ERICH KLEIBER: THE COMPLETE POLYDOR 78S (3 CDS)

Collected for the first time Erich Kleibers rare recordings with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker made for Polydor/Grammophon and newly remastered for this release.
Erich Kleibers appointment to the musical directorship of the Staatsoper Berlin in 1923 proved to be the making of his career. Hired on the strength of a single Fidelio, he thrilled audiences and critics with performances of unparalleled vigour and intensity. He soon began recording for the short-lived Vox company (not to be confused with the later US label) but in 1926 he agreed a contract with the Grammophon label, building on his regular season of orchestral concerts which were interspersed with opera performances.

Here, newly remastered by Mark Obert-Thorn and issued complete for the first time in any format, is that Grammophon legacy of Kleibers Berlin years with both the Staatskapelle and the celebrated Berliner Philharmoniker. Beginning modestly enough with four of Mozarts German dances to fill two sides of a 78rpm record the scope of the sessions expanded to take in complete symphonies by Beethoven (No. 2), Schubert (No. 8 Unfinished) and Dvok (No. 9 From the New World) alongside much popular repertoire such as the incidental music to Rosamunde and A Midsummer Nights Dream and the overtures to William Tell and Die Fledermaus.

Many of these recordings were not marketed or reviewed abroad despite their artistic excellence, but Kleibers 1928 account of Vltava from M vlast soon gained classic status. No wonder, now, when listening again to the moonlit interlude and Kleibers gently flowing pulse, his superb balancing of parts which transcends the limitations of the technology and makes a nonsense of his apparent reluctance to record. Alternative versions of Vltava, as well as the second take of a side from the New World Symphony which became Kleibers final Grammophon album (recorded in May and August 1929) are also presented. Alan Sanders provides an extensive note, and Mark Obert-Thorn provides a background to the sources for these recordings.

As a Musical Times critic noted in 1929, Kleiber has a marked predilection for spirited, graceful, charming, and vivid music. These Grammophon records bring out the very best in him, and his gifts as a superb orchestral trainer may readily be appreciated despite the age of the recordings. The best possible sources have been unearthed, and the set is an unmissable contribution to the discography of one of the last centurys great, but sometimes overlooked, maestros.

CD 1 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (17561791)
1 Idomeneo Overture, KV 366
Berliner Philharmoniker
211 German Dances Staatskapelle Berlin Berliner Philharmoniker
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (17701827)
1215 Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36*
Staatskapelle Berlin

FRANZ SCHUBERT (17971828)Rosamunde Incidental Music, D.797
16 No. 5: Entracte No. 3 in B flat major*
17 No. 9: Ballet Music in G major*
Staatskapelle Berlin

CD 2
FRANZ SCHUBERT (17971828)
12 Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D.759 Unfinished*
Berliner Philharmoniker

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (18091847)
35 Ein Sommernachtstraum Incidental Music, Op. 61 (excerpts)*
Berliner Philharmoniker

GIOACHINO ROSSINI (17921868)
6 Guillaume Tell Overture*
Staatskapelle BerlinHECTOR BERLIOZ (18031869)
7 Le Carnaval romain Overture, Op. 9* Staatskapelle Berlin

OTTO NICOLAI (18101849)
8 Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor Overture*
Staatskapelle Berlin

CD 3
JOHANN STRAUSS II (18251899)
1 Die Fledermaus Overture*
Staatskapelle Berlin

BEDICH SMETANA (18241884)
M vlast*
2 No. 2: Vltava 1927 recording
3 No. 2: Vltava 1928 recording
Staatskapelle Berlin

ANTONN DVOK (18411904)
47 Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 From the New World
8 III Molto vivace original take of second side*
9 Slavonic Dance in C major, Op. 46 No. 1
Staatskapelle Berlin

ERICH KLEIBER