Comparison recordings
Berg: Symphonic Suite from Lulu, Antal
Dorati, LSO Mercury 432-006-2
Tchaikovsky: Symphony #4, Artur Rodzinski,
RPO MCAD2-9829A
These recording were
new to me. Scherchen’s disk of Tchaikovsky
overtures recorded by Nixa in England
in 1953 was the first LP I ever bought
and I have cherished it to this day.
Those were demonstration quality recordings
for their time and were as fine performances
of the works as had ever been done,
some still standing out among the very
best. Scherchen had an uncanny ability
to play every piece of music exactly
in its own style, as demonstrated on
this disk of works whose styles are
about as disparate as possible. I expected
great things from this recording and
was not disappointed.
The Tchaikovsky was
digitally restored from a Westminster
vinyl pressing; one can hear slight
vestiges of the original surface clicks
and pops, truncated but not totally
eliminated by software analysis, sort
of the stumps of mighty trees cut down.
The monophonic sound has been subjected
to some sort of stereo channelling,
not just artificial reverb or frequency
channelling, but some kind of phase
shifting which provides some (rather
good) sound depth with no apparent distortion
of the original sound quality. Orchestral
detail is rich, clear and unobscured.
Dynamic range appears uncompressed,
but I don’t have the original disk to
compare. The deepest bass and highest
highs are probably slightly attenuated;
however what remains is entirely sufficient
for brilliance, richness, transparency,
and impact. Overall this is a quite
listenable transfer — wide range, very
clear and undistorted. At least we are
spared any "atmospheric" residual
crackle and pop which some restorers
like to leave in to provide an "historical"
feel. We hear the music arise from,
and return to, silence as the composer
and artists intended.
At the time of this
recording’s release in 1952, Scherchen’s
direct competition in the marketplace
would have been the recording by Rafael
Kubelik and the Chicago SO. Many people
judge a performance of the Tchaikovsky
Fourth by the violence of the
finale; a photograph of Kubelik at this
time shows him drenched with sweat,
in a frenzy of arm waving, scattering
droplets several meters in every direction.
One wonders if the management of the
hall provided complimentary rain gear
for centre front seats? At any rate,
for inchoate madness, this early Kubelik
recording has not and probably will
never be surpassed, although the sound
is edgy and distorted; this one was
never issued on CD by "Mercury
Living Presence," although I understand
it was for a time available from Japan.
(By the time of his later recordings
in Europe, Kubelik had calmed down a
great deal — unfortunately.) Scherchen,
with beautifully realistic sound, never
loses control of the orchestra or of
his own emotions. Always aware of the
sound he is making and of what the audience
is hearing, he carefully terraces the
drama of this passionate work for maximum
effect. The Rodzinski recording described
above was Westminster’s "remake"
of the Scherchen performance for stereo,
which indicates that the Scherchen recording
must have continued to be one of the
company’s best sellers right up to 1958.
Some reviewers did not care for the
Rodzinski recording, but I find it also
perfectly balanced in sound and drama;
or perhaps I am just in love with the
sound of English orchestras.
With the Berg, restored
from a live broadcast recording (also
released previously on Arcadia CDGI
752.1), it’s the coughs that are more
a problem than any residual system noise.
But the sound is reasonably wide range
and clear as is necessary for Berg,
and the orchestral performance is the
best I’ve ever heard. Annelies Kupper’s
singing comes through effectively but
not spectacularly. It actually makes
one want to hear the whole opera, an
emotion I’ve rarely felt before. Antal
Dorati receives beautiful recorded sound,
but the mood is analytical and the feeling
is tepid (although Helga Pilarczyk’s
scream when Lulu is murdered may cause
your neighbours to call the police).
Scherchen’s first conducting job was
with Schoenberg, and his affinity for
"atonal" music was always
exceptional. As with the Tchaikovsky,
the "stereoizing" is not merely
unobjectionable, but a positive advantage;
however, you will want to adjust the
balance control on your player, and
then put back it for normal material.
Paul Shoemaker
Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Hermann Scherchen
