Forty Years On ...
Posted by: Agricola on 05 July 2013
On 6th. July 1973, aged 88, Doctor Otto Klemperer died.
He was the last link to a tradition of music making linking back to Brahms and Mahler, and the old Germanic traditions of music making that essentially came from the early 19th Century via Mendelssohn, and Wagner, right back to Beethoven.
Unlike others of his generation, Klemperer did not have a charismatic personality, like his colleagues, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini, or Erich Kleiber, but it seems that his reputation has survived with more impact than his generational cohort. The question might be asked as to why this is apparently so.
It is partly a question of his musical qualities, but also related to his period as of 1955 de facto [and after 1959 actual] chief conductorship for life of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, which with its close relations with EMI led to the chance to make great studio recordings in a quality that was rarely accorded to his cohort.
With so many RIP threads of people I have never heard of these days, I thought I would give a little reminder of Klemperer's Anniversary.
Forty years on ...
ATB from George
I wish there were more Klemperer Interviews on YouTube.
This is a fascinating clip on Klemperer talking about Walter.
Personally I don't see much out of Walter's work.
And puzzled why his name mentioned more often than Klemperer.
Pardon the ignorant question but, from what I have read, why do so many people prefer original mono to stereo pressings of these recordings? Please be gentle...
Tony, this how I understand it; EMI recorded Klemperer's Beethoven cycle with the Philharminia Orchestra from '55 - '57. All were in mono with a few experiments made also recording in Stereo. EMI weren't sure about Stereo to start out and so were cautious in recording and releasing stereo performances. However, by the end of the '50s stereo looked to be taking off and so Klemperer and the PO went back to Kingsway Hall (and Abbey Road) and re-recorded the cycle. Generally it's felt that the original '55-'57 performances were superior.
I'm sure George can add further to this, or even correct me if I'm wrong.
The creation of Klemperer's EMI Beethoven Symphony cycle was not quite so simple. Klemperer was already 70 when he recorded the first three of the recordings in 1955. He had started recording for EMI a year earlier in the music of Mozart, Brahms and Bach, and by 1955 the Beethoven cycle seemed to have been planned, starting with mono recordings of the Eroica, Fifth and Seventh Symphonies. These were released to largely enthusiastic reviews, some of which described the performances as first recommendations.
As it happened EMI were making experimental stereo recordings at these sessions, but the machines were unreliable, and Walter Legge, the Chief A and R man at EMI was producer, was no enthusiast for stereo; it was a matter of luck whether a complete stereo master was created, as his sole interest was the mono recording. Klemperer himself described stereo as an invention of the "fakers" when he had to remake the mono recordings in stereo at EMI's request.
From these first three Beethoven symphony recordings only the Seventh emerged as a complete stereo recording in parallel to its mono counterpart. EMI's technical department were keen to demonstrate stereo and in 1955 issued a small series of reel to reel tapes [7 inches per second I believe] that required a special tape player to use, this recording of the Seventh was issued on special stereo tape and mono LP,
All Klemperer's Beethoven Symphonic recordings from then on were completed as both stereo and mono tape masters, recorded in 1957, and with remakes of the mono only Fifth, and Seventh and Erioca from about 1959. It seemed that EMI did not consider the 1955 stereo Seventh as a technical success. These three latter recordings were still issued in mono at the time on LPs for all that. The remakes show a change in Klemperer who was nearly killed in bed fire in 1958. He was off work from conducting for almost a year, such was his close call, and when he returned to the studio in 1959 his performances of the fifth and Seventh Symphonies show something different to his 1955 recordings. Broader and mote granitic in effect than the earlier performances, but possibly even more powerful, certainly just as powerfully rhythmic and full of inexorable momentum.
Klemperer's orginal releases of these recordings were on the Columbia [English Columbia] label, and these are much prized in their mono versions by record collectors, and the first complete release in stereo did not occur till 1970 when EMI release all the stereos [of the earliest vintage possible] on HMV ASD series at full price! These are also superb LPs. But the original mono series from 1955 was by now buried in the vault, and thus the legend began. The legend of truly greater and unobtainable recordings ...
The arrival of CDs and digital restoration methods brought a re-evaluation of the possibility of releasing the earlier mono recordings again, and a DMM release occurred in three mono on LPs in about 1988. But still all in mono, the mythical 1955 stereo recording of the Seventh was actually still not released stereo-phonically till a CD release some years later.
As for which recordings are musically more significant where there is a choice, the issue remains one of personal choice. Obviously some people regard the earlier recordings as the benchmark, and others including me are glad to have two versions on records!
To throw a curved ball in on this was that in 1957 Klemperer gave the complete cycle in the Royal Festival Hall for the first time, and these yielded some phenomenal live recordings that show Klemperer regarded recordings as different to concerts in his musical approach! They offer a fascinating, and different perspective. Marginally faster, more accented, barking timpani, and roaring French Horns, and a precision in the strings [and quality in the whole orchestra] to match the thrust and velocity of Klemperer's former colleague, Arturo Toscanini.
Unfortunately the BBC tapes are not always very fine, and the effect is certainly not easy listening from the recorded technical point of view, though the restorations are expertly done. Testament Records have released these live tapes, stored now in the National Sound Archive in the British Library ...
ATB from George
Good stuff .
Thank you guys, but still not sure where to start on this classical malarkey. Should it be in alphabetical order A to Z of composers, live or studio mono or stereo recordings , what labels? How many albums will I need to collect to have a representative collection of the greats 20, 50 , 100.
Regards Graham.
Graham,
I reckon repeated, assorted dippings into R3 and Classic FM may help.
Chris
Dear Graham,
I'd start with the current EMI issue of the Beethoven symphonies in the [almost complete] total release of EMI's Klemperer recordings. The set is on about ten or twelve CDs, and comes at the remarkable price of about £2 per CD! All the recordings mentioned above appear [except the live BBC efforts], and so the legendary older ones can be easily compared to the later more issued versions!
It is great music making, and belies the idea that Klemperer was somehow a boring and slow conductor. He is rarely very fast, but very exciting where this is in the music.
Then you can broaden out to take in some of the other Beethoven masters, such as Kleiber [Erich the father, and Carlos, the son], and many others, but overall Klemperer makes a starting point in the music, which while not the only way remains a way that will never leave you!
ATB from George
Thanks George.
Did, does, a conductor change arrangement or conducting style for mono or stereo or even muiti-channel recordings? I mean those who were alive when these various innovations were developed.
Unlikely Lionel. They would have had limited practical experience on how the sound would be affected by the stereo recording process. More likely they concentrated on the sound they were hearing and left the experimentation to the engineers. Playback equipment wasn't so hot in the 50's and few conductors would have had sufficient clout with the record labels to make demands on recording decisions.
As for a collection of the greats, as interesting as it undoubtedly is to hear some of those early recordings there are equally good conductors still alive. The fact that they are alive and in some cases have yet to reach a good age does not make them any less great. Regrettably nostalgia for a bygone sound reproduction era (e.g mono vinyl on a gramophone) has given some a rose tinted view of how the early 20th century conductors stack up against their more recent counterparts. Graham if you want a great set of Beethoven look no further than Ricardo Chailly. Anyone who can't feel the emotion in hist work must have cloth ears.
Andy
Hi Andy
Thank you for your reply. Just noticed you are in South Yorks, so am I. Where abouts are you? Looking on your profile it looks like we share some of the same interests.
regards Graham.
Tony, this how I understand it; EMI recorded Klemperer's Beethoven cycle with the Philharminia Orchestra from '55 - '57. All were in mono with a few experiments made also recording in Stereo. EMI weren't sure about Stereo to start out and so were cautious in recording and releasing stereo performances. However, by the end of the '50s stereo looked to be taking off and so Klemperer and the PO went back to Kingsway Hall (and Abbey Road) and re-recorded the cycle. Generally it's felt that the original '55-'57 performances were superior.
I'm sure George can add further to this, or even correct me if I'm wrong.
Thank you Richard.
Dear George.
Thank you.
Take care Graham.
The creation of Klemperer's EMI Beethoven Symphony cycle was not quite so simple. Klemperer was already 70 when he recorded the first three of the recordings in 1955. He had started recording for EMI a year earlier in the music of Mozart, Brahms and Bach, and by 1955 the Beethoven cycle seemed to have been planned, starting with mono recordings of the Eroica, Fifth and Seventh Symphonies. These were released to largely enthusiastic reviews, some of which described the performances as first recommendations.
As it happened EMI were making experimental stereo recordings at these sessions, but the machines were unreliable, and Walter Legge, the Chief A and R man at EMI was producer, was no enthusiast for stereo; it was a matter of luck whether a complete stereo master was created, as his sole interest was the mono recording. Klemperer himself described stereo as an invention of the "fakers" when he had to remake the mono recordings in stereo at EMI's request.
From these first three Beethoven symphony recordings only the Seventh emerged as a complete stereo recording in parallel to its mono counterpart. EMI's technical department were keen to demonstrate stereo and in 1955 issued a small series of reel to reel tapes [7 inches per second I believe] that required a special tape player to use, this recording of the Seventh was issued on special stereo tape and mono LP,
All Klemperer's Beethoven Symphonic recordings from then on were completed as both stereo and mono tape masters, recorded in 1957, and with remakes of the mono only Fifth, and Seventh and Erioca from about 1959. It seemed that EMI did not consider the 1955 stereo Seventh as a technical success. These three latter recordings were still issued in mono at the time on LPs for all that. The remakes show a change in Klemperer who was nearly killed in bed fire in 1958. He was off work from conducting for almost a year, such was his close call, and when he returned to the studio in 1959 his performances of the fifth and Seventh Symphonies show something different to his 1955 recordings. Broader and mote granitic in effect than the earlier performances, but possibly even more powerful, certainly just as powerfully rhythmic and full of inexorable momentum.
Klemperer's orginal releases of these recordings were on the Columbia [English Columbia] label, and these are much prized in their mono versions by record collectors, and the first complete release in stereo did not occur till 1970 when EMI release all the stereos [of the earliest vintage possible] on HMV ASD series at full price! These are also superb LPs. But the original mono series from 1955 was by now buried in the vault, and thus the legend began. The legend of truly greater and unobtainable recordings ...
The arrival of CDs and digital restoration methods brought a re-evaluation of the possibility of releasing the earlier mono recordings again, and a DMM release occurred in three mono on LPs in about 1988. But still all in mono, the mythical 1955 stereo recording of the Seventh was actually still not released stereo-phonically till a CD release some years later.
As for which recordings are musically more significant where there is a choice, the issue remains one of personal choice. Obviously some people regard the earlier recordings as the benchmark, and others including me are glad to have two versions on records!
To throw a curved ball in on this was that in 1957 Klemperer gave the complete cycle in the Royal Festival Hall for the first time, and these yielded some phenomenal live recordings that show Klemperer regarded recordings as different to concerts in his musical approach! They offer a fascinating, and different perspective. Marginally faster, more accented, barking timpani, and roaring French Horns, and a precision in the strings [and quality in the whole orchestra] to match the thrust and velocity of Klemperer's former colleague, Arturo Toscanini.
Unfortunately the BBC tapes are not always very fine, and the effect is certainly not easy listening from the recorded technical point of view, though the restorations are expertly done. Testament Records have released these live tapes, stored now in the National Sound Archive in the British Library ...
ATB from George
Dear George,
Many thanks for taking the time and sharing your vast knowledge of his works. I realise these recordings are very close to your heart judging from previous posts.
I have now ordered the Box Set of Klempere's Beethoven's Symphonies and Overtures: 10 discs for £19.21, delivered. Bargain! Looking forward to receiving them.
Many thanks to you and everyone above.
KR,
Tony
Dear Tony,
Thanks,
Just back from a marathon 380 mile round trip to Norfolk in my 19 year old Nissan Micra 998 cc. and used only £40's worth of petrol. I just about managed 60 mph downhill!
Enjoy those recordings. The early ones are not the most "hifi" but carry a conviction for sure. After all I might be totally wrong and these are old fashioned recordings of great music in fairly dull performances! But even from a ten year old they moved me to silence, as I could not find anything that I wanted differently in the music, and that is why Icall them durable recordings. They speak to me after 40 years. I doubt that I have another forty years to develop a doubt about them. And the CDs are so much better than the old LP pressings ...
Enjoy you new CDs when they come!
I have more or less decided to get all the new black boxed Klemperer recordings as the excerpts I have heard might have restored my confidence in Bruckner, and Mahler's music, which is certainly hard to bring off for me!
ATB from George