Wagner as a Young Man: Symphony in C and Polonia Overture

I dug out another rather interesting one from my basement: a very good copy of the album above, issued on Urania and billed as stereo though I have my doubts if it is "authentic" stereo.

During the 50's and 60's Urania issued quite a few recordings dedicated to obscure or little played compositions by well known masters and not so well known ones. This particular lp features two of Wagner's earliest works, the Symphony in C and Polonia Overture. Let me say this: if you love the Wagner of the Ring Cycle, there is little here to identify the composer with his much greater, and musically advanced later works. These two compositions are very much indebted to Spohr, Mendelssohn and Schumann and were written to gain the attention of these composers. However, the story goes that Wagner sent along the score to his symphony to Mendelssohn and the latter either lost it or threw it away. Wagner must have thought high enough of the work because in old age he had it performed for his beloved Cosima.

Ok, both of these works deserve the occasional listen for if anything, they illustrate how Wagner grew so very much as a composer. Performances here by two East German radio orchestras are fine, though hardly the last word. In order to fill out a cd, I've included  the Ride of the Valkyries and Siegfried Idyll, from another Urania disc, conducted by the uber-kapellmeister Franz Konwitschny. The Siegfried Idyll is especially well done and if there is interest,  I can transfer the balance of the two lp's that Konwitschny made of highlights from the Ring. Sound is good and its all quite idiomatic.

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Prokofiev conducted by Eduard van Remoortel and the St Louis SO

Here's what appears to be a rather rare find - Eduard van Remoortel conducting the St Louis Symphony Orchestra in Prokofiev's Suite from the Love for Three Oranges and the Scythian Suite on Columbia.

Many of you might know Remoortel from his series of recordings for VOX made mostly in Bamberg and Vienna during the 50's and 60's. I recall a rather fine Grieg disc as well as a convincing Beethoven 7 from London. Anyway, Remoortel had a rather brief and painful stay in the States as music director of the St Louis SO during the late 50's and early 60's. Following the long, and well regarded tenure of Vladimir Golschmann and, being a very young man (not yet in his mid 30's), didn't help the situation. On top of that Remoortel was apparently unhappy with many musicians and he tried to fire a good number though with mixed results. Bottom line, on paper  a failed effort and Remoortel would not hold another significant American appointment, guesting in Europe instead until his early death around the age of 50 in 1977.

Well...its not ALL negative! This is a fine recording by a very good, second tier orchestra. Golschmann had excelled in this repertoire and the STLSO was well prepared for these recordings. Remoortel's efforts are solid and I think this is a fine testament to his musicianship. To fill out  a cd, I've included Golschmann conducting Chout of a  few years earlier, that  being a Capitol record. Enjoy!

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Bulgarian Classics - works of Stainov, Ikonomov, Atanassov and Hadjiev

During the mid 90's, I lived in Bulgaria and worked in the Peace Corps mission there. During that time, I immersed myself in Bulgarian culture especially,  the rich musical traditions of this wonderful country.

In  the capital Sofia, the Union of Bulgarian Composers had a retail store and I must've purchased 30 LP's that state recording company Balkanton had produced in cooperation with the UBC. During the socialist years, UBC members were virtually guaranteed performances and recordings if they produced a body of work deemed acceptable by the State. That said, some works on these recordings are admittedly banal while others are genuine achievements and they really need to be heard by a wider audience.

I've chosen works by four composers and these compositions date from the first half of the 20th century.
Petko Stainov - Thracian Dances; Boyan Ikonomov - Pastorale & Shar Mountain; Parashkev Hadjiev - Violin Concerto and  Georgi Atanassov's First Symphony. The last entry is of special importance since it is billed as the first symphony ever by a Bulgarian composer.

In all of these works, you will hear echoes of Richard Strauss, Debussy,  and Prokofiev. The Atanassov symphony itself, is  a fine candidate for a modern performance; maybe a company like CPO can explore it? I hope that you, the listener, will find my program enjoyable. I picked and chose diverse works, from three different records, which add up to a very generously filled cd. The recordings all feature the UBC logo, as seen above, on the cover. No details are given on recording dates but I would venture to guess between 1970 and 1980 since all are stereo but not digital.

Enjoy!

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