BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (Carlo Maria Giulini,
June 9, 1979). WEBERN: Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10 (Carlo
Maria Giulini, June 9, 1979). NIELSEN: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50 (Kirill
Kondrashin,
Nov. 20, 1980). DALLAPICCOLA: Commiato (Dorothy
Dow, soprano/Lucas Vis, Jan. 7, 1979). BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 6 in A (Eugen
Jochum, Nov. 2, 1980). HINDEMITH: Clarinet Concerto (George Pieterson,
clarinet/Kirill Kondrashin, cond, Nov. 7, 1979). RACHMANINOFF: Symphony
No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
(Kirill Kondrashin, Aug 18, 1980). SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 1 in B flat,
Op.38 (Bernard Haitink, May 1,1981). RAVEL: Noble and Sentimental Waltzes (Bernard
Haitink, Dec. 16, 1982). L'enfant et les sortileges (Piland,
Kilduff, Rodde, Kim, Watkinson/Netherlands Chamber Choir/Charles Dutoit,
Dec. 9, 1989).
KODÁLY: Dances of Galanta (Edo de
Waart, Nov. 14,1982), SCHAT: Thema Op. 21 for Oboe, Guitar, Organ and
Strings, Op. 21 (Werner Herbers, oboe; Edo de Waart, March 21, 1982).
MOZART: Don
Giovanni Overture
(Kurt Sanderling, April 22, 1983). Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.
(Alfred Brendel, piano/Bernard Haitink, Dec. 8, 1985). Horn Concerto No.
4 (Jacob Slagter, horn; Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Oct. 16, 1988). HARTMANN:
Concerto funebre
for Violin
and Strings (Theo Olof, violin/Kurt Sanderling, April 22, 1983). DIEPENBROCK: Lydische
Nacht (Hans Vonk, March 1,1984). SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 6 in d minor,
Op. 104 (Colin Davis, Jan. 20, 1983). BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 2 in
B flat, Op. 19 (Martha
Argerich,
piano/Neemi
Järvi, Nov. 3,1983). Mass in C, Op. 86 (Alison Hargan, soprano; Carolyn
Watkinson,also; Keith Lewis, tenor; Wout Oosterkamp, bass/Colin Davis,
Jan. 23, 1986). Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op.
55 "Eroica." (Nikolaus
Harnoncourt, Oct. 16, 1988). TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6 in B minor,
Op. 74 "Pathetique." (Antal Dorati, May 14, 1983). SCHREKER: Prelude
to a Drama (Friedrich
Cerha, Jan. 8, 1984). SCRIABIN: Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54 (Antal
Dorati, March 15, 1984). VARESE: Hyperprism for 9 wind instruments
and percussion (Hans Vonk, Oct. 16, 1983). ESCHER: Largo from Sinfonia
in Memoriam Maurice Ravel (Lucas Vis, June 18,1982). Univers de
Rimbaud for tenor and orchestra (Lode Devos, tenor/Lucas Vis,
June 18, 1982). STRAVINSKY: Symphony
of Psalms (Concertgebouw Choir/Colin
Davis, Oct. 30,1983). The Song of the Nightingale (Riccardo Chailly,
1988). ROUSSEL: Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 42.(Hans Vonk, March 1,1984).
SCHUBERT: Symphony
No.
5 in B flat (Leonard Bernstein, June 24,1987). BERG: Three Excerpts from Wozzeck,
Op. 7 (Dunja Vejzovic, soprano/Gerd Albrecht, Nov. 14,1987}. MAHLER: Symphony
No. 1 in D "Titan." (Leonard Bernstein, Oct. 9, 1987). DEBUSSY: Images (Antal
Dorati,April 5, 1987). SCHOENBERG: Pelleas
and Melisande, Op. 5 (Christoph von Dohnanyi, April 24, 1988). WEBERN: Im
Sommerwind (Riccardo Chailly, Oct. 12, 1989). ROSSINI: The Siege
of Corinth Overture
(Riccardo Chailly, Oct. 19, 1986). MARTINU: Symphony No. 6 "Fantaisies
symphoniques."(Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jan. 5, 1986). STRAUSS: Suite
from Die
Frau ohne Schatten (Erich
Leinsdorf, Nov. 2, 1989). Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Op.
28 (Iván
Fischer, Feb. 12, 1988). KEURIS: Catena: Refrains and Variations
for 31 wind instruments, percussion and celesta (Edo de Waart, Jan. 12,
1989).
RCO LIVE 08005 (14 disks) TT: app. 17 hours 10 min.
BUY NOW FROM ARKIVMUSIC
This is a most welcome issue, the fifth in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's
Anthology series, covering the period of 1980-1990. I'm particularly
glad to welcome it—there were rumors (obviously unfounded) that
the series would stop after Volume IV. Although sonic quality of the entire
series
has been
uniformly high, this set is particularly effective in that area—the
rich sounds of the RCOA have been vividly captured, in some cases more
realistically
than what is heard on some later live recordings. Perhaps mike placement
was more judicious with fewer mikes?
There are inevitable and unnecessary duplications: Leonard Bernstein's
Schubert 5 and Mahler 1 (originally on DGG), Kirill Kondrashin's
Nielsen 5 (originally on Philips), Bernard Haitink's Schumann 1 and
Ravel's Noble and Sentimental Waltzes (also on Philips), currently
are available thanks to ArkivMusic. And, as usual in
the series, there
is much music by Dutch composers Peter Schaat (1935-2003),
Rudolf Escher (1913-1980), Alphons Diepenbrock (1862-1921) and Tristan
Keuris (1946-1996). Non-Dutch "modern" composers are Berg (excerpts from
Wozzeck conducted by Gerd Albrecht), Webern conducted by Carlo Maria
Giulini, Dallapiccola
featuring
the
incredible soprano Dorothy Dow, Hindemith's Clarinet Concerto with Georg
Pieterson, and Varese conducted by Hans Vonk.
Antal Dorati, a favorite in Amsterdam, conducts Debussy and Tchaikovsky plus
a vivid performance of Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy. I wish they had also
included some of his Bartók and Kodály (I've heard airchecks of stunning
performances of The Miraculous Mandarin and Peacock Variations).
And it always is a pleasure to hear Wolfgang Sawallisch and Erich Leinsdorf
working with one of the major orchestras of the world. Documentation
is thorough, and each CD is filled to near-capacity. This is another
essential
set for lovers of the Royal Concertgebouw — and let us hope Volume VI
will follow soon.
R.E.B. (May 2009)
There
BREAKING NEWS! RCO voted No.1 ORCHESTRA IN THE WORLD by a jury of ten of the most influential music journalists in the December 2008 issue of Gramophone Magazine. The Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a transcription in sound of the concert-giving history of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, based upon radio recordings from the archives of Dutch Radio and Radio Netherlands World Service. Six decades of the 20th century are put under the spotlight in six boxes, each containing 14 CDs. We have chosen not only legendary performances under chief conductors of the KCO but also concerts led by countless guest conductors of both greater and lesser renown. Famous soloists make their debuts with the orchestra alongside world premieres of works that have since become classics of the repertoire. This fifth volume of the Anthology features the radio recordings made by the orchestra in the 1980s, presenting an overview on 14 CDs of the orchestra's artistic development under various conductors during that period.