The record companies have been having something of a field day recently
in reissuing Karajan recordings from his time with the Philharmonia
and with the Berlin Philharmonic. For those not wishing to invest
in one of those bumper boxes, here is a timely reminder of some of
the best of his earlier recordings.
The
Swan Lake Suite appeared in tandem with the
Sleeping
Beauty Suite on SAX2306, the Liszt with Berlioz and Respighi on
mono 33CX1548 – the stereo was not released until some years later
in a box set and later still at mid-price on SXLP30450 – and the Haydn
with Mozart Symphony No.40 on RCA SB2092. The Beulah collection doesn’t
really hang together as a programme except as an example of Karajan’s
conducting from before his time in Berlin when much of what he recorded
became somewhat too streamlined for many listeners.
As a taster for the complete
Swan Lake Karajan’s recording
of the Suite, if you’re not in the mood for the whole ballet, is about
as good as any. Beulah’s duplications, however, are becoming a little
confusing: you may already have purchased this for £1.50/$2.27 as
Beulah Extra 1BX18 –
June
2010 DL Roundup. The recording has come up sounding fresh in this
transfer.
Karajan’s
Les Préludes is a little understated by comparison
with some other recordings, but none the worse for that. Though his
BPO version on DG is available in a number of combinations, this Philharmonia
recording appears otherwise only on the 12-CD Warner set (2564633623)
so the release on this album is particularly valuable. I haven’t been
able to hear the Warner transfer, but I doubt if it’s much better
than the Beulah. A word of caution: like all the material on this
album, this recording has already appeared, in this case on Beulah
Extra 10BX18, attractively priced at £1/$1.50 –
DL
News 2012/13.
Though first released by RCA, the Haydn recording was made by Decca
and it’s still available from them, coupled with Beethoven Symphony
No.7 (E4702562), on a 9-CD set (4780155) and as part of a Vienna Philharmonic
whopper (4786756, 64 CDs). If none of those couplings appeal, especially
if you baulk at the idea of buying a gigantic box, the Beulah transfer
is good. As well as listening to the wma files which I received for
review, I downsized to mp3, the form in which downloads come from Amazon,
and found the recording little inferior, if at all, to the Decca transfer
of the version coupled with Beethoven, as streamed from
Qobuz.
The performance is rather more plush than usual nowadays, falling
slightly between the two stools of Sir Thomas Beecham and Sir Colin
Davis. Beecham eschewed Robbins Landons’ authentic scores for the
London symphonies, so the result should in theory be wide of the mark.
In practice, it’s the usual naughty-but-nice Beecham way with Haydn.
His was the only LP of No.104 that I ever owned – at full-price when
I could ill afford full-price – and its CD replacement is still an
essential part of my collection. Now part of a 6-CD budget-price set
of the London symphonies and
The Seasons, Warner/EMI 3678932
or 9846032 –
review:
both around £20, but shop around and you may find one slightly less
than the other, such are the arcane economics of CD buying.
It’s with Davis and Jochum, however, that Karajan is most aptly compared.
Both, like him, use modern instruments: Davis with the Concertgebouw
Orchestra on Philips (now Decca), performs all the London symphonies
on a pair of budget-price twofers, complemented but not superseded,
by a newer LSO Live set which never reached as far as No.104. Jochum
also offers both sets of London symphonies with the London Philharmonic
Orchestra, supplemented by earlier recordings of Nos. 88 and 98 from
Berlin and Bavaria, in a budget box, now available as a download only
(E4743642 –
July
2011/2 Roundup but ignore defunct Passionato link. Download from
prestoclassical.co.uk,
mp3 and lossless, with pdf booklet.
With those alternatives in mind, I was more than a little hard on
the Karajan when it appeared separately on Beulah Extra 2-5BX18: ‘Two
variant views of Karajan’s Haydn are encompassed in the one word,
‘controlled’: some would say finely-controlled, others over-controlled.
Even when this recording reappeared in 1970 on the Ace of Diamonds
label, there wasn’t too much competition, but it wouldn’t now feature
high on my own shortlist – which must be headed by … Colin Davis and
… the Eugen Jochum set … Like Davis and Jochum, Karajan uses a modern-instrument
orchestra but I’ve no objections on this count: Haydn’s last six London
Symphonies were conceived on a grand scale, as if to out-Beethoven
Beethoven, so they work well with a large orchestra. Nor does Karajan
over-drive the music – there’s almost as much charm here as from Sir
Thomas Beecham – and the recording stands up very well in this transfer,
yet ultimately I’d go for Beecham, Davis or Jochum, all available
very inexpensively.’
I’d still go for one of those three for my Desert Island but this
time round I’ve grown to like the Karajan more than before and it
would certainly provide a more than satisfactory alternative, especially
now that it comes in tandem with two other attractive examples of
his pre-BPO days.
Unless you have already separately purchased the three components
of this album – bought separately they cost slightly less – and if
their placement together appeals, this is another fine reissue from
Beulah.
Brian Wilson
