Search - Van Beinum, Concertgebouw Orchestra :: Live Radio Recordings (Bonus Dvd)

Essential For Mengelberg Fans

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 04/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 10-CD box set (plus a bonus 17 minute DVD) is a treasure trove of "live" performances 1938-1944 by one of the last century's greatest conductors. Unfortunately, it comes with a pretty stiff price tag of nearly $20 per CD. With excellent transfers of Mengelberg's studio recordings now available on budget labels like Naxos for around $7 each, that's a rather steep tariff. I happened to get lucky and found a copy at a discount outlet for around $60. But irregardless of price, this is a magnificent set for admirers of the Dutch conductor's unique style of music making. Many items here were never recorded by Mengelberg in the studio, and some of these are world premiere performances. I have owned most of these selections on earlier LP issues but, without exception, these transfers are the finest ever. Incidentally, two items here (the Mahler 5th Adagietto and Strauss's Death & Transfiguration) are definitely studio recordings.



Amazon has not included a listing of this set's contents. So here is a cursory digest, with recording dates and a few comments on the performances:



CD 1 has Weber's "Oberon" Overture (1940), Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with Cor de Groot (1942), Mahler's "Songs of A Wayfarer" with baritone Hermann Schey (1939), and the Adagietto from Mahler's 5th (1926). These are all classic readings: a brilliant Oberon, one of the finest-ever Emperors (de Groot also made an excellent studio recording with Otterloo on an Epic LP that deserves to be on CD), and an important Mahler conductor's only recorded accounts of the Wayfarer and the Adagietto. The latter is my all-time favorite reading (it is also available on some budget labels). I still prefer Fischer-Dieskau & Furtwangler in the Wayfarer Songs (EMI).



CD 2 has the Bach Cantata BMW 202 (1939: the CD jacket indicates this is a studio reading, but it sounds live to me), some Schubert choral items from Rosamunde, etc. (1940), and the Brahms 3rd Symphony (1944). The Bach is excellent, although its romantic styling is probably an acquired taste. The Schubert is lovely, but I still prefer Fritz Lehmann's rendering (DG - see my review). This great Brahms 3rd is similar to the 1932 studio recording, but the latter has more immediate recorded sound in Pearl's superb CD transfer (the Naxos issue is guilty of too much noise suppression).



CD 3 has three Mozart items from 1942 - the "Magic Flute" Overture, the 2nd Flute Concerto with Hubert Barwahser, and an aria K. 528 with soprano Ria Ginster - plus Bruch's 1st Violin Concerto with Guila Bustabo (1940 - greatest performance I've ever heard), Grace Moore singing "Un bel di vedremo" from Puccini's Madame Butterfly (1936 - Mengelberg's accompaniment is drenched in lovely portamento), and a Moore encore (Pestalozza's "Ciribiribin" with pianist Gibner King - a rather odd inclusion).



CD 4 has a largely uninteresting overture by Wagenaar (1940), Chopin's 2nd Piano Concerto with Theo van der Pas (no rival to the wonderful Askenase/Lehmann account on DG - see my review), and Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony (1939 in rather poor sound).



CD 5 features Bach's 1st Harpsichord Concerto with pianist Agi Jambor (1939, identified as a studio recording), Kodaly's "Hary Janos" Suite (1940), and the Brahms Violin Concerto with the orchestra's young concertmaster Herman Krebbers (1943). The Bach is a little heavy compared to my favorites: Sviatoslav Richter & Vaclav Talich (Artia LP) and Suzanna Ruzickova with Gyorgy Lehel (Crossroads LP). The Kodaly is simply brilliant: to my taste, only Fricsay (DG) comes close. The Brahms is beautifully conducted, but Krebbers is a rather neutral soloist.



CD 6 has a dramatic Beethoven "Egmont" Overture (1943) and two must-have 1939 world premieres: Bartok's 2nd Violin Concerto with Zoltan Szekely, and Kodaly's "Peacock Variations." The Bartok is sublime (I even weeded my Menuhin/Furtwangler after hearing this one). And the Kodaly is really stupendous - it's amazing how effectively Mengelberg grasped this music right out of the gate.



CD 7 is another real winner: a staggering Wagner "Tannhauser" Overture (1940), Walter Gieseking in Debussy's Fantasy for Piano & Orchestra (THE one to have!), the 2nd Suite from Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloe" (extraordinary!), and delightfully spunky selections from "La Damnation de Faust" by Berlioz.



CD 8 has another goldmine: Grieg's 1st "Peer Gynt" Suite (1943), a profoundly beautiful reading of Bloch's Violin Concerto with Joseph Szigeti (1939), and one of the all-time great accounts of the Strauss "Death & Transfiguration" (1942 studio).



CD 9 has Beethoven's 9th (1938) in a performance of immense personality. It's quite similar to his live 1940 account (both have a gorgeous Adagio), but I think I prefer this one despite the rather noisy transcription discs. While not on the lofty plateau of Weingartner (Opus Kura) and various Furtwanglers, this 9th features some awesome playing, despite Mengelberg's utterly weird slow-down in the final measures.



CD 10 has Mengelberg's celebrated 1939 Mahler 4th in the best transfer I've heard. Some of the ritards in the first mvt. have to be heard to be believed, but otherwise this 4th is one of the greatest-ever accounts.



The bonus DVD was filmed in France in 1931, with a studio set disguised to look like the Concertgebouw. It has another Oberon Overture, the Adagietto from Bizet's "L'Arlesienne," and the Berlioz Hungarian March. Much of this can also be seen on the Teldec video "The Art of Conducting."



All in all, this set may be on the pricey side, but the performances it contains are truly priceless.



Highly recommended."