Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Claude Achille Debussy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann
Performer: Bronislav Gimpel
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Otto Klemperer
Number of Discs: 4
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Ica classics
Catalogue: ICAC5145
Release: 2017
Size: 1.32 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201
01. I. Allegro moderato
02. II. Andante
03. III. Menuetto
04. IV. Allegro con spirito
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550
05. I. Molto allegro
06. II. Andante
07. III. Menuetto. Allegretto
08. IV. Allegro assai
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 “Turkish”
09. I. Allegro aperto – Adagio – Allegro aperto
10. II. Adagio
11. III. Tempo di menuetto
CD 02
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36
01. I. Adagio molto – Allegro molto
02. II. Larghetto
03. III. Scherzo
04. IV. Allegro molto
Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120 (1851 Revised Version)
05. I. Ziemlich langsam – Lebhaft
06. II. Romanze. Ziemlich langsam
07. III. Scherzo. Lebhaft
08. IV. Langsam – Lebhaft
CD 03
01. Brahms: Tragic Overture, Op. 81
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73
02. I. Allegro non troppo
03. II. Adagio non troppo – L’istesso tempo, ma grazioso
04. III. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino) – Presto ma non assai
05. IV. Allegro con spirito
Mozart: Serenade No. 13 in G Major, K. 525 “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”
06. I. Allegro
07. II. Romanze
08. III. Menuetto
09. IV. Rondo. Allegro
CD 04
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major, WAB 107 (1885 Version)
01. I. Allegro moderato
02. II. Adagio. Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam
03. III. Scherzo. Sehr schnell
04. IV. Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht schnell
Debussy: Nocturnes, L. 91
05. Nocturnes. No. 2. Fêtes
This release has been sourced from the Richard Itter archive. After 12 years of negotiation starting in 2005, ICA Classics have signed an exclusive long term agreement with the Lyrita Recorded Edition who are responsible for Richard Itter Trust. The collection is very important for collectors because it has never been released before onto the market.
Despite there being a large number of Otto Klemperer recordings on the market, these Richard Itter tapes of live broadcasts from the Royal Festival Hall and the BBC’s Studios in Maida Vale between 1955 and 1956 have never, as far as is known, been released before.
Klemperer was always more exciting when caught live and had added urgency as compared to his studio accounts, particuarly at this time before his health deteriorated in later years. His Philharmonia concerts were hugely successful in the mid 1950s when Walter Legge was looking to replace Herbert von Karajan, who was in the process of leaving for the Berlin Philharmonic. As Richard Osborne states in his notes, ‘The winter of 1955-56 marked a new dawn for Klemperer.’
For collectors, there is a very rare recording of Klemperer accompanying the eminent violinist Bronislav Gimpel (1911-1979), who had been asked by Klemperer to be his concert master at the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1937 to 1942. There is also a bonus in the shape of Debussy’s Fêtes from the Nocturnes, a piece not normally associated with the great German conductor.
Edward Greenfield wrote in Gramophone about Klemperer’s Brahms Symphony No.2 studio recording in 1957: ‘There is no question in my mind that this is the greatest, the most revealing Brahms 2nd ever recorded’. According to Richard Osborne, the November 1956 live account is even better. Klemperer’s live Mozart performances in 1956 are similar to his studio recordings but faster, not rushed but ‘live music-making caught on the wing’ (Richard Osborne). Both the studio recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven and Schumann) are considerably more vital than the EMI commercial recordings with the Philharmonia.
