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

Brahms First Concerto with Serkin, Reiner

Not too long ago I posted the Brahms second concerto in a recording by Rudolf Serkin and the Philadelphia Orchestra. I had a request for Serkin in Brahms No. 1, so here is his first go at it. This comes from February 1946, and is with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Fritz Reiner, rather than the Philadelphians and Eugene Ormandy.

Serkin recorded the concerto four times for Columbia - beside this effort, he addressed it in 1952 with Cleveland/Szell, in 1961 with Philadelphia/Ormandy, and in 1968 with the Cleveland combination once again. According to Michael Gray's discography, there also is an unissued Philadelphia attempt from earlier in 1961.

This is a good performance, closely recorded in Columbia's manner of the time. The Pittsburgh musicians don't possess the sheen of their cross-state counterparts, but the orchestral details are vivid and well balanced. It's not clear why Columbia and Serkin decided to redo the concerto only six years later.

The cover above is from the second LP issue. I actually transferred this from a near-mint first generation LP with a tombstone cover. (Scans of both are in the download.) You'll notice that the inset illustration at top depicts Brahms at the piano behind an open door. The scene is a detail pulled from the 78 album art, below. Making use of the 78 set's artwork to provide some color for the LP was a common technique for Columbia at the time. The illustration is pasted onto the cover, which uses a standard design. The art direction for both covers is by Alex Steinweiss; I don't know who did the drawing of Brahms.

Cover of 78 set

Brahms Second Concerto with Serkin, Ormandy

1945 Life Magazine ad - click to enlarge

I just transferred this recording, and enjoyed the results so much that I am rush releasing it, as it were, for your enjoyment.

"It" in this case is the Brahms piano concerto no. 2 with the great Rudolf Serkin. The work was something of a specialty of the pianist: he recorded it at least four times - three times with the present accomplices, the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy.

This particular edition is the first, recorded in the Academy of Music on March 15, 1945. It was followed by 1956 and 1960 efforts, and a 1966 go-around with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Original LP cover

The 1945 recording first came out on 78s, followed by this LP, which I believe was among the initial 100 issued by Columbia in 1948, with the generic "tombstone" cover used for the first classical releases. Later the record was sold with one of the better Alex Steinweiss covers (below).

I own two pressings of the recording, with distinctly different sound. This transfer is from the first pressing, which, while not really dry sounding, is distinctly less resonant and glamorous sounding than a later version, which was "enhanced" with reverb. It's fascinating how much different Serkin sounds when he has been aided by the engineer. Reverb is very much of a universal phenomenon these days, which may be why one contemporary orchestral recording sounds pretty much like another. I would prefer to have Serkin and the Philadelphians served without condiments, and that's what we have here.

Serkin in 1943

Serkin is a favorite of mine, although he is very different from some of the other pianists who have appeared here. He was considered both a romantic and classicist. He was not known as a natural virtuoso but he is capable of remarkable feats of pianism. His sound could be both honeyed and very gritty. All that can be heard here. But what comes through most of all is his complete command of both the music and the instrument, and his total involvement.

The sound here is just to my taste, although there is some slight wobble here and there due to a less-than-ideally flat pressing. The orchestral backing is very fine. I want to be sure to mention the superb cello solo in the slow movement, which presumably is by then-principal Samuel Mayes.