BBC Legends New Releases

2008年4月2日 (水)

BBCL4234
Klaus Tennstedt has been a major seller for BBC Legends, and in the US he established his international career and became one of the most popular guest conductors with all the major orchestras - Boston, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia etc, together with some sensational appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Tennstedt is joined by two celebrated international singers ? the late lamented Lucia Popp, whose international career started with the Vienna State Opera under Karajan, and then appearances all over the world in opera and in lieder, recording for all the major record companies with such names as Klemperer and Solti ? and Tom Allen, who remains one of the UK’s most admired and enduring baritones, with frequent appearances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and all the main international venues. Popp has two recordings out on BBC Legends(BBCL 4025-2 and BBCL 4148-2), and Allen features in the forthcoming recording of Die Meistersinger on the Royal Opera House Heritage Series(ROHS008).

Tennstedt recorded the Brahms Requiem once before in the studio for EMI(and was never considered one of his best recordings), but this live performance in 1984 at the Royal Festival Hall finds him in wonderful form.

Reviews : A taut, spirited performance … within a very atmospheric Royal Albert Hall acoustic, boasting characterful wind solos and amply bodied strings. In short, a winner, reminding how Tennstedt was able to use his volcanic inspiration to great effect … (Nick Breckenfield , classicalsource.com)

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, op.45

Lucia Popp, soprano
Thomas Allen, baritone
London Philharmonic Choir
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Klaus Tennstedt, conductor

Live Stereo Recording: 26/08/1984
at The Royal Albert Hall, London

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BBCL 4235-2
Berlin-born Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (1900 ? 1973) was steeped in the German tradition. He formed the NDR Orchestra in Hamburg, which he conducted for 26 years. He made his US debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1961, and toured the US with the NDRSO in 1969 as well as Europe, Japan etc. He was principal conductor of the Stockholm Philharmonic (1955-64), and appeared frequently at the opera houses in Hamburg, Munich, Covent Garden and Glyndebourne. He recorded all the Beethoven Symphonies and Concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic for Decca.

These rare BBCSO performances from 1971 are in excellent stereo, and represent the very best of Schmidt-Isserstedt’s art, with strong and passionate performances of Weber and Brahms, with one of the few contemporary works he liked: Tippett’s Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli. This is Schmidt-Isserstedt’s debut on BBC Legends.

Weber: “Euryanthe” op.81 - Ouverture
Tippett: Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
Brahms: Symphony No.4, op.98

BBC Symphony Oechestra
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, conductor

Live Stereo Recording: 11,14/04/1971, London

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BBCL 4236-2
The French cellist Paul Tortelier (1914 ? 1990) was one of the truly great artists of the 20th Century. He was a close colleague of the doyen of all cellists ? Pablo Casals ? and was one of the elite French cello school of the time, Pierre Fournier and Maurice Gendron being the others. He collaborated with such eminent conductors as Sir Thomas Beecham and the composer Paul Hindemith. His previous release for BBC Legends was the Schumann and Hindemith Concertos (BBCL 4133-2).

Paul Tortelier’s son, Yan Pascal, is a notable violinist but has become known primarily as a major conductor, recently becoming Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He recorded all the Debussy, Ravel and Hindemith orchestral music for Chandos.

Tortelier made his name playing the Elgar Cello Concerto (the other being Strauss’s Don Quixote), particularly with Sir Adrian Boult who knew the composer well. This is the only stereo live account of Tortelier playing the Elgar Cello Concerto (though he recorded it twice in the studio).

The Brahms Double Concerto, featuring Yan Pascal Tortelier on violin, is a superb live stereo account which complements Paul Tortelier’s studio version with the violinist Christian Ferras. The live version generates so much more tension and the collaboration of father and son is perfectly balanced.

The short Debussy Sonata recorded in 1959 with Ernest Lush is a collector’s item and sounds magnificent.

Reviews: The French Cellist’s personality is stamped on every bar of these live performances. (Gramophone)
“This new BBC Legends issue is a cause for rejoicing…a lovely disc. (International Record Review)

Elgar: Cello Concerto
Paul Tortelier, cello
BBC Symphony Oechestra
Sir Adrian Boult, conductor
Live Stereo Recording: 14/11/1972
at the Royal Festival Hall, London

Brahms: Double Concerto, op.102
Yan Pascal Tortelier, violin
Paul Tortelier, cello
BBC Symphony Oechestra
Sir John Pritchard, conductor
Live Stereo Recording: 17/04/1974
at the Royal Festival Hall, London

Debussy: Cello Sonata
Paul Tortelier, cello
Ernest Lush, piano
Live Recording: 10/02/1959

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BBCL 4237-2
Sir Malcolm Sargent (1895 ? 1967) makes his debut on BBC Legends. After an illustrious period with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic where he made over 100 recordings, he succeeded Sir Adrian Boult as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1950-57), and then remained very closely associated with the London Proms at the Royal Albert Hall until his death in 1967. He toured extensively to the US, Canada, Japan and Europe. He also had a very strong reputation as an accompanist and recorded with Curzon, Heifetz, Rostropovich, Oistrakh, Du Pre and Tortelier to name just a few.

This all-stereo CD showcases Sargent in Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 4 and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 4, both of which he never recorded. The Penguin Guide wrote in 1995 (a review of the BBC Radio Classics version of Vaughan Williams’ 4th Symphony) that it had “a warmth and fiery thrust that is instantly compelling…Sargent is here far more electrifying than he was in the recording studio.”

Sibelius was one of Sargent’s favourite composers and he recorded in the studio for EMI, Symphonies 1, 2 & 5 (all with the BBCSO), as well as Pohjola’s Daughter and Finlandia with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4

BBC Symphony Oechestra
Sir Malcolm Sargent, conductor

Live Stereo Recording:
16/08/1963 (Vaughan Williams)
02/09/1965 (Sibelius)
at The Royal Albert Hall, London

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BBCL 4238-2
The Czech born Rudolf Firkusny (1912 ? 1994) was one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century and a lifelong champion of his compatriots, the composers Janacek and Martinu. After the political uprising in 1948 in Prague, he left for the US where he formed a number of partnerships with Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Pierre Fournier and Janos Starker. He also taught at the Juilliard and Aspen schools of music. He recorded for Capitol-EMI and DGG and has appeared on BBC Legends, on BBCL 4173-2.

This programme from London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1980, features two Czech composers, Martinu and Smetana, in addition to wonderful performances of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Schubert’s Three Pieces D. 946.

Reviews of BBCL 4173-2: … a finely presented tribute to a greatly admired pianist. (Gramophone)

Schubelt: 3 Piano Pieces, Op. post, D 946
Martinu: Fantasie and Toccata for Piano, H 281
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Chopin: Mazurka No. 41 in C sharp minor, Op. 63, No. 3
Smetana: Furiant
Smetana: Concert Etude

Rudolf Firkusny, piano

Live Stereo Recording: 12/02/1980
at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, London