Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Bruckner, Franz Joseph Haydn, Karl Komzák, Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai, Franz Peter Schubert, Johann Strauss, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker
Conductor: Hans Knappertsbusch
Number of Discs: 5
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Audite
Catalogue: AUDITE21405
Release: 2010
Size: 0.99 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor
01. I. Feierlich, misterioso
02. II. Scherzo: Bewegt, lebhaft
03. III. Adagio: Langsam feierlich
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D759 ‘Unfinished’
04. I. Allegro moderato
05. II. Andante con moto
CD 02
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C minor
01. I. Allegro moderato
02. II. Scherzo: Allegro moderato – Langsam
03. III. Adagio: Feierlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend
04. IV. Finale: Feierlich, nicht schnell
CD 03
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
01. I. Allegro vivace e con brio
02. II. Allegretto scherzando
03. III. Tempo di menuetto
04. IV. Allegro vivace
05. Strauss II: Tausendundeine Nacht, Op. 346
Nicolai: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor
06. Overture
Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G Major ‘Surprise’
07. I. Adagio cantabile – Vivace assai
08. II. Andante
09. III. Menuetto
10. IV. Finale: Allegro di molto
CD 04
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a
01. I. Miniature Overture: Allegro giusto
02. II. March
03. III. Dance of the Sugar-plum Fairy
04. IV. Russian Dance, “Trepak”
05. V. Arab Dance
06. VI. Chinese Dance
07. VII. Dance of the Reeds
08. VIII. Waltz of the Flowers
Strauss II: Die Fledermaus
09. Act I: Overture
10. Strauss II: Pizzicato Polka
11. Komzák II: Bad’ner Madl’n (The Girls of Baden), Op. 257
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished”
12. I. Allegro moderato
13. II. Andante con moto
CD 05
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor
01. I. Feierlich, misterioso
02. II. Scherzo: Bewegt, lebhaft
03. III. Adagio: Langsam feierlich
This production is of high documentary value and definitely one of Audite’s priority productions for 2010. During the early 1950s, before the Karajan era, the conductor Hans Knappertsbusch (1888-1965) worked intensively with the Berlin Philharmonic. The core-period of this cooperation from 1950 until 1952 in particular is documented by high-quality recordings made by RIAS Berlin, both of live concerts and of studio productions. For the first time, the original tapes from the RIAS archives have been made available, which means that these CDs offer the highest possible technical quality. This 5-CD set includes on the one hand a variety of symphonic works and on the other ‘light music’: two differing facets of Hans Knappertsbusch’s repertoire. The recordings of this edition convey a fascinating view on Knappertsbusch’s art. This comparison of live and studio recordings illustrates the influence of medium on Kna’s interpretational aesthetic: in concert, he takes greater liberties in tempi and dynamics than in the more objective studio location. This is also shown by the comparison of concert and studio recordings of Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony and Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony, two key-works in this edition. At the same time, the recordings disprove the one-sided view of Knappertsbusch as a master of slow tempi. Whereas he has a more expansive take on time in Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony, he tends to choose even more fluid tempi in his interpretations of the great Bruckner symphonies than Bruckner specialists such as Gunter Wand.