Search - Various Artists :: Centenary Collection 3: 1948-1957

Europe is heard bursting out of the tension and isolation of war in recordings that--because of their pre-stereo status--have been long unavailable in any form. Pianist Monique Haas performs in combustible collaborations with conductors Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt and Ferenc Fricsay, respectively, in Ravel's Concerto in G and Stravinsky's Capriccio, reflecting the postwar German enthusiasm for the French-based music they'd been deprived of. Fricsay's Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 is one of the best ever, the young Amadeus Quartet is far more alert and inventive in Schubert's "Rosamunde" quartet than its more mature self, and the late conductor Fritz Lehmann has an incomparable way with Bach's chorales in Christmas Oratorio excerpts. Violinist Wolfgang Schneiderhan is heard in his earlier (and better) Beethoven sonata recordings with Wilhelm Kempf, and the younger, less-mannered Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sings Brahms's Four Serious Songs. Two Russian greats, David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter, bringing their customary mastery, respectively, to Brahms and Schumann, as does the electrifying Igor Markevitch in his lesser-known, 1953 recording of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Lorin Maazel, conducting selections from Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet, is full of fine ideas but not a lot of style. --David Patrick Stearns