Bach, Pastorale in F major, BWV 590

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 No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825

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 No. 3 in A minor, BWV 827

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, Toccata in G minor, BWV 915

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, Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in d minor, BWV 903

One of the greatest champions of Johann Sebastian Bach in the 20th century was Karl Richter. Over the course of his long career as conductor, organist and harpsichordist, Richter became 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 in a Bach center. And he recorded all the major choral and orchestral works of Bach, including more than 100 cantatas. Richter – he was born in Thuringia and studied in Dresden and Leipzig – absorbed the Bach tradition at its 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 s his own style, which was considered revolutionary in the 1950s and 60s. Richter’s own style of keyboard playing also accented a cool, brisk, almost abstract attitude toward the music.

Beethoven, Leonore Overture No.3, op.72a

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. Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, was composed about 1803. As do so many of the composer’s works, it glorifies the struggle against tyranny and celebrates heroism and humanitarianism. The first performance, which took place in Vienna in 1805, was ill-received; and the opera required 10 years of revision before it was accepted by the public in 1814. Beethoven wrote four overtures to his opera: three are known as the “Leonore Overtures” (named after the heroine of the opera); the fourth, the Overture to Fidelio, is the version now used as a prelude to the opera .The music of Leonore No. 3 refers to the climax of the story in the last act of Fidelio. Today, it is usually played as an interlude between the second and third acts of the opera.

Beethoven, Symphony No.2 in D major, op.36

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. First performed in Vienna in 1803 with Beethoven conducting, the Second Symphony exhibits a daring departure from the traditional form. In a classical symphony, the third movement was always a minuet; Beethoven replaces it with a Scherzo, a quick-paced musical form in three-quarter time. While working on this symphony, Beethoven was undergoing an enormous personal crisis: the growing deafness that was to cause him inordinate anguish.

Mozart, Symphony No.33 in B flat major, K. 319

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) This cheerful and sunny work is a model of Mozartean grace and unity. Written in a more subdued style than its preceding work, the “Paris” Symphony, it reflects the chamber-music atmosphere and lightness of the earlier Austrian symphonies. It is interesting to note that the development section in the first movement is built on the same theme as the finale of the “Jupiter” Symphony K. 551, Mozart’s last. 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.