This week's release:
Adolf Busch presents a Festival of Brahms
Astonishing restorations of astounding performances
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This week's new release returns again to the Busch family, this time in the guise of violinist Adolf Busch - and his illustrious musical friends.
As Tully Potter opens his excellent notes for this release: "Although Adolf Busch was too young to know Johannes Brahms personally, he interacted with many people from the composer’s circle of friends. His violin teachers at the Cologne Conservatory, Willy Hess and Bram Eldering, had known Brahms: Hess had been among Joseph Joachim’s favourite pupils and Eldering, though a pupil of Jenő Hubay, had also come under Joachim’s sway. He turned the pages when the composer and Joachim gave a performance of the D minor Violin Sonata, Op. 108; he played all three Violin Sonatas in private with the composer; and as violist of the Hubay Quartet he took part in concerts with Brahms at the piano. He also heard Joachim play much of the repertoire."
The four recordings here offer a somewhat varied sonic experience from four very different source recordings. All have benefited to differing degrees from XR Ambient Stereo remastering, and with each I have aimed for maximum clarity and fullness of sound.
The Horn Trio, which find Busch with Aubrey Brain and Rudolf Serkin, despite some residual hiss, sounds remarkably good for its age – made in 1933, it’s the oldest recording here – whilst the most recent, the String Quartet No. 1 played by the Busch Quartet in 1951, has all the brightness and clarity of the modern era of sound recordings.
Note that the Horn Trio was not the recording released commercially by HMV - that was a re-recording made in November 1933 - but the original made at Abbey Road in May of that same year. See Tully's excellent notes (below) for a full explanation of why this happened and why it matters.
The first Violin Sonata proved the most technically troublesome for me. Captured on fragile acetate discs, which were later rescued from a waste skip, we are lucky indeed to be able to hear this fabulous 1936 BBC performance from Busch and Serkin, even if the sound is less than optimal. Previously a difficult listen, in the words of Tully Potter, this new XR restoration has truly "worked wonders on the Violin Sonata".
Finally the Clarinet Quintet, with Reginald Kell ( pictured above) and the Busch Quartet from 1948, which originally had a harshness to the sound that I’ve aimed to suppress, without losing any of the immediacy and vitality of the playing. You can hear the opening movement of this beautiful work on our website and on our YouTube Channel here.
I have a particular love for the chamber music of Brahms, and this collection brings together four of his finest works in the genre, a collection tied together by the brilliance of Adolf Busch.
A note sent from Tully Potter to me yesterday mentioned the first time he'd played the 1936 BBC recording of the Violin Sonata to a friend - who soon remarked: "Now I know why you value him so highly". This is a really special collection from a really special musician - and his friends.
Andrew Rose
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The Busch Quartet in 1947
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In case you missed them: 6 most recent releases
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All still available as limited-edition Digipack CD sets
(+ all download formats & slip-enveloped, unboxed CDs)
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BUSCH Divertimento for Thirteen Instruments
BUSCH Theme and Variations for Two Pianos
BUSCH Clarinet Sonata
BUSCH Five Preludes and Fugues for String Quartet
Live recordings, 1961-1982
Total duration: 78:28
Rudolf Serkin, piano
Peter Serkin, piano
Harold Wright, clarinet
Various Artists
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ADOLF BUSCH Compositions from Marlboro Music (1961-1982)
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MOZART Le Nozze di Figaro - Overture
MOZART Eight German Dances
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4
SMETANA 3 Dances from The Bartered Bride
DELIBES Music from Sylvia & La Source
KREISLER Kreiserliana
SCHOENBERG Verklärte Nacht
music by Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Dvořák, Drigo
Studio recordings, 1934
Total duration: 2hr 32:37
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Eugene Ormandy
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ORMANDY Complete Minneapolis Symphony, Vol. 2 (1934)
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BELLINI La sonnambula
Studio recording, 1957
Total duration: 2hr 00:32
Maria Callas - Amina
Fiorenza Cossotto - Teresa
Nicola Zaccaria - Il conte Rodolfo
Nicola Monti - Elvino
Eugenia Ratti - Lisa
Giuseppe Morresi - Alessio
Franco Ricciardi - Un notaro
Choir & Orchestra of Teatro Alla Scala, Milan
Conducted by Antonino Votto
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CALLAS Bellini: La sonnambula (1957)
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DEBUSSY String Quartet
RAVEL String Quartet
FRANCK Piano Quintet
Studio recordings, 1923-33
Total duration: 63:35
Léner String Quartet:
Jenő Léner (violin I)
Josef Smilovits (violin II)
Sándor Róth (viola)
Imre Hartman (cello)
Olga Loeser-Lebert (piano)
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LÉNER QUARTET Debussy, Ravel & Franck (1923-33)
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VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Sinfonia antartica (Symphony No. 7)
Symphony No. 8
Studio recordings, 1953 & 1956
Total duration: 73:42
Margaret Ritchie, soprano
John Gielgud, speaker
London Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
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BOULT Vaughan Williams Symphonies Volume 4: Symphonies 7 & 8 (1953/56)
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HAYDN Symphony No. 100 'Military'
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4
R. STRAUSS Dance of the Seven Veils
Studio broadcast recording, 1937
Total duration: 75:55
NBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Artur Rodziński
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RODZIŃSKI at the NBC Vol. 3: Haydn, Brahms & Richard Strauss (1937)
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Pristine Streaming - the app
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Android
You can now install Pristine Streaming on your Android phone or tablet, or other Android device direct from the Google Play Store.
If you're already a subscriber simply log in and start listening. If you're new to our streaming service enjoy ten free tracks first to try it out.
You can listen on your device's speakers, on headphones, stream via Bluetooth or Chromecast, in FLAC or MP3 quality, with all our recordings available wherever you are.
You'll find the app by searching for Pristine Classical at the Google store or by clicking here.
iOS
Following failed efforts to get approval for our app from Apple this project is currently on hold. We hope to resurrect it later this year.
Andrew
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MARKING STOKOWSKI'S 45TH ANNIVERSARY
15% off all of our Stokowski!
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This week we mark the 45th anniversary later this week of the death of Leopold Stokowski.
"Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appearance in the Disney film Fantasia with that orchestra. He was especially noted for his free-hand conducting style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from the orchestras he directed.
Stokowski was music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony of the Air and many others. He was also the founder of the All-American Youth Orchestra, the New York City Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra.
Stokowski conducted the music for and appeared in several Hollywood films, most notably Disney's Fantasia, and was a lifelong champion of contemporary composers, giving many premieres of new music during his 60-year conducting career. Stokowski, who made his official conducting debut in 1909, appeared in public for the last time in 1975 but continued making recordings until June 1977, a few months before his death at the age of 95." - Wikipedia
For the next week there is an automatic 15% discount on all our recordings featuring Stokowski, of which there are 54 to choose from, listed here.
Make sure you see it applied before proceeding to final payment as we cannot apply any discounts retrospectively. Happy listening!
Offer runs until our nest newsletter is sent out.
Pristine's Stokowski selection:
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RACHMANINOV plays Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 1-4, Paganini Rhapsody (1929-41)
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STOKOWSKI Acoustic, Volume 4 (1919-24)
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STOKOWSKI Bach-Stokowski Symphonic Transcriptions (1941-44)
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STOKOWSKI conducts Beethoven & Wagner (1942/3)
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STOKOWSKI conducts French Music: Debussy, Milhaud, Ravel (1943/44)
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STOKOWSKI in Philadelphia, 17 December 1962
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STOKOWSKI Puccini: Turandot (1961)
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STOKOWSKI Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 'Leningrad' (1942)
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BRAHMS Horn Trio
BRAHMS String Quartet No. 1
BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 1
BRAHMS Clarinet Quintet
Studio and live recordings, 1933-1951
Total duration: 1hr 59:03
Adolf Busch, violin
Aubrey Brain, horn
Rudolf Serkin, piano
Reginald Kell, clarinet
Busch String Quartet
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ADOLF BUSCH and friends play Brahms (1933-1951)
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Available as a limited-edition Digipack 2-CD release
(+ all download formats & slip-enveloped, unboxed CDs)
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Although Adolf Busch was too young to know Johannes Brahms personally, he interacted with many people from the composer’s circle of friends. His violin teachers at the Cologne Conservatory, Willy Hess and Bram Eldering, had known Brahms: Hess had been among Joseph Joachim’s favourite pupils and Eldering, though a pupil of Jenő Hubay, had also come under Joachim’s sway. He turned the pages when the composer and Joachim gave a performance of the D minor Violin Sonata, Op. 108; he played all three Violin Sonatas in private with the composer; and as violist of the Hubay Quartet he took part in concerts with Brahms at the piano. He also heard Joachim play much of the repertoire. Small wonder that Busch’s interpretation of the G major Violin Sonata has such a feeling of authenticity, and we are fortunate to have this live performance from his prime, played by heart by both him and Rudolf Serkin.
In 1906 the 14-year-old Busch heard the dedicatee of the Clarinet Quintet, Richard Mühlfeld, perform it with the Gürzenich Quartet led by Eldering; and in approaching this work he could also draw on Eldering’s experience of touring with Mühlfeld. The British critic David Cairns considers the Busch Quartet’s 1937 recording with Reginald Kell to be the best recording of anything ever made, but the performance here comes from a decade later, when Busch was helping Kell to establish himself in America. Two aspects may be noted: Brahms sanctioned Mühlfeld’s treatment of the opening bars as a slow introduction, only gradually coming up to tempo; and Kell’s use of vibrato is thoroughly authentic, as Mühlfeld employed a great deal of vibrato.
It was in 1910 that Busch first played the Horn Trio, with brother Fritz at the piano and Fritz Michael on horn. He had been alerted to the work’s beauties by Brahms’s friend Dr Gustav Ophüls and had borrowed the parts from him. Although he gave only a handful of performances during his long career, they were always with fine hornists such as Karl Stiegler in Vienna. When HMV proposed a recording for Brahms’s centenary in 1933, he and Serkin were willing, but dubious about Aubrey Brain until reassured by Fred Gaisberg. When they met Brain in May, they quickly realised what a superb player and musician he was, but to save his precious lips, they made only a single take of some sides. As luck would have it, one of those unique takes was damaged at the factory, so the centenary was missed and they met again in November for a ‘make-up’ session. However, Serkin was now playing Steinways rather than Bechsteins, for political reasons, and Brain had run over his horn in his car, so they did a complete remake which has consistently been hailed as the greatest performance on record.
Looking through a large box of test pressings in the basement of Busch’s widow’s house in Basel, this writer found all the surviving takes from May 1933. We can thus hear Brain playing his own instrument, a Labbaye hand-horn from the same year as the Trio, 1865, but fitted with English valves (for the November remake he used a Raoux – fortunately the Labbaye proved repairable). As Side 5 has had to be taken from the November remake, sharp-eared listeners can compare the different horns and pianos.
The C minor Quartet needs no comment except to point out that the German Radio tape captures Herman Busch’s cello particularly well.
TULLY POTTER
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Rudolf Serkin & Adolf Busch, 1940
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STAFFORD SMITH The Star-Spangled Banner
BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 1
SCHUBERT Rondo Brillant
BUSCH Violin Sonata No. 2
Live recordings, 1944-48
Total duration: 67:45
Adolf Busch, violin
Rudolf Serkin, piano
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BUSCH & SERKIN at the Library of Congress - Brahms, Busch, Schubert (1944-48)
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Available as a limited-edition Digipack CD release
(+ all download formats & slip-enveloped, unboxed CD)
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Three first ever releases feature in the Busch-Serkin duo’s
Library of Congress recordings
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We’re very fortunate that so much material has survived from the many concerts that took place in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress, Washington DC. Here is another example of the perspicacity of those who ensured that concerts were recorded: Busch and Serkin in fine form over a four-year period of three concerts.
This seems to be the only surviving version of a piece they must have played many times - The Star-Spangled Banner in Adolf Busch’s own arrangement. It’s followed by something else performed at that 7 October 1944 concert, Brahms’ Violin Sonata No 1. They made a famous HMV set of this in 1931 but APR has also issued a BBC broadcast of 1936, preserved on acetates, that is impressive. Busch and Serkin invariably located the masculine directness of the music, allowing it to flow unimpeded with a strength that ensured that Busch’s ‘room to breathe’ rubato could be experienced to best effect. There is some damage at the start of the Adagio but the depth of expression generated is compelling. We can hear Busch tuning up before the finale which is also remarkably fine – one squeaky note apart. This Washington performance is much better sonically speaking than the earlier BBC version and has been enhanced by XR though it’s as well to note the significance of APR’s release, which is also a must for admirers of the great duo.
This is also the première appearance of Schubert’s Rondo brillant in this January 1948 performance. The duo played Schubert as well as anyone at the time and an earlier 1943 performance of this has survived, also recorded at the Library of Congress. This 1948 version is, if anything, livelier still though I personally find the XR piano boost excessive.
Busch’s own Second Sonata concludes the disc and was recorded in December 1946. This was the work’s premiere performance and it’s been released on Music and Arts ( review), a 4-CD box that also contains the Schubert noted above. As I wrote on its appearance in that box it’s ‘Post-Regerian in orientation, has taken Brahmsian elements too, but what one most takes from it is its melodic distinction. The lively and frolicsome scherzo is a delight, and Busch has the confidence, like Brahms, to end his sonata quietly.’ This XR restoration brings the sound forward appreciably.
The one-page note is by Jürgen Schaarwächter of the BuschBrothersArchive at the Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe and lays out the facts succinctly. With three of the four works being first ever releases Busch and Serkin adherents will not waste much time in hearing these consistently elevated and wholly idiomatic recordings.
Jonathan Woolf
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DEBUSSY Violin Sonata
R. STRAUSS Violin Sonata
SUK Four Pieces
RAVEL Vocalise-étude en forme de Habanera
RAVEL Tzigane
FALLA Danse Espagnole
SCĂRLĂTESCU Bagatelle
Studio recordings, 1939-1948
Total duration: 78:54
Ginette Neveu, violin
Jean Neveu, piano
Gustaf Beck, piano
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NEVEU Sonatas & more: Debussy, R. Strauss, Suk, Ravel et al (1939-1948)
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Available as a limited-edition Digipack CD release
(+ all download formats & slip-enveloped, unboxed CD)
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Essential for anyone who cares about violin playing,
and merits inclusion in Fanfare’s Classical Hall of Fame
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The French violinist Ginette Neveu was well on her way to stardom when she was killed in a plane crash at the age of 30 in 1949. Her brother Jean, her accompanist in everything but the Strauss Sonata here, was also killed in the crash. The extraordinary level of Neveu’s talent was recognized as early as 1935 when, at the age of 15, she placed first in the Wieniawski Competition in Warsaw. She beat out Henri Temianka, Ida Haendel, and David Oistrakh. When you listen to her slim recorded legacy, you understand the reason for her early success. Her technical ability is supreme, but it serves as nothing more than the foundation for a truly extraordinary musical personality. In some ways Neveu was a throwback to an era that was comfortable with individuality.
The best example of her individuality in this collection of solo works with piano is the Debussy Violin Sonata. Rather than taking the soft-grained approach that fits the traditional view of Impressionism, Neveu plays the work with more overt expression, sharper angularity, and greater dynamic variety. Her approach works because of her complete mastery of the instrument and the deep conviction of her playing.
The Strauss Sonata is the one work on the disc where Jean Neveu is not the accompanist, and it is also the earliest recording here, dating from 1939. Neveu’s playing is impetuous and extremely free, and pianist Gustaf Beck is not always able to keep up. Strauss was 23 when he composed his Violin Sonata, and Neveu was 20 when she recorded it. Both the composition and the performance have the passion and urgency of youth. Neveu’s technical command is already clear from her firm tone and subtle dynamic shading.
The remainder of the disc consists of violin showpieces, and the playing is both beautiful and thrilling. The last of Josef Suk’s Four Pieces, op 17, “Burleska,” is a brilliant example of the force of Neveu’s personality and her supreme bow control. The Bagatelle by the Romanian composer Ioan Scărlătescu may sound like second-rate Enescu, but it is enormous fun when played with the sly winking and sparkling rhythm provided by Neveu.
The concluding showpiece, Ravel’s Tzigane, makes crystal clear the depth of our loss with Neveu’s death. The work has been recorded by just about every important violinist, either in the violin-and-piano version or the orchestral one. Neveu’s account would have to occupy a very high place on any violin lover’s list of the greatest ones. Her virtuosity is stunning. The sensuality of the opening section is ravishing, and in every bar we are in the presence of a musician who knows how to push interpretive boundaries to their limit but not beyond. In addition, brother Jean keeps up with Ginette every step of the way, adding to the performance’s astonishing flair.
Pristine’s XR Ambient Stereo remastering brings out the beauty of these recordings in a way that no previous edition has in my experience. The program notes reproduce a lovely tribute to Neveu by Walter Legge that appeared in the December 1949 issue of The Gramophone. In every way this disc is essential for anyone who cares about violin playing, and merits inclusion in Fanfare’s Classical Hall of Fame.
Henry Fogel
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Andrew Rose | Pristine Classical | www.pristineclassical.com
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