Rafael Kubelik: Opinions

[richardfinegold]

Kubelik is a conductor that has always been somewhat on the periphery of my radar. One of my first Chicago SO concerts after moving here in the mid 80s was him leading the Orchestra from which he had been run out of town 3 decades previously and it was fantastic: Frank Martins Frescoes, Bartok Music for Strings... He got a lot of media attention during the Czech Velvet Revolution, and I purchased on his Ma Vlast
recordings (with Boston) at that time and have listened to it ever since. His Schumann Symphony cycle was my first alternative to the Szell cycle that I had listened to for a couple of decades, and it was quite the ear opener in terms of providing al ess hard driven alternative to Schumann's world. When I started re-collecting lps a few years ago I found a good used Mahler cycle which is conistently satisfying.
I was recently vacationing in Prague and Austria and came across many Kubelik recordings. I was particularly intrigued by a Brahms Symphony set from Bavaria. I have to say that it is a major disappointment. This is the Kind of Brahms playing that gave the Composer a bad name: soft accents, genial tempos, very warm with no incisiveness. Each symphony spins by without stimulating a pulse in the listener.
Perhaps Brahms just wasn't his composer, but this leaden music making has dampened any enthusiasm for further investigating Kubelik.

[Barbirollians]

I have not heard his Brahms symphonies but I would not stop there . His Dvorak is magnificent - his symphony recordings are of the first rank and his account of the Slavonic Dances is beyond compare . I have long cherished his Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and Janacek Sinfonietta on DG and would put in a good word for his live Bruckner 8 to which Richard Osborne gave high rank in his recent BAL survey.

Also - his Borodin 2 on EMI with the VPO which is going for a song .

[mathias broucek]

Seconded on Dvorak - I've just listened to his fabulous recording of the 7th.

His Bavarian Mozart is also excellent.

And get his Audite Das Lied von der Erde with Janet Baker!

He could be hit or miss. Some of his Beethoven is dull but both his 7ths on DG (BRSO and VPO) are outstanding.

[salymap]

I have not heard his Brahms symphonies but I would not stop there . His Dvorak is magnificent - his symphony recordings are of the first rank and his account of the Slavonic Dances is beyond compare . I have long cherished his Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and Janacek Sinfonietta on DG and would put in a good word for his live Bruckner 8 to which Richard Osborne gave high rank in his recent BAL survey.

Also - his Borodin 2 on EMI with the VPO which is going for a song .

I remember his Bartok, Dvorak and Janacek with affection. Did he live and work in Australia for a time in the 1950s ?

Musicians who worked with him seemed to think a lot ofhim. Hans Hubert Schonzler* who was a work colleague for a time thought very highly of Kubelik.

Hans later wrote a book on Bruckner and may have written about Kubelik somewhere.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I have not heard his Brahms symphonies but I would not stop there . His Dvorak is magnificent - his symphony recordings are of the first rank and his account of the Slavonic Dances is beyond compare . I have long cherished his Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and Janacek Sinfonietta on DG and would put in a good word for his live Bruckner 8 to which Richard Osborne gave high rank in his recent BAL survey.

Also - his Borodin 2 on EMI with the VPO which is going for a song .

His Mahler recordings are wonderful - particularly the ones recorded Live in concert - and his Lohengrin is my personal favourite.

There's also some very good Janacek (Sinfonietta, Taras, Glagolitic Mass); a Berg Violin Concerto* that is rivalled by only Suk & Ancerl; and a Gurrelieder ....

... and the two Schumann Symphony cycles.

* = coupled with the Beg are the two Schoenberg Concerti - fine playing and insightful conducting: a two or three more rehearsals and a better Violinist and these would have been as impressive as the Berg.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Hans later wrote a book on Bruckner and may have written about Kubelik somewhere.

A very good book on Bruckner it is, too, sals. I don't know about Kubelik, but he wrote the first English biography of Furtwangler. (And recorded an extremely fine version of Rubbra's Tenth Symphony - but I'm moving Off Topic.)

[slarty]

his Meistersinger is without doubt one of the finest on CD. Originally recorded for the centenary of the work in 1968, it is available on Arts music. Kubelik first conducted it during his tenure as Music Director at Covent Garden in 1957.
Also very much worth investigating are his other Bavarian Radio productions of Lohengrin and Parsifal, not to mention his groundbreaking recording of Pfitzner's Palestrina. (all are listed at Amazon).
Kubelik was a very gifted Opera conductor and one of his greatest triumphs from his time at CG was the Berlioz Trojans production which has been preserved and issued commercially by Testament.

[mercia]

idly perusing youtube I came across this in 4 parts - hope you don't mind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd2--ujAE4s

[verismissimo]

... Did he live and work in Australia for a time in the 1950s ?

He toured Australia for the ABC in 1947 and 1949, conducting the Sydney and Queensland orchestras (and probably others), playing Dvorak etc, the 26 year old Isaac Stern a soloist. He was very well received.

In 1963, while at Covent Garden, he married one of the leading sopranos of the day, the Australian Elsie Morison. Here they are together in the final movement of Mahler 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vAa7...99AEBAA5D8C6D3

Rafael's father, the virtuoso Czech violinist Jan Kubelik, had toured Australia in 1908 and then in 1930.

[visualnickmos]

Seconded on Dvorak......

Thirded! His Mahler's pretty good,too......

[salymap]

when Hans came to Goodwin& Tabb about1949/50 I understood that Kubelik had brought him to London from Australia. A young woman, who had been nanny to Kubelik's children also came with him to work for us briefly and translate as Hans had very little English at that point.

Sorry,no help with K's recordings but I love the little details of musicians' complicated lives.

And Elsie Morison was a fine singer and a regular in Sargent's Oratorio performances.

[richardfinegold]

My experiences with K had always been favorable, until now. Brahms may just not be his cup of Pilsner Urquell

[mercia]

wikipedia confirms your recollections salymap

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Hubert_Sch%C3%B6nzeler

[pastoralguy]

There's a superb Testament cd of the Beethoven and Bruch violin concertos with a violinist called Ida Haendel. Anyone come across her before...?

[Petrushka]

I saw Kubelik just the once at an RFH concert with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in June 1980. On the programme was Mozart 41 and Mahler 1. Superb!

Kubelik was perhaps unfortunate to have been active at a time when the musical world was full of conducting greats and was overshadowed to some extent by the Karajans, Soltis and Bernsteins of the day. With the passage of time, his recorded legacy has been re-evaluated and found to be as legendary as any of the other greats.

I bought this set http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kubelik-Comp...ywords=kubelik during the summer but haven't got round to listening to much of it as yet and this thread gives me the impetus to do so.

Among his many recordings on my shelves I must mention his Schoenberg Gurrelieder which, in my opinion, is the best recording ever made of this work. It is scandalously unavailable at present though copies can be had on Amazon. This is a recording crying out for reissue on DG Originals or Eloquence.

Another favourite is his Beethoven 9 in a live 1982 recording on Orfeo. The BPO Schumann cycle is another great favourite. Never heard his Brahms though the PC1 is on the 10CD set referred to above.