It was a surprise to
read that Toscanini performed the German
Requiem so infrequently. This NBC inscription
was fortunately preserved because this
is apparently the only time he performed
it with the orchestra – there were a
smattering of performances with the
Philharmonic-Symphony in New York, Vienna
Philharmonic and BBC Symphony. It also
represents the only known example of
Toscanini’s way with the work on disc
– he left no commercial recording of
it. The concert was part of a Brahms
cycle given in 1943 and has been released
twice before on CD, to my knowledge
– by Memories and by Naxos.
Firstly Guild has utilised
copies from Toscanini’s own collection,
which he gave to a favoured engineer,
Richard Gardner. They differ from the
Naxos and Memories sources – notably
in the case of Memories’ release, which
was afflicted with stereo reverb. Naxos’
release was rather muffled and scratchy.
So this is now the best sounding transfer
on the market and will be of especial
interest to admirers of the conductor’s
(I think only Americans call Toscanini
the Maestro) way with Brahms.
It’s sung in English;
perhaps the sentiment was against German
language performance but it will certainly
weigh in one’s mind. The opening movement
is curiously soft grained but Behold,
all flesh is as the grass (as I
suppose one should put it) whilst beginning
quite emphatically is full of powerful
direction and clarity – sectional discipline
is tight – even though I must say I
find some of the direction wilful and
the occasional elasticities unnatural
sounding. The Westminster Choir – an
off/on body that could be splendid on
its day – was on very variable form
on that January evening, with the tenors
going awry in How lovely are thy
dwellings and entries not quite
together elsewhere, however sonorously
they sing. The NBC strings shine in
And ye now therefore have sorrow
as does the principal clarinet. Janssen
impresses, not least because he has
to sing in English, even if Della Chiesa
is not his equal.
Some of the printed
text is at variance from what is sung
(try Janssen’s singing of Lord, teach
me and the choral For here we
have no continuing city)– which
makes me wonder which translation was
being used. Otherwise Guild preserve
the announcements – they’re always keen
to do this – and the presentation is
fine; sound, as I said, a real improvement.
Performance – for me, uneven.
Jonathan Woolf
Westminster Choir 