Nutcrackers with Van Kempen and Lehmann

The Pacific Northwest Ballet production

For those of us who can never have too many Nutcracker Suites, here are two from leading mid-century conductors, Paul van Kempen and Fritz Lehmann.

Both maestros chose the suite as constructed by Tchaikovsky himself, designated as Op. 71a. It includes the Miniature Overture, the March, the Dance of the Super-Plum Fairy, the Russian, Arabian and Chinese Dances, the Dance of the Reed Flutes and the Waltz of the Flowers. 

Also on this blog, Op. 71a can be found as performed by the Chicago Symphony and Frederick Stock and the Royal Philharmonic and Sir Thomas Beecham. (The latter is newly remastered.) Finally, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops came up with a different and equally delightful Nutcracker Suite No. 2 in 1949, available here.

More about the Van Kempen and Lehmann recordings below.

Paul van Kempen and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra

Paul van Kempen

The Dutch conductor Paul van Kempen (1893-1955) spent most of his career working in Germany, a fact that made him less than popular when he returned to the Netherlands for conducting engagements after the war. He was the principal conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra from 1934-42, making this set for Deutsche Grammophon in 1939.

Despite being the second-ranked orchestra in its home city (the best known is the Staatskapelle Dresden), the Philharmonic did well here, as did DG's sound engineers. I would only question the leaden tempo for the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

This transfer comes from what I believe is a postwar pressing on DG's main label; the original issue was on its Polydor imprint.

Fritz Lehmann and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra

Fritz Lehmann

Fritz Lehmann (1904-56) was another busy conductor who died too young. An enthusiast of Baroque music and early advocate of period performance practices, much of his recorded legacy is from the classical and Romantic periods. DG kept him busy but he also recorded for other labels.

This Nutcracker Suite comes from a July 1951 DG session with the Munich Philharmonic. As with the Dresden Philharmonic, the Munich ensemble may be the second-best known orchestra in its home city. The Bavarian State Radio Orchestra perhaps has a higher profile internationally.

EP cover

Like Van Kempen, Lehmann was a highly skilled conductor whose performance with the excellent Munich orchestra will give much pleasure.

This transfer is from the original 78s; DG also issued the set on EPs and LPs with a variety of colorful covers that you can view in the download. One is at right.

Both of these sets were recent addition to the lossless files that can be found on Internet Archive. As always, I've cleaned them up for presentation here.