Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Christoph Willibald Gluck, George Frideric Handel, Franz Joseph Haydn, Jean Philippe Rameau
Orchestra: New Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra
Conductor: Otto Klemperer
Number of Discs: 8
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Catalogue: 2484332
Release: 2013
Size: 2.36 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066
01. I. Ouverture
02. II. Courante
03. III. Gavottes I & II
04. IV. Forlane
05. V. Menuets I & II
06. VI. Bourrées I & II
07. VII. Passepieds I & II
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046
08. I. —
09. II. Adagio
10. III. Allegro
11. IV. Menuetto. Trio I – Polacca – Trio II
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047
12. I. —
13. II. Andante
14. III. Allegro assai
CD 02
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
01. I. —
02. III. Allegro
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049
03. I. Allegro
04. II. Andante
05. III. Presto
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050
06. I. Allegro
07. II. Affettuoso
08. III. Allegro
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, BWV 1051
09. I. —
10. II. Adagio ma non tanto
11. III. Allegro
CD 03
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067
01. I. Ouverture
02. II. Rondeau
03. III. Sarabande
04. IV. Bourrées I & II
05. V. Polonaise & Double
06. VI. Menuet
07. VII. Badinerie
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068
08. I. Ouverture
09. II. Air
10. III. Gavottes I & II
11. IV. Bourrée
12. V. Gigue
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D Major, BWV 1069
13. I. Ouverture
14. II. Bourrées I & II
15. III. Gavotte
16. IV. Menuets I & II
17. V. Réjouissance
CD 04
Handel: Concerto grosso in A Minor, Op. 6 No. 4, HWV 322
01. I. Larghetto affettuoso
02. II. Allegro
03. III. Largo e piano
04. IV. Allegro
Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide, Wq. 40
05. Ouverture (Arr. Wagner)
Rameau: Suite in A Minor, RCT 5
06. VII. Gavotte et 6 Doubles
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066
07. I. Ouverture
08. II. Courante
09. III. Gavottes I & II
10. IV. Forlane
11. V. Menuets I & II
12. VI. Bourrées I & II
13. VII. Passepieds I & II
CD 05
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067
01. I. Ouverture
02. II. Rondeau
03. III. Sarabande
04. IV. Bourrées I & II
05. V. Polonaise & Double
06. VI. Menuet
07. VII. Badinerie
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068
08. I. Ouverture
09. II. Air
10. III. Gavottes I & II
11. IV. Bourrée
12. V. Gigue
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D Major, BWV 1069
13. I. Ouverture
14. II. Bourrées I & II
15. III. Gavotte
16. IV. Menuets I & II
17. V. Réjouissance
CD 06
Haydn: Symphony No. 88 in G Major, Hob. I:88
01. I. Adagio – Allegro
02. II. Largo
03. III. Menuetto – Trio
04. IV. Finale. Allegro con spirito
Haydn: Symphony No. 98 in B-Flat Major, Hob. I:98
05. I. Adagio – Allegro
06. II. Adagio
07. III. Menuetto – Trio
08. IV. Finale. Presto
Haydn: Symphony No. 101 in D Major, Hob. I:101 “Clock”
09. I. Adagio – Presto
10. II. Andante
11. III. Menuetto – Trio
12. IV. Finale. Vivace
CD 07
Haydn: Symphony No. 95 in C Minor, Hob. I:95
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante
03. III. Menuetto – Trio
04. IV. Finale. Vivace
Haydn: Symphony No. 100 in G Major, Hob. I:100 “Military”
05. I. Adagio – Allegro
06. II. Allegretto
07. III. Menuetto. Moderato
08. IV. Finale. Presto
Haydn: Symphony No. 102 in B-Flat Major, Hob. I:102
09. I. Largo – Allegro vivace
10. II. Adagio
11. III. Menuetto – Trio
12. IV. Finale. Presto
CD 08
Haydn: Symphony No. 92 in G Major, Hob. I:92 “Oxford”
01. I. Adagio – Allegro spiritoso
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Menuetto – Trio
04. IV. Finale. Presto
Haydn: Symphony No. 104 in D Major, Hob. I:104 “London”
05. I. Adagio – Allegro
06. II. Andante
07. III. Menuetto – Trio
08. IV. Finale. Spiritoso
Cries of ‘Vive Kl’empereur’ rang out in the Kroll Opera House after Klemperer’s first appointment as its director, conducting a concert of Bach and Mozart. This collection provides a wealth of the celebrated conductor’s Baroque and Classical repertoire, showcasing – at the forefront of the selection – Klemperer’s characteristically ‘unadorned’ Bach as well as his fiery interpretations of Haydn’s late symphonies. The set also includes Rameau’s Gavotte with Six Variations, Handel’s A minor Concerto Grosso and Gluck’s Overture to Iphigénie en Auilde.
Otto Klemperer was born on 14th May 1885 in Breslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland) and died on 6th July 1973 in Zurich, hence 2013 marks 40 years since his passing. He had had a remarkable career as a young man but it was at the age of 70 that he started a series of recordings that would not only establish him as an internationally renowned conductor but provide EMI with a catalogue of recordings that became and remain touchstones.
This collection contains the solo orchestral recordings that Klemperer undertook of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He recorded the Bach Orchestral Suites twice, the first in 1954, these appear on CD for the first time, and in 1969 whilst the recording of the Brandenburg Concertos date from 1960. Of Handel, he recorded No, 4 of the set of six Concerti Grossi Op. 6 in 1956.
The Classical period is represented in this collection by Franz Josef Haydn. In all Klemperer recorded 8 of his symphonies – 6 from the set written for Salomon’s London concerts, the once-called “Oxford”, supposedly written for the time he received an honorary degree from its university and the delightful No. 88. These recordings were made over the period from 1960 to 1971.
The works by the other two composers contained in this box are arrangements. Gluck composed his opera Iphigenia in Aulis in 1774 inspired by Euripedes’s last play written between 408 and 406BC, the year of his death. Richard Wagner made his arrangement at the end of 1846/beginning of 1847 in Dresden and it was this that Klemperer heard when Gustav Mahler conducted it in 1907 just a few weeks short of his 22nd birthday and this would serve as an inspiration for his entire career.
The work by Rameau was transcribed by Klemperer himself in 1967 and is a Gavotte in A minor with six doubles – or variations – taken from his Nouvelles suites de pieces de clavecin (c.1728). It was first performed with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in June 1968.