Karajan and his soloists Volume 1

[Barbirollians]

I have just got round to this little box in the big Karajan Edition Warner out out the other year.

Two of the records are obvious classics but to my ears both sound strikingly better compared to their previous incarnations - the Schumann/Mozart K467 coupling with Lipatti comes to life much more than before and the Brain/Karajan Mozart Horn Concertos are the same . apparently, the records have been freshly remastered from the original tapes .

There are three records of concertos made with Walter Gieseking . I have only listened to the Beethoven 4 and 5 coupling and the Grieg and Franck variations so far . the Grieg is a bit Hollywood but the other performances I have enjoyed a great deal especially the Emperor .

There is also. Brahms 2 with Richter-Haaser which seems to have mixed reviews and some works by a composer I gave never heard of called Leimer and some more Mozart with the Philharmonia principals .

A splendid set so far and probably worth getting just for the much improved Lipatti and Brain records which gave come up as fresh as paint .

[pastoralguy]

I seem to remember the Brain/Mozart initial cd release being criticised in The Guide to Penguins because of its unsympathetic transfer. There was a little feature on Facebook yesterday about ANOTHER huge Karajan set that's in the pipeline which will combine his DG and DECCA recordings.

My goodness, yet another Karajan edition - just what the world needs so soon after DG's 1960's, 1970's & 1980's box sets!

[Parry1912]

And a snip at 800 euros! (mind you, it is 24 DVDs, 330 CDs and 2 Blu-ray audio)

As to the EMI recordings, I have been very impressed with the sound of the latest remasterings. Presumably the operas will get done at some point.

[silvestrione]

Not many of these around, it seems: took me a while to track one down at a reasonable price.

Thanks for the recommendation, I look forward to the Lipatti, Gieseking and Brain in particular.

[Barbirollians]

I see IGI and Nalen Anthoni putting the boot into Karajan's accompaniment of the Horn Concertos . I think their criticism is well over the top . I agree that a less smooth accompaniment would have been preferable but Brain's playing is so outstanding it remains a front rank recommendation even if as an essential supplement to a modern recording .

Meanwhile I have enjoyed the Hans Richter Haaser Brahms 2 even if the soloist is a little self-effacing . The original Gramophone reviewer thought Karajan overdid the espressivo but I thought the accompaniment very fine if rather too heroic for the soloist .

[Conchis]

I picked up the Lipatti disc in the summer (GROC edition) and would agree about the sound: very ropey, especially considering the very high standard of the GROC reissues.

[silvestrione]

I picked up the Lipatti disc in the summer (GROC edition) and would agree about the sound: very ropey, especially considering the very high standard of the GROC reissues.

The overall sound seems much better in the new box, though I wasn't sure whether Lipatti's tone had lost some of its strength and body.

I loved the Mozart as usual, and admit I'd never really noticed much about the accompaniment, which I take as a good sign!

The Gieseking Beethoven 4 is a favourite of mine. Tippett talks about eavesdropping on a rehearsal for a concert performance, and taking away the inspiration for his own piano concerto, and it's easy to see why.

I will try the Richter-Hasser shortly. Did Karajan ever do Brahms PC1, I wonder? Would be interesting to hear such a great Brahmsian in that music.

[Barbirollians]

The overall sound seems much better in the new box, though I wasn't sure whether Lipatti's tone had lost some of its strength and body.

I loved the Mozart as usual, and admit I'd never really noticed much about the accompaniment, which I take as a good sign!

The Gieseking Beethoven 4 is a favourite of mine. Tippett talks about eavesdropping on a rehearsal for a concert performance, and taking away the inspiration for his own piano concerto, and it's easy to see why.

I will try the Richter-Hasser shortly. Did Karajan ever do Brahms PC1, I wonder? Would be interesting to hear such a great Brahmsian in that music.

I don't think he did even if he conducted it in concert he made a later recording of Brahms 2 with Anda .

[Tony Halstead]

I see IGI and Nalen Anthoni putting the boot into Karajan's accompaniment of the Horn Concertos . I think their criticism is well over the top . I agree that a less smooth accompaniment would have been preferable but Brain's playing is so outstanding it remains a front rank recommendation even if as an essential supplement to a modern recording .

Meanwhile I have enjoyed the Hans Richter Haaser Brahms 2 even if the soloist is a little self-effacing . The original Gramophone reviewer thought Karajan overdid the espressivo but I thought the accompaniment very fine if rather too heroic for the soloist .

Hmmm... IGI and NA didn't exactly "put the boot into Karajan's accompaniment of the Horn Concertos"... maybe they should have said that Karajan was such a superb and accomplished 'professional' (Oh dear that sounds like damning with faint praise!) that he decided not to 'interfere' with the very suave, mellow, tonally beautiful and 'emotionally understated' interpretations of the Mozart horn concertos that the great Dennis Brain decided to essay on those HMV/ EMI recording sessions!
IMV Brain's most wonderful and inspirational Mozart recordings are to be found elsewhere e.g. his 'no 2' recording with Walter Susskind, and his Hallé recording of 'No 4' dating from the mid-1940s. There is also an 'off air' recording of the 'no 3' K447 ( superb) with a German orchestra that variously claims to have been conducted by e.g. Rosbaud, Szell, Jochum and even Hindemith(!)

[Once Was 4]

Hmmm... IGI and NA didn't exactly "put the boot into Karajan's accompaniment of the Horn Concertos"... maybe they should have said that Karajan was such a superb and accomplished 'professional' (Oh dear that sounds like damning with faint praise!) that he decided not to 'interfere' with the very suave, mellow, tonally beautiful and 'emotionally understated' interpretations of the Mozart horn concertos that the great Dennis Brain decided to essay on those HMV/ EMI recording sessions!
IMV Brain's most wonderful and inspirational Mozart recordings are to be found elsewhere e.g. his 'no 2' recording with Walter Susskind, and his Hallé recording of 'No 4' dating from the mid-1940s. There is also an 'off air' recording of the 'no 3' K447 ( superb) with a German orchestra that variously claims to have been conducted by e.g. Rosbaud, Szell, Jochum and even Hindemith(!)

Apparently the Halle/Brain recording of No 4 has two conductors. It is listed as Sargent but he turned up late and the 1st movement is actually conducted by Lawrence Turner ((the Halle leader at that time).

[Barbirollians]

The last CD is of two concertos by Kurt Leimer who was a concert pianist I had not heard of and who wrote a concerto for left hand but not for once for Wittgenstein .

They seem rather jolly works albeit a bit reminiscent of Tom and Jerry in the orchestral parts !

[Barbirollians]

Finally , a very lovely and rather low syrup account of the Meditation from Thais from Manoug Parikian .

[Parry1912]

albeit a bit reminiscent of Tom and Jerry in the orchestral parts !

Don't knock it!

This is what Wikipedia says about T&J composer Scott Bradley:

"By the mid-1940s, however, his compositions and orchestrations had become more original and complex, occasionally utilizing the twelve-tone technique devised by Arnold Schoenberg; the first being the 1944 Tom and Jerry cartoon Puttin' on the Dog. Other influences were Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith ... Bradley expressed considerable pride in his "funny music" and believed scoring for animation offered far more possibilities to the composer than live-action films. About his score for MGM’s Puttin’ on the Dog, he later wrote:

I hope Dr. Schoenberg will forgive me for using his system to produce funny music, but even the boys in the orchestra laughed when we were recording it.

The conductor Simon Rattle has specifically highlighted the influence of the Klaus-Narr passages in Schoenberg's Gurrelieder on Bradley's compositions."

[pastoralguy]

And Sir Simon included a Tom & Jerry 'Suite' in one of Die Berliner Philharmoniker's open air concerts. And pretty fantastic it was too!

[Barbirollians]

Don't knock it!

This is what Wikipedia says about T&J composer Scott Bradley:

"By the mid-1940s, however, his compositions and orchestrations had become more original and complex, occasionally utilizing the twelve-tone technique devised by Arnold Schoenberg; the first being the 1944 Tom and Jerry cartoon Puttin' on the Dog. Other influences were Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith ... Bradley expressed considerable pride in his "funny music" and believed scoring for animation offered far more possibilities to the composer than live-action films. About his score for MGM’s Puttin’ on the Dog, he later wrote:

I hope Dr. Schoenberg will forgive me for using his system to produce funny music, but even the boys in the orchestra laughed when we were recording it.

The conductor Simon Rattle has specifically highlighted the influence of the Klaus-Narr passages in Schoenberg's Gurrelieder on Bradley's compositions."

It is a compliment - some of the music for Tom and Jerry is quite brilliant - consider the adaptation of the Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 in the Cat Concerto which had my six year old rolling around in laughter last week .