Web page: PASC 310  

Short Notes  

Despite repeated assertions, Arthur Nikisch's groundbreaking 1913 Berlin Philharmonic recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony wasn't the ever first recording of it, nor of a symphony. Yet it remains a major milestone in the history of recording, and it was certainly the first time a big-name conductor and a major orchestra had settled down in front of a recording horn in order to make a complete symphonic recording.

Some 11 years later, in the last days of the pre-microphone acoustic era, Oskar Fried also created a little musical history: the first complete recording of the Eroica, conducting the Berlin State Opera Orchestra.

Now both of these landmark recordings have been newly transferred from near-mint 78rpm pressings and given the full Pristine 32-bit XR remastering treatment by Andrew Rose, revealing depth and detail never heard before in these essential classics.

Review Nikisch, LP reissue, 1974         

The Beethoven Fifth Symphony was the very first symphonic work to be recorded in its entirety and Nikisch's 1913 records with the Berlin Philharmonic enjoys much celebrity. It lingered in the HMV catalogue for many years and is undoubtedly one of the more familiar performances in the current set. It was broadcast not so long ago in the BBC Radio 3 series, "Historic Performances on Record". The performance has obvious historic interest though the observant listener will not fail to note that Nikisch was not above taking poetic licence; the restatement of the first movement is far from straightforward. I recall seeing somewhere that contemporary reviews spoke of the extraordinary realism of this recording when it first appeared. Having heard an admittedly much later record on a superb EMG machine of the period and been astonished by the sense of presence and colour it achieved, I can imagine that this Beethoven performance might well sound impressive on an appropriate period gramophone of the highest quality. However the present transfers of the acoustic discs in this anthology cannot disguise the primitive sound...

From The Gramophone, January 1974, by R.L. 

Notes On this recording   

I was tempted to title this release "Historic Gramophone Premières" - after all, it's regularly stated that Arthur Nikisch's 1913 recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was the first complete recording of any symphony to be made. I've heard it introduced as such on BBC Radio Three, and I've read it in erudite biographies. Yet it's not true - it wasn't even the first recording of this symphony. For that we have to turn the clock back a further three years, and dig out a recording made by Friedrich Kark and the Odeon Symphony Orchestra in 1910, issued on the Odeon label. Perhaps it is better suggested that Nikisch's was the first by a "proper", named and highly regarded profesisonal orchestra, under a conductor still rated today as one of the greatest of all time.

Meanwhile Oskar Fried's Eroica was indeed the work's first full recording (though, as often, not all the repeats are there), though in the UK Henry Wood had already recorded an abridged version on six sides some two years earlier, as was his wont at the time - you can find his 1923 Schubert Unfinished Symphony also in a condensed version on Pristine Audio (PASC 041). In that case Wood used four shortish sides, the entire recording running to a mere 12'43". Given a little more space, one might thus usefully explore what exactly constitutes a première recording...

Niggling questions aside, both of these recordings are indeed major historical events in the history of recorded music. Despite the primitive nature of the recording technology used, both offer serious, excellent interpretations by two of the finest exponents of Beethoven of their era. Whilst neither conductor dates back to the era of Beethoven himself, both were firmly grounded in the Romantic musical tradition which began with the composer. Nikisch was regarded by Brahms as having given the finest interpretation possible of his Fourth Symphony, whilst Fried's closeness to Mahler resulted in him giving the second performance of the Ninth Symphony in 1913, together with the first recording of a Mahler Symphony, his Second, also made in 1924 with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra.

To modern ears these acoustic recordings can seem particularly dim and distant, with their orchestras necessarily cut down and their instruments adapted to recordings made tightly gathered around a single horn. Trying to unlock the sound of these performances from their faint, hissy, crackly and, at times, distorted origins, is going to be a tricky business for any remastering engineer. Dynamic range is very limited, even more severely their frequency range.

And yet there is perhaps far more to be heard and appreciated than first meets the ear when hearing the records "raw", and these XR restorations have unearthed a remarkable level of depth and detail. The dynamic range of these recordings has been pushed to the limit, and a far fuller re-equalised sound, bringing out the (albeit limited) bass, allied to a far more rounded lower midrange, helps convey the true sound of the instruments to a degree few will have appreciated or even noticed before, and hopefully opened the drama of these performances up to some who might otherwise havc dismissed them as too archaic to be worthwhile. If this is the case then I would judge this venture to be a success - when given a minute or so to attune my ears it certainly works for me.

MP3 Sample  "Eroica", 1st mvt                 

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Web page: PASC 311  

Short Notes  

Last week we brought you Decca LP recordings by Clemens Krauss of the music of his great friend, Richard Strauss.

This week we delve into the radio archives for these three definitive recordings, made in the studios of Bavarian Radio in 1953 and 1954. In 1988 Gramophone magazine wrote: "No Strauss devotee will need prompting from me to acquire Clemens Krauss's interpretation of Melamorphosen. This music ... spoke for him almost as poignantly as it did for Strauss and we can feel this empathy in his noble reading."

Previously the only criticism was of the "bass heavy" and very vintage sound quality. We've fully rectified this, thanks to these these new XR remasters - the sound quality of these 50s classics is now the equal or better of almost anything from this vintage. Not to be missed!

Review Reissue, 1988           

No Strauss devotee will need prompting from me to acquire Clemens Krauss's interpretation of Melamorphosen. This elegiac masterpiece came to pass after the destruction of the Munich National Theatre by Allied bombs. Krauss at the time was the theatre's director. There, two years earlier, he had conducted the first performances of Capriccio. This music, therefore, spoke for him almost as poignantly as it did for Strauss and we can feel this empathy in his noble reading. The 1953 recording is bass-heavy and textures are not as clearly-defined as we expect today, nor are the Bamberg strings as silky and supple as those of the Berlin and Vienna orchestras, but they respond to Krauss's direction with eloquence and dignity.

Gramophone magazine, September 1988
(M. K.) 

Divertimento Sleevenotes           

Strauss' second Suite based on clavier pieces by Francois Couperin appeared as Opus 86, and entitled Divertimento. Its very existence is due to Krauss who first performed it in Munich in 1941 as a ballet called "Verklungene Feste". A concert performance, with Krauss conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, followed in Vienna in 1943.

On January 4, 1941 Krauss wrote to Strauss: "Just back from Vienna to find the first Couperin instalment, and the second followed today. I am so glad you have augmented the Suite for us, and I thank you with all my heart for all the trouble you have taken over it. The scoring of the individual pieces is absolutely masterly, and their contrasted sequence is most effective".

Philips LP issue GL 5843  

Notes on this recordings     

These recordings were made in the studios of Bavarian Radio for broadcast in the early 1950s, and emerged on 1960s LPs from Philips. The notes to one of these discs includes the following text: "These recording [sic.] were not made expressly for the gramophone, yet even if the recording quality does not come up to the standard of perfection one is accustomed to nowadays, it seemed well worth while rescuing them from the oblivion of radio archives, in the belief that the public will be eager to appreciate the authenticity of performances by a conductor so intimately connected with Richard Strauss."

My aim in applying modern 32-bit XR remastering techniques to these recordings, was to do away with Philips' "recording quality" caveat as much as is now possible, and I'm glad to say that in all three cases major improvements in sound quality have been achieved. Gone is the boxy, veiled tone of the originals, and in its place is a full, clear sound that would bear comparison to the finest recordings of the era.

Andrew Rose   

MP3 Sample  Divertimento, Part 5               

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Ambient Stereo MP3  

Mono 16-bit FLAC 

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CD purchase links and all other information:

PASC 311 - webpage at Pristine Classical