The Liszt Sonata in B minor performed from the manuscript!

I was recently made aware of a YouTube video by our friend pianist Professor Claudius Tanski of the Salzburg, Mozarteum performing the devilishly difficult Liszt Sonata in B minor S. 178 from the original manuscript!  The piece is hard enough to master from the printed music, let alone performed in Liszt's at times difficult handwriting!  By utilizing the manuscript, Professor Tanski is able to bring the piece, a revolutionary work in its' time to life with all of the original warts and without publisher oversight contained in the more harmonized published version!  I recommend a careful listen to this performance, which is quite unique in comparison to anything I have ever heard before.  A free reading, elegant in phrasing and containing all of the slight nuances written by the composer in it's original form.

The manuscript is contained in the Lehman collection, currently housed at the Morgan Library here in New York City. 

Link to Professor Tanski's Video

If You Like Mahler's 1st, An Unusual Recording You Should buy!

Every once in a blue moon, I'll take a risk on a recording that could possibly hit the trash can after a first listen.  I happened to stop by the Juilliard Store yesterday while my computer was in the repair shop.  As I rounded the last CD section, I saw they were running a $9.98 sale on single disk Urania recordings.  Knowing Urania can be a real mixed bag when it comes to sound quality, I looked over the group of cd's and saw this oddball Mahler's 1st with Rafael Kubelik conducting the Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della Rai in a live radio broadcast from Turin in 1956.  So, being a sucker for Mahler's 1st I thought, what the hell, $9.98, what do I have to lose?  I told my friend Seth Winner, a noted Sound Engineer about my new purchase and he chuckled.  Though he had to admit he never heard the recording before.  Anyhow, Urania released this recording from the original master tapes in 2005, the first time the performance had been published in any form.  

Wow!!!! is the best descriptor for this recording.  A true tribute to Kubelik, as it is completely obvious he spent the time needed to take the Italian out of the orchestra and focus on Mahler's dynamics.  The brass as one would expect from an Italian orchestra is strong, but note overdone as I have heard in any number of recordings of the period, the strings are glorious, but the most surprising aspect is the clarity of the woodwinds. The engineer who strung the microphones knew the hall, but also knew the piece, as the woodwinds are well emphasized and the detail in the first and third movements is something to behold and something which engineers do not always emphasize.   On the weak end of the engineering is the underplay of the percussion and over-emphasis of what becomes a virtual tuba solo in the rounds of Frere Jacques at the beginning of the movement.  Happily, the orchestra also has a real feel for the Klezmer vs. Funeral dynamic in the same movement.  The transfer engineers do a terrific job as well and I can heartily recommend this recording for overall sound quality.

Interestingly Kubelik takes the 4th movement in a very deliberate way.  Mahler's marking of Stürmisch bewegt – Energisch (Stormy and Energetic) are built upon, rather than raging from the moment the movement begins.  I personally like this aspect of the performance very much, but it may not be to the absolute puritans liking.  I am quite reminded of the deliberate conducting of Hans Knappertsbusch's in his Westminster recording of Fidelio when I hear something like this which is in absolute good taste, but not quite the way others envision it.

Anyhow, I am sure this cd is available from a variety of sources, however, the sale makes this all worthwhile.  You can call the Juilliard Store at 212-799-5000, or contact them via their website, Juilliard Store contact page to take advantage of this particular cd.

The Music Antiquarian Blog, Harmonie Autographs and Music, Inc. and their employees have not received any financial compensation in the publication of this article.

Bernard Parronchi story updated with Youtube videos

Photograph of Bernard Parronchi courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives

I wrote a post in January regarding Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Bernard Parronchi.  Today, I added two Youtube videos to the post and thought you, our readers would enjoy listening to Benny at work!  The two works are:

1. Andrea Caporale's Sonata in D minor
2. Enrique Granados's Danza Espanole #5, Andaluza

Each piece was recorded privately by the cellist during a professional recording session.  We own the original source and copyright on the proprietary engineered sound files.

Enjoy!

Click here for the revised post

Elena Gerhardt sings Brahms great lied "Von Ewiger Liebe"

Elena Gerhardt may not be a name well recognized today except by record collectors.  However, at one point in time, she was the most beloved concert mezzo-soprano on the concert stage.  Her lieder concerts were an event that were awaited with great anticipation on three continents.  She was trained at the Leipzig Conservatory, where the legendary conductor Artur Nikisch took her under his wing and promoted her career from the very start, even accompanying her in her debut recital.  Some of her most collected records have the conductor at the piano.  What is not well know about Gerhardt is that she had a Jewish husband who was in charge of the radio network system in Germany. In 1933 he was dismissed by the Nazi's and brought up on trumped up charges.  Gerhardt who had left for England with the understanding her husband would soon follow, had to go back to Germany which was a very dangerous thing to do for a spouse married to a Jewish suspect in a criminal case.  She pleaded and was able to obtain his release for England only after the Nazi's had finished prosecuting him.  Gerhardt had a flourishing career in England and once the War was over, the United States and the rest of the World.

This 1925 early electric recording is a true document of vocal history. My sound engineer worked wonders on this very difficult record.  There are a few over-modulation points when she takes the higher register, however, that is the fault of the early microphone and not her own. Enjoy!

Artur Schnabel on Johannes Brahms

The legendary pianist once described the Johannes Brahms he knew very succinctly.  He broke the composer down into the three "B's, Beard, Beer and Belly.

Page 268 of Stuart Isacoff's A Natural History of the Piano.

Released for the first time in digital format Herta Glaz sings Schubert

Madame Glaz (1910-2006)  outside the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House

The name Herta Glaz (sometimes Hertha) is today perhaps lost, except to a small group of dedicated fans and friends.  She truly was one of the last of the great Jewish Holocaust refugee opera singers.  She was very lucky to be on tour in the United States under the management of Sol Hurok when the Anschluss occured.  

The mezzo-soprano born in Vienna at one time was one of the most sought after lieder singers in the United States.  Her rendition of Schubert's lied Fruhlingstraum is absolutely delightful, with a true sense of the composition and a clear, bright and yes luxurious sound.  The recording we just put up on YouTube to our knowledge has never before been released in digital format.

When Is A Surplus, Not Really A Surplus, Ask the Metropolitan Opera

Philip Boroff wrote today in Bloomberg News about the apparent financial health of the Metropolitan Opera. In an article that depicts everything coming up roses for the MET on their current tax return, one should pause and ask some serious questions. It would appear salaries are up for Mr. Levine and their Master Electrician (who we have just learned is no longer employed at the MET, his replacement, P.J. Volpe is former Metropolitan Opera General Manager Joe Volpe's son.), Gelb is maintaining at a very high level and it infers that everything is a picture of good health. Fourty-One Million of good health it would seem. The major take home quote from his article,

The Met, the largest U.S. opera presenter, spent $321 million during 2010-2011, up 8 percent. It had a $41 million surplus, reversing a $25 million deficit the prior season, as contributions and revenue surged, according to the return.

Entire Bloomberg Article

But here is the rub:

1. Monies owed to the Metropolitan Opera Pension Fund in 2011 have yet to reach the account.
2. Money was taken in the 2011 season from the endowment of the Metropolitan Opera which has yet to be repaid.
3. The note on the Chagall frescoes with J. P. Morgan Chase has yet to be repaid in full.

Employees within the Metropolitan Opera who are counting on the Pension Fund for their retirements, want to have the peace of mind that their pensions are secure and that the borrowed money has been returned. We all know from the NYCO endowment raid that that sort of "borrowing" occurs as a last resort, when all other options are exhausted, so why did the Metropolitan Opera raid their endowment too? The ludicrous loan on the Chagall frescoes which cannot be removed still is lingering and has not bee fully repaid. So they claim a $41.0 million dollar surplus on their taxes, hmmmmmmmm. It would beg to ask the question, was this was done so the Senior Management of the Opera Company look more successful than they really are?  Are they kicking the can down the road to another year to make this happen?  Once the raided funds are repaid, (of course that is entirely an assumption) the question is where does it really leave them for the 2011 fiscal year?

Of course, that is the 41 Million Dollar question!

Updated 10:59 AM 6/20/12

At Last Tsar Feodor, Chaliapin in America is out!

We have just received word from Joseph Darsky, that his new book on Chaliapin's adventures in America is out.  We previously wrote about this new biography of the legendary bass on February 1st.  Click below for a description from the publisher.  The book may be ordered directly from the publisher, Amazon, Powell's and a whole host of other on-line book sites at varying rates of discount.

Nova Publishers Description

February Post with ordering information

Craig Sheppard's latest cd release

For those of you who follow my blog, Craig Sheppard was the pianist who gave the true first performance of the Brahms Album Leaf, many months before the Hogwood dust-up. For those who love the Romantic piano works of the 19th Century, the works of Franz Liszt, or specifically Les Annees de Pelerinage by Franz Liszt, we have a treat to tell you about. 

Craig has just released a 2 cd set on the Romeo Records label of the complete cycle, recorded live at the Meany Theater in Seattle on the 20th and 21st of October, 2011.  The playing is first rate, both sensitive and masterful as this cycle requires.  He demonstrates he is a true keyboard virtuoso in his interpretation.  For those who are concerned about such things, the sound engineering is also of the highest quality.  Craig has also written the liner notes concerning the history of the cycle.

You may order below, he also has sound files which you may preview.

To order the 2 disc set, please click here

Harmonie Autographs and Music, Inc. is not compensated in any way for this endorsement

Emanuel List Sings a Rumbling Patriotic Song

Emanuel List (1888-1967) was one of the most important German basses at the Metropolitan Opera during the WWII period, chalking up 449 performances in the house between 1933 and 1950.  A Jewish son of a tailor and born in Vienna, his real name was Emanual Fleissig.  He learned to sing in the synagogues of Vienna and joined the chorus of the Theater an der Wien in his teens.  He next joined a quartet which toured Europe, Australia and New Zealand, winding up in New York studying with the vocal pedagogue Josiah Zuro.  To make ends meet, he sung in the local movie theatres during the showing of silent films.  He returned to Austria in 1921 and made his debut at the Vienna Volksoper in 1922.  The following year, he was hired by the Berlin Staditsche Oper and the Berlin Staatsoper in 1924.  He stayed as house bass at the Staatsoper until 1933 and interestingly he sung at the Bayreuth Festspiele that Summer.  He left Germany for America with a contract to sing at the Metropolitan Opera which was to be his srtistic home until 1950.  The bass also was a great favorite as a guest in Vienna, London, Paris, Buenos Aires and Chicago during his long career.  After his return to his beloved Vienna, and in the final years of his career, List sung lieder concerts in Germany and Austria through 1952.  He is buried in the Jewish section of the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.

The recording you are about to hear is interesting, as it was utilized as a patriotic rallying song during WWI in Austria.  The lied is entitled "Andreas Hofer" and it concerns the real life rebel of the same name, Tirolean innkeeper who rebelled against Napoleon's army.  Knebelsberger also wrote a march of the same name which was used through WWII, substantially different from the lied.  List was fiercely loyal to Austria and when he had a choice whether to retire in the United States, or Austria, he returned home.