06 July 2014

Szell, Ormandy, Böhm and Maag Conduct Mozart and Haydn

Two early LPs for you today showing mid-20th century approaches to Mozart and Haydn from leading conductors and orchestras.

Ormandy attempts to poke a cellist in the eye
The Columbia album has an April 1947 edition of Mozart's Symphony No. 39 from the Cleveland Orchestra, early in George Szell's tenure with that ensemble.

It is backed by a recording of Haydn's Symphony No. 88 set down by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy in December of the same year.

Also on offer is a London LP with two additional Mozart symphonies. First is No. 36 with Karl Böhm leading the Vienna Philharmonic. I enjoyed this rendition, which is from September 1950, but Lionel Salter in The Gramophone certainly did not, as you will see in an appended review.

Young Peter Maag
The other side of the LP has the Suisse Romande Orchestra under Peter Maag performing Symphony No. 29, in what was the Swiss conductor's first recording - at least the first to have been released. The taping is from October 1950. I believe this was during a time when Maag was Ernst Ansermet's assistant in Geneva.


8 comments:

JAC said...

This is great. I'm interested in all 4 conductors, in different ways, and this is the sort of early-LP meat-and-potatoes release that doesn't get much attention now. I even love seeing that early "London ffrr" cover -- it brings it all back.

Muff Diver said...



Thanks Buster!

Satyr said...

Thanks! Glad to hear these conductors on those beautiful Columbia and London records.

Anonymous said...

Here is my own personal favorite Peter Maag recording (a bit hard to admit, since the music is so evanescent compared to his numerous LPs of truly great compositions; but so be it!): the late-fifties Decca/London FFSS recording, by the Paris Conservatory Orchestra under Maag, in razor-sharp and nuanced performances of Leo Delibes' "La Source" ballet suite, and the orchestral ballet score version of Chopin piano pieces, "Les Sylphides" (Glazunov's transcription.) I transferred my own mint copy of CS-6026, recorded (per Decca's session sheets) in July 1957: one of the very earliest stereo LPs issued by the company, though they initially commenced stereo taping in 1954. Superb sound! For once, I had easy access to my own lossless achived files, so I'm not sending compromised mp3s!

https://www102.zippyshare.com/v/fHrNNzOV/file.html

(222 MB, FLACs, plus cover image & discog. info)

File expires in 30 days, per Zippyshare rules: sorry.

8H Haggis

Buster said...

Thanks for the Maag - I am sure I have this record and I remember the sound fondly.

Buster said...

Excellent transfer. I've never been fond of the Chopin arrangements, but Maag makes them palatable.

bombrock said...

hello buster,could you please reupload Mozart - Symphony No. 39; Haydn - Symphony No. 88 (Szell and Ormandy),thank you

Buster said...

New links (Apple lossless) -

Mozart - Symphonies No. 29 and 36 (Maag and Böhm):

https://mega.co.nz/#!rQFBiTDC!O2jZyTeKU3S0Qo8eSF_7a0zpbWlezYrojXe9NweifYA

Mozart - Symphony No. 39; Haydn - Symphony No. 88 (Szell and Ormandy):

https://mega.nz/#!OJt12IIZ!B4kqRkD0z0Cd9IDjiTkEjna8O8NNobtnsnPFRqfey74