The Warsaw Philharmonic
continues to release its archive. Here
we have two esteemed conductors though
the one, Kletzki, far outstripped the
other, Carlo Zecchi, in prestige. Zecchi
(1903-84) was a piano pupil of Schnabel
and Busoni in Berlin, making his debut
at seventeen and specialising in Scarlatti,
Mozart, Schumann and Chopin. It was
only in 1938 that he began conducting
studies and his public career as a pianist
gradually wound down, though he was
still playing duos with Italy’s leading
cellist Enrico Mainardi in 1940. A noted
teacher at the conservatory of St Cecilia
in Rome and in Vienna where he was popular,
his pupils include Abbado, Barenboim
and Mehta. As a recording artist things
were a little more complicated. He may
be best known for his accompaniment
to Haskil’s Beethoven Fourth Concerto
(with the LPO on 78s) but he certainly
travelled widely, recording Brahms with
the Concertgebouw, Berlioz with the
Czech Philharmonic, Mozart with the
Rumanian Radio Orchestra, a dose of
Haydn with the Slovak Phil in Bratislava
and, in his semi-adopted Vienna, recording
relatively extensively with the Vienna
Chamber Orchestra.
Zecchi conducts the
Schubert C major in perfectly acceptable
1955 sound. The reading is in the grand
manner, not as affectionately moulded
perhaps as Boult’s famous readings and
not always boasting the most precise
of playing but powerful and moving in
the Andante. He manages to bind the
thematic material here, by no means
an easy matter, and though he jettisons
repeats in the Scherzo he drives incisively
toward the end of the Allegro Vivace.
Paul Kletzki made this
appearance in Warsaw in May 1962. He
had actually been born
in Łódź in 1900 and studied
in Warsaw, having pursued composition
and violin with the distinguished Emil
Młynarski. His Mozart E major Symphony
has an attractive sense of anticipation
in the opening movement with strong
bass and celli lines. He certainly
favours a biggish band but springs the
rhythms well, although some might find
that some of the phrasing and articulation
is inclined to be a little rushed. Nevertheless
the exchanges of first and second violins
in the finale are quick and lithe and
the music making blends seriousness
with animation. The sound is once again
perfectly acceptable and followers of
the conductors might want to investigate
these well-disinterred performances.
Jonathan Woolf
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