well known that he made a pilgrimage to Lubeck in his younger years to attentively listen to the organist of St. Mary's Church there.

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Complete Organ Works III
CPO Jul 2025
SACD
$36.99

Staff Pick

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos, Orchestral Suites / Suzuki

BIS

SACD

$39.99 Aug 01, 2009

Bach Collegium Japan was first noticed internationally for undertaking the huge project of recording the complete church cantatas of J. S. Bach. Although the ensemble's discography consists of predominately vocal works, the participating instrumentalists have attracted acclaim ever since the outset. On the present offering, it is Bach's two great sets of orchestral works that form the programme and the choir of the BCJ is silent. Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki first recorded the Brandenburg Concertos in 2000, but now return to these great works. The new recording took place in the recently completed MUZA Kawasaki Hall, a venue that is highly suitable to an approach focussing on the chamber music qualities of this music.

In four of the concertos Masaaki Suzuki has chosen to replace the traditional cello with the violoncello da spalla - a smaller instrument played horizontally on the shoulder or held against the breast. The instrument has already featured in the BCJ Cantata series, and opens for new possibilities in timbre, for instance in Concerto No. 6, where the violoncello da spalla blends particularly well with the two solo violas and the viola da gambas. Making a new recording also provided the opportunity to record these in many ways multidimensional works in 5.0 Surround Sound, releasing them as hybrid SACDs. This is also the format of the included recordings of the Orchestral Suites, originally released in 2005 to great and universal acclaim.

The German website klassik.com called the 2-CD set 'incredibly perfect Bach!' and named it one of the reference recordings of these oft-recorded works, while the Financial Times (UK) listed it as one of the outstanding classical discs of 2005, remarking that 'Suzuki's traversal of the Bach orchestral suites combine scholarship and style without compromising the music's expressiveness.' In the Brandenburg Concertos and the Suites, Bach explored an Italian and a French genre respectively, and in his inimitable way transcended the boundaries of both. This attractive box at a very advantageous price combines both sets performed by one of the leading Baroque ensembles in high fidelity recordings - not to be missed! Please note: The music on this Hybrid Super Audio CD can be played back in Stereo (CD and SACD) as well as in 5.0 Surround sound (SACD).

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★ Staff Pick

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos, Orchestral Suites / Suzuki
BIS Aug 2009
SACD
$39.99

COMPLETE DG & ARGO RECORDINGS

ELOQUENCE AUSTRALIA

$81.63 Nov 08, 2024

Michael Tilson Thomas's complete recordings for Deutsche Grammophon (1970-2003) and Argo (1992-1995) encapsulate the conductor's restlessly exploratory nature and masterful handling of the modern orchestra. The recordings in this collection demonstrate his superb ear for complex rhythms and textures, an orchestral builder, as well as an inspired interpreter of the widest imaginable range of music. Even the most cynical of critics set aside their Beckmesser's slate when Michael Tilson Thomas stepped on to the international stage in the early 1970s when Deutsche Grammophon released albums of Tchaikovsky, Debussy and American music. They were made near the start of his tenure as the Boston Symphony's Assistant Conductor, and they demonstrated a preternatural assurance as well as a superb ear for complex rhythms and textures. Tilson Thomas's first period with DG was relatively short-lived - just a couple of years - but it also took in his scintillating pianism, accompanying BSO principals in Debussy sonatas, and a viscerally exact Stravinsky Rite of Spring, as well as, of course, the luminous account of Tchaikovsky's 'Winter Dreams' symphony (still considered a benchmark recording of this work). All the repertoire played to his strengths and demonstrated his considerable talents as an orchestral builder as well as an inspired interpreter of the widest imaginable range of music. Once installed as Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra, Tilson Thomas rekindled his DG relationship with two definitive albums of music by his mentor Leonard Bernstein. On The Town and Arias and Barcarolles both feature Frederica von Stade and Thomas Hampson, who were also close and long-standing associates of the composer. The LSO/DG partnership also featured typically insightful and sympathetic performances of concertos with pianist Jean-Marc Luisada and cellist Mischa Maisky. With Il sogno, Elvis Costello's ballet score for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the conductor's skill at shaping the most eclectic range of styles comes to the fore. Finally, the set brings together for the first time the Argo recordings made by Tilson Thomas with the New World Symphony, which he founded in 1997 as a 'training orchestra' but which rapidly established itself as an international-calibre ensemble, capable of taking on the most challenging repertoire. With them, Tilson Thomas produced an exhilarating album of Latin American dances (Tangazo) a sensuous survey of Morton Feldman's orchestral music, and finally a loving tribute to his teacher from college days, the composer Ingolf Dahl. If Dahl's music is still too little known, the reissue of this album should bring it new friends. Reissued with original jackets, the set includes a new appreciation of the conductor's career by Peter Quantrill.

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COMPLETE DG & ARGO RECORDINGS
ELOQUENCE AUSTRALIA Nov 2024
CD
$81.63

Rachmaninov: Aleko / Noseda, Murzaev, Akimov, BBC Philharmonic

Chandos

$21.99 Apr 27, 2010

My Recording of the Month, by a long way. The BBC Philharmonic sounds simply superb … Noseda conducts intelligently, sensitively, with full structural awareness of the dramatic trajectory.

Note that this is not part of the Chandos ‘Opera in English” series. This Aleko is sung in Russian. Rachmaninov’s early opera is remarkable, especially given its early date. The inspiration is free-flowing from the composer’s pen; the integrity of the Pushkin original is maintained.

The BBC Philharmonic sounds simply superb in the opening Prelude, delivering the themes of fate and jealousy with equal amounts of foreboding and lyricism. The recording helps – superbly focused, believably balanced and with just the right amount of space. The orchestra is superbly captured throughout, a vital facet of any recording of this piece given the dances that permeate the score. The Women’s Dance is superbly characterful - the BBC Philharmonic’s wind section excels. The Men’s Dance contains more contrasts, all relished by the forces here.

The opening chorus of gypsies makes plain reference to Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances. The chorus throughout - and it plays an integral part in the work’s unfolding - is magnificent. The Teatro Regio, Turin chorus makes a lovely, rounded sound and still sounds believably Russian.

The Russian text is given in Cyrillic only in the booklet, which might pose problems for some. At least there are translations in English, French and German and track points are frequent.

Luxury casting comes in the form of the experienced Gennadi Bezzubenkov as the Old Gypsy, full of Russian melancholy as he reminisces (track 3). The oboe’s supporting comments seem echt-Russian rather than Mancunian. The Old Gypsy Woman, who appears towards the end of the opera, is similarly convincing (Nadezhda Vasilieva).

The title role is taken by baritone Sergey Murzaev, strong and virile of voice. Aleko’s Cavatina (track 10) is powerfully delivered, a clear arioso narration until Aleko utters the magic name of “Zemfira”. The aftermath of his Cavatina (after the lines “Zemfira is unfaithful! Zemfira has grown cold!”) is a magical Intermezzo, during which the moon disappears and daybreak begins onstage. His vocal acting in the finale, when he awakes to find Zemfira and the Young Gypsy together, is excellent, right up to the moment he stabs the Young Gypsy.

As Zemfira, Svetla Vassileva is pure and yet passionate. Her big number is the Lullaby (track 9), preceded by the tender duet with the Young Gypsy - the ardent tenor Evgeny Akimov. Only his later off-stage aria, “Look how beneath the distant vault of Heaven …” disappoints, lacking the last iota of conviction. Again, the BBC Philharmonic performs a sterling service in setting up the atmosphere, here in the pointed phrasing. Vassileva sings beautifully, moulding her responses to the text perfectly.

Noseda conducts intelligently, sensitively, with full structural awareness of the dramatic trajectory. We clearly hear the Tchaikovskian influences in the orchestral writing, particularly in the yearning string phrases.

Rob Barnett rightly praised the Järvi DG recording on this site some eight years ago. I would love to hear the Svetlanov (only part of a six-disc set, alas). I remember a Proms performance of Aleko some years ago now which featured the magnificent Elena Prokina – perhaps it is too much to wish that she were part of the Chandos cast. Whatever, there is no doubt that this performance stands firmly on its own two feet.

My Recording of the Month, by a long way.

-- Colin Clarke, MusicWeb International

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Rachmaninov: Aleko / Noseda, Murzaev, Akimov, BBC Philharmonic
Chandos Apr 2010
CD
$21.99

FURTWANGLER: THE COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS

WARNER CLASSICS

$157.67 Oct 15, 2021

Wilhelm Furtwangler is a musical titan, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. Some would say he is the greatest of all. A supreme, inimitable interpreter of the Austro-German symphonic repertoire, and of Wagner's music dramas, he remains a towering point of reference for performers and audiences. The unparalleled scope of this 55CD set makes it an essential for the music-lover. Not only is it the first collection to unite Furtwangler's entire catalogue of studio recordings, it also encompasses every live recording he made with a view to commercial release. Painstaking research has even unearthed a treasury of previously unpublished material, recorded in Vienna and Copenhagen. The highest artistic and technical standards have been applied in curating this set: each recording has been fully and scrupulously remastered in high definition, while the accompanying commentary and documentation, both authoritative and exhaustive, further illuminates Furtwangler's philosophy and his genius for bringing a score to life with apparent spontaneity.

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FURTWANGLER: THE COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS
WARNER CLASSICS Oct 2021
CD
$157.67

Mozart, Bach & Beethoven: Violin Concertos / Frank Peter Zimmermann

Haenssler Classic

$32.99 Jul 05, 2024

Frank Peter Zimmermann is widely regarded as one of the foremost violinists of his generation. He has been performing with all major orchestras in the world, among which the Berliner Philharmoniker with whom he made his debut in 1985 with Daniel Barenboim; the Wiener Philharmoniker with whom he played a first time in 1983 with Lorin Maazel in Salzburg; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all London orchestras, as well as all big American orchestras. Frank Peter Zimmermann is a regular guest at all major music festivals of among others Salzburg, Edinburgh and Lucerne. Over the years Frank Peter Zimmermann has built up an impressive discography: He has recorded virtually all major concerto repertoire, ranging from Bach to Ligeti, Dean and Pintscher; the six solo sonatas of Ysaÿe; the 24 Caprices of Paganini and the complete Violin Sonatas of J.S. Bach and Mozart. Born in 1965 in Duisburg, Germany, he started learning playing the violin with his mother when he was 5 years old. He studied with Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff and Herman Krebbers. He plays on the 1711 Antonius Stradivari violin "Lady Inchiquin", which is kindly provided by the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, "Kunst i'm Landesbesitz".

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Mozart, Bach & Beethoven: Violin Concertos / Frank Peter Zimmermann
Haenssler Classic Jul 2024
CD
$32.99

RIVERDANCE 25TH ANNIVERSARY: MUSIC FROM THE SHOW

DECCA

$16.73 Dec 06, 2019

2019 release. Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show is Riverdance, as you've never seen it before! A powerful and stirring reinvention of this beloved favorite, celebrated the world over for it's Grammy Award-winning score and the thrilling energy and passion of it's Irish and international dance. Twenty-five years on, composer Bill Whelan has rerecorded his mesmerizing soundtrack while producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan have completely re-imagined the ground-breaking show.

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RIVERDANCE 25TH ANNIVERSARY: MUSIC FROM THE SHOW
DECCA Dec 2019
CD
$16.73

Bruno Walter Conducts Mahler Symphonies 1 & 2 - 1942 Live Performances

Music and Arts Programs of America

$32.99 Aug 28, 2012

MAHLER Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 1 • Bruno Walter, cond; 1 Nadine Conner (sop); 1 Mona Paulee (ms); 1 Westminster Choir; New York P O • MUSIC & ARTS 1264, mono (2 CDs: 132:17 & English only) Live: New York, 1 1/25 and 10/25/1942

Elsewhere in this issue I review a two-CD set of historic Bruckner symphony performances conducted by Bruno Walter. Here we have two more premiere publications of historic broadcasts, drawn from the same private collection recently acquired by Music and Arts, with the promise of still more to come. Their chief point of interest is that they are among the earliest recorded performances by Walter of works by the composer to which, far above and beyond any other conductor, he could claim a unique, profoundly personal connection, as Mahler’s longtime assistant and protégé, who led the world premiere performances of the Ninth Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde . To be more precise, this is the earliest surviving Walter account of the “Resurrection,” whereas the “Titan” is preceded by a 1939 broadcast with the NBC Symphony.

Back in 34:6, in reviewing a 1950 Vienna Philharmonic broadcast of the Mahler Fourth that also made it into my 2011 Want List, I briefly surveyed all of Walter’s surviving performances of that work—12 in all. The First ranks second (got that?) in Walter’s Mahler discography, with nine extant versions, given variously with the NBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, Bavarian State Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Columbia Symphony. As in the similar tables in the Bruckner set review, if a particular performance has appeared more than once on CD, I have cited the best version currently in print (excluding versions included in large multi-CD anthologies); studio recordings are marked with an asterisk.

Date Orchestra CD or LP Issue (if any) Timings

04/08/39 NBC SO Music & Arts CD-1241 11:55 6:09 11: 19 18:04

10/25/42 NYP Music & Arts CD-1264 12:34 6:34 11: 27 18:55

10/16/47 RCO Tahra TAH 504 12:12 6:05 11:26 18:48

11/06/47 LPO Testament SBT 1429 11:47 6:05 10:38 17: 38

02/12/50 NYP Andromeda ANDRCD 9087 12:31 6:16 11:30 18: 50

10/02/50 BSSO Orfeo C 562 021 B 12:03 6:15 11:18 18:17

01/24/54 NYP Movimento Musica 01.106 12:20 6:17 11: 35 18:42

(LP only, Italy)

01/25/54 NYP Sony MHK 63328* 12:33 6:22 11:18 18:17

01/14 /61 CSO Sony SM2K 64447* 13:20 6:50 11:24 20:25

- 02/06/61

Again very much like Walter’s eight surviving performances of the Bruckner Ninth, the timings here indicate a remarkable stability in his interpretive approach among the performances pre-dating his March 1957 heart attack—and in this instance, even the 1961 studio recording differs in little else except the somewhat broader tempi in the outer movements. The sound of the 1939 NBC broadcast is surprisingly decent, a vast improvement on previous issues on other (and much less reputable) labels. For whatever reason, Walter’s 1947 performances in London feature noticeably quicker tempi than those of the same works in other venues. (A positively Toscaninian Beethoven Ninth issued by Music and Arts clocks in at a torrential 61:58, compared to his 1949 studio recording of 65:12, with most of the difference occurring in the first and third movements.) The London performance also unfortunately suffers from the poorest recorded sound (it is afflicted with noticeable tape wow and flutter) and sometimes dicey orchestral playing.

Several of these performances have been reviewed in these pages before, mostly with glowing praise. In 28:1 James H. North termed Walter’s 1947 Concertgebouw outing “magnificent ... a performance for the ages.” Jeffrey J. Lipscomb’s review of the 1950 Munich performance in 29:3 said that it “captures Walter’s artistry at its finest,” and he then placed it on his 2006 Want List. In 34:3 Boyd Pomeroy likewise lauded the 1939 NBC performance as “a reading of thrilling spontaneity, a combustible meeting of Walter’s totally idiomatic Mahler style with the distinctively bright, tightly focused expressive intensity of the NBC orchestra, which responds with total commitment.” He also commented briefly on the two 1947 renditions plus Walter’s two studio recordings, where his evaluations agree with those of his colleagues. The less positive reviews—Peter J. Rabinowitz on the 1950 New York performance in 13:3, and Arthur Lintgen on the 1947 London performance in 32:6—have faulted poor recorded sound rather than the interpretation. Except for finding the sound of the 1950 New York performance far more listenable than did Rabinowitz, I otherwise concur with all of the foregoing reviews and happily refer readers to them.

To their observations I will append a few of my own. The 1947 Concertgebouw and 1950 Munich performances feature a more mellow orchestral timbre than do those of their American counterparts, with Munich having the better recorded sound. However, the 1947 performance features the finest orchestral playing; it has a superior rendition of the treacherous double-bass solo in the third movement, and is the only live performance in which there is not at least one prominently cracked or blown note on the trumpets or horns (though such lapses are few and momentary in the other ones). The live 1954 New York performance cries out to be issued on CD; it has superior sound to the other live American recordings, and the crackling frisson of a live performance that the estimable studio account recorded the following day does not quite replicate. Unlike some critics who discount Walter’s 1960 account as relatively slack and a letdown from his previous versions, I still regard it as virtually nonpareil among studio recordings, even if I do prefer the greater tensile strength of the earlier monaural studio account. Mahler as a hyper-neurotic has been grossly overdone, and Walter’s balancing of what he called the Apollonian and Dionysian sides of the composer is a far more accurate view that reflects his own intimate acquaintance with Mahler’s personality rather than latter-day pseudo-Freudian projections upon it.

Unless and until the live 1954 New York account becomes available on CD, my top recommendations for the Mahler collector who wants a representative performance of the First by Walter would be either the 1947 Concertgebouw or 1950 Munich performance, along with the newly issued super-budget seven-CD set on Sony of all of Walter’s Mahler recordings for Columbia, just reviewed by Christopher Abbott as a “Classical Hall of Fame” entry in 35:6. As for this 1942 performance, while it is naturally a necessary acquisition for Walter collectors such as myself, it is a luxury acquisition for others; it is a typically excellent interpretation, but not sufficiently distinct from other and better-sounding Walter performances. Those desiring to hear Walter’s earlier thoughts on the work would do better to turn to the 1939 NBC outing.

Much the same can be said of the 1942 performance of the “Resurrection” presented here, though in this case there is considerably less competition. This is now the fifth performance by Walter of this work to appear in print, an extraordinarily high number considering the relative rarity of performances of it before the Mahler boom of the 1960s. As before, the following tables provide specific details. For all of the New York Philharmonic performances, Walter used the Westminster Choir; for the Vienna Philharmonic performance he employed the chorus of the Vienna State Opera Concert Society.

Date Orchestra / Soloists CD or LP Issue (if any)

01/25/42 NYP / Conner / Paulee Music & Arts CD-1264

05/15/48 VPO / Cebotari / Anday Archipel ARPCD 0082

12/05/48 NYP / Conner / Watson Bruno Walter Society BWS 1067/8

(LP only, Japan)

02/17/57 NYP / Stader / Forrester Music & Arts CD-1199(1)

02/17-21/58 NYP / Cundari / Forrester Sony SM2K 64447*

Timings for these are as follows:

Date Timings

01/25/42 22:06 9:59 10:18 4:40 32:30

05/15/48 22:28 10:53 10:56 4:38 34:47

12/05/48 22:20 11:24 10:54 5:13 34:35

02/17/57 21:30 10:36 10:44 4:39 33:01

02/17-21/58 21:37 10:35 10:43 4:11 32:26

Christopher Abbott reviewed and praised the deluxe Andante release (most regrettably out of print) of the 1948 Vienna performance in 26:6. (The current Andromeda issue, coupled with the 1950 New York performance of the First, appears to be a clone of the Andante issue, muddied with added bass reverberation.) Boyd Pomeroy (whose recent departure from these pages is a sore loss) waxed enthusiastic over the live 1957 New York performance in 34:5; an earlier issue (also by Music and Arts) was welcomed with equal enthusiasm by Abbott in 31:2, who also discusses the 1958 studio recording in his aforementioned recent Classical Hall of Fame entry in 35:6.

The Mahler Second is unique in Walter’s discography in being the only recorded work in his repertoire where his final performances are faster instead of slower than his earlier ones. Here, the 1942 performance is a few seconds behind the 1958 studio recording, and a bit ahead of the 1957 live performance, but all three are a few minutes faster than the two versions from 1948. As Abbott notes, this belies oft-repeated assertions that the post-1957 heart attack recordings led to a slackening of Walter’s interpretations; there is certainly no lack of energy and dynamism in this account. Moreover, this is a notable instance in which advances in remastering technology substantially alter discographic evaluations. The superlative deluxe Andante release of the 1948 Vienna performance transformed it from a dim-sounding mess to a listenable recording of considerable historic interest, even if in the process it revealed additional flaws (more on which anon). Boyd Pomeroy’s preference for the live 1957 performance over the 1958 studio recording was quite justifiable in light of the rather poor remastering that Sony produced of the latter for its “Bruno Walter Edition,” with a dry, constricted bass register. While this has been slightly but noticeably improved in the new boxed set reviewed by Abbott, that too would not be enough to change the assessment. But this evaluation must be radically altered once one hears the DSD (Sony SRCR 2334-5) or Blu-Spec (Sony SICC 20075-6) editions issued by Sony in Japan (the latter at least is already out of print, alas). Suddenly the entire frequency range is opened up to a hitherto unimagined degree, with a bass register that now has depth and warmth, and the choir finally emerging with the presence and impact one sensed it always had but felt was somehow imprisoned behind invisible sonic bars. (Special thanks to Fanfare reader and friend Robert Alps for both the information on these releases and for generous gift copies of them as well. Through him I have also just learned that by the time this review appears in print, Sony in Japan will have released some CDs in a newly upgraded sonic format, Blu-Spec2.)

Of these five performances, the one from Vienna in 1948 ranks a rather distant last place. While much improved by Andante, the recorded sound is still rather dry and boxy, with limited frequencies; the orchestral playing is surprisingly ragged (including a horrible cracked note in the crucial fifth movement trombone solo), and the choir not much better; and Rosette Anday’s wobbly, hollow-voiced attempt at the solo alto part is the kind of thing one hears on parody discs rather than in serious performances. This 1942 performance occupies the next-to-last position. It is very fine on its own terms, and if no other example of Walter’s art in this work survived it would be of immense value, but it is outclassed by all three succeeding performances. As in the 1948 New York performance (more on which shortly), the soloists and choir sing an English translation—revised by Walter himself—rather than the original German. Mona Paulee is a committed soloist, but her voice has more of a mezzo-soprano cast than the dark contralto one truly needed for the part. Nadine Conner, a Walter favorite for soprano vocal assignments who also sang supporting roles at the Met, fulfills her smaller role capably, and the Westminster Choir sings with power and enthusiasm.

In his typically superb program notes—which include fascinating details regarding behind-the-scenes negotiation of the Boston and New York orchestras with various musical figures and how these affected concert programming—Mark W. Kluge opines that this is “an account that is noticeably more rhetorical and dramatic than his later performances.” With this assertion I must respectfully disagree. Both the 1957 live and 1958 studio versions (the latter in its new Japanese remasterings) yield nothing on this score to the 1942, and indeed have more forward drive and energy. However, the real but frustratingly elusive prize is the live 1948 New York performance. It was released only in Japan on an ultra-scarce set of Bruno Walter Society LPs, though cassette and CD copies have circulated among private collectors as well. That is the performance to which Kluge’s observation rightly applies. It simply beggars superlatives—utterly titanic, of a white-hot intensity and level of interpretive inspiration that causes the limitations of a 1948 AM broadcast sound (superior to that from 1942) to fall away and leave one slack-jawed in dumbfounded amazement. In Rose Watson, Walter this time has the true contralto voice needed for the primary solo part; Nadine Conner repeats her fine rendition of her supporting role; both the Westminster Choir and New York Philharmonic play and sing as if their very lives depended on it, leaving their previous efforts trailing in the dust; and the audience roars and whistles its ecstatic approval at the close.

Music and Arts has done its usual superlative job with remastering and tape-to-disc transfer (by Aaron Z. Snyder and Eric Jacobs, respectively). These are both excellent performances that are necessary acquisitions for the committed Walterian such as myself. Anyone else who has the money and inclination to acquire them also will certainly get his money’s worth. The one major caveat is the existence of superior alternatives. Thus, an urgent personal plea to the good folks at M&A: how about issuing a two-CD set coupling the 1954 performance of the First and the 1948 one of the Second? That would be a must acquisition for every lover of Mahler and for collectors of historic recordings alike.

FANFARE: James A. Altena

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Bruno Walter Conducts Mahler Symphonies 1 & 2 - 1942 Live Performances
Music and Arts Programs of America Aug 2012
CD
$32.99

Avison: Concertos in 7 Parts / Cafe Zimmermann

Alpha

$11.99 Sep 30, 2016

After the success of the first fourteen reissues, which restored to the limelight some of the gems of the early music repertory in the catalogues of our labels, here are fourteen new titles to allow listeners to renew acquaintance with further treasures of the Renaissance and Baroque (and even a journey through time thanks to Raphaël Imbert’s album Bach Coltrane), performed by some of the leading interpreters of the genre; most of these discs won one or more awards on their first release. As with the first series, the artists have been asked to contribute to the booklets, in which, with a few years’ hindsight, they talk about their conception of the works and how they went about recording them. The photographers of the Magnum agency illustrate the covers of the series with their work; this time the common design element is the colour yellow.

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Avison: Concertos in 7 Parts / Cafe Zimmermann
Alpha Sep 2016
CD
$11.99

SERGE DIAGHILEV: BALLETS RUSSES

WARNER CLASSICS

$68.99 Apr 15, 2022

A transformative force in music, dance and the visual arts, the Ballets russes was founded in Paris in 1909 by the visionary impresario Serge Diaghilev. Innovative and flamboyant, he had a genius for bringing together the most brilliant composers, dancers, choreographers and designers, for nurturing creativity, and for galvanising audiences. Emblematic of the influence of the Ballets russes was the 1913 premiere of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps: it caused a notorious scandal, but it also changed musical history. This 22CD set traces the company's path through the 20 years of it's existence - a tumultuous, but artistically fertile period - and comprises the vast majority of Ballets russes scores that have been recorded. Encompassing epoch-making works and rarities awaiting rediscovery, it offers a number of CD premieres and landmark interpretations by major musicians of the 78, LP and digital eras.

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SERGE DIAGHILEV: BALLETS RUSSES
WARNER CLASSICS Apr 2022
CD
$68.99

Buxtehude: Complete Chamber Music

Brilliant Classics

$16.99 Apr 18, 2025

New recordings which have the field almost to themselves in an overlooked corner of Buxtehude's output. 'One of the world's most prolific harpsichordists' (Gramophone), Pieter-Jan Belder now leads this comprehensive and often revelatory survey of the surviving chamber music by Dieterich Buxtehude. Comprising eight musicians active on the Dutch early-music scene, Ensemble Fantasticus presents the only complete set of this music on record, making it an essential acquisition for all Baroque-music enthusiasts, further enhanced by detailed notes on both composer and works by Jon Baxendale. Buxtehude became the Cantor of the Marienkirche in Lubeck in 1668, at the age of 31. This would be his last church post. Bach undertook his famous journey by foot to Lubeck in 1705 - 37 years later - indicating the longevity of Buxtehude's career. His duties required him to focus on writing music for the church, and only latterly did he turn to chamber music (much in the way that Bach did during his last decade). The seven sonatas of Op.1 were published in 1694, and Op.2 appeared two years later; these collections represent the only known examples of his music printed during his lifetime. Buxtehude seems to have regarded the two collections as a unity, which emerges from study of their instrumentation and key structure. Seven might also be significant since it represents the number of notes in the diatonic scale and is also a number steeped in mysticism and symbolism. It also symbolises the humours of the seven planets, which Buxtehude is reputed to have described musically when encountering the astronomical clock at the Marienkirche. Considered together, the 14 sonatas (all scored for one or two solo instruments plus continuo, with strings in mind) open up an unparalleled universe of rhetorical expression that never fails to surprise or move the listener. The collection also includes unpublished pieces which round out our grasp of Buxtehude as an instrumental composer: a further 10 sonatas, not easy to date within the composer's career, but full of striking ideas such as the ground-bass passacaglia underpinning an A minor Trio Sonata. - Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707) was a Danish-German composer and organist. He is recognized for bridging Renaissance and Baroque musical traditions, influencing composers such as J.S. Bach and George Frideric Handel. - Born in either Helsingborg, Sweden, or Helsingor, Denmark (the exact location remains uncertain), Buxtehude spent much of his career in Lubeck, Germany, where he served as organist at the Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church) from 1668 until his death. - Buxtehude's style blends intricate counterpoint with an expressive, almost improvisational character, making him one of the most significant figures in early Baroque music. - This new recording presents Buxtehude's complete chamber music output, consisting of two books of Sonatas and several miscellaneous Sonatas. The Sonatas are for one or two violins, viola da gamba and harpsichord. - Played by Ensemble Fantasticus, featuring (among others) violinist Rie Kimura and harpsichordist Pieter-Jan Belder.

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Buxtehude: Complete Chamber Music
Brilliant Classics Apr 2025
CD
$16.99

The Royal Opera - Great Performances (Recorded Live 1955-199

Opus Arte

$114.99 Sep 30, 2014

This 32-disc box set collection brings together 12 classic live Royal Opera performances – Tosca, Otello, Cosi fan Tutte, Madama Butterfly, Meistersinger, Don Giovanni and half a dozen more - spanning a period of over forty years, from 1955-97. The set includes many of the world’s greatest operatic performers of the era: Jon Vickers, Joan Sutherland, Janet Baker, Victoria de los Angeles, Cesare Siepi, Sena Jurinac, Boris Christoff, Tito Gobbi, Kiri Te Kanawa, Zinka Milanov and Franco Corelli, amongst others.

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The Royal Opera - Great Performances (Recorded Live 1955-199
Opus Arte Sep 2014
CD
$114.99

Great Performances from The Library of Congress, Vol. 2
Bridge Records Jan 1996
CD
$18.99

COMPLETE 1961 ALHAMBRA PERFORMANCES

AMERICAN JAZZ CLASS

$15.49 Sep 23, 2022

This release compiles all known 1961 performances by the celebrated Ahmad Jamal Trio with Israel Crosby and Vernel Fournier at the pianist's own club, the Alhambra in Chicago. The Alhambra performances were originally issued on two LPs, Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra (Argo LPS-685), and All of You (Argo LPS-691). Four extra tunes from the engagement that were not issued on the original LPs have been added here, as well as two complete rarely heard sessions by the same trio recorded during the same period. This formation of the group wouldn't last long, as Israel Crosby died in mid-1962.

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COMPLETE 1961 ALHAMBRA PERFORMANCES
AMERICAN JAZZ CLASS Sep 2022
CD
$15.49

INSPIRATION: 22 HARMONICA PERFORMANCES / VARIOUS
SUNNYSIDE Jan 2003
CD
$16.63