Mengelberg was copiously recorded in concert by Dutch radio(s) between 1936-1944, with
a "peak" in 1939-1940. These live recordings, on acetates, present a generally
fine for the time level of fidelity, most times close (if somehow inferior) to the studio
Telefunkens of the period, in the happiest instances as good as the Telefunkens. This
rather extended heritage of Mengelberg live performances has beneffitted from a very
uneven distribution. Some recordings were available for decades on different labels, on
various LPs and (then) CDs (e.g., the 1940 Beethoven cycle or Mahler's Fourth), while some
others were very hard to find or even never published, circulating sometimes among the
collectors, many a cassette and a reel-to-reel being sent back and forth, through those
dangerous underground collector channels, in those Romantic times....
The Q-set includes mainly many of those "hard[er]-to-find" live recordings. The
sound is in most instances the best-to-date, better than all previous productions (Michael
G Thomas's "Archive Documents", Lys, Music and Arts etc.) except for the CDs
produced by Hubert Wendel. |
Fortunately there is NOT a lot of overlapping between the two. I did "A/B"
these days competing issues of all these recordings and my verdict, FWIW, is very simple:
the Wendel CDs and the Q-set sound the best, better in every instance than all the others,
and close to each other. In one case (Mahler's Fourth) they are hardly distinguishable so
I can say that once you got the Q-set you will not need the other Mahler 4thCD anymore.In
some other instances (e.g., Brahms Violin Concerto, the Emperor), the Wendel CDs still
sound better to my ears, have more body to them, but in subtle ways, so I am not going to
guarantee you will feel the same, you might find the difference small. However, the two
*78* transfers* from the Q-set are *not* at the level of Wendel's. The Mahler Adagietto is
OK, still the Pearl-set transferred by Mark Obert-Thorn bothered to correct the
pitch-difference between the two sides of the original 78, while the Dutch engineers that
prepared the Q-set did not. The other *78* transfer on the Dutch set, R. Strauss's
"Death and Transfiguration", is heard incomparably better on the Wendel CD --
the latter being a natural, open, strong transfer (Q-set uses here noticeable filtering, I
think).
A few words about the performances:
the set includes all Mahler performances left by Mengelberg -- Lieder eines fahrenden
Gesellen with Schey, the 1926 *78* of the Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony, and the 1939
Fourth Symphony, [the latter] in terrific sound. Listen to this treasures -- a Mahler
style unlike any other, intense without being hysterical, free without becoming
unstructured, highly emotional without ever decaying into kitsch.
The two Kodaly recordings left by Mengelberg include a yummy Hary Janos Suite -- listen to
the way Mengelberg adapts the volume of the orchestra to the solo cymbalum in one of the
movements, shaping the repeat in different, but equally beautiful, ways.
When you listen to the 1944 recording of Brahms' Third, you might be put a bit off. The
recording per se is not that great and, very unusual for Mengelberg, he seems a bit
undecided on what he wants to do in (i), which sounds, again unusual for Mengelberg,
slightly weak and unshaped (much unlike his *perfect* 1932 Columbia recording). Do not
abandon hope: (ii) will be already much better, while the third movement, well, the third
movement, is Brahms-playing of a sentimentally sublime quality you're not likely to hear
again, not even from Furtwaengler, Knappertsbuch or Abendroth. It is painfully beautiful
and the phrasing has an even-for-Mengelbergian-standards amazing degree of (motivated)
freedom!
Some valuable vocal recordings, most notably Grace Moore's Un Bel di Vedremo (Puccini),
accompanied with dreamy portamentos by Mengelberg, inspiring the soloist into singing much
much better than in her studio-made "78", available on a Pearl Moore collection.
(I bought that CD because of the previously known Mengelberg-conducted aria and was a bit
disappointed.... but in that Amsterdam concert, Moore surely sounded like a Callas with
a[n even] better voice!!)
This set is particularly generous in concerto performances accompanied by Mengelberg. Each
of them raises particular interest(s). You can hear the world-premiere of Bartok's Violin
Concerto, with Szekely, Bartok's good friend and collaborator, as a (wonderful) soloist,
playing this concerto at faster tempos than in use today. Then the Szigeti-Mengelberg
couple plays Bloch's Violin Concerto with, I suspect, more passion and power of conviction
than you'll ever hear.... the recording has more "abandon" than even the other
Szigeti recording I know.... the Munch-conducted one.
Keeping with violinists, the Bruch Concerto will offer you the chance of discovering, if
you didn't hear her yet, Guila Bustabo, a wonderful violinist, still alive AFAIK -- she
was very young, a kind of Wunderkind back in 1940, and her violin-playing style is strong
and passionate, generally old-school-type but compensating in exciting wildness what it
(may!) lack(s) in elegance. Mengelberg reveals unexpected details and uses unusually
organic phrasing not only in Bruch but also in Brahms's Violin Concerto (with Herman
Krebbers an amazingly mature violinist in his 20s), which might be *the* recording of this
piece I'd take on a desert island. The way violin and orchestra blend in one musical will,
with the violinist understanding with utmost intelligence when he has to be heard over the
orchestra, and when not, is unequalled.... and one has to remember this is the recording
of one concert, played without the pressure of the posterity's judgment on....
The Emperor.... (which might be heard, slightly better IMO, on a Wendel CD as well) let it
be said that my brothers who thought there cannot be anything beyond Fischer-Furtwaengler
might be in for a surprise. The two fabulous recordings have in common the superior grasp
of Beethoven's melos, the *un*pompous majesty, the sense of godly power -- Apollonianely
restrained, with short climactic outbursts of lava. Mengelberg is though even more
convincing in detail (the way he fades down the timpani in the end of (iii) is
unparalleled), and his phrasing in the beginning of (ii) has to be heard to be
(dis)believed--never was that simple tune more divinely shaped.
Chopin's Second Concerto (with the unknown to me Theo van der Pas) is much less remarkable
(the soloist is not in the league of Cor de Groot, the superb pianist in the Emperor), but
we get a chance to glance at Mengelberg's art of accompanying Chopin-rubato, art praised
in strong terms by Claudio Arrau in a book of conversations.
The 1940 live Egmont Overture is very exciting, and it features a re-written timpani part
in the coda, to thrilling effect. If vulgar (??), Mengelberg knew how to be vulgar in
grand style! (-:
The 1943 Grieg Suite displays the exquisite rubato you might expect from Mengelberg in
such a piece. All other versions of Anitra's Dance will sound steady-and-sqare after this
one. Grieg encouraged and loved the young Mengelberg's conducting. After a concert in
Amsterdam in one of Mengelberg's early seasons, Grieg offered a speech to the audience out
of spontaneous enthusiam, urging the Dutch to beware of the immense privilege of using and
enjoying Mengelberg's genius in their musical life. He might have been pleased with this
recording....
One of the main points of interest of the set consists in its publishing a(nother) 1938
Beethoven Ninth, a recording I didn't know and didn't know about before. It is recorded
with less distortion, but also a bit more distant, than the other two (1938 and 1940). I
have to disagree with my friend and incomparable Mengelberg connoisseur Takeshi Hasegawa
-- this recording does definitely not displace the other two as the "ultimate"
Mengelberg Ninth. In Wendel's transfer, the other 1938 Ninth has a by far more dramatic
1st and 2nd movements. The third movement sounds best, most sensitive (to my ears and
heart) in the 1940 recording. What distinguishes this Q-set--newly-published Ninth is the
finale. The voices and the choir are indeed recorded better and, I dare say, they sing
better than in the other two recordings. It is an amazing Finale, possibly the most
impressive I have heard, except for moments of important imbalance in the recording --
like the big choir utterance of the hymn after the B Flat Major-starting fugato, where the
"D Major scales" of the strings are virtually inaudible. The choir is though
superbly balanced per se, and the assonantal effects Mengelberg extracts from the presence
of "Kuss" and "muss" in the lyrics are more superbly accomplished than
ever.
Adding to these that the set also has a bonus DVD including all the important*** extant
Mengelberg-featuring films, you'll understand why I cannot other than recommend this issue
warmly. Combining it with a good selection of Wendel CDs gives one the opportunity to
build up a Mengelberg collection in best sound to-date. |