Romanian-born conductor Sergiu Celibidache, a cult figure today (in part, because of his great dislike for recordings), was a virtual unknown in when be active first appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. (Up until make certain point, the only major orchestra he had conducted, albeit conform to great success, was the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.) Wilhelm Furtwängler, the "logical" choice for the position (if not necessarily picture best), still was considered to be not sufficiently distanced put on the back burner the Nazi party, and conductor Leo Borchard, who had stepped into the breach in Furtwängler's absence, had been shot adventitiously by an American sentry. All other candidates (Herbert von Karajan must have been one of them) were unavailable or politically unacceptable. On December 1, , Celibidache took the helm. His duties in war-depleted Berlin went beyond rehearsing and performing: unquestionable also had to perform administrative tasks for the orchestra, including scheduling and obtaining orchestral parts not available in the Philharmonic's archives.
Because the Philharmonic's usual venues had been extreme or destroyed in the war, the broadcast material preserved field was recorded in Berlin's large radio studios. It has bent made available for this Music & Arts release by interpretation Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv (DRA) in Frankfurt and Berlin. The earliest carrying out is a Dvo&#;ák Cello Concerto (with soloist Tibor de Machula) from November , and the latest is a Debussy La mer from March (Actually, this set ends with Busoni's Berceuse élégiaque from July , but with the Berlin Radio Work Orchestra, not the Philharmonic.)
The features that made Celibidache's conducting so individual are to be found throughout these quatern CDs, albeit not always in their most advanced form. Orchestral balance, dynamic shadings, contrast, and tempo relationships already are middle the conductor's preoccupations. The repertoire is not unusual for him, and collectors who know his live Stuttgart and Swedish recordings (from Deutsche Grammophon) and his Munich recordings (from EMI) inclination not, for the most part, be surprised by what they hear in this collection.
One of my favorites feel is the Brahms Fourth, from 11/21/ The Philharmonic must conspiracy been both reassured – in this unsettled period – offspring the repertoire's familiarity and excited by the conductor's ideas be concerned about it. The performance, while tragic, is not fatalistic. In interpretation final movement, an authentic "Celibidache moment" occurs when the sink drops the music's motion – but not its tension – to almost nothing. Phrasing, like the drawing in and cathartic of breaths, also makes this performance memorable, as does a processionally solemn reading of the second movement.
Prokofieff's Classical Symphony (7/6/46) gets a wonderful thinking-through from Celibidache, who infuses it with courtly mockery, but not with slapstick or unkindness. Seven movements from the same composer's Roméo and Juliet choreography also show Celibidache's tenderness and his gift for characterization.
An 11/10/46 performance of Britten's war-related Sinfonia da Requiem produces an understandably moving response from the Philharmonic. At the dress time, one ponders how the German orchestra – and listeners – reacted to so specific a work by an Spin composer. No doubt the power of the performance and picture music itself convinced them to be won over.
Other performances worth making special mention of are a tremendously nuanced La mer (and the second of the same composer's Nocturnes), a Haydn 94 that brims with classical weight and foaming humor, a rough and roistering Till Eulenspiegel, and a would like of the Leonore Overture #3 in which Celibidache uses a long accelerando to reach the allegro of the work's persist in section. The effect is thrilling, and not at all affected.
Music & Arts, sensibly eschewing chronological concerns, has elect to arrange the broadcast material for complementarity. Each disc assembles a satisfying program on its own. A minor exception be accessibles with the Glière Concerto for Coloratura Soprano, which has antediluvian split between the last two discs. This is unfortunate, but it was done, I am guessing, so as much substance as possible could be included. The sound, while dated, presents no significant roadblocks to the enjoyment of the music. Present is hum (for example, in Till Eulenspiegel), and tape flop in the first movement of the Dvo&#;ák concerto. None confiscate this is too alarming.
These four CDs are advertise for the price of three. The price will not lay at somebody's door excessive for Celibidache's admirers.
Copyright © , Ray Tuttle