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alternatively
Crotchet
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Gerhard Taschner
- 1944-56 Recordings
Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957)
Violin Concerto Op. 47 (1903 rev. 1905) [30:22]
Max BRUCH (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor, Op.26 (1864-68) [23:45]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797
-1828)
Sonatina for Piano and Violin in D, D384 Op. Posth. 137 No.1 [12:46]
Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Caprices Op.1 – No.24 [6:40]
Gerhard Taschner (violin)
Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra/Herbert Sandberg – Sibelius, rec. 1956
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Hermann Abendroth - Bruch,
rec. 16 December 1944
Hans Altmann (piano) – Schubert and Paganini, rec. Munich
1954
ARCHIPEL
ARPCD0232 [73:19]
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If
not a month seems to go by without a new Julia Fischer release
then the same can be said of historical re-releases by her
fellow countryman Gerhard Taschner. Things seem actually
to have heated up in this respect and this is the latest
in a mini-avalanche of diverse material from the 1940s and
1950s to have entered the public domain. Some of course has
been recycled. The Abendroth Bruch has already appeared on
Archiphon where it was coupled with the Khachaturian Concerto
with Rother (1947) and the wartime inscription of Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with
Michael Raucheisen. This Sibelius, however, has been less
widely issued and I’ve not heard it before its appearance
in this Archipel release.
The
white-heat Gold Standard for German violinists in this work
was set by Kulenkampff, whose live broadcast with Furtwängler
has been widely re-issued. That was a performance of searing
intensity. Over a decade later Taschner turned to it – he
shared something of the Hanseatic Kulenkampff’s predilection
for the Slavic. But Taschner’s Sibelius couldn’t be more
different from that of his august predecessor. It’s lightly
bowed and curiously undemonstrative despite the quick slides.
He reserves tensile power and instead adopts a broadly aristocratic,
rather aloof profile. The first movement cadential passages
are rather unconvincingly phrased and the orchestra meanwhile
sounds rather prosaic and uncommitted. Taschner brings some
fanciful moments to the finale but as a whole this is a rather
lightweight reading.
The
Bruch was a concerto staple for him. A later Müller-Kray
broadcast has also survived and can now be found on MDG (see
review). Abendroth’s reading however is broader and more
gravely sculpted, though not entirely uncontaminated by tape
problems.
There’s
residual tape noise at points and a strange sense that once
or twice the solo line has been spliced in – though clearly
it hasn’t. Abendroth is his tumultuous, broodingly romantic
self but as ever I find Taschner ill-equipped tonally to
do justice to works of this kind.
His
Schubert is a pleasant discovery, neatly and attractively
played. His adroit sense of rhythm comes in handy here and
his partnership with Hans Altmann is also preserved in the
shape of the Paganini Caprice – that one – with its
anachronistic piano accompaniment.
Despite
the fact that he’s never really convinced me as a soloist
I’m sure Taschner’s admirers, of whom there are many, will
enjoy this romantic collection.
Jonathan Woolf
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