Erich Kleiber and Jean Martinon: The Decca 78s
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1750)
Berenice, HWV 38: Andante larghetto [3:30]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1759-1795)
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV 550 [21:26]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 ‘Pastoral’ [39:00]
Josef STRAUSS (1827-1870)
Sphären-klänge, Op. 235 [8:07]
Johann STRAUSS II (1825-1899)
Der Zigeunerbaron – Overture [7:38]
Antonin DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Carnival Overture, Op. 92, B.169 [8:58]
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Erich Kleiber
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
The Maid of Orleans: Da, čas nastal! … Prostite vï, kholmï, polya rodnïye (Farewell aria) [7:34]
Emmanuel CHABRIER (1841-1894)
Suite Pastorale [16:44]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Le Tombeau de Couperin [13:59]
Eugenia Zareska (mezzo-soprano: Tchaikovsky)
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Jean Martinon
rec. 1947-1949, Kingsway Hall, London
ELOQUENCE 482 9386 [64:10 + 63:34]
Firstly, there’s an obvious typo on the back of the jewel case that claims that Mozart’s G minor symphony is receiving its first CD release on Decca. Don’t let that confuse you, as that’s obviously not the case – it’s in the big Erich Kleiber box for example, released years ago – but apart from this and the Pastoral, also in that 6-CD set, every other Kleiber item is making its first Decca CD release. Of the three Martinon items only the Tchaikovsky aria has been released by Decca before.
Since I’ve had my say about the performances of the symphonies in the Kleiber box, I’ll restrict myself here to noting that this release offers a very substantial advance in the transfer, rectifying, in particular, the many noticeable deficiencies in the 1949 Pastoral – the side joins in the box were very poorly done. Now, in Eloquence’s work – courtesy of Mark Obert-Thorn – we have a real job of work on our hands. To this we can add the warmly expressive reading of Handel’s Andante larghetto, from Berenice which was recorded after the G minor and issued as the final side ‘filler’ to that 78 set. There are three other examples of Kleiber’s outstanding art to savour. Dvořák’s Carnival Overture is finely conceived whilst not really outstanding. The two Strauss examples however are stylish, vital, knowing – in the best sense; listen to the rubati – and marvelously communicative.
Jean Martinon conducted and recorded with the LPO at the same time as Kleiber, his repertoire being chosen largely to foreground his strengths in French music and to build a suitable portfolio of such works for Decca. Thus, he recorded Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin in May 1947 in a generally fleet reading and Chabrier’s Suite pastorale in 1948. He is joined by mezzo Eugenia Zareska for the Act I ‘Farewell aria’ from Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans and she sings with both power and eloquence.
Alan Sanders’s astute and welcome booklet notes set the seal on this valuable twofer.
Jonathan Woolf
