The idea of a Solti memorial set comprising his
early recordings is worthy, but this is an odd collection. Ten discs
has become the "magic number", a standard for this sort of low-priced,
minimally-documented anthology. The Solti discographies suggest that
the conductor certainly left ten discs' worth of monaural recordings,
but some were perhaps unavailable or considered unsatisfactory. So the
producers have padded the programme out with monaural mixes of stereo
recordings - three full discs' worth.
A curiosity is that some of the performances make an unexpectedly different
effect in these monaural mix-downs.
Gaité Parisienne sounds
less aggressive and self-conscious than in the over-bright stereo of
the Decca Eloquence issue (476 2724), making it easier to like. On the
other hand, the greyed sonorities mute the brilliance of the
Faust
ballet music, one of the best versions available in its stereo guise.
At first, I thought the Suppé overtures were mislabeled - Solti
recorded several in mono, with the London Philharmonic. However the
performances do correspond reasonably to my notes on the Vienna remakes
- which I heard in the Speakers Corner "super-LP" reissue of SXL 2174
- including the boomy, opaque recording quality in the
tuttis.
In this altered sonic frame,
Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna
now sounds driven, while
Light Cavalry, which I previously found
breathless, now has a triumphant "here comes the cavalry" verve.
The
Barcarolle, from the LP programme "Solti at the Opera", is
tacked onto the end of the all-Offenbach disc, and feels like a musical
hiccup: we've just heard it, as the last dance in
Gaité Parisienne.
Even so, the disc, like many of the others in the set, is short measure.
The lively, spanking accounts of the two Rossini overtures and the
Dance
of the Hours, from the same album,
are catchy - the only thing
missing is stereo.
Solti's way with the Schubert symphony is musical, but favours Classical
severity rather than Viennese geniality. Even the
cantabile of
the
Andante con moto sounds reined-in. A similar rigour, on the
other hand, proves apt in the outer movements of Tchaikovsky's
Serenade,
while the melodies of the inner movements blossom nicely.
It's the "legit" mono recordings that prove the most informative, if
not always the best. Decca briefly revived the Brahms sonatas on LP
in the wake of Solti's Chicago stardom. The performances, capturing
the music's impassioned surge while respecting its Classical framework,
are gripping. Georg Kulenkampff's tone is full-bodied, even in the highest
ranges, and his phrasing is aristocratic. Solti, in a rare recorded
appearance as pianist, has a well-balanced tone and takes care over
the voicing of chordal passages, though the "ping" becomes aggressive
above the stave.
The Bartók disc, too, is fine, although the
Music for Strings,
Percussion and Celesta - a score that the conductor seems not to
have redone for stereo - doesn't immediately hit stride. In the searching
opening movement, it's Solti and the players who sound like they're
searching - for some sense of shape and direction, though the textures
are clear enough. From the second movement onwards, however, the conductor's
familiar taut energy and drive draw a performance both lively and atmospheric.
The
Dance Suite is full of life and trenchant colour, though
it reminded me of Kodály - a relationship that usually works
the other way around.
Over the years, some commentators, including Decca producer John Culshaw,
questioned Solti's temperamental affinity with and aptitude for Beethoven.
The two concertos offered here, with their clean lines and uncluttered
textures, seem particularly suited to the conductor's forthright, tensile
manner. Both soloists fit well into his framework - or, perhaps, vice
versa - although the usually austere Backhaus imposes unneeded tempo
shifts and agogics on the
Emperor's
Finale, presumably
to make structural points. Elman projects the lyrical lines of the Violin
Concerto with taste and tact.
The Mahler First was still a comparative rarity in 1957, and this nervous
performance - from a concert, to judge by a few coughs - is unrecognizable
as the Solti speciality of later years. The first movement feels hasty,
taking in bits of smudged ensemble and a few slapdash accelerations.
The inner two movements suffer some herky-jerky tempo changes that the
conductor would smooth out later on. The
Finale isn't exactly
neat - and the ending oddly hangs fire - but Solti's energy maintains
interest.
The 1958 Verdi
Requiem, too, represents a sketch for the conductor's
later productions, recorded by Decca and RCA. As in those later accounts,
Solti plays for maximum atmosphere, with springy rhythms: the
Sanctus
fugue is catchy, though rough around the edges. Some of the contrasts,
as at "
Te decet hymnus" in the opening movement, seem unduly
punched-up. The chorus is competent if a bit woolly. Oralia Dominguez
sings with firm authority; so does Nicola Zaccaria, though he turns
lachrymose in the
Confutatis maledictis. Gré Brouwenstijn
soars, inconsistently; Giuseppe Zampieri is ringy, but provincial in
style. Intonation in the unaccompanied ensembles of the
Lacrimosa
and the
Lux aeterna goes badly off the rails.
What to do, then? All but enthusiasts will ultimately find the Mahler
and the Verdi mere curiosities, and many of the "fake" monaural performances
can be had in authentic stereo elsewhere. Whether it's worth buying
the box just to get the Beethoven, Bartók and Brahms performances
is up to you.
Stephen Francis Vasta
Stephen Francis Vasta is a New York-based conductor, coach, and journalist.
Masterwork Index:
Beethoven
piano concerto 5 ~~
Beethoven
violin concerto ~~
Mahler
symphony 1 ~~
Verdi
requiem
Details
CD 1 [72:47]
Franz VON SUPPÉ (1819-1895)
Pique Dame: Overture (1864) [7:04]*
Leichte Kavallerie: Overture (1866) [5:49]*
Dichter und Bauer: Overture (1846) [8:59]*
Ein Morgen, ein Mittag, ein Abend in Wien: Overture (1844) [7:35]*
Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893)
Faust: Ballet Music (1859) [15:44]+
Gioacchino ROSSINI (1792-1868)
Semiramide:
Sinfonia (1823) [11:23]+
L'Italiana in Algeri:
Sinfonia (1813) [7:23]+
Amilcare PONCHIELLI (1834-1886)
La Gioconda:
Danza delle ore (1876) [8:42]+
CD 2 [41:46]
Jacques OFFENBACH (1819-1880)
Gaité Parisienne (arr.
Manuel Rosenthal, 1938)
[37:43]+
Les contes d'Hoffmann: Barcarolle (1880) [4:03]+
CD 3 [38:28]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat, Op. 73 (
Emperor) (1809-10) [38:28]^
CD 4 [46:37]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61 (1806) [46:37]#
CD 5 [45:07]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Violin Sonata in G, Op. 78 (1878-9) [25:55]°
Violin Sonata in A, Op. 100 (1886) [19:11]°
CD 6 [51:32]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Symphony No. 5 in B flat, D. 485 (1816) [24:09]§
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Serenade for String Orchestra in C, Op. 48 (1880) [27:22]§
CD 7 [47:43]
Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 1 in D (
Titan) (1887/96) [47:43]¶
CD 8 [43:35]
Béla BARTÓK (1881-1945)
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1936) [27:46]#
Dance Suite (1923) [15:48]#
CDs 9-10 [48:28 + 39:38]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Messa da Requiem (1874) [88:06]²
^Wilhelm Backhaus (piano)
#Mischa Elman (violin)
°Georg Kulenkampff (violin)
²Gré Brouwenstijn (soprano)
²Oralia Dominguez (mezzo)
²Giuseppe Zampieri (tenor)
²Nicola Zaccaria (bass)
²Cologne Radio Chorus
*Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
+Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
^¶²Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra
#London Philharmonic Orchestra
§Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Georg Solti, conductor, °piano
