From: rtut@troi.cc.rochester.edu (Raymond Tuttle)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: References reissues:Weingartner, Busch and Schnabel
Date: 1 Oct 92 00:42:31 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)

The audience at conductor Felix Weingartner's first Viennese concert
included none other than Johannes Brahms, whose Symphony No. 2 was
on the program.  Weingartner recorded all of the composer's symphonies
four decades later, making him one of the few conductors on record to
have met Brahms. For this reason, Weingartner's recordings of Brahms
are of more than the usual historic interest, and they now have been
reissued on Angel/EMI Classics' References series (CDHB 64256, 2
mid-priced CDs). 

The fact that all four symphonies (plus the "Academic Festival"
Overture) fit on two discs suggests that these performances are brisk,
and so they are.  Fortunately, they never sound hectic, and the
orchestras (the London Symphony Orchestra and the London
Philharmonic Orchestra) never are allowed to go out of control. 
Weingartner's direction has tremendous sweep and flow, but also an
attention to detail which makes them compelling and admirable. 
Drier-eyed than Walter, more relaxed than Toscanini, Weingartner is a
very viable alternative for those interested in hearing Brahms played
with an audible link to the past. 

The transfers are generally good, although EMI apologizes for some
unavoidable swish signalling a few of the side changes in the 2nd and
4th Symphonies.  The noise is obtrusive, but only briefly.  Centaur
Records reissued these same performances just a couple of months ago
(at full price and without the Overture, however); I have not heard
Centaur's transfers myself, but they were criticized for being noisy in
the current issue of Fanfare, so there doesn't seem to be any reason not
to prefer the cheaper and more generous References set. 

Another new References reissue presents Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
and four Orchestral Suites in recordings dating from 1935 and 1936
with the Adolf Busch Chamber Players under their eponymous leader
(CDHC 64047, 3 mid-priced CDs).  These  represent an early attempt to
scale the music down from the symphonic excesses they had been
subjected to earlier in the century, if the music even was performed at
all.  The transfers have turned out well, the original shellacs being less
noisy than those which apparently were available for Weingartner's
Brahms. 

Old habits die hard, however, and those used to Harnoncourt probably
will be annoyed by the lack of "authenticity."  Tempi are generally
grander than what we are used to (indeed, Klemperer came to mind on
several occasions as I was hearing these discs), and the strings play
with plenty of legato, and with a sumptuousness that suggests the 19th
century more than the previous one, but so what?  The Baroque revival
had to start somewhere, and Busch is faithful to Bach's spirit even if
he departs from Bach's style.  These performances cannot be dismissed
as merely quaint - they have a viability that stands apart from any
criticism based upon today's trends and movements.  

Having said that, they are not technically infallible.  Bach's writing
taxes the players greatly, and a few sour notes emerge from time to
time, especially from the trumpets.  Even Marcel Moyse, that estimable
flutist, finds himself scrambling in the final movement of the
Orchestral Suite No. 2. Generally, though, the playing is very fine, as
one would expect from the likes of pianist Rudolf Serkin (harpsichords
still were not entirely trusted at this early date, Wanda Landowska
notwithstanding)  and hornist Aubrey Brain.   

Speaking of technical fallibility, the pianism of Artur Schnabel was
certainly subject to missed notes and smudged fingerwork, and yet his
clear-headed sensitivity overcame these considerations, especially in
the music of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.  Some of Schnabel's
recordings of the music of the latter composer also have been reissued
on References (CDHB 64259, 2 mid-priced CDs). As the notes to this
reissue of recordings from 1937 and 1939 remind us, Schnabel's
teacher Leschetizky told him, "you will never be a pianist, you are a
musician." 

This set contains three piano sonatas (D. 850, 959 and 960), the six
"Moments Musicaux", D. 780, and the little March in E, D. 606 for a well-
filled total time of almost 140 minutes. Schnabel's simplicity opens
the music's heart to us, and his faithfulness to the goals of rhythmic
strength and lyrical expressiveness serve Schubert almost more
faithfully than they do Beethoven.  The transfers are cleaner and
brighter than those previously available on the Arabesque label; in fact,
one hopes that Angel/EMI Classics will reissue the rest of Schnabel's
Schubert soon, as they have done with most of his Mozart and
Beethoven. 









--
****************************************   Raymond S. Tuttle
"Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod,"       University of Rochester
but it's nothing to get depressed about!   (still with his two little 
****************************************   white mice).
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical