Search - Schubert, Mendelssohn, Smetana :: Overtures

Another Testament to Great Reissues

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 10/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Testament is rapidly becoming one of my favorite classical labels, despite the fact that its CDs sell at full-price. This company prides itself on licensing classic recordings from the vaults of labels like EMI and Decca, performances that the big boys won't reissue not because of their musical quality, but because of their lack of profitability. They have also made it their mission to rescue the reputations of once great conductors no longer in the spotlight, including D.E. Inghelbrecht, Gunter Wand (see my reviews) and now Rudolf Kempe. Kempe would never have been totally forgotten as his Strauss recordings are a cornerstone of EMI's current series of CD box sets and budget-line titles. But he was more than a Strauss specialist as he was a first-rate conductor of everything from Beethoven to Wagner, and unfortunately too many of his outstanding recordings are no longer available. You only have to listen to this disc of Overtures to see the diversity of styles Kempe had mastered. He is equally comfortable with the romantic colorings of Mendelssohn and Schubert as he is the formal elegance of Suppe and J. Strauss. All of these recordings less two were recorded in 1958 and captured in brilliant golden-age stereo (the Strauss Polka is from 1960, and Rosamunde from 1961 -- annoyingly the very same performance included on an earlier Kempe Testament, "Vienna Philharmonic on Holiday" SBT 1127). In all, this title is yet another "Testament" to a great reissue program."