Tah 701/703 - Hermann Scherchen, the Master of Oratorio

Johann Sebastian Bach: The Saint-Matthew Passion

Of all Bach’s works, the St Matthew Passion is the most ambitious one and one of civilization’s greatest monuments. In July 1953, Hermann Scherchen made in Vienna a recording which has become famous and in which he both acts as an architect and as a goldsmith: the result is a dramatic interpretation reinforced by an impressive range of vocal and orchestral colors. The spirituality emanating from Scherchen’s conception of this work is but a human spirituality brought to life by art itself. In this version human feelings are highlighted in all their contrasts.
The action itself is narrated by an evangelist (Hugues Cuénod whose voice and impeccable diction ideally fit this role). As for H. Rehfuss, his voice with its magnificent velvet quality is absolutely irresistible. The contralto Rössl-Majdan is astonishing and full of emotion in the famous aria “Erbarme dich” and sings masterly the other arias. This recording remains a reference in the history of the interpretation of Bach.

Date : August, 2010 - Barre code : 3504129070113

Tah 693 - Previously unissued recordings by Hermann Abendroth

L. van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4, op. 58 en G major (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, piano: Branka Musulin) Studio recording made on 27.III.1950
P. Tchaikovski: Piano Concerto No. 1, op. 23 in B flat (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, piano: Günter Kootz) Studio recording made on 18.IX.1950

Some ten years ago, Hermann Abendroth (“The other Furtwängler”) was a fashionable conductor but fashions change. An extensive edition by Tokuma was released in Japan but a great number of unissued recordings remain dormant in many radio archives. Tahra has exhumed two interesting documents: the Beethoven 4th concerto with the excellent Croatian pianist Branka Musulin (pupil of Cortot), and the Tchaikovsky first piano concerto. It is the first time that we discover Abendroth in this famous work.
More than ever Abendroth (1883-1956) remains a “Grand Seigneur”.

Date : July, 2010 - Barre code : 3504129069315

Tah 712/713 - French Pianists, Vol. II

CD I - L. van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, The Emperor, op. 73 - Berliner Philharmoniker, conductor: Leopold Ludwig - Piano: Monique de la Bruchollerie (20-21.VI.1948) - F. Chopin: 5 Nocturnes - Piano: Youra Guller (9.IX.1959)
CD II - L. van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major - Orchestre National de France, conductor: Stanislas Skrowacewski -Piano: Yvonne Lefébure (1.XII.1959) - Yvonne Lefébure speaks about Ravel - C. Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 op. 103, L’Egyptien - Orchestre National de France, conductor: Paul Paray - Piano: Magda Tagliaferro (21.IV.1958) - Magda Tagliaferro speaks about Chopin

After a first dedicated to the School Lazare-Lévy (Tah 556-558 deleted) we are releasing this set illustrating the Schools of Isidore Philipp (Monique de la Bruchollerie, Youra Guller) and Alfred Cortot (Yvonne Lefébure, MagdaTagliaferro) which contains three previously unissued recordings. Furtherùmore it contains two rare documents with the voices of Lefébure recalling Ravel and of Tagliaferro speaking of Chopin. This is a complementary set to the album « Pianistes Françaises I » (Tah 653-4).

Date : May, 2010 - Barre code : 3504129071219

Tah 698/700 - Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt\'s Telefunken Recordings

CD I: Haydn - Symphony No. 92, Oxford (
Sydney Symphony Orchestra - Live 1953) Dvorak: Symphony No. 9, New World - CD II - Tchaikovski: Symphony No. 6, Pathétique - Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - Rimski-Korsakov: The Flight of the Bumble Bee (Tsar Saltan) - CD III - Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (9), The Great (NWDR-Sinfonieorchester
Recordings 1953-1959)

After the war (between 1952 and 1973), Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt made with his orchestra of Radio Hamburg over 45 recordings for eight different recording companies (Decca, Electrola, DGG, among others), that have been reissued on CD. On the other hand, and curiously enough, his Telefunken recordings (1953-1959) have never been reissued on CD. We are now doing this with the present set. It is a rediscovery to which we have added a very rare live recording that Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt recorded on tour in Australia in 1956, with the Sydney symphonic Orchestra (Haydn’s Oxford Symphony). The original recordings have undergone careful restoration and remain an example of Telefunken’s excellent recording technique.

Note : Diapason d'Or

Date : April, 2010 - Barre code : 3504129069810

Tah 704/707 - Back from the Shadows - L. van Beethoven by Friedrich Wührer

Ludwig van Beethoven:
CD I: Piano Concerto No. 1, op. 15, in C major - Vienna Pro Musica Orchestra - Conductor: Hans Swarowsky
Piano Concerto No. 2, op. 19, in si bémol majeur - Stuttgart Pro Musica Orchestra - Conductor: Walter Davisson
CD II: Piano Concerto No. 3, op. 37, in C minor - Stuttgart Pro Musica Orchestra - Conductor: Walter Davisson
Piano Concerto No. 4, op. 58, in G major - Bamberger Sinfoniker - Conductor: Jonel Perlea
CD III: Piano Concerto No. 5, op. 73, in E flat major - Vienna Pro Musica Orchestra - Conductor: Heinzich Hollreiser - Triple Concerto op. 56, in C major - Württembergisches Staatsorchester - Conductor: Walter Davisson - violin: Bronislaw Gimpel - Cello: Joseph Schuster
CD IV: Sonata No. 30, op. 109, in E Major - Sonata No. 31, op. 110, in A flat major - Sonata No. 32, op. 111, in C minor

This set is dedicated to the great Austrian pianist Friedrich Wührer and is the first one of a new series called “Back from the Shadows”, the aim of which is to give “a second life” to some artists that are unjustly forgotten and to their commercial recordings. This structure is entirely dedicated to Beethoven and includes 5 piano concertos as well as the Triple concerto, and the last three sonatas op. 109, 110 and 111. Wührer was a great interpreter of the romantic repertoire, namely of Beethoven and Schubert but also Brahms and Schumann.

Date : March, 2010 - Barre code : 3504129070410

Tah 692 - The Violin in the Limelight!

J. Brahms: Violin Concerto op. 77 - Luzerner Festspielorchester - Conductor: Herbert von Karajan - Soloist: Nathan Milstein - Live recording of 17.VIII.1957 at the Lucerne Festival
J. Sibelius: Violin Concerto op. 47
Berliner Philharmonisces Orchester - Conductor: Eugen Jochum, Soloist: Bronislaw Gimpel - Live recording of 21/22.IV.1956 in the Konzertsaal der Hochschule für Musik of Berlin

After our first volume (Tah 670-671) we continue the release of violin archives. The present CD contains the Brahms violin concerto by Nathan Milstein accompanied by Karajan at the Festival of Lucerne back in August 1957. Then, and it surely will be a discovery for many music lovers, the Sibelius concerto by Bronislaw Gimpel and Eugen Jochum conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in April 1956. The magnificent violinist he was, Gimpel (1911-1979) is known today by a rather restricted circle of aficionados despite the very important production on record he mainly made for the American label Vox. This previously unissued recording is interesting from another point of view: in fact, Sibelius is a composer that Jochum only rarely included in his concert programs. He never conducted any symphony by Sibelius and he conducted the present concerto only on one other occasion, i.e. on 9 April 1943.

Date : December, 2009 - Barre code : 3504129069216

Tah 670/671 - The Stradivarius in the Limelight

CD I: Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4, KV 218 - Soloist Christian Ferras - Conductor Pietro Argento - Orchestra Scarlatti di Napoli (21.II. 1958) - Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5, KV 219 - Soloist: Ida Haendel - Conductor: Ferruccio Scaglia - Orchestra della RAI di Roma (11.I.1958)
CD II: Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto op. 64 - Soloist: Zino Francescatti - Conductor: Ferruccio Scaglia - Orchestra della RAI di Torino (18.XII.1953) - Brahms: Violin Concerto op. 77 - Soloist: Gioconda de Vito - Conductor: Eugen Jochum - Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (15.XI.1956)

After a series of releases dedicated to the piano, we are starting a series dedicated to the violin along the same lines : edit, as far as possible, previously unissued recordings of high artistic interest. This first set will prove typical with its four first-time releases: Two Mozart concertos with Christian Ferras and Ida Haendel, the Mendelssohn Concerto with Zino Francescatti and the Brahms Concerto with Gioconda de Vito. All these recordings have one point in common : the violinists play a violin built by the famous violin maker Antonio Stradivarius of Cremona.

Date : September, 2009 - Barre code : 3504129067014