Erich Röhn, violin
Recorded live at Alte Philharmonie, Berlin, 12th January, 1944

Recorded live at Alte Philharmonie, Berlin, 30th June, 1944 

Short Notes
 

Concluding our short series of Furtwängler's live wartime concert recordings of Beethoven in Berlin, this release features a truly great recording of the Violin Concerto, with Erich Röhn.

Captured in what was then perhaps the highest fidelity available - top secret German magnetic tape - and now fully XR remastered, the sound quality of this 1944 recording is truly amazing, with a full-bodied orchestra and soaring highs from the solo violin, it's never sounded remotely as good as this.

The Fifth Symphony is another Furtwängler warhorse, and though the sound quality here is far inferior, you'll soon forget that as you immerse yourself in this fabulous 1943 concert performance.

Notes on the transfers:

These two recordings offer two very different perspectives on technical developments in wartime Germany, as well as the long-term preservation of historic recordings.

The Violin Concerto was recorded during Furtwängler's last ever concert at the Alte Philharmonie in Berlin, just 17 days before the hall was destroyed by an Allied bombing raid. Even prior to the present remastering, it was clear that technically the recording was good, and a quick online search for Erich Röhn, the soloist, reveals a number of people claiming this as their favourite interpretation.

I was delighted to discover, therefore, that the recording as previously heard was to a great extent hiding its light under a bushel, so to speak - there was far more in terms of sonic potential in the recording than might ever have been suspected, and it really does show just how much could be captured on the still very early magnetic tape medium.

Naturally it's not perfect, and I've had to work hard to retain natural high frequencies whilst battling hissy distortion during louder passsages. That said, one could easily be fooled into believing this to be a live broadcast from the 1960s. This is not something that could ever be claimed for the companion on this release, the Symphony No. 5, which shows all signs of having spent at least some point of its life on very frequency-limited discs. There's little or no top end to be extracted, and evidence of swish which simply shouldn't be expected on an allegedly taped recording.

What is deeply puzzling is that a recording of the Fourth Symphony from this same concert (PASC267) offers superb fidelity, almost on a par with that of the Violin Concerto here. I've done what I can to even out the frequency response and make the best of the Fifth, but one should be prepared to 'retune' ones ears after listening to the concerto.

1. Concertino de Printemps, Op. 135

Szymon Goldberg, violin

2.Concertino d'Eté, Op. 311

Ernst Wallfisch, viola
 

3.Concertino d'Automne, Op. 309
Geneviève Joy, Jacqueline Bonneau, pianos

4.Concertino d'Hiver, Op. 327
Maurice Suzan, trombone

Ensemble de Solistes des Concerts Lamoureux

conducted by Darius Milhaud

Stereo studio recordings from 1958 and 1956

Short Notes
 

Darius Milhaud was without doubt one of the great composers of the 20th Century - his natural gift for absorbing and transforming all sorts of musical ideas, rhythms and tonalities was coupled with a monumental musical output to generate a body of work which has yet to be fully explored by most listeners.

Here we offer two superb late-50s stereo recordings with the composer holding the baton. His Four Seasons is rarely heard together - composed over a period of 20 years and usually heard singly, these are brilliant examples of Milhaud's diverse talents.

The Saudades do Brasil is perhaps more familiar, with lively musical portraits of 12 different districts, streets and landmarks greatly influenced by Milhaud's time there in the early part of the century. A tremendous recording here that is truly authentic in performance!

Les Quatre Saisons

Darius Milhaud was born in Aix-en-Provence in 1892 and first became famous as a member of the Parisian group of composers in the 1920's known as "Les Six." He embraced their ideal that music should benefit from folk-art, and he succeeded in a straightforward, undogmatic music that is at its best in his smaller works. It is important to note that these four seasonal concertinos were written at widely different times and together represent at least three different "periods" of the composer's art. The number of soloists and the variety of orchestral accompaniment mean that the four concertinos can scarcely be heard in succession except on record.

The "Concertino de Printemps" was composed at Aix-en-Provence in 1934. In this short work for violin and small instrumental ensemble, we can imagine that Milhaud's polytonal and polyrhythmic skill enabled him to evoke with the greatest ease the innumerable tremors and tensions by which Nature signals its renewal. During the German occupation, Milhaud took refuge in America. A Californian foundation, Mills College, offered him a chair of composition and it was there that Milhaud composed the "Concertino d'Eté" and the "Concertino d'Automne" in 1951.

The first is for a solo viola and wind group with cello and double-bass. The music is at first "supple and lyrical" but the veiled languor of the viola is disturbed by lively interruptions from the wind instruments. A dance rhythm and the increasing crudeness of the colours make the exchanges extremely animated.

The second was written for the famous piano duo Gold and Fizdale, to whom it was dedicated. The eight instruments accompanying the two pianos are flute, oboe, three horns, two violas, and cello. To begin with the atmosphere is heavier here, being dominated by the lower register of the horns. Then the woodwinds introduce a freer episode which, between the flute, piano, and strings, turns into a divertissement.

The "Concertino d'Hiver" was written in September 1953 aboard a ship on which the composer was once more crossing the Atlantic. Commissioned by an American foundation, the work is scored for trombone and strings and was first performed in the spring of 1954. Again, Milhaud tries to detach himself from the clichéd expressions generally bound up with the evocation of the seasons, and he chases away the classic winter fogs by beginning boldly with some cheerful capers from his unexpected soloist, the trombone.

Saudades de Brasil

The Portuguese word saudade is defined as "an ardent longing for an absent thing" The suite, originally for piano solo, was begun in Copenhagen in 1920 and was completed in Aix in the following year. Six of the twelve movements were orchestrated for the dancer, Loie Fuller; later Milhaud orchestrated the other six and added a little overture that is not to be found in the original version.

The Saudades are named after districts, streets, and land-rnarks in Rio. Corcovado (Hunchback) is a famous mountain which rises over the city from the shore of Botofago Bay. Copacabana and Ipanema are beaches; the Rúa Paysandú was the street, bordered with spectacularly tall royal palms, on which the French Legation stood. Milhaud, of course, does not pretend to describe these things in his music; the titles are simply salutes or dedications, and to dwell at length on the literal meaning of each would be both misleading and naive. It would be much to the point, however, to quote one paragraph from the extremely colorful chapter on Milhaud's Brazilian experiences in his autobiography:

I was fascinated with the rhythms of this [Brazilian] popular music. There was an imperceptible pause in the syncopation, a careless catch in the breath, a slight hiatus which I found very difficult to grasp. So I bought a lot of maxixes and tangos and tried to play them with their syncopated rhythms, which run from one hand to the other. At last my efforts were rewarded and I could both play and analyze this typically Brazilian subtlety. One of the best composers of this kind of music, Ernesto Nazareth, used to play the piano at the door of a cinema in the Avenida Rio Branco. His elusive, mournful, liquid way of playing also gave me deeper insight into the Brazilian soul!

Memories of the maxixes and tangos, of the carnival festivities at which they were used, and of the playing of Nazareth (who also taught and inspired the young Villa-Lobos) provide the nostalgic background and imaginative

substance for Saudades do Brasil.