Schneiderhan: Beethoven Violin Concerto - DG SLPM 138 999 ("red stereo" jacket)

$

25

redgarnett Store ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This very handsome LP – in a heavy cardboard “Red Stereo” export jacket – from Deutsche Grammophon (SLPM 138 999, German pressing, AH tulip label, stereo) features Wolfgang Schneiderhan’s celebrated account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 61, recorded with conductor Eugen Jochum and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in the warm acoustics of Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin in May 1962.

Of DG’s CD re-issue of this performance in their “Originals” series, the vetern critic Ivan March wrote in his review for the September 1995 issue of The Gramophone:

“I am not forgetting Kreisler's wonderful 1926 performance with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra under Leo Blech (now reissued as part of a two-disc set on Biddulph) when I say that during the war years, when I collected 78s, the performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto which was considered very special (indeed unique) by discerning collectors was Georg Kulenkampff's Telefunken partnership with Hans Schmid t-lsserstedt. This had an enthralling combination of spaciousness and vitality from the orchestra, yet the slow movement brought from the soloist an unforgettable purity and a breathtakingly rapt quietness of lyrical feeling. The recording was very good indeed, although it would be difficult to guess that from the meagre and unattractive sound offered by the current Teldec transfer. Michael Dutton, are you listening?

“There is no question that in the mono LP era the mantle of Kulenkampff passed directly to Wolfgang Schneiderhan, and to our great good fortune that remarkable violinist, who had directly inherited the spirit of the German classical tradition (just as Karajan did symphonically, when he took over the Berlin Philharmonic from Furtwängler), lived to re-record that greatest of all violin concertos in stereo. He was fortunate indeed to have Jochum and the Berlin Philharmonic as partners in a truly legendary 1962 recording that has never been surpassed. Jochum's opening tutti is a marvel of spacious dignity, against which the silvery thread ofSchneiderhan's violin gleams with touching innocence (try first the reprise of the main theme of the first movement in the orchestra on clarinets and bassoons at 510', with the violin entry following nine seconds later, and then the magical violin phrasing at 1054'). But it is in the serene, incandescent beauty of the slow movement that Schneiderhan is quite unforgettable. After his opening dialogue with the orchestra one catches one's breath at the sheer loveliness of the serene secondary idea (458" and again when it returns at 738"). 1 h finale dances in sparkling fashion, and the performance overall is given added gravitas by Schneiderhan's use (throughout the work) of Beethoven's own cadenzas, including timpani, which the composer wrote for his piano transcription of the concerto. The analogue recording is very well balanced and truthful.

“On this reissue we are also offered a characteristically classical performance of Mozart's A major Violin Concerto, in which the soloist directs the orchestral accompaniment. Schneiderhan launches into the first movement with great vitality and then sets the emotional world of the Adagio in an aura of calm tranquillity that makes the joyful contrasts of the finale, with its extrovert bravura, the more telling. The late-I 960s recording is fuller and rather more cleanly focused in the orchestra and the solo violin is vividly real, again with an admirable balance. But it is for the Beethoven Concerto that this record is indispensable and every collector who cares about this masterpiece should consider finding a place for Schneiderhan's interpretation in their personal CD library.”

Incidentally, the liner notes on the reverse side of the jacket – provided in German, English, and French – were written by Wolfgang Schneiderhan himself, in which the violinist explains the genesis of the cadenza he wrote for this concerto and which can be heard on this recording.

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

The condition of the jacket is VERY GOOD-. There is a fair amount of edgewear, particularly at corners, as well as some discoloration and shelfwear. However, there are no seamsplits, owners' markings, or other defects, and the album remains solid, bright, and attractive – overall, a very good collector's copy.

The condition of the LP is VERY GOOD-. Though there is light surface noise throughout, in general the playback remains quite fine. However, those wanting a flawless or near-MINT copy are kindly advised to look elsewhere. Overall, this rates as a very good collector's copy.

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