“A rhapsody of genius” are the words the noted German poet, composer and painter E.T.A. Hoffmann used to describe the Fifth Symphony. One of the best known and most beloved in music literature, it was composed in the years 1804-1807, although sketches for the first three movements date back to 1800. The first performance took place on 22 December 1808 in Vienna with Beethoven conducting. Perhaps the most famous phrase in symphonic music opens the work and dominates the first movement, which then gives way to a set of variations on one long, extended theme in the second movement. The four-note introduction reemerges in the third movement, a Scherzo, with the double bass taking on a tremendous role. Finally, the fourth movement is a magnificent, joyous explosion of music, almost a triumphant march. Leonard Bernstein recorded this work in an all-Beethoven concert with the Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio at Munich’s Deutsches Museum in 1976.
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, op.58
The premiere of this concerto took place at a marathon concert organized by Beethoven at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien on 22 December 1808. The program included the world premieres of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, the Vienna premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 4, and excerpts from other works by Beethoven – more than four hours of demanding contemporary music by a “difficult” composer! The soloist opens the concerto with a theme that seems like a gentle echo of the forceful “Fate” theme that opens the Fifth Symphony. The Andante is a kind of dialogue between the two different temperaments: the stark and stern strings, and the gentle, pleading piano. The boisterous finale rushes through a variety of contrasting moods before bringing the piece to a rousing close. Leonard Bernstein recorded this work in an all-Beethoven concert with the Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio at Munich’s Deutsches Museum in 1976. The soloist was Claudio Arrau.
Strauss, Don Juan, op.20
“The last of the great international orchestral and operatic maestri” (The Times), Sir Georg Solti is a living testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Solti’s remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra began in 1954, when he first led the orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. After returning to conduct the ensemble several times during the following years, he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. This recording was made at the New Year’s Concert of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra held at Munich’s Herkulessaal on 31 December 1980.
New Year’s Eve Concert 1980
For his New Year’s Eve Concert 1980, Sir Georg Solti returned to Munich’s Herkulessaal, where he led the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in another colorful potpourri of entertaining pieces. The concert opens with Richard Strauss’ scintillating tone poem “Don Juan,” the first work to manifest Strauss’ mature individual style. The episodic work is based on Nikolaus Lenau’s romantic version of the Don Juan legend. Its triumphant premiere in Weimar in 1889 established Strauss as one of the leading German composers of his time. “The Moldavia,” part of Bedrich Smetana’s vast symphonic cycle “My Fatherland,” was composed in 1884 and has been synonymous with Czech music ever since. Despite the work’s highly descriptive programmatic episodes, it is the sweeping and melancholy “Moldavia” theme that captivates all listeners. In his “Two Episodes from Lenau’s ‘Faust’,” Franz Liszt, like Strauss above, also turned to Lenau for the first of his four “Mephisto Waltzes” (the episode is actually called “The Dance in the Village Inn”). It is a work which reaches heights of frenzy and sensuality. “Les Préludes” is one of Liszt’s most famous symphonic poems. The title was drawn from a poem by Alphonse de Lamartine. It was first performed in Weimar in 1854, seven years before the first “Mephisto Waltz.” The concert closes with Franz von Suppé’s Overture to the drama “Poet and Peasant” (1846). Suppé, one of the first Viennese operetta composers, also wrote many overtures, songs, etc. for Viennese comedies in his day. This is one of his most lastingly popular pieces.
Mozart, Exsultate Jubilate, K. 165
Mozart’s motet “Exsultate, jubilate” K. 165 is the most famous of Mozart’s early sacred works. Written in Milan in 1773 for the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini, it is sung here by the soprano Arleen Auger, whose flawless intonation and consummate musicality” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich) underscore the virtuosity of the solo part. Though few people would spontaneously associate Leonard Bernstein with 18th-century sacred music, this production stunningly confirms the words of a major Munich daily: “After a few bars, one is conquered by Bernstein’s mastery in creating atmosphere and communicating moods.” This live concert was filmed at the ornate Basilica of Waldsassen in Franconia (Germany), one of the first architectural adaptations of the Italian Baroque style to German taste. Significantly, this work also represents a melding of Italian vocal writing and German contrapuntal art.
Schubert, Symphony No.9 in C major, D. 944
This concert featuring the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein was recorded live in June 1987 in the Congress Hall of the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Ives, Symphony No.2 (with an introduction by Leonard Bernstein)
Charles Edward Ives was the first internationally acclaimed American composer. He wrote his Symphony No. 2 in the years 1897 to 1901, but it was not given its first performance until 1951. With his unparalleled musical imagination, Ives created atonal music before Arnold Schoenberg, and anticipated Igor Stravinsky in his experimentation with free dissonances, quarter tones and polyrhythms, which are still problematical to play today. The Symphony No. 2, however, is a simple, almost “academic” work in comparison. It unites the musical tradition of the Old World with American folk songs, hymns and patriotic songs. What emerged was a humorous, almost folkloristic work which vividly conveys the feeling of true American vitality, naturalness and optimism, while interjecting recollections of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Dvorak and Bruckner. Played by the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio under Leonard Bernstein, Ives’ Symphony No. 2 was recorded at the Congress Hall of the Deutsches Museum in Munich in 1987.