For Johann Sebastian Bach, February 15, 1981 was no doubt one of the darkest days of his afterlife: on this day he lost one of his greatest champions in the 20th century, Karl Richter. Over the course of his long career as conductor, organist and harpsichordist, Richter had become synonymous with Bach. He founded the Munich Bach Choir and the Munich Bach Orchestra. He helped trigger the Bach revival in the 1950s. He was the spirit behind the Ansbach Bach Festival. He turned his adopted city of Munich into a Bach center. And he recorded all the major choral and orchestral works of Bach, including more than 100 cantatas. Richter was born on October 15, 1926 in Plauen, Thuringia, the Bach family’s native region. After his years as a choirboy at Dresden’s Kreuzkirche (“I sang in virtually all the cantatas and passions”), he studied in Leipzig with the St. Thomas cantors Günther Ramin and Karl Straube and was appointed organist at the Thomaskirche in 1949. He moved to Munich in 1951 and founded his choral and orchestral ensembles shortly thereafter. Karl Richter absorbed the Bach tradition from the source, in the cities where the composer had lived and worked. Although he saw several dramatic shifts in Baroque performance practice during his lifetime, he remained true to his own style, which was considered revolutionary in the 1950s and 60s. This was a “de-romanticized” Bach which featured a reduced body of performers more in keeping with the composer’s original forces. Richter’s style also accented a cool, brisk, almost abstract attitude toward the music, which eschewed exaggerated dynamics and rubato. In later years, Richter’s approach was itself ironically labeled “romantic” and old-fashioned by a new generation of Bach scholars, who applied even stricter criteria to what they considered “authentic” Baroque performance practice. One of the major causes of dissent was the use of genuine or reconstructed period instruments. Richter commented on this in 1976: “Who says that Bach wouldn’t have used modern instruments if he had had them? It might be informative and revealing to play Bach on historical instruments, but for me, it’s only a modish phenomenon that will fade away.”
Bach, Partita Diversa Sopra BWV 767 (“O Gott, du frommer Gott”)
For Johann Sebastian Bach, February 15, 1981 was no doubt one of the darkest days of his afterlife: on this day he lost one of his greatest champions in the 20th century, Karl Richter. Over the course of his long career as conductor, organist and harpsichordist, Richter had become synonymous with Bach. He founded the Munich Bach Choir and the Munich Bach Orchestra. He helped trigger the Bach revival in the 1950s. He was the spirit behind the Ansbach Bach Festival. He turned his adopted city of Munich into a Bach center. And he recorded all the major choral and orchestral works of Bach, including more than 100 cantatas. Richter was born on October 15, 1926 in Plauen, Thuringia, the Bach family’s native region. After his years as a choirboy at Dresden’s Kreuzkirche (“I sang in virtually all the cantatas and passions”), he studied in Leipzig with the St. Thomas cantors Günther Ramin and Karl Straube and was appointed organist at the Thomaskirche in 1949. He moved to Munich in 1951 and founded his choral and orchestral ensembles shortly thereafter. Karl Richter absorbed the Bach tradition from the source, in the cities where the composer had lived and worked. Although he saw several dramatic shifts in Baroque performance practice during his lifetime, he remained true to his own style, which was considered revolutionary in the 1950s and 60s. This was a “de-romanticized” Bach which featured a reduced body of performers more in keeping with the composer’s original forces. Richter’s style also accented a cool, brisk, almost abstract attitude toward the music, which eschewed exaggerated dynamics and rubato. In later years, Richter’s approach was itself ironically labeled “romantic” and old-fashioned by a new generation of Bach scholars, who applied even stricter criteria to what they considered “authentic” Baroque performance practice. One of the major causes of dissent was the use of genuine or reconstructed period instruments. Richter commented on this in 1976: “Who says that Bach wouldn’t have used modern instruments if he had had them? It might be informative and revealing to play Bach on historical instruments, but for me, it’s only a modish phenomenon that will fade away.”
Beethoven, Symphony No.1 in C major, op.21
When, in the mid 1960s, Herbert von Karajan decided to record on film all nine Beethoven symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic, he began with the “Fifth” and asked the famous French movie director Henri-Georges Clouzot (Quai des Orfèvres) to direct. Recognizing in the music-loving director a kindred soul and master of the symbolic image, Karajan found an inspired partner. In another of Karajan’s first efforts, he asked six directors to “stage” one movement each of a Beethoven symphony. For a full week, the directors had the Berlin Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan – all in full dress – at their disposal, with all the 35mm film, cameras, lighting and technical assistance they needed. Karajan’s most controversial production was Hugo Niebeling’s highly personal interpretation of the “Pastorale”, with its abstract shots of instruments, rapid rhythms, fade-ins and symbolically arranged colors. s.
Rehearsal for Bruckner, Symphony No.4 in E flat major “Romantic”
Rafael Kubelik (1914-1996) was the son of the well-known Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelik. He studied music in Prague and made his conducting debut at 20 at the head of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Later he became the principal conductor of this famous orchestra and founded the “Prague Spring” Festival. After the Communist takeover of the government, Kubelik emigrated to the West and returned to his native land only after the end of the Communist regime. From 1950 to 1953 he headed the Chicago Symphony, from 1955 to 1958 he was music director of the Covent Garden Opera in London. A period of great artistic successes began in 1961, when he was appointed principal conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Many recordings document Kubelik’s mastery and sense of artistry, his enjoyment of music and his temperament. His connection with the Munich orchestra lasted 18 years; in between, he also briefly served as music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Kubelik retired from the concert staged in 1985. But on the occasion of the first Prague Spring Festival after the fall of Communism in 1990, he returned to the podium of the Czech Philharmonic after more than 40 years in exile and conducted Smetana’s “My Fatherland” cycle. His profound bonds with his native land and its composers were always clearly visible. Rafael Kubelik was a full-blooded musician. Every performance of his radiated a feeling of spontaneity, impulsiveness and joy. Kubelik died in Lucerne in August 1996 at the age of 82 after a long illness. Bruckner’s Fourth had a tortuous history, beginning with a first version in 1874 and leading to a number of revisions, both major and minor, culminating in a heavily cut first publication of the score in 1889. This first edition, however, violated Bruckner’s express wishes that the score be printed in its entirety. After World War II, a new scholarly edition was published and is generally used for performances to this day. Rafael Kubelik leads the Vienna Philharmonic in this recording.
Mozart, Symphony No.38 in D major, K. 504 “Prague”
Rafael Kubelik (1914-1996) was the son of the well-known Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelik. He studied music in Prague and made his conducting debut at 20 at the head of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Later he became the principal conductor of this famous orchestra and founded the “Prague Spring” Festival. After the Communist takeover of the government, Kubelik emigrated to the West and returned to his native land only after the end of the Communist regime. From 1950 to 1953 he headed the Chicago Symphony, from 1955 to 1958 he was music director of the Covent Garden Opera in London. A period of great artistic successes began in 1961, when he was appointed principal conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Many recordings document Kubelik’s mastery and sense of artistry, his enjoyment of music and his temperament. His connection with the Munich orchestra lasted 18 years; in between, he also briefly served as music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Kubelik retired from the concert staged in 1985. But on the occasion of the first Prague Spring Festival after the fall of Communism in 1990, he returned to the podium of the Czech Philharmonic after more than 40 years in exile and conducted Smetana’s “My Fatherland” cycle. His profound bonds with his native land and its composers were always clearly visible. Rafael Kubelik was a full-blooded musician. Every performance of his radiated a feeling of spontaneity, impulsiveness and joy. Kubelik died in Lucerne in August 1996 at the age of 82 after a long illness. A symphony for connoisseurs, K. 504 reflects the taste and discernment of the audience it was intended for: the musical public of Prague. Since his “Marriage of Figaro” was the hit of the town in late 1786, Mozart decided to travel to Prague; in his luggage was the D major symphony, premiered on 19 January 1787. Written between “Figaro” and “The Magic Flute,” it shares unmistakable affinities with these two works and even quotes a theme from “Figaro” in the finale. And it is also a work in which Mozart could be completely himself. He thus indulged in a dramatic slow introduction, and in some austere contrapuntal writing in the first movement. Since the wind players in the Bohemian capital were rightly praised for their excellence, Mozart also rewarded them with some truly beautiful pages.
Bruckner, Symphony No.4 in E flat major “Romantic”
Rafael Kubelik (1914-1996) was the son of the well-known Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelik. He studied music in Prague and made his conducting debut at 20 at the head of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Later he became the principal conductor of this famous orchestra and founded the “Prague Spring” Festival. After the Communist takeover of the government, Kubelik emigrated to the West and returned to his native land only after the end of the Communist regime. From 1950 to 1953 he headed the Chicago Symphony, from 1955 to 1958 he was music director of the Covent Garden Opera in London. A period of great artistic successes began in 1961, when he was appointed principal conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Many recordings document Kubelik’s mastery and sense of artistry, his enjoyment of music and his temperament. His connection with the Munich orchestra lasted 18 years; in between, he also briefly served as music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Kubelik retired from the concert staged in 1985. But on the occasion of the first Prague Spring Festival after the fall of Communism in 1990, he returned to the podium of the Czech Philharmonic after more than 40 years in exile and conducted Smetana’s “My Fatherland” cycle. His profound bonds with his native land and its composers were always clearly visible. Rafael Kubelik was a full-blooded musician. Every performance of his radiated a feeling of spontaneity, impulsiveness and joy. Kubelik died in Lucerne in August 1996 at the age of 82 after a long illness. Bruckner’s Fourth had a tortuous history, beginning with a first version in 1874 and leading to a number of revisions, both major and minor, culminating in a heavily cut first publication of the score in 1889. This first edition, however, violated Bruckner’s express wishes that the score be printed in its entirety. After World War II, a new scholarly edition was published and is generally used for performances to this day. Rafael Kubelik leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this recording.
Bach, h-Moll Messe (Mass in B minor) BWV 232
Karl Richter (1926-1981), founder of the Munich Bach Choir and Munich Bach Orchestra, was a noted conductor, organist and harpsichordist. The B minor Mass was one of his “warhorses”, which he often performed on concert tours. One of the most perceptive assessments of Richter’s reading of the B minor Mass appeared in a Munich daily following his last performance of the work in November 1980: “One of the reasons why Richter’s account of the B minor Mass is so compelling is that, in contrast to the historicizing Bach readings of today, it takes into account both the present and the 250-year-old history of Bach interpretation.” The work was filmed in the splendid Baroque abbey church of Diessen in Bavaria, which dates from Bach’s time.
Bach, Johannespassion (St. John’s Passion), BWV 245
Over the course of his long career as conductor, organist and harpsichordist, Karl Richter (1926-1981) became synonymous with Bach. He founded the Munich Bach Choir and the Munich Bach Orchestra, and helped trigger the Bach revival in the 1950s. He recorded all the major choral and orchestral works of Bach, including more than 100 cantatas. Although Richter saw several dramatic shifts in Baroque performance practice during his lifetime, he remained true to his own style, which was considered revolutionary in the 1950s and 60s. This was a “de-romanticized” Bach which featured a reduced body of performers more in keeping with the composer’s original forces. Richter’s style also accented a cool, brisk, almost abstract attitude toward the music. Our recording with the Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra features such world-renowned soloists as Helen Donath, Julia Hamari, Peter Schreier and Horst Laubenthal.