The
contents of this three CD set are very similar to that
of Melodram 4.0040 which contained five symphonies, the
Fourth Concerto and two overtures – Coriolan and Leonore
No.3. The concerto performance is the same – Backhaus,
Vienna, 1954 - as is the Bremen Second Symphony. The Eroica
however is not the Munich 1955 performance but a 1951 Bremen
and the Fifth is not the 1962 Hessian Radio but a 1956
Berlin Philharmonic. So there are overlaps but also some
important differences.
What
remains true is that these performances have been about
before. They offer few if any surprises to Kna watchers.
In fact they offer confirmation that, except when in collaboration,
Knappertsbusch’s Beethoven had by this stage become a powerhouse
of old school practices; old editions, old mannerisms,
slow tempi, massive perorations. Personally I can take
a lot of it – I can certainly take the Allegretto of the
Seventh in his hands – much as one of my guiltier pleasures
is Kna’s 1957 Brahms 4 in Cologne, parts of the slow movement
of which ooze like slow moving lava. Can’t beat it.
Still,
for many people his Beethoven is a lost cause. The Eroica
opens with massive separated chords, rugged and powerful,
if not textually to the letter. His Bremen forces, not
the world’s finest, offer rather woolly support instrumentally
but Kna’s conception remains, of its kind, impressive and
the funeral march generates profound power. The Second
Symphony is compromised by the Bremen band’s playing, ensemble
discipline and tuning of which are not good. Still, that
gaunt opening Adagio is impressive – the primal sense Kna
evokes is always there – and there’s a really forthright
if blustery scherzo. The Munich orchestra is a step up
from Bremen though Kna seems to have imbued it with some
of his own rather shaggy monumentality for the Seventh.
I doubt even the most generous of souls could say that
his finale is an allegro con brio; in fact there’s
a case to be made that it’s not even an allegro at all.
Still, it’s of a piece and judged in tempo-relation terms
it exhibits a certain consistency.
The
Fifth isn’t as marmoreal as it was later to become but
it’s still heavy going – in fact it elicits very tepid
applause at the end. The Berlin horns are rather blustery
and things are heavily underlined. The highly emphatic
performance has some passingly lovely things – try the
string curve at 4.40 in the slow movement – but this is
in truth a dumpling of a performance. The Piano Concerto
with frequent collaborator Backhaus is good. The sonics
are muffly and unhelpful, unfortunately, which mitigates
pleasure but through them one can still hear the soloist’s
fluent and thoughtful performance, the more so as she’s
somewhat over–recorded. The first movement cadenza really
blazes and the slow movement is expressive. This is a worthwhile
addition to the Kna-Backhaus discography, though admirers
will already have it on their shelves. The Eighth is consistent
with the other symphonies in both sonority and tempo and
don’t be taken in by the Ninth – this is a four minute
snippet only.
Rather
like many another Andromeda I’ve sampled this one adds
nothing to the domain but might prove a cheap and cheerful
purchase for the non-specialist. As usual there are no
notes and the sound doesn’t seem to have been subjected
to any serious quality improvement despite the box’s claim.
Jonathan
Woolf
Erna Berger (soprano) and
Torsten Ralf (tenor) with unknown contralto and bass/Bruno Kittel Choir/Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra
1943 – Symphony No.9
