Tah 745 - Ginette neveu's last recordings

BRAHMS: Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano, op. 108 - Piano: Jean Neveu (recorded on 21.IX.1949)
BEETHOVEN : Violin Concerto, op. 61
Südwestfunk-Orchester, conductor: Hans Rosbaud
Historical recording of 25.IX.1949
New Mastering

On 21 September, she gave in Stuttgart a recital with her brother Jean and on 25, she played in Baden-Baden the Beethoven concerto under Hans Rosbaud. Both these concerts were recorded and are included in the present set: in a certain way they may be considered as Ginette’s musical «testament». On Thursday, 20 October, she gave a recital in Paris, at the Salle Pleyel, with her brother, the very last one of her career. On 28 October, she went to Orly to take the plane to America where she was supposed to make a four-month concert tour. On this same plane travelled also the boxer Marcel Cerdan who was going to join Edith Piaf in New York. But the “Constellation” never arrived to its destination crashing instead into the Azores.

Date : February, 2013 - Barre code : 3504129074517

Tah 734 - Charles Munch in Boston

W.A. MOZART
Requiem, KV 626 for soloists, choir and orchestra
Soloists: Phyllis Curtin, Florence Kopleff, Blake Stern, Mac Morgan - Tanglewood Choir
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Recorded Live at the Berkshire Music Festival de Tanglewoodon 22 July 1962

This recording is a true first issue and is published here for two reasons: there is no known sound recording and Munch never recorded it commercially for RCA. It is rather surprising to find Munch in this particular repertoire but it is not astonishing to find some beethovenian accents in this performance of the Mozart Requiem. Munch chose for this work a subjective point of view of human drama and under his baton, this Requiem unfolds itself as an exceptional and even religious event, but not in a priestly sense: Man faces his questions of what is beyond and he expresses all the anxiety felt.

Press review
Not for sale in the United States

Note : Not for sale in the USA

Date : November, 2012 - Barre code : 3504129073411

Furt 2012 - W. FURTWÄNGLER « LIVE » IN VIENNA, VOL. II

Ludwig van Beethoven: Ninth Symphony, op. 125 in D minor
Wiener Philharmoniker & Singakademie
Soloists: Hilde Güden, Rosette Anday, Julius Patzak, Alfred Poell
Recorded live on 3.II.1952 in the Musikvereinssaal in Vienna
(new mastering) - SACD

We know three magnificent performances of Beethoven’s choral symphony by W. Furtwängler: Berlin 1942, Bayreuth 1951 and Lucerne, 1954. We are releasing the Vienna concert broadcast of 3 February 1952 on SACD, which will give this outstanding performance an extra shine. The Viennese critiques wrote that : « As usual, it was beautiful, grandiose and festive and it could not have been otherwise with the Philharmonic Orchestra playing under Furtwängler.»

Date : October, 2012 - Barre code : 3504129201210

Tah 747 - Clara Haskil and Dinu Lipatti

[1] BACH : Toccata BWV 914 in B minor
[2] SCARLATTI : Sonata in C Major
[3] SCARLATTI : Sonata in B flat major
[4-5] BEETHOVEN : Sonata No. 32 opus 111 in C minor
[6] SCHUMANN: Abegg Variations (excerpts)
[7] SCHUMANN: Bunte Blätter op. 99 (excerpts)
[8] DEBUSSY: Etude pour les sonorités opposées
Excerpts from Clara Haskil's recital at the Castle of Ludwigsburg on 11.IV.1953
Eine Aufnahme des Südwestfunks Stuttgart
[9-11] BARTOK: Piano Concerto No. 3
Dinu Lipatti and the Südwestfunk-Sinfonieorchester conducted by Paul Sacher
Historical recording of 30.V.1948 (Archive of the SWR Media)
(new mastering) - SACD

« These two Romanians that 22 years separated, have been shooting stars in the musical sky of the 20th Century » wrote Jérôme Spycket, the biographer of Clara Haskil’s to whom this album is dedicated. The highlight of this disc is the Bartok Concerto broadcast in 1948 in Baden-Baden and which is a “historical recording”.

Date : September, 2012 - Barre code : 3504129074715

Tah 737/738 - Hermann Scherchen conducts Bach's Mass in B minor

Bach's Mass in B minor conducted by Hermann Scherchen and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra - Soloists: Pierrette Alarié – Nan Merriman – Leopold Simoneau – Gustav Neidlinger

With the oncoming of stereo recording, Hermann Scherchen recorded again for Westminster a certain number of works he had already recorded in mono (Mozart Requiem; the Haendel Messiah; Bach’s Art of the Fugue; Beethoven Symphonies n° 3 & 6).
He also recorded again Bach’s Mass in B minor, nine years after the first mono version and with quite some better soloists (the trio Alarie, Simoneau and Merrimann is quite remarkable). Curiously, this recording was only reissued once almost confidentially on CD.

Date : June, 2012 - Barre code : 3504129073718

Furt 2011 - Wilhelm Furtwängler

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, "Eroica", op. 55 in E Flat major - Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler on 30.XI.1952- NEW MASTERING - SACD

Nine recordings of the Eroica by Furtwängler are known, three of which are studio recordings and six Live concerts. After reissuing the famous and breathtaking recording of 1944, we are releasing on SACD the concert of 30 November 1952. Furtwängler was himself here and his art glows in the Funeral March which, alongside the Leonore III overture and the Choral Symphony, were the highlights in which the “tragic side” of his personality shone through.

Date : May, 2012 - Barre code : 3504129201111

Tah 725 - Kathleen Ferrier in Memoriam

[1] MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde (der Einsame im Herbst) - [2] MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde (von der Schönheit) - Wiener Philharmoniker, Conductor: Bruno Walter (Salzburg, 21.VIII.1949)

[3] BACH: « Erbarme dich, mein Gott » (Saint Matthew Passion ) - Wiener Sinfoniker, Conductor: Herbert von Karajan (9.VI.1950)

[4] HAENDEL: « Where ‘er you walk » (Semele)
[5] HAENDEL: « Like as the love-lorn turtle » (Atalanta) - [6] GLUCK: « Ah diletta Euridice » (Orpheus and Eurydice) - Piano: Giorgio Favaretto (Milan, 6.II.1951)

[7] MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde (Der Abschied)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Conductor: Bruno Walter (17.V.1952)
[8] INTERVIEW: August 1949

Kathleen Ferrier’s premature death, on 8 October 1953 at the age of 41, took everybody by surprise due to the veil of silence behind which she had hidden her illness, whereby the public was not in the least prepared to this fatal outcome. To celebrate Kathleen Ferrier’s hundredth birthday, we are releasing the present SACD with excerpts from the Lied von der Erde broadcasted from the Salzburg Festival in 1949, with the Wiener Philarmoniker under Bruno Walter, as well as a very rare interview.

Date : April, 2012 - Barre code : 3504129072513

Tah 736 - Clara Haskil and Rafael Kubelik

ROBERT SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto in A minor -
Danish Radio Orchestra - 17.II.1955 -
Previously Unissued Recording
FREDERIC CHOPIN : Piano Concerto No. 2 en F minor - Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire - Live Recording - 31.I.1960

The contract which bound Clara Haskil to Philips prevented her from recording with some of her preferred conductors, i.e. Rafael Kubelik among others. By chance, this gap in her discography has been partially filled thanks to live recordings of public concerts. The magnificent Schumann concerto is a special bonus. It was broadcasted in February 1955 in Copenhagen, and is issued here for the first time. The perfect understanding between these two artists comes here fully to light.

Date : February, 2012 - Barre code : 3504129073619

Tah 732/733 - THE ART OF FERENC FRICSAY

CD 1
MOZART: Concerto for flute and harp KV 299
Hans Schmitz, flute; Irmgard Helmis, harp & RIAS Sinfonieorchester (17.IX.1952)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto, op. 35
Yehudi Menuhin & Luzerner Festspielorchester (16.VIII.1961)
CD 2
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1, op. 68 - NDR Sinfonieorchester (2/3.II.1958)
BRAHMS: Variations on a theme by Haydn, op. 56a - RIAS Sinfonieorchester (7.IV.1953)

Deutsche Grammophon made between 1949 and 1961 180 recordings with the Hungarian conductor Ferenc Fricsay, mainly with the Berlin RIAS Orchestra. The four live recordings of the present set are first-time issues and have been recorded in Berlin, Lucerne, Hamburg et Cologne. The most interesting document is the Brahms First symphony with the NDR Orchestra of Hamburg which recalls the famous concert conducted by Furtwängler in October 1951 (with the same « crazy timpanist » !).

Date : January, 2012 - Barre code : 3504129073213

Furt 2010 - Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts Brahms

SACD: Variations on a theme by Haydn, op. 56a
Symphony No. 1 op. 68
Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks
Recorded Live in the Musikhalle of Hamburg on 27.X.1951
Hybrid SACD 24 bit 192 khz (new mastering)

At the end of the war, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt founded the Radio Hambourg orchestra. The first guest conductor was Wilhelm Furtwängler who on 27 October 1951 conducted a Brahms concert that has become famous. Released here on SACD, this document crystallizes the unforgettable encounter of two geniuses at their full maturity. Our first release of the document was awarded the “Diapason d’Or du Siècle”.

Date : November, 2011 - Barre code : 3504129201012

Tah 721/722 - Paul Paray "Live" in Detroit

CD I
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 2, op. 19
Soloist: Glenn Gould (13.XII.1960)
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto
Soloist: Arnold Steinhardt (12.XI.1959)
CD II
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 (12.XI.1959)
Detroit Symphony Orchestra

During his long career, Paul Paray (1886-1979) conducted various American orchestras (from 1939 in New-York), and particularly in Detroit where he was musical director from 1951 to 1962. He gave more than 240 concerts in « Motor City » and over 110 concerts on tour. The interest of these three Live documents recorded in 1959 and 1960, resides in the fact the Paray’s recording label Mercury didn’t make any commercial recording of these works. It is of particular interest to discover his vision of the famous Mahler Fifth and specially of the famous adagietto.

Note : Not for sale in the USA

Date : November, 2011 - Barre code : 3504129072117

Tah 719 - Previously unissued recordings of Youra Guller III

L. van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4, op. 58
F. Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, op. 21
(Orchestre National de France, D.E. Inghelbrecht conducting) - Recorded on 15.V.1958 (Beethoven) and 21.VI.1959 (Chopin)

After two CD (Tah 630 and 650), that were quite successful, Tahra continues to release previously unissued recordings by the great French Pianist Youra Guller: the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto and the Chopin Second Piano Concerto – two of her «specialties». These are live recordings of the concerts that took in place in Paris in 1958-9 under the baton of D. Inghelbrecht conducting the Orchestre National de France.

Press review
The Chopin Concerto (21 June 1959) seems to wait for the Larghetto to reveal the pliant mysteries Guller could impart to the melodic line, the ornaments appearing to dissipate into interstellar space. No wonder Martha Argerich insisted Guller return to the recording studios! The flourishes and bold fioritura may imply the school of Isidor Philipp and Alfred Cortot, but her poetry has its unique voice and sculpting. The dark interlude in the nocturnal Larghetto becomes a mighty introspection, with the orchestra's supplying a sounding voice for melancholy ruminations on mortality. The lithe mazurka that constitutes the Allegro vivace brings crisp fire to the concert platform, with Guller's seeming to relish the roulades and shifting metrics that blend with the maverick woodwind or stormy string line that accompanies the eminently vocal execution of the keyboard. The col legno strings delicately ply their trade under a declamatory Guller who maneuvers rubato and inflections of touch with a suave assurance of style.
Highly recommended as a recording of special merit.
Gary Lemco (www.Audaud.com)

Date : April, 2011 - Barre code : 3504129071912