Schubert and Schumann with Leonard Shure and John Barrows

An interesting find, this VOX lp from the late 40's. Catalog number VL6050 features Leonard Shure performing Schubert's  Moments Musicaux along with Schumann's Andante and Variations highlighting duo pianists Appleton & Field, Ralph Oxman and Bebe Sarser on cello, and John Barrows as the horn soloist.

I really, really enjoyed Shure's marvelous take on the Moments Musicaux. His keyboard touch and sense of phrasing are ideal and the results are effervescent. What a wonderful artist he was! Also, nice to hear the fine horning John Barrows too in this not often heard Schumann work.


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The Curtis Quartet performs Schumann's Op 41 Nos. 1 & 3

This post is specifically for my admirable colleague Squirrel of  "Squirrel's Nest." You all know Squirrel is the absolute king and connoisseur of chamber music and I, for one, am most grateful for his terrific posts, often introducing me to artists that I only might have heard of or even NEVER heard of. One such group that I came to admire through Squirrel is the Curtis Quartet whose members were: Jascha Brodsky - 1st Violin, Louis Berman - 2nd Violin, Max Aronoff - Viola, and  Orlando Cole - Cello. Here is an absolute splendid album by this group - Schumann's  Op. 41, Nos. 1 & 3. 

These quartets were conceived quickly and were written while Schumann was inspired by ,after close study,  the quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and Schumann. I must say that I find Schumann a singularly fascinating character. He could go weeks, months even, without any real compositional activity of note and then bam! in a flash of inpiration and white heat, turn out pages and pages of excellent music. Often Schumann found his muse when he was very high with excitement or, low in despair. Incredible. The works here are delights in that they contain stylistic hints ranging from Bach through Schubert but in the end, they are very much works of high romanticism.

In the good old days, there were many quartets playing the US, often associated with the preeminent music schools and universities. The Curtis Quartet is certainly of that ilk and they had a long, probably 30 year association with the Curtis School. Interestingly, the group started their existence as the "Swastika Quartet"...I kid you not! When Hitler came to power in  Europe, Mary Louise Curtis gave the quartet permission to formally incorporate Curtis into their name. Prior to the war, The Curtis Quartet was  the foremost American born and bred ensemble of its kind and for many, it was a near household name. After the war, as the members took on other teaching and playing responsibilities, concerts and touring became less though the nucleus of the group was together through the 1970's. Among the most famous works written for the Curtis was Barber's masterpiece, his Op 11 which contains the famous "Adagio."

This Westminster issue, WL 5166, dates from 1952. If only the Curtis had recorded Number 2!

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Luboshutz and Nemenoff perform Brahms, Schumann and More

A wonderful rescue from the trash heap here. Though the cover slipcase was waterlogged and ruined, this Camden reissue cleaned up quite nicely (once I removed pieces of cardboard that had adhered to the vinyl). The husband and wife piano duo of Pierre Luboshutz and Genia Nemenoff play Brahms, Saint Saens, Schumann and Mendelssohn.

I never tire of the Brahms' Haydn Variations in any shape or form and it was good to make the acquaintance of this record. Luboshutz and Nemenoff play in a very direct, almost willful way, but what is most stunning is the unity of interpretation. If there is a definition of harmony in marriage, I would say this performance is the musical equivalent. Listen and you will swear that this is one artist and not two, it is that cohesive. This is unsentimental playing, hardly heart on the sleeve, and the artists let the music speak for itself. I was surprised that there is little reflection at the end of each variation, one seems to march into another almost in a brusque way, though it is not to the point of annoyance or is it damaging to the structure of the piece. Again, I want to stress the unity of the presentation is what sells me here.

Very much the same approach holds forth in the Beethoven Variations of Saint Saens, the Allegro Brilliant of Mendelssohn and the Schumann Andante and Variations. The Saint Saens, in particular, is tossed off in a brilliant tour de force - it is simply a delight and reminder of what a creative, and at at his best, inspired composer Saint Saens indeed was.

I've mentioned before that I have come to really enjoy the two hand and two piano art form especially when the artists subordinate their solo will to the fine art of collaborative dialogue. Luboshutz and Nemenoff are the benchmark in this regard.

I believe that the recordings are all mid to late 40's, Camden provides no information.

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A Josef Lhevinne recital

Above is the Camden release cover to my Victrola reissue. This is a recital by the great Russian-American pianist, Josef Lhevinne. These recordings date between 1928 and 1935 and capture the pianist during his final decade on God's Green Earth.

Josef Lhevinne was a genius. Regarded as maybe the greatest technical player of his day, he is above known for his devotion to teaching  at his beloved Juilliard where he, and his equally talented wife Rosina, built the greatest program for aspiring pianists during the 20th century. To his students and contemporaries he represented the pinnacle of taste, craftsmanship, and technical proficiency.

The performances on this record of Chopin, Schumann, Debussy and Johann Strauss are beautifully rendered  with the highest level of musical excellence. Lhevinne has not only the highest regard for the written note but his presentation is set forth with respect, humility and responsibility. You can hear this being conveyed through his ten fingers onto the eighty eight keys. This is a must hear experience. I especially want to call attention to the Debussy which pairs Josef and Rosina in the real definition of marital bliss!

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Emanuel Bay in Recital

I picked this Tops LP up yesterday at the local Goodwill store. I immediately recognized that I had something special so I transferred the forty odd minutes, ran it through ClickRepair twice and crossed my fingers, hoping, rather praying, that this scratchy old thing would yield magic. And.......

....One magnificent recital by one of the most underated and unassuming artists of the 20th century. Recorded in 1957, though mono, it captures Bay at the right time, a 60+ year old man with mature insight, commanding technique and above all superb musicianship. It is no small wonder that Heifetz found such great satisfaction with Bay as a recital partner and collaborator.

I'm done "talking." Please listen, you'll be better for it! If Traumerei doesn't get to you....

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Simon Barere "Farewell" Recital from Carnegie Hall

Here is a special and rather unique find performed by a truly gifted artist. Simon Barere was coming into his own when fate struck him down at age 54. Born and raised in Russia, a pupil of Glazunov and Blumenfeld, Barere's career was in part hampered by developments in Soviet Russia and the tumult of the war years. As the 1950's dawned, a promising future held forth for this somewhat reserved, serious, and modest artist.

Barere was quite a coup for the new Remington label and its ambitious founder Don Gabor. The latter had snagged the talented Edward Kilyeni and the pianist Kilyeni had a friendship with Barere which lead to a recording contract with Remington. A number of discs were made, both live and in the studio, and this one from Carmegie Hall (199-141) was billed as the "Farewell Recital." The disc features brilliant performances of music by Schumann, Balakirev, Liszt, Blumenfeld, and Rachmaninoff. I will point out that the highlight of this disc is the stunning, quite idiomatic, traversal of Liszt's Rhapsodie Espagnole.

As my friend Buster at Big Ten Inch has pointed out, the Remington pressings are quite a challenge to deal with. However, this particular record was very clean and the results are good. I have another Remington with Alexander Jenner playing a wonderful Moonlight Sonata but there are defects that mar the first movement terribly. Oh well...

Enjoy the artistry of Simon Barere, a man of incomparable stature at the keyboard.

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Beethoven's Music to Egmont with Eduoard van Remoortel

I've long enjoyed Beethoven's music to the drama/play Egmont ever since I first heard a radio broadcast from Minnesota led by Neville Marriner, some, gosh, thirty years ago. We all know the wonderful, highly charged overture but the other numbers of the incidental score contain small gems and ideas that Beethoven would incorporate into such mega scores as the 9th symphony years years into the future. Beethoven was quite adept at "rehearsing" new thoughts before employing them full blown into the scores that would enshrine his name forever.

This Egmont, and the accompanying original version of Schumann' 4th symphony are led by Dutch conductor Eduoard van Remoortel. Previously, I had posted the conductor's take on Prokofiev with the St Louis SO where Remoortel served as a short term successor to Vladimir Golschmann's long, and I'd say, brilliant tenure of a quarter century. Remoortel was a highly regarded young maestro but he lacked tact and patience so by the time he left St Louis, he had pretty much done irreparable damage to a career that should have moved in the direction of his countryman Bernard Haitink's. Remoortel would spend his remaining years in Europe conducting mostly radio orchestras and releasing lps on smaller, less prestigious labels like Vox. Kind of sad given that the man had strong, authoritative conceptions that, when put into practice under favorable conditions, yielded very positive results, like the Schumann and Beethoven that we have here.

Both these recordings date from the 1960's though the Schumann is in mono. The orchestra is the SWR Orchestra Baden-Baden. At the time, the orchestra was a decidedly secord tier band; only during the long tenure of Michael Gielen would it begin to approach a world class designation. FLACs. Enjoy!

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George Szell conducts Schumann and Beethoven from Cleveland & New York

I was most fortunate to acquire this week two extremely well preserved lps of George Szell conducting in Cleveland  (1952) and New York (1954ish I think). Here they are and, for the first time, I am trying ClickRepair in its trial edition.

Szell is rather interesting character in my book. An incredibly gifted musician (many do not realize that he was a piano prodigy and composer), he was also a difficult, rather mean spirited man, who sought only to promote his ambitions, often at the expense of weaker and sometimes less talented musicians. Given what I have read, it seems that no really liked Szell but his willful personality manipulated and cajoled those around him into doing his bidding. At its very best, the results of the Szell way was unparalleled excitement coupled with breathtaking musical virtuosity and execution.

The Schumann from Cleveland is Szell's first take on the work with this orchestra. Those that know his celebrated cycle from the late 50's, early 60's may not recognize this as being from the same conductor,or orchestra for that matter! This is highly driven performance from an orchestra that is not quite the precise ensemble it would become within the next 8 to 10 years of this recording. Without a doubt, Szell blows off whatever cobwebs his predecessors laid on the work and he presents a blazing account of a rather wonderful score. I have never heard a Schumann 2nd that moves like a great performance of a Beethoven symphony..but this one does!

Beethoven's Pastorale from New York is noticably more restrained than the Schumann but features more secure playing and a warmer touch. Like Szell's later Cleveland account, this is a good reading but the maestro's temperament is somewhat at odds with the general flavor of the score. I've always thought that a more genial Walter way or, expansive Stokowski vision, works best in this colorful music. Szell doesn't strike me as a man who had much to do with nature...could you imagine him fly fishing? Whatever the final verdict, Szell does deliver Beethoven with an overall faithful approach to the score. Surprisingly, I hear portamento from the strings and THAT was a bit of a surprise....maybe Szell was indeed relaxing a bit!?

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