Victor de Sabata

The intensity you see in the photo of Victor de Sabata above is what you hear in his recordings.

De Sabata (1892-1967) was a hugely gifted conductor, but circumstances denied him lasting fame - at least in the U.S.

It was his misfortune to be a countryman and contemporary of perhaps the most renowned conductor of the day, Arturo Toscanini. Unlike the anti-Fascist Toscanini, he was a friend of Mussolini. Also, his primary position for much of his career was at the head of La Scala rather than as conductor of a symphony orchestra. His best known recording is certainly the La Scala production of Tosca with Maria Callas, from 1953. He suffered a severe heart attack soon thereafter and quit conducting.

De Sabata's recordings reveal a maestro of remarkable gifts, inspiring orchestras to produce music of passion and color - his podium appearance being famously described as being "a cross between Julius Caesar and Satan."

The Trevi fountain

Today's recordings begin with a set by the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, which de Sabata had first conducted early in his career. These were made in 1947 and 1948. 

We start with one of the great orchestral showpieces, Respighi's Fountains of Rome. I suppose this could be considered impressionist music, but the way it is played here, it is startlingly realistic. The violin geyser effect would be one that de Sabata would invoke in other contexts.

Vaslav Nijinski in Jeux

For many years, Debussy's Jeux was not considered among his best works, but today that has changed. Composed for the Ballets Russes in 1913, it had to wait until 1947 for its first recording, which this is. The work's constantly changing moods and colors are made for de Sabata's gifts.

As mentioned, de Sabata was a famed opera conductor. The program includes several examples of his work, limited in these instances to overtures and preludes.

We start with the dramatic prelude to Verdi's I vespri Siciliani. Notice how the conductor builds intensity throughout the opening even though the music itself is choppy. This is followed by the preludes to Act I and Act III of La traviata.

The secret revealed: Mario Sammarco and Lydia Lipkowska
in Il segreto di Susanna

Next we have the overture to Ernanno Wolf-Ferrari's most famous work, Il segreto di Susanna, a comic opera from 1909. Or perhaps it's just the delightful overture that's famous. This is followed by an intermezzo from the same composer's Il quatrro rusteghi.

The balance of today's program is primarily from 1939 sessions with the Berlin Philharmonic. First is another recording premiere, Kodály's Dances of Galánta, written just six years before. This folk-based work was perhaps a surprising choice for de Sabata. He does it well, without quite the panache that he displayed in the Respighi, perhaps.

Finally, orchestral excerpts from Wagner: first, an passionate reading of the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. De Sabata conducted at Bayreuth that year.

To complete the program, I've added de Sabata's remarkably dynamic 1946 recording of the Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre. This is with the London Philharmonic.

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