This is the second release in Hänssler’s Schuricht collection.
The first [93.140] contained a feast of 20 CDs and a single DVD and
covered the years 1950 to 1966. The archive bounty continues with this
latest box set which consists of a more manageable 10 CDs of which the
last contains examples of the conductor in rehearsal.
Most of the pieces performed were central to Schuricht’s - or
indeed many conductors’ - repertoire, given that there are symphonies
by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. The rarities here are few;
Günter Raphael’s
Sinfonia breve has already been released
elsewhere - indeed I’ve reviewed it - which only really leaves
Robert Oboussier’s Violin Concerto, of which more below.
There’s no question that if you admire Schuricht then you will
be intrigued to hear those performances that stand as an appendix to
his Parisian cycle of the Beethoven symphonies - albeit in this set
we hear only Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. These traversals with the orchestra
he conducted so often at the time, that of Stuttgart Radio, come from
a span of just under a decade. No.1 was taped in 1961, the
Eroica
in 1952, No.4 in 1959, No.5 in 1953 and the
Pastoral in 1957.
The location was usually either the Villa Berg or the Liederhalle -
though in the case of the
Eroica they were taped in Waldheim
Degerloch. As ever his Beethoven contains no extraneous incident, and
as the
Eroica demonstrates no overly rhetorical gestures, just
a serious-minded, well-proportioned and well-characterised performance.
In the case of the Fifth - stirring, powerful - his intensity in the
slow movement is greater than the Paris reading. His
Pastoral
is warm, and flexible, but disciplined. It’s a bit of a shame
about the horn cracks, but maybe they were tiring. Inevitably some executant
misfortunes are apparent in the course of these many hours of live performances.
His Brahms is represented by three symphonies. No.1 is measured in its
tread but has a compelling
Allegretto. No.3 has real structural
integrity, not least in the compellingly argued finale, whilst in No.4
Schuricht, as in the First, again holds back tension at the start. As
usual he’s holding things in reserve but despite the appealing
slow movement doubters may not be wholly convinced and may well prefer
the commercial discography in the case of the Fourth.
Other attractive symphonic statements include a stylish Schubert Fifth
Symphony and an excellent Schumann 3 to stand beside his Decca studio
recording. This live Stuttgart version is buoyant and idiomatic.
There’s a characterful Strauss
Sinfonia domestica from
1960, and in Brahms’s
Alto Rhapsody he’s joined by
the first class Lucretia West; Schuricht’s Brahms is completed
by a competent traversal of the
Tragic Overture. CD 7 has a mélange
of things, as Weber overtures preface Wolf’s bucolic
Italian
Serenade. This in turn prefaces Tchaikovsky’s glowering
Hamlet,
in which brooding intensity is strongly to the fore. Boris Blacher’s
Concertante Music for Orchestra is far more enjoyable and colourful
than the somewhat po-faced title would suggest.
La Mer is not
propulsive - somewhat the contrary in fact - though it is a little scrappily
played. Raphael’s
Sinfonia breve is worth a listen and
the transfer doesn’t differ markedly from the one I reviewed elsewhere.
The soloist in Robert Oboussier’s Violin Concerto is Roman Schimmer.
The music seems to want to be neo-classical, but decides to end grandiloquently.
Schimmer plays this rather personality-lacking music well. It’s
good to hear Liszt’s expansive
Ce qu’on entend sur la
montagne in so convincing a performance as this, which is full of
excitement and drama. Similarly he has just the right ‘tone’
for Reger’s
Variations and Fugue on a theme by Johann Adam
Hiller and on the basis of this performance I’d put him on
a par with Joseph Keilberth. The last disc, which is in stereo, is the
rehearsal one; Brahms’ Second Symphony, and
Parsifal. Schuricht
is a patient but thoughtful guide throughout, his rehearsal methods
proving reflective of the superior music-making to be heard in this
set.
This may be a specialist box but it continues the fine archival work
that Hänssler is carrying out on behalf of the conductor.
Jonathan Woolf
Masterwork Index:
Sinfonia
domestica ~~
La
Mer ~~
Schumann
symphony 3 ~~
Brahms symphonies
~~
Beethoven symphonies
Track-Listing
CD 1 [69:34]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op.21 (1800) [23:29]
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat, Op. 55,
Eroica (1803) [45:56]
CD 2 [65:09]
Symphony No. 4 in B Flat, Op. 60 (1806) [33:47]
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op.67 (1807) [31:22]
CD 3 [61:57]
Symphony No. 6 in F, Op.68,
Pastoral (1808) [37:29]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Symphony No.5 in B flat major, D.485 (1816) [24:28]
CD 4 [77:42]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 1 in C minor Op.68 (1876) [42:55]
Symphony No. 3 in F Op.90 (1883) [34:47]
CD 5 [69:30]
Symphony No. 4 in E minor Op.98 (1885) [43:46]
Alto Rhapsody, Op.53 [12:16]
Tragic Overture in D minor, Op.81 [13:08]
CD 6 [71:59]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 97,
Rhenish (1850) [29:44]
Richard STRAUSS (1864 - 1949)
Symphonia domestica Op.53 TrV 209 [42:05]
CD 7 [60:51]
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826)
Euryanthe; Overture
(1823) [8:46]
Oberon; overture [9:32]
Hugo WOLF
Italian Serenade [7:17]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY
Hamlet, fantasy overture Op.67 [19:05]
Emil REZNICEK
Donna Diana; overture [5:44]
Boris BLACHER
Concertante Music for Orchestra, Op.10 [9:42]
CD 8 [58:37]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
La Mer (1905) [23:28]
Gunter RAPHAEL
Sinfonia breve, Op.67 [21:20]
Robert OBOUSSIER
Violin Concerto [13:29]
CD 9
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne [27:30]
Max REGER
Variations and Fugue on a theme by Johann Adam Hiller, Op.100 [39:54]
CD 10
Rehearsals of Brahms [17:48] and Wagner [32:20]
