Two Centuries of Austrian Piano Music with Joerg Demus

Here's my transfer of the monaural edition of the Music Guild lp above. An enterprising issue, I think, of music composed by great Austrian (consider that Austria was once an empire composing territories in Germany, Hungary, Bohemia etc.)  composers from Johann Friedrich Fux up through Alban Berg. All works are played marvelously by that quintessential Austrian pianist, Joerg Demus.

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The Kroll Quartet plays Beethoven and Haydn

What good fortune one has sometimes! Sometimes the "three for a buck" god casts his/her glances my way enabling me to acquire great music played by great musicians at about the price of a gumball. Here the contents of two lps released by that "other RCA" on their Allegro Elite label. Haydn's Op. 54 No. 2 and Op. 77 No. 1 along with Beethoven's second and third Op. 18 quartets played by the Kroll Quartet.

In its heyday, the Kroll Quartet was justly renowned and often mentioned in the same breath as the famed Budapest Quartet. As we all know, many have held the Budapest to be a gold standard though admittedlly personal changes through the years often played havoc with the end result. Well, no bother, here it is the magnificence of the Kroll, an ensemble truly made of peers who play for, and to, each other.

The Haydn and Beethoven quartets are immaculately played and oh, so intimate in style and texture. If you are tired of quartets that try to find the "symphonic" in these rather personal works, this is your antidote. I cannot stress the intimacy of the playing and the apparent joy that these musicians convey by the act of purely playing together. It reminds me of the famed Casals-Schneider-Istomin recordings. So refreshing and beautiful! Such a shame that the "other RCA" could not provide the recording excellence that the Kroll richly deserved though the mono sound is quite listenable.

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Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Haydn's Symphony No 61 with Mogens Woldike

This is one beautiful lp record. Seeing the name Woldike, I grabbed it without looking closely and when I arrived home, I was stunned to find a near mint record inside the slipcase. And, one of the stranger lps that I've seen since both sides have different color labels! I have a number of these Haydn Society isues on hand but I've never seen one like this.

This record features Mogens Woldike leading the Chamber Orchestra of the Danish State Radio in Haydn's Symphony No. 61 and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. I'll come back to the Haydn in a minute; I want to tell you all that this version of the Mozart is quite possibly the finest performance of the piece that I've ever laid my ears to...and I have heard it played by Wright, Brymer, Marcellus, Stolzman, Meyer, and Goodman. The soloist on this recording is esteemed French clarinetist Louis Cahuzac. Of Cahuzac - he was one of the great reed players of the first half of the twentieth century, in short a pathbreaker in modern orchestral clarinet performance. When he recorded this disc with Woldike, Cahuzac was over 70 years old and believe me, his technique is simply flawless. Combine that with mature insight and musical wisdom and you have a performance that balances the subtleties of the piece with the brilliance of the writing. This is a benchmark reading folks and Woldike provides the absolutely best brand of accompaniment possible.

Maestro Woldike turns in a splendid Symphony No 61. If you have heard his Haydn series from Vienna, you know what to expect here. This is insightful interpretation by a conductor who really knew how to scratch the surface and get inside these Haydn symphonies. I maintain that Haydn's Symphony No. 102 has never, and will never, get a better recorded presentation then Woldike's VSOO lp on Vanguard. Just great Haydn hereon this Haydn Society lp:  elegance where appropriate and rustic, hearty playing when required, all spendidly delivered by these fine Danish musicians.

This recording was released in 1952. You are in for a real treat here. Enjoy!

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Mogens Woldike conducts Haydn's Missa Sancti Bernardi Con Offida (Heiligmesse)

One of my very favorite conductors of the music of Franz Josef Haydn was the esteemed Danish musician, Mogens Woldike. I can remember the first time listening to his Vienna recording of Symphony No 102. The performance bounced along with merriment and humor in a rustic, "everyman" kind of way. No pompousness, just exhiliarating music making, scrupulously prepared and observant of the composer's intentions which was to entertain and, subtly educate, the listener.


As I do love Woldike's Missa in tempore belli, also from Vienna, I was excited to come across this earlier recording, from 1953.  Woldike is on his home turf, utilizing an outstanding boy's choir for choruses and solos and the fine Copenhagen Opera orchestra for instrumental support. This Heiligmesse does not disappoint. Like Woldike's Missa in tempore belli, there is firm structure and movements are well connected since the conductor understands that the liturgy is cohesive in meaning and cannot be approached as a series of distinct musical movements. And, most important, the Copenhagen Boys Choir is marvelous, a superb assemblage of highly talented and motivated boys and young men.  Clearly they understand the intent of their director and the music and, their presentation has that nobility and spiritual quality that Catholic masses had to convey to the congregation and the celebrants. Importantly,Woldike is as "in tune" with the mass as he was with the symphony, though they are very, very different forms of writing. 

I think this recording has held up well, I prefer it to Gardiner and Hickox. I am most pleased to share it.

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Munch and the BSO perform Haydn and Beethoven.

Here's one one that I have had "in the can" for a few weeks. Charles Munch and the "aristocrat of orchestras" in Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 and Haydn's "Drumroll" Symphony. I was lucky enough to obtain a fairly clean copy of LM 1200 and here it is for your listening pleasure.

Munch is too often pigeon holed as a "French" specialist and this is not at all a fair assessment of his abilities and talents. People tend to overlook the fact that he was, for the most part, German trained and, while a violinist with the Gewandhaus, he had the opportunity to play the German-Austrian masters under the likes of Furtwangler, Klemperer, Walter, to name but a  few. In short, his background and training provided him the authority to present credible renditions of works by these composers. Munch himself,
did not appreciate the "French" tag in much the same way as Paray and Monteux bristled at it.

There is good Beethoven and Haydn here, played with spirit, panache and, a sense of earthiness. I suspect the Beethoven suffered in sales since it was released near about the same time as Toscanini's early 50's traversal of the complete set for RCA. In regards to Haydn, probably the shadow of Beecham in this music was tough to overcome? Be that as it may, no excuses need be made for vital music making by a conductor who had the ability to electrify and an orchestra that was as refined and beautiful instrument. as any out there.

There are a couple of slight skips in the Drumroll that I believe are the result of the pressing and not human damage. I don't think these are enough to deter you from a pleasant listen. As I have said before, transferring from shellac or vinyl is not an exact science.

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The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross - the legendary Scherchen recording.

I finally found a decent copy of this rather legendary recording. This is for Maready at The High Pony Tail. He requested the Seven Last Words sometime ago and while rummaging through a rather uninspiring shop during lunch the other day, I came across this Westminster Gold reissue for 2 bucks. Though I would prefer the original vinyl release, this will do and ClickRepair cleaned it up rather nicely.

Oddly, there have been too few recordings of this oratorio version dealing with the meditations of Christ along the seven stages of the cross. I know of Harnoncourt's reading and I'd bet money that he was somehow involved with the Scherchen recording while a string player in the Vienna SO. Just a hunch since both men have very individualistic approaches that often diverge in a quirky kind of way. I do have several versions of the string quartet version on hand but I do not find one adagio after another satisfying in the quartet medium as I do with the oratorio presentation.

Scherchen really connects with Haydn in a way not dissimiliar to Bernstein. His reading is very much one that revolves around the words, the message, and not necessarily the music. For me, this works exceedingly well. Though a powerful intellect and a rather scientific kind of thinker (Scherchen was a keen student of rational socialist thought), the conductor makes a powerful connection with the religious and mystical side of this passion of Christ. This connection pays great dividends, especially when working with second tier soloists and a knowingly inconsistent Viennese band. Not to digress too much, but I wonder what Scherchen would have accomplished with truly first rate musicians at his disposal. A topic for another posting indeed!

This recording dates from 1962, is stereo and FLACs are awaiting download.

Oh! and please remember to check the Vinyl Fatigue blog for the series of Scherchen led Bach cantatas. You will not be disappointed!

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The Haydn and Hummel Trumpet Concertos: a doubletake!

You know, I've been playing the trumpet for a good thirty five years, though I do not consider myself a professional musician. I've played all sorts of stuff, shows, orchestral concerts, quintets, parades, you name it! Today, I focus my autumn season on Oktoberfests - where else can you actually go to play and drink great beer and, get paid for it!?

Ok..enough of me. When I was growing up, there were two trumpeters who I greatly admired because, well they just had unbelievable technique and personality; the two are none other then Maurice Andre and Timofey Dokschitser. In his day, Andre was the most celebrated "classical" trumpeter in the west as was Dokschitser behind the Iron Curtain. Both men possessed breathtaking technical abilities and very, VERY, personal, instantly recognizable styles. Interestingly, their type of playing and musicianship has gone out of fashion to be replaced by the rather generic sounding, yet brilliant technical abilities of today's young trumpeters. Oh well.

Here we have both Maurice and Timofey playing those two well worn masterpieces, the Haydn and Hummel concertos. I think you will enjoy the comparisons here. I believe that Andre plays both concertos on a C trumpet while Dokschitser opts for the big, robust sound of the Bb trumpet. Andre's brilliance contrasts well with Dokschitser's big sound and ever present, Russian style vibrato. Both play a tour de force!

As for the recordings, I find Andre's RCA-Erato pressings rather tinny, the Hummel is harsh in places possibly due to worn vinyl??, while the Dokschitser fares better, although there is a "hiccup" in the slow movement of the Haydn. Not sure of the recording dates but probably late 60's, early 70's. Anyway, have a listen and recall a time when trumpeters were allowed to possess the all too important quality of individualism. What a concept!

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Oivin Fjeldstad conducts Haydn and Mozart with the Oslo PO

Back in the early 60's, RCA sought to expand its budget Camden label from being primarily a reissue label to one that also included newly recorded performances, in good sound, available at a very low price. Nowadays, companies would look towards Central Europe and the former Soviet republics but in the early 60's, companies looked North, in RCA's case, Norway and Sweden.

This recording of  Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony and Mozart's Symphony No. 41 was issued on both the Camden label and the "National Academy Record Club" label, of which the latter is my transfer. Good stereo, with a no frills record jacket, NRS-7 sold for under 3 bucks and was available in bookstores, supermarkets, drugstores, in other words non-traditional record outlets. These recordings were obviously geared for the novice and, they sold well.

As for Oivin Fjeldstad , he was a fine conductor who was mostly known for his work with "northern composers." His complete Peer Gynt with the LSO was a big seller in its day and widely admired by critics and connoisseurs alike. However, I think that Fjeldstad had interpretative gifts far beyond Scandinavia and this unmannered, cleanly played Mozart and Haydn attests to that. The orchestra performs quite well, though at the time, the Oslo PO was not the world class orchestra that it is today. These are very enjoyable performances nonetheless.

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Music from Marlboro - Haydn and Beethoven Trios with Rudolf Serkin

I'm heading north into Vermont with the next two post offerings.

The Marlboro Music Festival takes place in the village of Marlboro Vermont and it is one of the great summer music festivals. Throughout the years it has featured some of the greatest musicians of our times from Rudolf Serkin, Alexander Schneider, Louis Moyse and of course, the supreme artistry of Pau Casals. Casals loved Marlboro for the bucolic setting and the ability to iimmerse himself fully with his beloved chamber music.

Here we have a recording issued by the Marlboro Recording Society of Beethoven and Haydn trios. The artists featured are Rudolf Serkin and Richard Stoltzman. I do not think this LP has ever been issued in CD format and I place the recording date somewhere around 1980. Further details are listed in the download.

I hope that you enjoy it. Serkin is effervescent.

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Haydn - Missa in angustiis "Nelson Mass" conducted by Hans Swarowsky

Hans Swarowsky - the name has featured for soooo many years as the conductor of such pseudonymous orchestras as the Bamberg Philharmonic, Philharmonia Slavonica, South German Philharmonic and London Festival Orchestra (the last not to be confused with Ross Pople's REAL orchestra.) Many have thought Maestro Swarowsky to in fact be a pseudonym but he was very real but unfortunately his name has been used as a rather scurriously to hide the real identities of other conductors...my, this is getting tooooo confusing!

The fact is that Swarowsky was one of the leading conducting teachers of the last century and his students have included Zubin Mehta and I believe Claudio Abbado. He was the Jorma Panula of his day and well regarded by his pupils for his insight, musicianship and broad repertoire. I heard years ago Mehta positively gush over Swarowsky during an on air interview.

Here is a real Swarowsky recording and it is a highly dramatic reading of Haydn's Nelson Mass, transferred from a Nonesuch LP. Haydn's masses are magnificent choral works and in the right hands, THE RIGHT HANDS, there is little that can better them for melody, spiritual meaning and inspiration. Listen to this recording and you will understand why Mozart referred to Haydn as "Papa"...the ultimate compliment!

This is big band and big choral Haydn. Those approaching this recording through John Elliot Gardiner glasses might be in for a seismic shock. However, the message and strong interpretation make them a vital statement for our times. At least I think so.....

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