Walter and Serkin with the NY Philharmonic, 1948

I seldom if ever post live performances, but in this case I had an opportunity to remaster the sound of a notable 1948 concert for a friend, and he kindly consented to letting me post it here.

The concert features two of the greatest 20th century musicians, conductor Bruno Walter and pianist Rudolf Serkin, in music by Beethoven, Weber and the contemporary composer Douglas Moore.

The program derives from a broadcast of the Sunday, February 22, 1948 concert of the New York Philharmonic from Carnegie Hall, captured on transcription discs for re-transmission in Latin America, including some brief announcements in Spanish. The discs were not in great shape, but the sound as remastered is very good.

This concert was during a two-year period when Walter was the "music adviser" to the Philharmonic, having declined an opportunity to become its music director in succession to Artur Rodziński, who in 1947 had moved on to a short-lived residency in Chicago.

The broadcast begins with the overture to Weber's opera Euryanthe, which may be the second most played orchestral piece by that composer, following the overture to Der Freischütz (or perhaps the Weber-Berlioz Invitation to the Dance). The Walter-NYP performance is solidly in the German Romantic tradition. Walter never conducted a commercial recording of the Euryanthe overture; his only such venture into Weber's music was the Freischütz overture with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra in 1938.

Douglas Moore

The second piece on the program is one of the best known orchestral works by contemporary composer Douglas Moore, his Symphony No. 2 in A major. It was then a new composition, having been premiered less than two years earlier. In the program notes, Moore explained that the piece was "an attempt to write in clear, modified, objective classical style, with emphasis on rhythmic and melodic momentum rather than sharply contrasted themes or dramatic climax."

It's a beautiful work, given a polished performance that outclasses the scrappy Vienna Symphony recording that appeared on this blog years ago. That was the first recording; it since has enjoyed two or three more commercial productions.

Moore dedicated the symphony to the memory of poet Stephen Vincent Benét, the librettist of his one-act opera The Devil and Daniel Webster, which is based on a Benét short story. I should transfer my LP of the opera.

The recorded program concludes with Serkin as the soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5. The pianist, conductor and orchestra were of one mind about the concerto, having recorded it together in 1941. That was Serkin's first recording of the piece; he went on to editions with Ormandy and Bernstein. Walter had done it for records in 1934 with Walter Gieseking and the Vienna Philharmonic; he did not return to the work in the recording studio.

Rudolf Serkin in 1944

Serkin had the gift of being able to be both propulsive and contemplative, which this concerto demands. The first and third movements press ahead, while the Adagio is serene, with Serkin in spell-binding form. Despite the grand title "Emperor" (not bestowed by Beethoven), this concerto is not generally considered Beethoven's best, but Serkin and Walter (and the excellent orchestra) make the most of it.

This Sunday afternoon concert was presented on a live broadcast, which unfortunately did not encompass the concluding item on agenda, Smetana's Vltava. A shame, but the concerto certainly makes a satisfying close.

The download includes a New York Times review of the previous Thursday's concert, which included the Moore and Beethoven works.

Bruno Walter has appeared here in Beethoven's 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th symphonies with the New York Philharmonic, Rudolf Serkin in the Brahms piano concertos. 

Bruno Walter by Eugen Spiro, 1943

More Beethoven from Walter, Plus Reups

The title of this blog says something about 10-inch records, so I guess it is about time I got around to posting an example of that species. This one is not just any 10-incher, but the first classical LP of that size, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, as performed by Bruno Walter and the Philharmonic-Symphony of New York.

From a 1943 ad

Walter also had the honor of conducting the first classical LP of any type, the Mendelssohn violin concerto with Nathan Milstein, a 12-incher issued as ML 4001. The Beethoven symphony had the lowest number assigned to 10-inch classics, ML 2001.

While those two LPs were new in 1948, the recordings were not. The Mendelssohn was a transfer of a 1945 78 set, the second of Milstein’s five recordings of the concerto. (The first, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Rodzinski, remains unissued.) Walter’s Beethoven symphony dated from as far back as April 1942. It was the third in his ongoing mono cycle that commenced with No. 5 and the Eroica in 1941. I’ve been presenting the symphonies here from time to time.

In the early 40s, Columbia was doing its New York orchestral recordings in Liederkranz Hall. The results here are resonant to the brink of boominess, but as always with Walter’s readings, the performances are well worth hearing.

Now for some reups, all the result of requests. All these have been remastered and are generally in much better sound that my original efforts.

Copland - Piano Concerto, Barber - Violin Concerto. These were both first recordings – excellent ones, too - the Barber from 1950 with Louis Kaufman and Walter Goehr and the Copland from 1951 with Leo Smit and the composer.

Warner's Color TV Fashion Show. Perhaps the most obscure record I’ve ever offered, this is a promo sent to stores in advance of a 1956 television show touting women’s undergarments. Songs by Michael Brown, whose greatest hit was “Lizzie Borden”.

Humoresque (soundtrack). Franz Waxman chopped and channeled various classics for this 1946 Joan Crawford potboiler, with the high (or low) point being his transformation of the Tristan and Isolde prelude into a semi-concerto for Isaac Stern and Oscar Levant.

Boult Conducts and Rehearses Britten. This is actually two records from the same 1956 sessions with Sir Adrian Boult and the LPO. The first contains stereo recordings of the Peter Grimes Sea Interludes and Passacaglia and the Young Person’s Guide, sans narration. The second contains a narrated Young Person’s Guide and a rehearsal recording with Boult, both in mono.

The links above lead to the original posts. Links to the recordings themselves can be found both in the comments there and in the comments to this post.

Beethoven 5, with Walter Conducting, Bernstein Commenting

Omnibus was a relatively long-lived series on U.S. television that was concerned with the arts and sciences. Leonard Bernstein was one of its star performers with his lectures on musical subjects.

Bernstein on Omnibus, demonstrating
his ideal conducting posture

Columbia issued this LP in (I believe) 1955 to capitalize on Bernstein's first Omnibus appearance, in which he discussed and conducted some of Beethoven's discarded sketches for the first movement of the fifth symphony. This vinyl version is not the soundtrack to the TV show; it was recorded specially for the LP medium, although it covered the same ground as the telecast.

The record company coupled Bernstein's commentary with its February 1950 recording of Bruno Walter leading the New York Philharmonic, the second of that conductor's readings for Columbia. It's a good effort, more dynamic than the fifth contained in well-known stereo cycle from late in Walter's life.

For his part, Bernstein compels your attention whether his comments are insightful or commonplace, a trait shared with his conducting. Columbia was apparently excited by this issue, to the point of preparing a gatefold cover (scans are in the download) and inventing a logo for Lenny (see image at right) that looks to me like a jalapeno in cross-section. Maybe I eat too much Mexican food.

I actually transferred the Walter recording from its earlier incarnation on ML4790 because my copy of CL918 has a pressing fault on that side. The cover of ML4790, with its focus on Walter's nostrils, is below. The sound is good.

I have been slowly making my way through Walter's mono Beethoven cycle for Columbia. This link takes you to the previous entries. I also have a few other recordings of Bernstein's commentary, which I hope to present at some future time.

More from Sauter-Finegan, Florence Henderson and Bruno Walter

More today from the Satuter-Finegan Orchestra, Florence Henderson and Bruno Walter (not together, I should add). These are quick follow-ups to some of the posts that have appeared here in recent months. I'd like to say you have been clamoring for them, but that wouldn't be true, so I'll just say that I hope some of you enjoy them!

A few words about each (you can tell I am tired of writing about these particular artists):

Sauter-Finegan Orchestra - Concert Jazz. This is the troupe's fourth LP (I have the third but can't find it), and it follows a familiar path, with some compositions by the individual maestros, some vocals, including an odd version of John Henry, and interesting arrangements. Great sound, a Jim Flora cover and a scan of the second cover, depicting Sauter and Finegan on stage. Recorded in 1954-55.

Florence Henderson - The Best from Fiorello! and The Sound of Music. My first post by the future Mrs. Brady was surprisingly well received by people who didn't know she sang, or who knew she sang but had never heard her do so. Like that initial LP, this album has potted versions of two Broadway hits of the time (1960) - Fiorello! and The Sound of Music. Henderson once again sounds like Mary Martin, which is especially appropriate in the latter score. The Sid Bass arrangements are loungy, which isn't to my taste in this repertoire.

Bruno Walter/Philadelphia Orchestra - Beethoven Symphony No. 6. Another installment from Walter's Beethoven cycle of the 1940s. Here he takes a break from the New Yorkers, and travels to Philadelphia and the Academy of Music for January 1946 sessions. This to my ear is a less successful performance and recording than the efforts with the PSONY, but enjoyable enough. Below, a Columbia ad from 1946 touting this new release among others. The transfer is from an early LP.

Bruno Walter's Second Eroica

Bruno Walter recorded Beethoven's Third Symphony three times for Columbia. The first two were with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, in January 1941 in Liederkranz Hall, and in March 1949 in the 30th Street Studio.

Most often heard these days is Walter's only stereo recording, with a West Coast ensemble dubbed the "Columbia Symphony" in January 1958. But this, the middle recording of the three, is exceptionally good as well. Walter was 73 at the time, and still showing the vigor that sometimes waned in his stereo recordings near the end of his life.

The New Yorkers were then an outstanding ensemble, and Columbia's sound is splendid. Plus the cover design is one of Alex Steinweiss' best.

This continues a series that started with Walter's New York recordings of the first and seventh symphonies. Next is the Pastorale with the Philadelphians.

Walter in 1942

Bruno Walter Conducts Beethoven

I grew up listening to Bruno Walter's Beethoven and Brahms recordings, in the later stereo versions made near the end of his life, in Los Angeles. But his earlier, mono versions are just as worthwhile, and sometimes the younger Walter was the more volatile.

Here are two symphonies from the conductor's earlier Beethoven cycle, made mainly with the Philharmonic-Symphony of New York. (The 6th was done with the Philadelphia Orchestra.) The seventh, in particular, is beautifully done and strikingly well played by the New Yorkers. The recording, from March 1951, is from Columbia's 30th Street Studio, and is in terrific sound.

I have also included Beethoven's first, also with the New York ensemble, but recorded in Carnegie Hall in November 1947. The sound on this 10-inch LP has less bloom than the other album, but is sturdy enough.

I would appreciate any insights on the cover of the LP above. What is going on here (besides Walter giving a downbeat)? The photo, by the estimable Aaron Siskind, is of some kind of arch encasing Walter in a green oval. (Siskind, by the way, also took the photo on the cover of one of my recent Charles Ives posts.)

Speaking of perplexing images, check out the ad below. It was for Mahler's fourth symphony, but still . . .

Bruno Walter conducting - as imagined by Columbia's ad agency, 1946