August 29, 2014

  • German Romanticism in Luxurious Performances from Karajan (Reissues)

     

    Herbert von Karajan: Brahms, Bruckner, Wagner, R. Strauss,
    Schmidt, J. Strauss, Jr.; Humperdinck—1970-1981
    Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan
    Warner Classics 25646 33622
    Disc One: Total Time:  70:18
    Disc Two: Total Time:  68:09
    Disc Three: Total Time:  52:28
    Disc Four: Total Time:  75:48
    Disc Five: Total Time:  78:40
    Disc Six: Total Time:  75:59

    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: (*)***/****

    Growing up in the 1970s, any classical music student would come across the name Herbert von Karajan.  Already the master conductor had decades of superior performances and recordings to rival many conductors of the time.  It was the time when a conductor was indelibly linked to a specific orchestra (Ormandy in Philadelphia; Reiner in Chicago; Bernstein in New York) and in Karajan’s case it was the great Berlin Phiharmonic.  He was requested to take over as the ensemble’s music director in 1954 with a “for life” post that he would keep until he resigned in 1989.  Over the course of these decades, and even in some earlier EMI recordings in the 1940s and 1950s, he would create a massive discography of often critically acclaimed and “definitive” performances.  Some might argue that his best recordings were made on the Deutsche Grammaphon label, at least in the earlier days of his reign.  Those of the 1980s tended to be fairly hit or miss.  Warner Classics, evidently having acquired the EMI catalogue is embarking on a series of 13 boxed sets that will focus on re-issuing the recordings he made between 1946 and 1984.

    The present set focuses on Karajan’s on Austrian and German romanticism of the latter 19th Century through Richard Strauss.  Most of the recordings were made in the early 1970s and have appeared in multiple incarnations over the past 40 years.  The releases have all be remastered to improve upon their original sound and in some instances recombined to create the general program here.   They are packaged in a single box with cardboard sleeves for each disc.  Original recording dates and locations are included, but no original catalogue data.  For some this will be a great economical way to gain some great insight into one of the great conductors of the 20th Century.  Of course, the main issue may be repertoire, but this particular edition does include some important recordings as well as interesting interpretations of important repertoire.

    The music of Anton Bruckner was still a bit of an “acquired” taste mid-20th Century.  Mahler’s works had their advocates in the period, especially Bruno Walter.  Karajan’s performances then of Bruckner are often among the finest of the century.  Of these the recording of the more popular “Romantic” Symphony No. 4 is one of the great “essential” recordings of the work and makes an apt introduction to Karajan’s masterful handling of the composer’s massive formal constructions.  Today there are some 140+ to choose from but this 1970 recording, using the Hass edition of the score, while not without its detractors, still manages to find plenty to rave about with the opening bars of the first movement and superb finale (though some brass sections can get a bit overblown); simply one of the finer performances of the work even to this date and an opportunity to compare to later Brucknerians that followed him.  The subsequent year found the BPO back to record the equally engaging seventh symphony.  This is a work that most consistently has been a repertoire piece for the orchestra under several conductors and this is one of the finer of many great interpretations.  These recordings have turned up most often in previous “great Karajan” recording sets so they make for a great introduction to the interpretations of these pieces.  The seventh just sweeps along beautifully with its fascinating Wagnerian climaxes and even the high string moments are breathless at times in intonation.

    Perhaps as a bit of an aural break, the compilation next shifts into significantly lighter fair.  Disc 3 is repertoire one might think less of at first look as it features a host of familiar Johann Strauss, Jr. works.  Actually, with Emperor Waltz, Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, the Blue Danube Waltz, and a couple of overtures it makes for a rather pleasant listen capped by the lesser-known “Intermezzo” from Notre Dame by Franz Schmidt (oft-performed by the conductor).  The only real carp here is that this disc certainly could have been filled out to a fuller playing time and expanded to include additional Viennese “pastries” if you will.  The performances are mostly perfectly serviceable, less bounce perhaps than those with the Vienna Philharmonic, but here these all feel less like trifles than they often can otherwise.  Disc four features additional familiar music: from a wonderful performance of the Brahms Haydn Variations so effortless (what a great way to show off the BPO sections) and Tragic Overture, to Wagner’s music from Tannhauser (simply exhilarating!) and Die Meistersinger, as well as the somewhat Wagnerian overture to Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. An uncredited chorus appears in the “Venusburg Music” adding a perfect ethereal quality.

    A bit of Wagner is tacked on to the final two discs as well with stellar readings of music from Parsifal (a reminder that Karajan’s recorded performance of the opera is among the finest on disc), The Flying Dutchman, Tristan und Isolde, and Lohengrin.  A work by Richard Strauss is also included on each of these final discs.  It’s unfortunate that one disc could not just have been focused on Wagner here.  Tacking them on after more significant Strauss works is simply odd.  However, this set does include one of the finest performances of Ein Heldenleben.  While there are certainly many fine interpretations of this work currently in the catalogue, this 1974 performance, one of many recorded by Karajan has much to recommend it as well.  The piece itself is a harder nut to crack if one is less familiar with the music of Strauss, but it is sometimes best approached as a massive review of orchestral technique and style of a composer who had one foot in each century.  The more modernist sections are always quite striking and Karajan’s performance is certainly amongst the more engaging.  Violinist Michel Schwalbe’s ending solo is simply heart renching and exquisite.  Also included on the final disc is the conductor’s first performance of the Symphonia domestica which he began conducting in the early 1970s and then committed to disc for the first time in 1973.  (Interestingly, the notes make little mention of this work instead noting Don Quixote which may have been intended when the set was being planned out earlier.)

    The overall collection of music here is really a wonderful introduction to fabulous Austrian music with a little Wagnerian romanticism and lighter Viennese fair adding some contrast.  But through it all, one is reminded of the sheer mastery of Karajan’s understanding of these pieces with an orchestra that really was able to meet him and take this music to new heights.  With each subsequent recording of some of these pieces, there were course corrections of sorts, but the bottom line was that one always is totally immersed in the music making.  These are all performances that demand your full attention because they are filled with great depth and emotion and when the big moments arrive, whether in massive symphonies, or slighter waltzes, you are glimpsing what great music making can really be.  Many long-term collectors will likely have various versions of these performances in their collections, so picking this up may seem superfluous.  The sound is stunning of course, but it was pretty good to begin with anyway.  In retrospect, I sort of wish all the Wagner was on one disc, at least as much as possible, because one could simply revel in that music for hours under Karajan’s and the BPO’s performances here.  There is not much here about the music at all which is a bit unfortunate as some pieces are going to be less familiar to casual classical music fans who acquire this set.  Reasons to pick this one up would be for the Bruckner Seventh Symphony, Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben and Symphonia domestica (mostly as a historical recorded document, but it’s still a fine performance), and the Wagner selections.  Everything else will be icing on a wonderful collection of great music.  However, what a great gift set to introduce someone to not only some amazing music, but also one of the great conductors of the 20th Century, Herbert von Karajan.

    As an aside, I want to give a shout out to Warner Classics for sending this unexpected package for review.  It is not very often these days when I review re-issues, nor get the chance to really hear some of the BIG art works as many recordings are of lesser-known repertoire.  So thanks for a chance to revisit some wonderful repertoire.