WWII Recordings (1939-1945)

Started by Bogey, June 02, 2009, 12:05:35 PM

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Bogey

I am aware of the Furtwängler recordings, but what other recordings do you own of classical music recorded during these war years? 
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

bhodges

Other than a few of those Furtwängler recordings, the only thing I have is this box, Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vol. I, 1935-1950.  It's excellent, but to be honest I don't delve into it that often, just because of the sound quality.  (They're live recordings, and seem about as good as it gets, given the time period.) But I'm glad I have it, anyway, for archival and study purposes.

--Bruce

Bogey

This, minus the Furtwängler, is what I seem to have:


(1945, 1942, and 1940, respectively.)


(Violin Concert No. 5 in 1945)


(Sonata for violin & piano No. 9 in A major ("Kreutzer"), Op. 47 in 1941)


(Fugue for string quartet in B flat major ("Grosse Fuge"), Op. 133 in 1941)
(String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major ("Lieb"), Op. 130 in 1941)


(Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44 in 1942)


(Sonata for cello & piano No. 1 in F major, Op. 5/1 in 1939)
(Sonata for cello & piano No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5/2 in 1939)
(Sonata for cello & piano No. 5 in D major, Op. 102/2 in 1939)


(Bagatelle for piano in B minor, Op. 126/4 in 1944)




There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Bogey

Quote from: bhodges on June 02, 2009, 12:27:53 PM
Other than a few of those Furtwängler recordings, the only thing I have is this box, Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vol. I, 1935-1950.  It's excellent, but to be honest I don't delve into it that often, just because of the sound quality.  (They're live recordings, and seem about as good as it gets, given the time period.) But I'm glad I have it, anyway, for archival and study purposes.

--Bruce

Seeing that the asking price is around $300, Bruce, I would hold on to that one. :)
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

bhodges

Yes, all these Concertgebouw boxes seem to go out of print pretty quickly.  Oddly, Amazon has Vol. 2 (1950-1960) for $119, and the latest one (1980-1990) is still in print for just under $200.  I know I have found at least one or two on eBay for less than those prices, though.

--Bruce

Bogey

Quote from: bhodges on June 02, 2009, 12:45:23 PM
Yes, all these Concertgebouw boxes seem to go out of print pretty quickly.  Oddly, Amazon has Vol. 2 (1950-1960) for $119, and the latest one (1980-1990) is still in print for just under $200.  I know I have found at least one or two on eBay for less than those prices, though.

--Bruce

Well, if you ever see another at a fair price, please let me know.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

bhodges

Sure, no problem!  If you're an eBayer, you might want to create an alert, e.g., using the terms "Concertgebouw" and "Anthology," which would let you know when a set is up for sale. 

--Bruce

Novi

Hey Bogey, cheap vol. II here. Shipping to US seems reasonable and you get VAT off. Wish the other volumes were as wallet friendly.
Durch alle Töne tönet
Im bunten Erdentraum
Ein leiser Ton gezogen
Für den der heimlich lauschet.

Bogey

Quote from: Novi on June 02, 2009, 01:01:53 PM
Hey Bogey, cheap vol. II here. Shipping to US seems reasonable and you get VAT off. Wish the other volumes were as wallet friendly.

Thanks much!  Shooting for the Vol. I first, but good to see that this one is available....
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Novi

Quote from: Bogey on June 02, 2009, 01:03:30 PM
Thanks much!  Shooting for the Vol. I first, but good to see that this one is available....

Hehe, just realised that the topic is 'WWII Recordings' (duh :P).

Offhand, I think some of Rachmaninoff's own recordings must be from that period. Also some of the Heifetz recordings on Naxos. Actually, the Naxos Historical site would be a good place to look at.
Durch alle Töne tönet
Im bunten Erdentraum
Ein leiser Ton gezogen
Für den der heimlich lauschet.

Bogey

Quote from: Novi on June 02, 2009, 01:10:13 PM
Hehe, just realised that the topic is 'WWII Recordings' (duh :P).

Offhand, I think some of Rachmaninoff's own recordings must be from that period. Also some of the Heifetz recordings on Naxos. Actually, the Naxos Historical site would be a good place to look at.

Good idea.  I am suppose to have the Naxos Heifetz set coming from MDT.  Ordered April 26, but no word as of yet.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Drasko

#11
Not sure, but I think recordings in US up until States entered the war was pretty much business as usual. There are lots of recordings made 1939-41 in US, off top of my head: Toscanini Beethoven cycle '39, Toscanini Philadelphia recordings '41-'42, Rachmaninov recorded his 3rd in 39-40, bunch of Horrowitz including some all time greats - Rach 3 with NYPSO Barbirolli '41, Tchaik 1 with Toscanini (three times 41, 41, 43), Koussevitzky recorded famously premiere of Bartok Concerto for Orchestra in 1944, Mitropoulos recorded a lot in Minneapolis and New York during 1940, there is high on my shopping list Bruno Walter conducting Bruckner 8th in NewYork in 1941 ...........

In Europe, again off top of my head, Cortot recorded lots of Chopin in Paris 1942, I think I have some Moiseiwitsch Liszt recordings from England 1941, Enescu and Lipatti recorded Enescu's music in Bucharest in 1943, I'm pretty sure there are some Vaclav Talich recordings with Czechs from wartime period, of Germans pretty much all of Oswald Kabasta's discography are wartime broadcasts, I have some Abendroth Beethoven from 1944 Leipzig, Schuricht Bruckner from '43 Berlin....

One curious item would be Abendroth Brahms 2nd with Grosses Orchester des Reichsenders Breslau from 15th April 1939, now Breslau is Wroclaw if I'm not mistaken, and that is Poland, but the date is few months before the invasion, so does that make it guest-conducting? And why the big German name of the orchestra? Probably there is perfectly simple logical explanation, but I don't know it.

There must be more which I can't recall right now 

Valentino

Have:
The Mengelberg Concertgebouw Beethoven cycle.
The first Michelangeli recordings.
A Furtwangler Schubert 9 from '43 (I think).

Am going to buy some Wagner (surprise!) from Dresden Semperoper in '44, recorded (to tape!) just months before those shameful bomb raids.
We audiophiles don't really like music, but we sure love the sound it makes;
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dirkronk

Tons of Mengelberg, Furtwangler, Toscanini, and a great deal of the items already mentioned: Busch Qt., the Budapest wartime LvB, that Milstein/Stock Tchaikovsky concerto (which is superb BTW), Schnabel, Gieseking (including the famous anti-aircraft Emperor with Rother), and much more. Fact is, an enormous number of my historical albums come from that era and just before/after.

Dirk

Bogey

Quote from: Drasko on June 02, 2009, 02:04:25 PM


One curious item would be Abendroth Brahms 2nd with Grosses Orchester des Reichsenders Breslau from 15th April 1939, now Breslau is Wroclaw if I'm not mistaken, and that is Poland, but the date is few months before the invasion, so does that make it guest-conducting? And why the big German name of the orchestra? Probably there is perfectly simple logical explanation, but I don't know it.

There must be more which I can't recall right now 

Here is a recording of it on the M&A label. 
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=1441&name_role1=1&name_id2=57788&name_role2=3&bcorder=31&comp_id=3494
They usually have decent liner notes as well.  Might just put that on the wish-list.

Looks as though two days earlier they recorded LvB's Concerto for Piano no 4:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?ordertag=Condrecom57788-24576&album_id=24576
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Bogey

Quote from: dirkronk on June 02, 2009, 03:51:15 PM
Milstein/Stock Tchaikovsky concerto (which is superb BTW),
Dirk

Affirmative.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Todd

I've got relatively little from the war years, and Beethoven looms larger than usual.  A big chunk of the recordings are American.  In addition to some Furtwangler recordings, I have:

Debussy - Pelleas et Melisande, Désormière, et al (a superb recording)
LvB symphony cycle - Toscanini (1939)
LvB symphonies 3, 5, & 8 - Bruno Walter
LvB Symphony 3 - Schuricht (1941)
LvB various string quartets - Budapest Quartet (Columbia & LOC)
LvB PCs 3, 4, 5 - w/ Long, Rubinstein, Gieseking, and Serkin
Mahler 1, Rachmaninoff Isle of the Dead - Mitropolous

From Beecham on Columbia there's Sibelius 7 and the second Pelleas et Melisande suite, Mendelssohn 4, Rimsky's Le Coq d'Or, and Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien.

From Gieseking there's LvB sonatas 27/2 & 90; Schumann's Symphonic Etudes, Op 11 sonata, and two movements of what could have been one of the great recorded versions of the Fantasie.

One of the common traits all of these recordings have is that they all sound very good for their age.  They sound much better than recordings from before the war, and even better than some immediate post-war recordings.  Why that would be I don't know.
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Renfield

Quote from: Novi on June 02, 2009, 01:01:53 PM
Hey Bogey, cheap vol. II here. Shipping to US seems reasonable and you get VAT off. Wish the other volumes were as wallet friendly.

Cheap Volume I, too. ;)

This is one of those threads I'll get back to when I have more time and leisure to do so, as I am very interested in pre-1950s recordings, and thus own quite a lot from the 1939-1945 period. I'll have a look for favourites which haven't been mentioned.

dirkronk

Quote from: Renfield on June 02, 2009, 09:21:35 PM
Cheap Volume I, too.[/url] ;)


Cheap in the quoted price but, alas, apparently not actually available. As the site notes:
"We regret that we are unable to supply this particular item."

What a bunch of teases!

Dirk (who has the Mengelberg and Haitink Radio Recording boxes from Q Disc, and wishes he had ALL the other Concertgebouw box sets...what a great series!)

Drasko

Quote from: Bogey on June 02, 2009, 03:59:08 PM
Here is a recording of it on the M&A label. 
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=1441&name_role1=1&name_id2=57788&name_role2=3&bcorder=31&comp_id=3494
They usually have decent liner notes as well.  Might just put that on the wish-list.

If you can find relatively cheap used copy. Sound is not the greatest, not awful but Brahms is dim and Bruckner somewhat harsh.