JASCHA HORENSTEIN (1898-1973)
A CD DISCOGRAPHY
November 2004
Horenstein's commercial recordings break
down into four main areas: German recordings
1928-29, those made for Vox in the 1950s,
those made in the '60s by RCA for Readers
Digest (glories of the gramophone, produced
by Charles Gerhardt and engineered by
Kenneth Wilkinson), and for Unicorn
from 1969. In addition, broadcast airchecks
are being issued on CD; indeed there
have been multiple editions of many
of them. Bits and pieces include a Strauss
Metamorphoses & Stravinsky Symphony
of Psalms in mono (Grand Prix du Disque
1954), still in EMI's vault. All of
the early German recordings, all the
Unicorns and all the Readers Digests
have been on CD, the Voxes have all
appeared at super-budget prices, and
more and more of the broadcast recordings
are being issued commercially.
According to Mark Kluge, the problem
of the names of the Vienna orchestra
that recorded with Horenstein on Vox
is simpler than we sometimes thought.
The Vienna Symphony Orchestra signed
a contract with Philips in April of
1952; after that, it was still free
to record with other labels, but not
under its own name. The name Vienna
State Philharmonia was used for a short
period by Vox to disguise Vienna Symphony
recordings, but that resulted in a suit
by the Vienna Philharmonic (objecting
that the closeness of the pseudonym
to their own name resulted in unfair
competition). Vox thenceforward used
the name Vienna Pro Musica for its Vienna
Symphony recordings. Vox did not like
paying for a lot of rehearsal time,
however, so some of the recorded performances
are a bit scrappy, nothwithstanding
the excellence of the band.
Vox material was leased to an Orbis
label on vinyl; this may have been for
a partwork in Europe. Orbis and Marshall
Cavendish are partwork publishers in
England; a partwork is a series of magazines
with no advertising which are collected
to compile an 'encyclopedia' of gardening,
cookery, football or whatever. There
have been classical music partworks
from both Orbis and MC including CDs;
MC issues on CD of Horenstein recordings
are found below under Brahms, Haydn
and R. Strauss (see VARIOUS). Preludio
in the USA and Tuxedo Music in Europe
were identical Vox reissues from the
same Swiss address with different label
names and inaccurate documentation,
and the transfers were not as good as
the later Voxes. Vox promised in early
1998 that they would reissue the rest
of the Horenstein in their vaults in
that year: the first four in a new series
of 11 CDs were issued in Japan in late
1999 and in the west in 2000 and everything
seemed to be on CD by the end of 2002.
BBC broadcast recordings have been bootlegged
from several sources. The Descant label
was a child of the Berkshire Record
Outlet; three Descant releases which
had the support of the Horenstein estate
were engineered by Jerry Bruck. The
owners of Intaglio had originally been
partners with Descant but pulled out
after the first release, published their
own material and soon got in trouble
for their over-ambitious marketing of
dozens of BBC broadcasts by many conductors.
Both Intaglio and Music & Arts cloned
the Descant CDs without acknowledging
the source or paying Jerry Bruck for
the time and work he put in on the tapes,
and he subsequently refused to work
any more on the Descant project, so
there were only three issues of the
six initially planned.
The BBC airchecks are listenable and
in some cases very good indeed; they
are nearly all from the same source
material. (Horenstein’s family and friends,
to say nothing of fans, seem to have
taped nearly every broadcast.) There
have been more Horenstein recordings
available on CD than during his lifetime;
no fewer than four different Mahler
Ninths, and four different editions
of the same Bruckner Fifth. Recordings
on the Carlton "BBC Radio Classics"
label were the first made with the cooperation
of the BBC and access to the original
broadcast tapes; in 1998 the BBC Legends
series finally appeared, in association
with IMG Artists, bringing excellent
20-bit remasterings.
Many of the CDs listed below are already
out of print, but they were all commercially
available at one time; there are still
more broadcasts in private circulation,
but they are not included here. (Now
that fans have their own CD burners,
and even practice audio restoration
at home, the words "in print" are taking
on new meaning.) Be sure to check out
VARIOUS below for miscellaneous goodies.
BACH: The Brandenburg Concerti
on 2-CD VoxBox Legends CDX2 5519. Recorded
for Vox in September 1954, this was
the nearest thing to an authentic 'Cöthen
sound' then attempted on record; the
ad hoc 22-piece studio band (with Wolfgang
Schneiderhan on solo violin and Nikolaus
Harnoncourt on first viola da gamba)
has been described variously as the
Wiener Ensemble or the Chamber Orchestra
of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The
original Vox LP edition was bound in
imitation leather with a copy of the
score and a facsimile of Bach's dedication.
BACH: for the Schoenberg arrangements,
see VARIOUS
BARBER: Violin Concerto with
Lola Bobesco: see VARIOUS.
BARTOK: Violin Concerto - See
GITLIS. Concerto for Orchestra: see
VARIOUS.
BEETHOVEN: Overtures - See VARIOUS
and just below.
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies - The Third
(twice), Fifth, Sixth and Ninth were
all recorded by Vox. The Beethoven Eroica
with the SW German Radio Orchestra of
Baden Baden (1957 stereo) was reissued
with the Haydn "Clock" symphony on Vox
Legends VOX 7807. The mono Beethoven
5th and 6th symphonies and five overtures
(Coriolan, Egmont, Creatures of Prometheus,
Leonore No. 3 and Consecration of the
House), made 1953-56 with the Vienna
Pro Musica, were in a 2-CD set VOX2-7808.
(The Sixth was said to have been recorded
in 1958, but this is unlikely.) Finally,
the mono 1953 Eroica with the Pro Musica,
a better peformance than the stereo
one, came out on VOX 7816 at the end
of 2002, completing the CD reissue of
Horenstein’s studio recordings for Vox.
Meanwhile, the Vox recording
of Beethoven's Ninth with the Vienna
Pro Musica had been digitalised at least
three times in the 20th century. Allegretto
II ACD 8052, a USA reissue from 1988,
was a transfer of the phony stereo LP
master, complete with the side-break
in the slow movement; the company subsequently
remastered it, eliminating the break
in the slow movement and perpetrating
a slightly less obnoxious phony stereo
(which seemed to consist mostly of echo)
but without changing the catalogue number
or the copy on the inlay card, which
still listed "3. Adagio...(beginning)
4. Adagio... (conclusion)..." Tuxedo
TUXCD 1083 (1991) was a good transfer
in honest mono. All were labeled 'Vienna
Symphony Orchestra'. Allegretto did
not even list the soloists (Wilma Lipp,
Elizabeth Hoengen, Julius Patzak, Otto
Weiner). A new issue on Vox Legends
was the best transfer yet (VOX 7809,
2001).
See also VARIOUS below for Beethoven
symphonies 2, 7 & 8 and another
9th, all from French radio.
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto, Schumann
Piano Concerto - Chesky CD52. From the
early '60s, with Erich Gruenberg/New
Philharmonia, Malcolm Frager/RPO respectively.
Chesky transfers are usually very good,
but this one has a warbly tone at the
beginning of the Schumann, perhaps a
deterioration of the master tape. The
Beethoven violin concerto was also available
on Chandos CHA6521, with the Prometheus
& Coriolan overtures by the Birmingham
SO under Walter Weller.
BEETHOVEN: The "Emperor" Piano
Concerto No. 5, with John Ogdon, on
BBC Legends BBCL 4142. The CD also includes
Ogdon playing Beethoven's 32 Variation
on an Original Theme in C minor, and
Schubert's Sonata No. 19 in C minor.
BEETHOVEN: Missa Solemnis, on
BBC Legends BBCL 4150. Recorded at Maida
Vale studios in 1961, with the BBC SO
and soloists Teresa Stich-Randall, Norma
Proctor, Richard Lewis and Kim Borg,
notes by Joel Lazar. This CD was described
by one fan as 'the most important BBC
Legends so far.' It is filled out with
Schubert's Unfinished Symphony (1972,
a live concert by the BBC Northern SO)
and the Wagner Faust Overture (1971,
BBC SO), making its third appearance
on CD.
BERLIOZ: Symphonie Fantastique
- Arkadia CDGI 744. Radio Symphonie
Orchester, Berlin, 1963; very acceptable
sound. Timings are longer than in the
1962 Charles Munch on RCA, for example,
and 'Un Bal' has the most hypnotizing
lilt. The fillers are overtures: Gluck's
Ifigenia in Aulide and Weber's Oberon,
with the Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo
di Napoli (1956-7); the sound of these
is poor. This CD was manufactured in
a factory in Italy that had the same
problem with chemicals as a factory
in England; the disc turned bronze around
the edges and began to suffer serious
distortion.
BRAHMS: First Symphony - the
Marshall Cavendish partwork 'The Great
Composers' part 39 (1996-7 edition)
includes the 1958 stereo Vox recording
with the SouthWest German Radio Orchestra
of Baden-Baden. This recording was finally
reissued on Vox 7801 in 1999 along with
the Variations on a Theme of Haydn,
of the same vintage. The 1962 recording
with the London Symphony Orchestra is
on Chesky CD19 with Wagner's Bacchanale
from Tannhauser, with the Royal Philharmonc
Orchestra & Beecham Choral Society.
For a third Brahms First recorded in
France see VARIOUS.
BRAHMS: Second Symphony - Unicorn
UKCD2036. Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra,
recorded live in 1972. For more from
this concert, see WEBERN, below. There
is also a version with the Czech Philharmonic
on Somm (SOMMCD037) from the 1966 Montreux
Festival, coupled with Strauss's Don
Juan.
BRAHMS: Third Symphony - Vox
7802 in 1958 stereo, with the SouthWest
German Radio Orchestra of Baden-Baden.
The CD also included Wagner's Prelude
from Die Meistersinger and Tannhauser
Overture with the Bamberg S.O. from
1954.
BRAHMS: Variations on a Theme
of Haydn - the 1958 Vox was reissued
with Horenstein's first recording of
Brahms' First Symphony (see above).
BRAHMS: Tragic Overture - see
VARIOUS
BRUCH: Scottish Fantasia Opus
46, with David Oistrakh, violin; Ossian
Ellis, harp; and the London Symphony
Orchestra. This gorgeous English Decca
LP from 1962 (London in the USA) had
Paul Hindemith conducting his own viola
concerto on the other side, and has
been reissued on CD by Classic Records:
the transfer is marvelous, and so it
should be. The audiophile CD costs $25.
It was also available in a Decca 2-CD
set of Oistrakh recordings, apparently
already out of print.
BRUCH: Violin Concerto - See
GITLIS
BRUCKNER: Third Symphony - a
BBC broadcast exists and was said to
have been announced from BBC Legends
but was not seen in the USA as of April
2003.
BRUCKNER: Fifth Symphony - Descant
03, Music & Arts CD-697, Intaglio
INCD 7541, Phoenix PX 703 1: BBCSO broadcast
of 1971. The Phoenix is from a different
source tape, said to have better sound.
The BBC Legends edition (BBCL 4033-2)
was finally remastered from the BBC's
tape in 2000 and sounded splendid.
BRUCKNER: Seventh Symphony -
Koch 3-7022-2 H1. Berlin Philharmonic,
1928: the first electric recording of
a Bruckner symphony. Good transfer.
BRUCKNER: Eighth Symphony - Vox
Box CDX2 5504. Pro Musica, Vienna (c.1955),
the 2-CD set including Liszt: Faust
Symphony (Ferdinand Koch, tenor), and
Wagner: A Faust Overture. The Faust
and the Wagner are in stereo (c.1958)
with the Southwest German Radio Orchestra.
The BBC tape from 1970 with the London
Symphony Orchestra, one of H's greatest
broadcasts, has been in a 2-CD Intaglio
INCD 7272 (including a Simpson rehearsal
session, see below), a 4-CD Music &
Arts CD-785 (see VARIOUS), and best
of all in a 20- to 24-bit transfer from
the BBC master tape on BBC Legends BBCL
4017-2 (with the BBC SO Ninth, see below).
BRUCKNER: Ninth Symphony - The
Vox mono with the Pro Musica has been
issued on Tuxedo TUXCD 1059 (labelled
'Vienna Symphony Orchestra'), and on
Vox CDX2 5508 with the Mahler First
(see below). The Vox transfer is much
superior. The BBC SO broadcast from
2 Dec. 1970 was on Intaglio INCD 7091
and Music & Arts CD-781, then on
BBC Legends in a new 20- to 24-bit transfer
from the BBC master tape (BBCL 4017-2,
with the Eighth symphony). Music &
Arts included the Wagner Faust Overture
from 1972.
DEBUSSY: La Mer - for a wonderful
performance made in France, see VARIOUS.
DVORAK: New World Symphony -
The 1952 Vox mono recording was reissued
on Vox Legends VOX 7805 (with Janacek's
Sinfonietta), labeled as by the Vienna
Symphony Orchestra. (The original issue
had the band described as the "Vienna
State Philharmonia".) The Reader's Digest
recording with the Royal Philharmonic
orchestra from 1962 was digitalised
on Chesky CD31; the CD also includes
Wagner: Flying Dutchman Overture, Siegfried
Idyll.
FRANCK: Symphonic Variations,
with Robert Casadesus and the French
National Radio Orchestra. See SAINT-SAENS.
GITLIS, Ivry: Vox Box CDX2 5505
('The Art Of Ivry Gitlis')
Collects the violinist's mono Vox recordings
on 2 CDs: the Bartok, Bruch and Sibelius
concerti conducted by Horenstein, the
Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky with Hans
Swarovsky and Heinrich Hollreiser respectively
(all with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra)
and the Bartok Sonata for Solo Violin.
Each CD is nearly 80 minutes long.
GLUCK: see BERLIOZ and VARIOUS.
HAYDN Symphonies: For no. 100
'Military' and no. 94 'Surprise' see
VARIOUS. Also, of the two Haydn symphonies
in early stereo made for Vox, no. 101
'Clock' and no. 104 'London', the former
was issued in the UK with a Marshall
Cavendish part-work: part 30 of 'The
Great Composers' had a CD numbered CCD
30 in 1991 (also available on cassette);
the other symphony on the disc was No
94 'Surprise', by Leopold Ludwig and
the North German Radio Orchestra. The
series is available in other countries;
various editions of the CD label also
carried the legends 'Grosse Komponisten',
'Im Herzen der Klassik', 'Les Grands
Compositeurs', 'Au Coeur du Classique',
'Los Genios de la Musica Clasica'. When
the partwork was relaunched in 1996
the Haydn symphony number changed to
part 15.
Finally, the two Vox stereo Haydn symphonies
were reissued on Vox Legends 2-CD sets:
see Beethoven's Eroica (above) and Haydn's
Creation (below). The 'Clock' on the
Marshall Cavendish CD mentioned above
and the 'London' on the Vox reissue
with the Creation were labeled as by
the Vienna Symphony Orchestra; the original
Vox issue described the band as the
Vienna Pro Musica. See also VARIOUS
below for a French radio recording of
the Symphony No. 100.
HAYDN: The Creation, Vox early
stereo c.1958 with Julius Patzak, Vienna
Volksoper Orchestra etc. has been on
CD twice: with Mozart's Coronation Mass
on Turnabout 30371 00087, a 2-CD set
from Carlton Classics in England, and
later with the 'London' symphony on
Vox Legends VOX2 7806.
HINDEMITH: Symphony 'Mathis der
Maler' - Chandos CHAN 8533, London Symphony
Orchetra, 1972. The CD also includes
Strauss: Death & Transfiguration;
both were Unicorn recordings on vinyl.
JANACEK: Taras Bulba: Rhapsody
for Orchestra with the Vienna Pro Musica,
recorded for Vox in 1955, was reissued
on Vox Legends VOX 7803 with Shostakovich's
Fifth Symphony. The Sinfonietta, recorded
the same year, was reissued with the
Dvorak New World Symphony on VOX 7805
(labeled as by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra).
For another Sinfonietta, see VARIOUS.
LISZT: Faust Symphony - For the
1958 Vox recording, see the Vox Bruckner
Eighth Symphony, above. The BBC Northern
Symphony and Singers broadcast recording
from 1972 with tenor John Mitchinson,
was on Intaglio INCD 7141 and Music
& Arts CD-744; it was finally issued
on BBC Legends BBCL 4118-2 in 2003 and
the sound was expected to be much improved
over the aircheck.
MAHLER: Kindertotenlieder -
With Marian Anderson (1956): Music &
Arts has issued this twice; see Mahler:
Ninth Symphony and VARIOUS; see also
Mahler Eighth Symphony, below. With
Heinrich Rehkemper (1928) on Pearl GEMM
CDS 9929: a 2-CD set with the first
complete recording of a Mahler symphony
(no. 2, cond. by Oscar Fried, 1923,
surprisingly good acoustic sound) and
two songs (Mme. Charles Cahier, 1930).
With Norman Foster on Vox: see Mahler:
Ninth Symphony. With Janet Baker and
the Scottish National Orchestra: see
Mahler: Ninth Symphony.
MAHLER: Lieder Eines Fahrenden
Gesellen - with Norman Foster on Vox:
see VARIOUS.
MAHLER: First Symphony - The
Vox mono circa 1953, with the Vienna
Pro Musica, has been issued on Tuxedo
TUXCD 1048 and (it is said) Preludio
PHC 3143 (both labelled 1958 and Vienna
Symphony Orchestra), and on VoxBox CDX2
5508 with Bruckner's Ninth (see above).
The Vox transfer is better. The 1969
recording with the London Symphony Orchestra
was on Unicorn UKCD2012.
MAHLER: Third Symphony - Unicorn
UKCD2006/7 from 1970 with the London
Symphony Orchestra, the Ambrosian Singers,
the Wandsworth School Boys' Choir and
Norman Procter.
MAHLER: Fourth Symphony - LPO/Price,
1970. The first vinyl release on Classics
for Pleasure in England was also on
Monitor in the USA; the recording was
remastered by Simon Foster in 1982.
CfP said it was the worst seller they
ever had (though Foster and Yakov Horenstein
say that cannot be true); it was leased
by EMI to a tiny private label: Chief
CD 2 was the best transfer yet, made
by EMI at Abbey Road, though it had
some hiss on it. Since then there were
also a Seraphim CD in Japan (TOCE-8906),
an EMI Classics in France (2 53841 2)
and an EMI La Voce del Padrone in Italy
(081 7243 4 7999123). It was finally
reissued on CfP in 2001 (7243 5 74882
2 8).
MAHLER: Sixth Symphony - Unicorn
UKCD2024/25 and Music & Arts CD-785
(see VARIOUS) by the Stockholm Philharmonic,
recorded live in 1966.
MAHLER: Seventh Symphony - a
1969 BBC broadcast with the New Philharmonia,
on Descant 02, Intaglio INCD 7531, Music
& Arts CD-727 and BBC Legends BBCL
4051-2. The master tape is lost and
the BBC used an aircheck to issue the
recording, so it doesn't sound much
better than any of the others; some
say the Music & Arts sounded the
best. Jerry Bruck had provided the BBC
with his own audio restoration but they
unaccountably didn't use it.
MAHLER: Eighth Symphony. This
historic performance broadcast by the
BBC from the Albert Hall, with Janet
Baker, Helen Watts, several choruses
etc. and theLondon Symphony Orchestra,
electrified London in 1959 and is thought
to be the beginning of the subsequent
revival of Mahler's music. A 2-CD set
on Arlecchino ARLA 54/55 ('The Art Of
Jascha Horenstein Vol. 2') included
the 1956 Mahler Kindertotenleider; the
transfer of the Eighth was a dub from
the BBC's vinyl and the sound was very
poor. The performance was broadcast
in the UK by Radio 3 in February 1997
and the sound was very good for for
a live stereo broadcast of this vintage;
in 1999 the recording was finally issued
in an excellent new 20- to 24-bit transfer
in the BBC Legends series (BBCL 4001-7)
revealing an incredibly good recording
for the era. The set also includes the
longest version yet issued of the interview
with Alan Blyth, over 19 minutes long.
MAHLER: Ninth Symphony - There
are four extant Horenstein recordings.
The legendary mono with the Vienna S.O.
from c.1952 is on Vox CDX2 5509 with
Kindertotenleider by the Bamberg S.O.
with Norman Foster c.1955. (There was
room for the Lieder Eines Fahrenden
Gesellen with Foster as well (it's less
than 16 minutes long) but Vox put it
on another set; see VARIOUS). The 1966
BBC broadcast recording with the London
Symphony Orchestra was on Music &
Arts CD-235 again paired with a Kindertotenlieder,
this one the French National Radio Orchestra
with Marian Anderson from 1956 (this
appears to be the same performance as
on the Paris concert with the 'Orchestre
National de France'; see VARIOUS). The
BBC recording is now on BBC Legends
(BBCL (4075-2) with yet another Kindertotenleider,
this time with Janet Baker and the Scottish
National Orchestra from 1967: the only
known recording was an aircheck in mono;
Jerry Bruck did the best he could to
restore it. A 1967 recording with the
Orchestre National de France was on
Disques Montaigne (TCE 8862) coupled
with Strauss's Don Quixote with cellist
Janos Starker. A 1969 recording with
the American Symphony Orchestra was
on Music & Arts CD-785 (a 4-CD set;
see VARIOUS).
MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde
- Descant 01, Intaglio INCD 7501 and
Music & Arts CD-728 were bootleg
issues of an aircheck, the BBC Northern
Symphony Orchestra with Alfreda Hodgson
and John Mitchinson at Manchester, 1972.
Descant includes a short interview with
Horenstein. The BBC Legends edition
in 1999 (BBCL 4042-2) was a proper reissue
of the original BBC tape and sounded
wonderful, with notes by Horenstein's
assistant Joel Lazar; it also included
the interview. It is one of Horenstein's
finest achievements.
MARTINU: Duo Concertant for two
violins and orchestra, with Peter Rybar
and Kurt Conzelmann, violins, and the
Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich was recorded
live in 1960, issued on Telos TLS 023
in The Peter Rybar Edition Vol. II.
The CD also includes the 6th string
quartet played by the Winterthurer String
Quartet and the Cancerto da Camera for
violin, piano, percussion and strings,
by Rybar, Marcelle Rybar on piano and
the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande,
cond. by Urs Voegelin. The Horenstein
item has the worst sound on the disc,
but it's listenable, and the performance
is white hot.
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 -
see VARIOUS
MOZART: Symphonies - see below.
MOZART: Requiem - Preludio PHC
3141. The Vox recording, labelled 'Vienna
Symphony Orchestra' 1973 but made c.1952,
with Wilma Lipp, Murray Dickie, Elisabeth
Hoengen, Ludwig Weber. The transfer
has some distortion from the master
tape but is quite listenable. A new
issue on VOX 7811 in 2001 was even better.
MOZART: The Coronation Mass K317,
Vox early stereo from 1957 with Wilma
Lipp, Christa Ludwig, Vienna Pro Music
Orchestra etc was issued on a 2-CD set
with Haydn's Creation on Turnabout 30371
00087 from Carlton Classics in England.
Vesperae solemnes de confessore K. 339
made the same year was on Turnabout
30371 00522 in the UK, combined with
Haydn's Paukenmesse conducted by Hans
Gillsberger; and the Kaudate Dominum
section of the Vesperae was used as
a filler on 1PSR90053 (whatever that
is) which contains the Mass K427 conducted
by Grossman. Finally, The Coronation
Mass, the Vesperae and and symphonies
no. 38 'Prague', 39 & 41 'Jupiter'
made in mono in 1955, were all in 2-CD
VoxBox Legends CDX2 5524. All were originally
Vienna Pro Musica Orchestra, correctly
described on a Turnabout disc above
perhaps because it used the original
cover art, but on this new VoxBox described
as Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
MOZART overtures: see VARIOUS
NIELSEN: Third & Sixth Symphonies
- Intaglio INCD 7381. 1970, with BBC
Northern SO and Manchester Hallé
respectively. The Third has Alexandra
Browning (soprano) & Colin Wheatley
(baritone); the Sixth was also on Music
& Arts CD-784 (see VARIOUS)
NIELSEN: Fifth Symphony - BBC
Radio Classics 15656 91492. New Philharmonia,
1971. (With Sym. No. 2 and Symphonic
Rhapsody in F by the BBC Welsh SO cond.
by Bryden Thomson, 1981) In a new series
from Carlton Classics ('A division of
Carlton Home Entertainment Limited')
leased from the BBC, this was the first
example we had of a Horenstein broadcast
recording transferred from the source
material. It sounds good, a recording
made for broadcast rather than a broadcast
of a live performance, so there's no
applause; some say it's a better performance
than the Unicorn (below).
NIELSEN: Fifth Symphony, Saga
Drøm - Unicorn UKCD2023. New
Philharmonia, 1969 (the studio recording).
NIELSEN: Saul & David - Unicorn
DKP(CD)9086/87. Danish Radio Symphony
Orchestra, John Alldis Choir, Boris
Christoff, Elisabeth Soderstrom etc.
1972. In English. Some rerecording was
done after Horenstein’s death by his
assistant Joel Lazar.
PANUFNIK: Tragic and Heroic overtures,
Nocturne, Autumn Music - Unicorn UKCD2016,
London Symphony Orchestra, 1970. Also
Sinfonia Rustica conducted by the composer
with the Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra.
PROKOFIEV: First and Fifth symphonies
with the Concerts Colonne Orchestra,
ballet suite Chout and Lt Kije Suite
with the Paris Philharmonia, all recorded
for Vox in mono, were finally reissued
in a 2-CD set Vox Legends VOX2 7810
in October 2001. The transfers of the
symphonies were disappointing, that
of the Fifth apparently a dub from vinyl,
complete with what may be a jumping
stylus in the last movement. Another
Fifth symphony, from a live concert
in Paris in 1956, has been on Music
& Arts twice; see VARIOUS.
RACHMANINOFF: The four piano
concerti and Rhapsody on a Theme of
Paganini with Earl Wild and the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra (1965) are on
the 2-CD set Chandos CHAN 8521/2. Chandos
CHAN 6507 is a single CD combining the
Second and Third concerti, as in the
set. On Chesky these recordings have
been spread onto three discs with additions:
Chesky CD2 has the Second Piano Concerto
and the 20-minute tone poem Isle of
the Dead, by Horenstein and the RPO
and not otherwise available at this
writing, plus Wild piano solos (Schubert-Tausig
March Militaire & Weber-Tausig Invitation
to the Dance). Chesky CD41 combines
the First and Fourth concerti and the
Rhapsody, and CD76 the Third concerto
with Wild's recording of MacDowell's
Second Piano Concerto (Massimo Freccia
conducting).
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G Major,
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand - Vox
CDX2 5507, with Vlado Perlemuter, piano,
and the Concerts Colonne Orchestra,
Paris. The 2-CD set includes Perlemuter
in Ravel's music for piano solo. For
another Ravel G Major concerto with
Monique Haas as well as a Boléro,
see VARIOUS.
ROUSSELL: Le Festinde l'arainee
- see VARIOUS.
SAINT-SAËNS: Piano Concerto
No. 4 with Robert Casadesus and the
French National Radio Orchestra, on
Music & Arts CD 1133. The CD also
contains the Franck Symphonic Variations
from the same broadcast (from Montreux,
1961), as well as Ravel’s Piano Concerto
for the Left Hand, Casadesus accompanied
by the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra
and Eduard Van Beinum (1946).
SCHOENBERG: The version for string
orchestra of Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured
Night) and the Kammersymphonie Op. 9
(Chamber Symphony No. 1) were recorded
for Vox in early stereo with the Sudwestfünk
Baden-Baden orchestra (see VARIOUS below
for the Vox 2-CD reissue). The Chamber
Symphony was also recorded with the
BBC Northern S.O. in 1970, pirated on
Intaglio INCD 7331 (also with the Sibelius
Fifth, below). Yet another recording
of the Chamber Symphony was made in
Denmark in 1972, but this had not been
issued on CD as of late 2001, despite
the Arlecchino pirate (see WEBERN below
for that story). See VARIOUS
for 1929 recordings of Schoenberg's
arrrrangements of Bach.
SCHUBERT: Sym. No. 8 'Unfinished',
recorded live in 1971 by the BBC SO,
on BBC Legends BBCL 4150, filling out
a CD with Beethoven's Missa Solmnis
(see above) and Wagner's Faust
Overture.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Cello concerto
- Cascavelle VEL 2009. Orchestre de
la Suisse Romande with Pierre Fournier,
1962. The CD also includes the Schumann
concerto (with Fricsay '57) and the
Martinu (with Sawallisch '78) with the
same orchestra and soloist.
SHOSTAKOVICH: First Symphony,
recorded in the Albert Hall in Nottingham
in 1970 with the Royal Philharmonic,
was issued on Carlton's BBC Radio Classics
in the UK in 1996. Also on the CD was
Leopold Stokowski and the London Symphony
Orchestra in Shostakovich's 5th, from
a 1964 Prom.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Fifth Symphony,
recorded in 1952 with the Vienna Pro
Musica, is regarded as one of Horenstein's
all-time greatest recordings; its reissue
in 1999 on Vox 7803 (with Janacek's
Taras Bulba: Rhapsody for Orchestra)
was an occasion for rejoicing.
SCHUBERT: see VARIOUS
SCHUMANN: piano concerto - see
BEETHOVEN violin concerto
SIBELIUS: Second Symphony - see
VARIOUS. Fifth Symphony - Intaglio INCD
7331. BBC Northern SO, 1970 (with Schoenberg:
Chamber Symphony). Violin Concerto
- See GITLIS
SIMPSON: Third Symphony - Unicorn
UKCD2028, London Symphony Orchestra,
1962. Horenstein championed British
composer Robert Simpson (1921-97); tapes
exist of Horenstein broadcasts of the
First, Second and Third symphonies.
This CD is filled with Simpson's Clarinet
Quintet.
SIMPSON: Third Symphony rehearsal
session - Intaglio INCD 7272. 37 minutes
from 1966 (for broadcast with the Royal
Philharmonic, not the Unicorn studio
recording) filling up the LSO Bruckner
Eighth, above.
STRAUSS, Johann Jr: waltzes etc
- Chesky CD70; Volume II: The Return
of Horenstein Chesky CD95. Vienna
State Opera Orchestra (1962). A few
of the Strauss pieces were included
on a Zanicorn CD called "Music for Cats".
STRAUSS, Richard: Death &
Transfiguration - see HINDEMITH. Don
Quixote with Janos Starker - see MAHLER
Ninth Symphony on Disques Montaigne.
For the three Strauss tone poems on
Vox see VARIOUS. For another Don Juan
with the Czech Philharmonic see BRAHMS
Second Symphony. For another Death &
Transfiguration and a Metamorphosen
see VARIOUS.
STRAVINSKY: Firebird Suite (version
1919) - Pilz CD 325. SWF Orchestra,
the Vox stereo recording c.1957 in a
decent transfer. (With Le Sacre du Printemps
said to be by the Philharmonica Slavonica
conducted by Hanspeter Gmür; it
was a pity the Le Sacre was not also
Horenstein's.) This very cheap CD from
Kranzberg Germany carried no annotation
and is labeled DDD. In Spring 1996 it
was said that Pilz had gone bankrupt.
The same material may have been available
from Tring in England, but they won't
say. Gmür's Sacre is in stereo;
Horenstein's mono Sacre and stereo Firebird
Suite were reissued together on Vox
7804 in 1999. For another Firebird and
a Symphony In 3 Movements, see VARIOUS.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 -
Chesky CD94. New Philharmonia Orchestra,
c.1962; combined with the Swan Lake
ballet suite, with Sir Adrian Boult
and the New Symphony Orchestra of London
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6 -
Royal Classics ROY 6458, London Symphony
Orchestra c.1967; combined with the
Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture
and the Sleeping Beauty Waltz, by Sir
Malcolm Sargent and the Royal Philharmonic.
Royal Classics is a budget series of
EMI reissues made in Holland for the
Music Discount Centre chain of London
record shops in 1995. The booklet note
on this number recycles the silly story
of the 'secret' court condemning Tchaikovsky
to suicide because of a homosexual scandal.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto
– a 1957 broadcast made in Paris with
soloist Erica Morini and the National
Radio Orchestra was issued on Music
& Arts CD 1116 in 2003; the filler
was the Brahms concerto broadcast by
Morini with George Szell and the Philharmonic-Symphony
Orchestra in Carnegie Hall in 1952.
VARIOUS: Koch 3-7054-2-H1. With
the Berlin Philharmonic in 1929: Mozart
overtures Marriage of Figaro and La
Clemenza di Tito; Schoenberg transcriptions
of two Bach chorale preludes; Haydn's
'Surprise' Symphony and Schubert's Fifth.
Good transfers. The Bach/Schoenberg
will be turgid to some tastes; the rest
is delightful.
VARIOUS: Vox CDX2 5529 includes
the following Vox recordings: Strauss:
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Don
Juan, Death and Transfiguration; Wagner:
Lohengrin Prelude to Act 1, Tristan
und Isolde (Prelude & Liebestod);
Mahler: Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen
(with Norman Foster), all made 1954
with the Bamberg Symphony; and Schoenberg:
Transfigured Night and Chamber Symphony
Op. 9, made 1956 with the Southwest
German Radio S.O., Baden-Baden. This
recording of Till Eulenspiegel was also
included in Marshall Cavendish's 'The
Great Composers' part 46 (1997 edition)
in honest mono, the transfer different
from the VoxBox CD, lighter but cleaner
(also on the MC CD: Also Sprach Zarathustra
by the St Louis S.O. with Walter Susskind,
and Don Juan by the Cincinnati S.O.
with Thomas Schippers, both in stereo).
The Vox recordings of the Prelude from
Die Meistersinger and the Tannhauser
Overture were reissued with Brahms'
Third Symphony (see above).
VARIOUS: Music & Arts CD-784
The Complete Paris Concert of 22
November 1956 with the Orchestre
National de France included Haydn's
Military Symphony (no. 100), Mahler's
Kindertotenlieder (with Marian Anderson,
also on Music & Arts CD-235, with
Mahler's Ninth), Gluck's Alceste Aria
'Divinités du Styx' and Prokofiev's
Fifth Symphony. The two-CD set begins
with Beethoven's Egmont Overture (1969,
with the American Symphony Orchestra)
and ends with Nielsen's Sixth Symphony
(1970 with the Hallé, also on
Intaglio). This set was going out of
print in mid-2004, replaced by the following
9-CD set of French radio recordings:
VARIOUS: Music & Arts CD-1146(9)
Jascha Horenstein: Broadcast Performances
From Paris, 1952:1966, all with
the National Radio Orchestra. CD 1:
Ravel: Piano Concerto (Monique Haas),
11 Feb. 1952. Beethoven: Symphony No.
7, 1 June 1966. Roussel: Le Festin de
l'araignee, Op. 17, 1 June 1966. CD
2: Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra,
19 Dec. 1961. Beethoven: Symphony No.
8, 11 Feb. 1952. CD 3: Sibelius: Symphony
No. 2, 19 Nov. 1956. Stravinsky: Firebird
Suite, 3 Apr. 1964. CD 4: Debussy: La
Mer, 1 June 1966. Stravinsky: Symphony
in 3 Movements,19 Dec. 1961. Strauss:
Tod u. Verklärung, 26 Sept. 1961.
CD 5: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Pilar
Lorengar, Marga Hoeffgen, Josef Traxel,
Otto Wiener) 31 Oct. 1963. Mozart: Don
Giovanni Overture, 11 Feb. 1952. CD
6: Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, 26 Sept.
1961. Brahms: Symphony No. 1, 12 or
19 Dec. 1957. CD 7: Beethoven: Symphony
No. 1, 31 Oct. 1963. Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
(Marian Anderson), 22 Nov. 1956. Strauss:
Metamorphosen, 3 Apr. 1964. CD 8: Beethoven:
Egmont Overture, 27 May 1954. Ravel:
Bolero, 1 July 1966. Janacek: Sinfonietta,
11 Feb. 1952. Haydn: Symphony No. 100
in G, 22 Nov. 1956. CD 9: Brahms: Tragic
Overture, 19 Nov. 1956. Samuel Barber:
Violin Concerto (Lola Bobesco), 13 Nov.
1950 Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5, Op.
100 22 Nov. 1956. Sound restoration:
Maggi Payne (2004). Notes: Joel Lazar.
Photographs courtesy of Peter Horenstein.
VARIOUS: Music & Arts CD-785
was a four-CD set including the Bruckner
Eighth (London 1970), Mahler Sixth (Stockholm
1966) and Mahler Ninth (1969, American
Symphony Orchestra).
WAGNER: All of the Wagner recorded
for RCA/Readers Digest in the '60s has
been reissued on Chesky; see BRAHMS
First Symphony and DVORAK New World
Symphony. The 1958 Faust Overture on
Vox was reissued with the Bruckner Eighth,
above. For more Wagner recorded for
Vox see VARIOUS. The Faust Overture
broadcast with the BBC Northern Symphony
Orchestra in 1972 was on Intaglio INCD
7231 with Walton's First Symphony, on
Music & Arts CD-781 with Bruckner's
Ninth and on BBC Legends BBCL 4150 wirh
Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Schubert's
Unfinished Symphony..
WALTON: First Symphony - Intaglio
INCD 7231, Royal Philharmonc Orchestra,
1971. With Wagner: Faust Overture, above.
WEBER overture: see BERLIOZ.
WEBERN: Arlecchino ARLA 34 ('The
Art Of Jascha Horenstein Volume 1')
contained Webern's Five Orchestral Pieces
Opus 10 and Schoenberg's Transfigured
Night and the Chamber Symphony No. 1,
all described as a broadcast from April
1964 with the Sudwestfünk Baden-Baden;
in fact Arlecchino had pirated the Webern
performance with the Danish Radio Symphony
Orchestra, from the same 1972 trip that
resulted in the Brahms Second, the Nielsen
opera Saul and David and Schoenberg's
Chamber Symphony No. 1 (a performance
not yet on CD: Arlecchino took their
Schoenberg from the Vox studio recordings.
Our thanks to Chuck Nessa for sorting
all this out.)
compiled by Donald Clarke
doneth@earthlink.net
This updates the 2003
Discography
