BaL 21.09.24 - Strauss: Don Quixote

[oliver sudden]

They really were in thrall to Klemperer in those days

(If I understand correctly, that is a big reason why we don’t have more ‘official’ Mahler from your namesake!)

[smittims]

Otto Klemperer was , perhaps surprisingly, EMI's top-selling classical artist for a while, remarkable at a time when they had Callas, Menuhin and Beecham on their books. But he didn't record much Strauss. EMI allowed him to do unprofitable recordings such as the Novak-edition Bruckner 8 with a cut finale, (though Suvi Raj Grubb said he was 'aghast' as he knew it would affect sales) and Cosi fan Tutte, but not Euryanthe, which he wanted to do and which Deutsche Grammophon had offered him if he left EMI.

But EMI had not always let him record what he wanted. In the 1950s he wanted to do Bruckner, particularly no.6, but it was not until 1960 they let him do no.7. Significantly, no.6 was one of the firstthigs he did with the New Philharmonia after Walter Legge had left.

[cloughie]

I enjoyed it especially the high rank of the Previn but as I own all the front runners a cheap one for me- sorry to hear no mention though of the Du Pre/Boult which i find extraordinarily moving . The concert for which this was a rehearsal after Klemperer withdrew from a recording was not recorded anywhere I assume . Bizarre, that EMI having heard that unexpectedly recorded run through didnt get du Pre and Boult to record it . They really were in thrall to Klemperer in those days - remarkable for example that when he proposed to butcher Bruckner 8 they tamely agreed.

Record companies at the time did not often go for multiple recordings of the same work. Also from the Boult discography on Wiki, although he made a number of recordings for WRC he only started his prolific mainstream EMI output in tge late 60s. There are no commercial R Strauss recordings mentioned throughout his recording career.