Kodály, Háry János Suite

Sir Georg Solti was an exclusive artist of Unitel for many years, and during this time a large part of his vast repertoire was recorded for television with “his” orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. With great awe and respect, Unitel joined forces with the maestro once again in 1995 to record a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic in which Solti paid homage to his native Hungary, to his roots and his teachers, the Hungarians Kodály, Bartók and Weiner. Of course, in a concert featuring dazzling music from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Rakoczy March in Berlioz’s arrangement could not be omitted. The second part of the concert is devoted to Beethoven, who was not Hungarian but had been adopted by Hungary’s Austrian neighbors. The concert is Unitel’s last recording with the great artist, who died on 5 September 1997.

Bartók, Rumanian Folk Dances

Sir Georg Solti was an exclusive artist of Unitel for many years, and during this time a large part of his vast repertoire was recorded for television with “his” orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. With great awe and respect, Unitel joined forces with the maestro once again in 1995 to record a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic in which Solti paid homage to his native Hungary, to his roots and his teachers, the Hungarians Kodály, Bartók and Weiner. Of course, in a concert featuring dazzling music from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Rakoczy March in Berlioz’s arrangement could not be omitted. The second part of the concert is devoted to Beethoven, who was not Hungarian but had been adopted by Hungary’s Austrian neighbors. The concert is Unitel’s last recording with the great artist, who died on 5 September 1997.

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major, op. 73 “Emperor”

It was to have been the culmination of Leonard Bernstein’s Beethoven cycle: the recording of all five piano concertos with a leading pianist of the younger generation. What it became is an example of enlightened music- making, the document of an incredible empathy between conductor, soloist and orchestra – an empathy so strong that it overrode even the maestro’s death. In Krystian Zimerman, Bernstein had found a congenial partner. But the full extent of Zimerman’s congeniality emerged only after the maestro’s death on 14 October 1990. Concertos Nos. 3, 4 and 5 had been recorded. A decision had to be taken with regard to concertos Nos. 1 and 2: either a new conductor had to be found or, following the practice of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the orchestra would be entrusted to the soloist. The latter alternative was chosen – a decision applauded throughout the music world. Born in Zabrze, Poland, on 7 December 1956, Krystian Zimerman won the first prize in the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1975. After expanding his repertoire and studying in London in 1980, he made a name for himself in numerous concerts and recordings as one of the most talented pianists of his generation.

Beethoven, String Quartet No.16 in F major, op. 135 (Transcription for String Orchestra)

A light and transparent work, Beethoven’s opus 135 is particularly well suited to a performance with a full string orchestra. Bernstein’s interpretation can be seen as an homage to his revered mentor Dimitri Mitropoulos, who was the first to conduct a string orchestra version of Beethoven string quartet (op. 131). Composed in 1826, about half a year before Beethoven’s death, opus 135 is the last work Beethoven completed. Following the profundity of the preceding Quartet op. 131, the buoyancy and humor of this piece are surprising. The work seems to long for the ideals of Classicism, which were now irretrievably lost, and aims for an accessibility which is often missing in Beethoven’s late works. Leonard Bernstein said that only the strings of the Vienna Philharmonic could carry off the orchestral rendition of this work with bravura, since each player is a true soloist. The public performance of opus 135 was acclaimed by the press. “Since Leonard Bernstein is the number one conductor today, the only one who can let the Vienna Philharmonic play the way they would love to sound all the time, he and the orchestra wanted to play a difficult Beethoven Quartet in a monster setting. They succeeded, and it was ¿ an exciting work, unlike anything one ever hears.”

Sibelius, Symphony No.1 in E minor, op.39

Jean Sibelius was 34 years old when he undertook the composition of his First Symphony, which was actually his second: in 1892 he had written “Kullervo” for solo voices, male chorus and orchestra, but was dissatisfied with it and forbade its performance during his lifetime. In his Symphony No. 1, there are already flashes of his later style in the impetuous rhythms, romantic outbursts and abrupt changes of tone. The conductor led the premiere in Helsinki on 26 April 1899. In the mid 1980s, Unitel began recording a complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic. Bernstein’s death in 1990 unfortunately cut short this project after the release of Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 7. They were recorded live at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal and were the object of stellar reviews. Bernstein, in the words of a leading Austrian daily, “painted a canvas of late-romantic splendor with the Philharmonic’s sound – the incomparable brilliancy of the strings, the glowing intensity of the brass – in a way that only the greatest conductors can.” (Symphony No. 1) And in its review of the Second Symphony, a major Viennese newspaper wrote: “For the sake of Jean Sibelius, Leonard Bernstein leaps with fanatical zeal into the heaving waves of late romantic emotions.” It is not surprising that Leonard Bernstein felt so passionately about Sibelius’s music. In many respects, it strikingly parallels that of Gustav Mahler. In fact, Sibelius’s oeuvre is seen along with Gustav Mahler’s as the most important symphonic legacy between late romanticism and modernity. And as Mahler’s glowing advocate, Bernstein was suited like none other to disseminate the music of his great colleague Jean Sibelius.

Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen

Just a few months before his final illness and death, Leonard Bernstein conducted three masterworks by Gustav Mahler in a concert at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal with the Vienna Philharmonic. The program consisted of the “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, the “Rückertlieder” and the “Kindertotenlieder”. The soloist was the American baritone Thomas Hampson. The trade publication “Musik & Theater” wrote: “I know of no other baritone today who can profess a similar mastery of these three Mahler song cycles on a vocal, emotional and textually sensitive level. […] a singular vocal accomplishment and a worthy conclusion of Bernstein’s extensive Mahler discography.”

Mahler, Rückertlieder

Just a few months before his final illness and death, Leonard Bernstein conducted three masterworks by Gustav Mahler in a concert at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal with the Vienna Philharmonic. The program consisted of the “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, the “Rückertlieder” and the “Kindertotenlieder”. The soloist was the American baritone Thomas Hampson. The trade publication “Musik & Theater” wrote: “I know of no other baritone today who can profess a similar mastery of these three Mahler song cycles on a vocal, emotional and textually sensitive level. […] a singular vocal accomplishment and a worthy conclusion of Bernstein’s extensive Mahler discography.”

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.