Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) and George Gershwin (1898-1937), two musicians inseparably linked with America, form an exuberant and stimulating combination in this program with the New York Philharmonic. Gershwin was one of the American composers Bernstein revered the most and one who, along with Mahler, Copland and Blitzstein, exerted a great influence on him as a composer. This performance with the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein as soloist and conductor was
recorded at the Jahrhunderthalle in Hoechst, Germany, in 1976.
In the throes of his mortal illness, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) heroically succeeded in putting to paper his splendid last symphony, whose “divine lengths” are truly unique. Composed in 1825/26, Schubert’s largest symphonic work was first discovered after his death by Robert Schumann and first performed one year later, in 1839, by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In marked contrast to the equally beloved “Unfinished” Symphony, Schubert devises a labyrinth of harmonies in a piece full of artless directness and joyful dance-like rhythms. Echoes of the visionary secrets of Romanticism surface from the depths of the work, only to be washed away by the inexorable current of the melodies. Never did Schubert write with such a lavish and impetuous hand than in his Ninth Symphony: “…it bears the eternal seed of youth within it.” (Robert Schumann) Unitel recorded this performance at the Musikvereinssaal in Vienna during a public concert given there in spring 1973. Karl Böhm led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Filmed mainly in Vienna’s splendid “Musikvereinssaal,” the Mozart symphonies conducted by Karl Böhm are all interpreted by one of the world’s foremost orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, whose principal conductors have included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and, of course, Karl Böhm. “Thanks to Bruno Walter’s exemplary performances, particularly of Mozart’s works, I grabbed on to Mozart and fell in love with him so much that I had only one wish: to conduct Mozart, Mozart, Mozart.” (Karl Böhm) 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 draatic 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. Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm’s first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.
This performance of Weber’s Missa Sancta No. 1 in E flat was recorded live from the baroque monastery at Waldsassen in Bavaria.
Sir Georg Solti conducts the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra in a performance of extracts from Prokofiev’s music for the ballet Romeo and Juliet, recorded live from the Herkulessaal, Munich.
Towards the end of his life, the composer Bedrich Smetana (1824-84) wrote a cycle of symphonic poems, Má Vlast (My Country), a vivid, patriotic musical portait of his homeland, Bohemia. This superb recording features the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the Czech conductor Rafael Kubelik.
Recorded live from the Herkulessaal Munich, Sir Colin Davis conducts the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, with soloist Gidon Kremer, in a performance of Alban Berg‘s elegiac Violin Concerto. Alban Berg completed this concerto for violin and orchestra in 1935, impelled by the news of the death of Manon Gropius, the beautiful eighteen-yearold daughter of Mahler‘s widow by her second marriage, to the architect Walter Gropius. He dedicated it “to the memory of an angel”.
The secret life of Alban Berg
Alban Berg (1885-1935) lived in the mainstream of well-to-do Austrian society. His marriage to the beautiful Hélène was thought to be made in heaven. But how can this doyen of Viennese respectability be reconciled with the composer who wrote the dark operas Wozzeck and Lulu? In this multi-layered film, director Krišs Rusmanis explores the private world behind the composer’s public image and reveals the double life Berg led, despite his moving protestationsof fidelity and devotion to his wife.
A legendary performance of Haydn’s Missa Sanctae Ceaciliae conducted by Rafael Kubelík live from the Basilika Ottobeuren. The work was without doubt one of the highlights of the wonderful Kubelík era. Under his guidance the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks also became one of the world’s foremost Haydn orchestras. When the orchestra discovered the baroque Basilica of Ottobeuren as the perfect venue for sacred music of the classic-romantic repertoire, their concerts enjoyed huge popularity, leaving a lasting impression on those who experienced them at first hand.
The great Russian pianist Emil Gilels was universally acclaimed for his breathtaking performances of the most demanding concertos and most challenging piano pieces of piano literature. But he was also a master of the miniature form, and his “Songs Without Words” and other little pieces by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Grieg and others were nothing short of mesmerizing. A specialist of the German repertoire, Gilels gave an all German-Austrian program at the 1971 Carinthian Summer Festival in Austria, where the “Spinnerlied” was recorded.
