![]() Three of the overtures were included in the recent Warner box of 'Berlioz - The Complete Works' missing the opportunity to issue all eight on their own label. Recordings were made by the Westminster team and issued on LP in the UK on the Nixa label and in the USA on Westminster's own label. However, the playing of the London Philharmonic at the time (then masquerading as the Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra) is a little scrappy in places, particularly where Sir Adrian presses them as hard as they can manage. Most of the Berlioz overtures are here being issued in digital form for the first time and only occasionally do the masters show their age. ![]() (Perhaps the slightly risque cover of the Westminster LP of Symphonies 1 & 2 deterred them from using any of those.) ![]() Here's an exemplary way to reissue early stereo recordings - first class digital transfers, excellent liner notes by Sir Adrian himself, Colin Anderson and Peter Bromley and interesting session photos - only the very dull cover (and the curious sequence of the symphonies) lets it down in any way. Recording engineer: Herbert Zeithammer Producer: Kurt List What makes this release so unique is its cast, many of whom can be heard giving their debut’s in Bayreuth.Recording venue: Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London This recording, available for the first time, has been remastered from the original tapes of the Bavarian Broadcasting Company. In the course of the 1950s he enjoyed great success as a guest conductor at London’s Covent Garden (including Wagner’s Ring), and in 1961, the second year he conducted the Ring in Bayreuth, he assumed direction of the Royal Philharmonic. Originally trained as an oboist, the Dresden-born Kempe began conducting in the 1930s and after the war became director of the Dresden, and then of the Bavarian state opera companies. ![]() The reaction to the refreshingly new musical portrayal of the Bayreuth debutant from Saxony was unanimously positive and remained so for the five years that Kempe conducted the orchestra indeed, the impression was retrospectively reinforced (one critic many years later compiled a now famous, comprehensive and comparative discography, citing a recording of Kempe’s Bayreuth Ring as the best recording ever). However, by 1960 it seemed that the time had come for a new production, a task placed in the hands of Wieland’s brother Wolfgang, whilst direction of the production was given to the then 48-year-old conductor Rudolf Kempe. Richard Wagner’s Ring was performed in the highly reduced version by Wieland Wagner at the eight Bayreuth festivals since the re-opening of the theatre in 1951. ![]()
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