The Art of Rafael Kubelik

[Que]

Rafael Kubelik is a late discovery for me.
I got his BRSO/ Bruckner 4th recently and was mightily impressed.



Please post your favourite Kubelik recordings or anything else you like to share about him.

Thanks!

Q

[Steve]

What timing!

I've just been revisiting his excellent set of the 9 Symphonies of Dvorak with the BPO

[Florestan]

Get his complete Mahler cycle w/ BRSO and you won't be disappointed either.

[AnthonyAthletic]

The words from a certain forum member, and many others as to "buy it at any price" for the Kubelik live Ma Vlast, on Supraphon were words of a knowing bunch!!  I did, and it is...<superb>

Also mentioned are his stunning Bruckner 9th on Orfeo, the highly rated Das Lied with Kmentt & DJB, his Mahler 5th live on Audite and I do have the greatest admiration for his DG Mahler 8th.

Throw in his Dvorak 7/8/9 for good measure too!!

[toledobass]

The Mahler 5th and the Das Lied on Audite.

Allan

[Steve]

Get his complete Mahler cycle w/ BRSO and you won't be disappointed either.

I may just do that. 

[Drasko]

His Bruckner - 3rd (I can't make up my mind whether I prefer studio one on Sony or live one on Bells of St.Florian, both top of the line), 8th and 9th on Orfeo (8th is early 60s mono but that 9th is one of the most incredibly recorded live performance ever, kudos to Bavarian Radio technicians).

And million times mentioned live Das Lied with Baker and Kmentt.

Anyone heard his Concertgebouw Mahler 5 on Tahra?

[Todd]

Kubelik is one of the greats, and I have yet to hear any recordings by him that I don't like.  I've not yet started investigating his live recorded legacy on Audite - those discs are supposed to have better performances than his studio recordings - so with that in mind:

Smetana - Ma Vlast (1990, Supraphon)
Berg - Violin Concerto
Dvorak - Symphonies (BPO, DG)
Mahler - Symphonies (DG)
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra / Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (Orfeo)
Schoenberg - Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto
Schumann - Symphonies (CBS/Sony)
Janacek - Sinfonietta (Testament)
Janacek - Glagolitic Mass (DG)
Schubert - Symphony 3 (IMG/EMI Great Conductors)
Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg
Wagner - Lohengrin
Weber - Der Freischutz
Weber - Oberon

and the Original Masters set devoted to him.  There are others I'm forgetting.

[Choo Choo]

Another vote for his BRSO Bruckner recordings.

#9 (Orfeo) is an all-time great, easily surpasses most popular recommendations.

#8 (Orfeo) is an earlier recording, faces stiff competition but well worth hearing.

#3 (Sony/studio and Bells of St Florian/live) are both top contenders, personally I think the studio one just gets it.

#4 (ditto) but here I think the live one takes the crown for extra sparkle and general oomph.  Just a wonderful performance.

There's also a #4 with the VPO which DG are releasing on DVD this month.  If it's the same performance as I have on a bootleg CD, then I think it's inferior to the BRSO ones (even allowing for the shockingly poor balance on the CD.)

Then there's the Mahler set...

[Choo Choo]

Forgot to mention - how could I forget? It was even one of my Desert Island Discs! - my favourite Haydn Paukenmesse is - again - Kubelik with the BRSO.  Still available on a cheap DG twofer, last time I looked.

[david johnson]

the kubelik/chicago recordings on mercury are among my favorites!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_m/104-6404879-4283964?url=node%3D85&field-keywords=kubelik%2Fchicago&Go.x=11&Go.y=16&Go=Go

[MishaK]

I second all the above recommendations and would also add a special double CD from the CSO broadcast archives which includes an incandescent Prelude and Liebestod, as well as Tombeau de Couperin, Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, a Dvorak 8 and otehr assorted stuff:



http://www.cso.org/main.taf?p=4,1,3,7,2&productid=7544

[jwinter]

I'll happily second all of the praise for Kubelik's Mahler, Bruckner, Dvorak, and Smetana -- hard to go wrong with any of it.

Is anyone familiar with his Beethoven?  I understand he did a symphony cycle for DG with 9 different orchestras, only some of which is still in print in the US.  Worth seeking out?

[MishaK]

Is anyone familiar with his Beethoven?  I understand he did a symphony cycle for DG with 9 different orchestras, only some of which is still in print in the US.  Worth seeking out?

To tell you the truth, I find it variable. Some of it is really inspired, some of it is a bit, well, thick and lethargic. I think the DG Kubelik original masters set contains what is probably the best of the lot. But! If you want to hear absolutely superlative orchestral work in the Beethoven violin concerto and how to perfectly acommpany the soloist, you should seek out the Testament reissue of the old Decca recording of the Beethoven VC with Ida Haendel and Kubelik with the Philharmonia. Haendel is not my favorite here, but Kubelik is unsurpassed as her accompanist.

[karlhenning]

the kubelik/chicago recordings on mercury are among my favorites!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_m/104-6404879-4283964?url=node%3D85&field-keywords=kubelik%2Fchicago&Go.x=11&Go.y=16&Go=Go

And that is another temptation.

Thanks, I think :-)

[Danny]

..........Also mentioned are his stunning Bruckner 9th on Orfeo.........

Agreed; a profound performance.   0:)

[Que]

Does anyone know these Dvorak recordings (symf. 6-9) with the BRSO?

Q

[sidoze]

Also mentioned are his stunning Bruckner 9th on Orfeo, [and] the highly rated Das Lied with Kmentt & DJB...

These 2 for me.

[MishaK]

Somone here in the earlier incarnation of the forum also highly praised Kubelik's Parisfal on Music & Arts. Would someone like to elaborate? I don't have this yet.

[Anne]

I can recommend his Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg on Calig with Thomas Stewart, Sandor Konya, Gundula Janowitz, Thomas Hemsley, Brigitte Fassbaender, Gerhard Unger, Franz Crass.  Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.